Customer Reviews

CliffsNotes Math Review for Standardized Tests (CliffsTestPrep)

5 star:		(80)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I really liked this book (how could I not with such a huge increase in my score). It's very easy to use, and you can practice a lot of math in a very little amount of time. I hadn't done algebra since freshman year of high school and needed some serious review for the GRE. This book was a big help in boosting my score. I also used the Kaplan and Princeton Review books, but this one had the best/easiest/most-intense math review. It is also incredibly cheap. Fair warning: there are a lot of practice problem sets in this book, and it took me a good month to work through it all, but it was worth it.

If you have only enough money to buy one book to brush up on the quantitative section, this should be the book. It assumes no knowledge and delves into each section of math thoroughly. However there is also a diagnostic test so that you don't have to waste time studying topics you're already solid in. It is easy to understand with many examples and is much better than any of the GRE study guides for math that I've seen. There is a lot in the book so allow for at least a month with it before an exam.

I had to study for the College Level Assesment test in FL, and I hadn't had a math class since my sophomore year in high school! This book was fantastic to sit down with and review things that nobody remembers (like fractions...eek!) and some of the things that I had never learned (like some of the algebra).

There is an assessment test at the beginning to show you what you most need to work on, and tells you on what page to find that information. There are also several practise tests, as well as pages that explain the problems, in detail, so that you can figure out what the heck you did wrong! :-)

This is a fantastic review session, and I would recommend it for the GMAT (studying for now) or any other standardised tests over ANY of the other books I had purchased!

Returning to college after a two-year break made math review imperative. After looking at the primary textbook, I felt like I was reading some foreign language.

If you struggle for the math to "click", this book may be the answer to your prayers. When I started working with 'Math Review for Standardized Tests', I learned so much more so much quicker than from in-class work and the textbook combined. I went from the last one to finish tests to one of the very first. Do the math.

Good luck.

After being out of math for 6 years, reading this book made me wonder why I needed a year to complete an algebra class compared to the week that I spent reviewing this book.

Seriously though this is an excellent and straight to the point book. Excellent process of:

1. Test First
2. Review any problems you missed (points you right to the page you need)
3. Re-test
4. Re-review, etc..

This is not a book of just tests, it also contains a ton of well thought out teaching. Each section also contains practice problems and answers.

Quit reading my review and just go buy it!

I cannot tell you how much I love this book. I was preparing to take the GRE after graduating college and hadn't taken any math whatsoever since high school. I used Kaplan's Premier program and it brought back some of what I used to know, but I was still getting about half the questions wrong on my practice tests. I got this book a week before I took the test, was able to go through the whole thing in a week (while working a 40 hours a week) and it really built my math skills from the ground up. It really assumes you know nothing, but by the end, you know all you need to!

I just took the test this morning and my quantitative score was 800 - totally unexpected and it would not have happened if I had just stuck with the Kaplan program.

This book is a difference maker! I am so used to using my calculator that I had no idea how much I took for granted. I have an engineering degree so when I was preparing for the GMAT (to add an MBA to my collection)I assumed that the math portion would be a snap. However, calculus and differential equations are not part of the test and of course a calculator can not be used. Let's cut to the chase...I can figure out any math problem if I have the time, but time is precious on standardized tests and if you don't know the fastest way to do the calculations you will get a low score.

I am returning to grad school next year after a long hiatus from any kind of formal education (I received my undergraduate degree in 1991) so although I generally have been pretty successful with standardized tests, I was a little nervous about the GRE, in particular about the quantitative analysis portion. I haven't had a math class in over 25 years, since I majored in literature and communications as an undergrad, and was in an honors curriculum which allowed me write papers about math instead of taking a "real" math class.

I took the revised GRE a few weeks ago, so I haven't received my official scores yet, but the range estimates I was given after completing the test were numbers I was happy with (750-800 verbal, 710-800 quantitative). I won't have the official scores until November. These numbers were fairly close to the practice score numbers I got taking the official ETS sample test, and a bit higher than the practice scores I got taking the practice tests.

EDITED TO ADD that my final scores on the new scale were 168/170 verbal, 157/170 quantitative, and 5.5/6 on the analytical writing. As I said above, I am not, nor have I ever been, very good at math, so although the quantitative score is only what I'd consider on the high end of average (77th percentile), for me, this score was far beyond my original expectations, so the studying I did paid off enormously. This Cliffs Notes book is the one I credit the most for my improvement on the quantitative questions.

