GRE Prep Course (with Software)

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: More than any other book, GRE Prep Course explains every math and verbal concept in a very comprehensible, very GRE-specific manner. I took a significant amount of time comparing the Kaplan, Princeton Review, Barrons, and the Nova Press books, and found this one to excel in every way. The three computer-based practice tests, while harder than the actual GRE, are great for getting students used to taking the test on a computer. It also includes a list of the 400 most commonly tested words on the exam (plus an additional list of 4000 words for the ambitious student,) an invaluable part of acing the verbal section. We use this book in our Gorilla Test Prep GRE course, and teachers and students have all been impressed by it.

Rating:
Summary: Contains some good features, but has serious flaws, as well.
Review: This book has a good introduction and description of the GRE. The math explanations are clear, and the math problems are well constructed. The word list is helpful -- I already knew most of the 4000 words but the list is a good guide for the vocabulary to be tested. However, the definitions for many of the words were from an older dictionary (circa 1913). Furthermore, many of the word problems were simply incorrect (e.g., "seasoned" is not an antonym for "verdant" by any stretch of the imagination. We can't use the transitive property as in mathematics for definitions, especially when the intermediate terms involve using figurative language! Another bizarre example was having "convocate" be the antonym for "mete".) Luckily, you can see that the actual GRE questions are more straightforward than this. The best thing to do is use questions from ETS's actual tests. The other reference books I've found to be better in the verbal practice sections and definitions are Barron's and Kaplan's.

Rating:
Summary: Worth the money
Review: This book is definitely worth the money and time it will take to cover it. With this book, you can pretty much completely prepare for the GRE and it WILL help your score.

Some things to watch for are the errors in the math section. There are a few cases where the wrong answer is attributed to the correct letter and there were a few that the problem was simply worked out incorrectly. Also, I was not too impressed with the way this book approached the Verbal section... it implies that you should memorize a list of 4000 words. Even if I had the time to do this, I would not. Memorizing huge lists is not an effective way to study.

In all, this book is a great way to approach studying for the GRE, but allow yourself about a month to absorb all of the material.