Customer Reviews

Best Test Preparation for the Gre Biology (REA Test Preps)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I agree with the other reviewers-- this book is full of stupid, vague questions, often with incorrect answers. On one test I fell in the 75th percentile, the next test, into the 5th. The review is incomplete, and REALLY sketchy. It is also impossible to calculate your subscores. Anyone taking the biology GRE should buy the official ETS book.

this book's strongest attribute is that it is thick and has a bunch of practice tests in it...However, every other aspect of it is sadly insufficient as a study aid. Half of the explanations offered are simply combining the question phrase and the correct choice into one sentence, and that's the whole crappy explanation!! in addition there are a remarkable # of typos and questions that do not make sense or are incredibly ambiguous...avoid this book if you want to score above 100 on the test. NO GOOD

If it were possible to bestow negative stars, I would. One star is more than this title deserves.

This book contains countless errors, and is quite inappropriate as preparation for the GRE Biology Subject exam. The content covered is woefully inadequate and often irrelevant. The other disparaging reviews on this page are quite correct--particularly those of the unfortunate soul who relied on it heavily for his test preparation. Yes, indeed, such topics as plants, ecology, etc. are heavily tested on the GRE Biology Subject Exam--but you wouldn't know it by reading this book.

The author and the publisher should be ashamed of themselves.

I have two main things to say about this book....1) There isexcessive focus on biochemistry / physiology / basic bio - a LOT ofthe things that do appear on the BIOCHEMISTRY GRE but not the BIOLOGYone! 2) There is NO review or focus in any practice tests on ecology& plant function, which was at LEAST 60% of the Nov 2000 GRE.Save your money; you'd be better off not studying at all for the examthan studying from this book.

This review book initially looked appealing due to its 5 full length tests, but the tests actually suck and make me wonder whether they are even similar to the actual ETS questions. Also the explanations for the answers are absolutely horrid...half the time they just combine the question with the correct answer choice into one sentence and thats the whole explanation!!! what a load of crap! :@ Also there are a lot of typos and questions that simply do not make sense or are unclear... NO GOOD!

i agree with what has been said. this book is beyond horrid. on the first of the practice exams i got a 610. on the second i got a 430, despite having read the entire genetics section of my biology textbook in between. simply put, the two exams were in no way comparable in difficulty, and gave me no clue what to expect when i take the _real_ test. the explanations, as have been noted, are pathetic. many of the ecology questions (the subject I know most about) were just plain wrong. they said epiphytes are commnesalistic. wrong, or at least highly debatable (since they can add tons of weight to branches they're on, causing the branches to crash that makes them parasitic.) along the same vein, they said that lichens were mutualistic. lichenologists have been debating the nature of the symbiosis for 100+ years and still don't have an answer. the book also refered to the 10% rule of energy transfer between trophic levels, which is completely bogus. for the love of god, don't buy this book!

It is always a good idea to use several guides for GRE and similar tests preparation. This is one them. It becomes useful only when you study it along other test guides available in the market.