Here is how I studied:
1. I downloaded and took the free ETS test as a baseline. I also downloaded and studied their free math review materials.
2. Based on step one, I reviewed my options here on Amazon for supplemental study materials, and decided I wanted about two months to study. Any more than that, and I think you run the risk of overcompensating and second-guessing yourself too much.
3. I chose this book as well as Kaplan GRE 2011 Premier with CD-ROM (Kaplan GRE Premier Program (W/CD)). I did not feel I needed extra prep materials for the verbal portion.
4. I worked through these two books, including the practice test in the Kaplan book, and all the in-book excercises there, plus the entire Cliff's Notes book; due to my ineptitude at math I worked through the entire book but if you are good at math, that would of course be unnecessary.
5. I worked through these much more quickly than I expected, so I also purchased, after about three weeks of study, Barron's New GRE Flash Cards, 2nd Edition and Gruber's Complete GRE Guide 2012. They were both useful although I did spend more time with the Kaplan book and the Cliff's Notes book.
6. I took a practice exam every couple of weeks. This was more to get used to sitting a 4-hour exam than anything else, and that was helpful as an exercise in endurance.
7. I worked through the CD of included practice exercises with the Kaplan book. These were very helpful, although I must caution you to take answers and results with a grain of salt. I felt that they often contained typos, and also that the verbal questions were often ill-conceived or explained strangely. So think of them as "practice" and don't get too worked up if you get answers wrong when you felt they should be right. Based on my verbal score estimate, I feel I am justified in making this statement.
8. The day before the test, I took one final practice test from the online tests available when you purchase this book.

In total, I spent 3-4 hours a day studying for this, for two months, and I work a full-time job so I was more than ready to be done with this exam prep. I do feel it was worthwhile, however. I would estimate that my scores improved from the original time I took a practice test, to the estimated real scores, about 50 points on the verbal section, and at least 200 points on the quantitative section (but as I mentioned, my original quantitative result was pretty dismal, whereas my verbal was quite good in the first place, so I focused my study on quantitative). Remember, the "numbers" will be totally different for my actual scores once I get them since they're changing the score scale, but this should give you a good idea of the improvements I feel that studying helped me make.

I do feel it was helpful to write several practice analytical writing essays, just to get a feel for how much I could realistically expect to write in 30 minutes; however, I don't know my scores there yet since they are hand scored so I don't have an estimate.

If I had it to do over again, I would probably not bother with the Gruber book, but the other three purchases I made were helpful. This Cliff's Notes book was by far the most valuable and I carried it everywhere for weeks. I have always thought I detested math but in fact I found working my way through this book to be a bit like "puzzle solving" and was in fact kind of fun. I was also able to see some practical application for understanding geometry and math, in a way I was not able to see in high school, so this was just a good learning opportunity completely aside from studying specifically for the GRE. I learned a few tricks and shortcuts for data analysis that are proving useful for work.

In short, I strongly recommend taking at least 4 or 5 hours to study by downloading and using the free ETS study materials, then deciding from there a) how much improvement you want to make, and in which particular areas, and b) how much time you are willing to devote to study. I think I'd have easily scored well enough to get into my desired programs with no study at all, but I wanted to see if the test prep would truly help as advertised, and I also wanted to see if I still liked studying as much as I did 20 years ago before I bothered applying and paying tuition for grad school!

Many testtakers dread the quant sections of standardized tests more than the rest of it put together, and no wonder. The subject is often badly taught in the first place, and math is where adult students contemplating the GRE or GMAT are likely to be weakest. No matter how much math you avoided in high school or college and in your working life, you can still make up years of lost ground with this book. Really! Spend an hour a day with it and be transformed. You may not learn to love math but your skill and confidence will increase exponentially. Much better than the math sections in general GRE prep books...and most textbooks for that matter.

I was amazed at how easy to use this book was! I am studying for the Praxis II Middle School Mathematics test and coulnd't find a book to help me prepare. This books covers everything from start to finish. At the beginning of each section there is a test you take to see where YOU NEED THE HELP! Then you go to the page where it talks about the certain area you need help on. Best math book I have ever bought! I will even be using this as a reference guide in my 6th grade class!