Crash Course for the GRE, Second Edition (Graduate School Test Preparation) [Paperback]

Princeton Review (Author)

Book Description

Series: Graduate School Test Preparation | Publication Date: September 16, 2003

10 Simple Steps to a Higher Score–in Less Than 1 Week!

If the big test is staring you right in the face and you feel doomed, then here’s your last-minute reprieve: a GRE book designed exclusively for the student who’s running out of time.

We may not be able to turn you into a genius overnight, but we can give you the essential tools and rules you need to get a good score. Practice the ten steps in this book and you’ll have The Princeton Review advantage. Here’s what you get:

• The 10 strategies you positively must know to ace the exam

• More than 100 practice questions you can use to master our techniques

• Detailed answer explanations that will help you avoid making the
same mistake twice

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

10 Simple Steps to a Higher Score?in Less Than 1 Week!

If the big test is staring you right in the face and you feel doomed, then here?s your last-minute reprieve: a GRE book designed exclusively for the student who?s running out of time.

We may not be able to turn you into a genius overnight, but we can give you the essential tools and rules you need to get a good score. Practice the ten steps in this book and you?ll have The Princeton Review advantage. Here?s what you get:

? The 10 strategies you positively must know to ace the exam

? More than 100 practice questions you can use to master our techniques

? Detailed answer explanations that will help you avoid making the
same mistake twice

About the Author

The Princeton Review is the fastest growing test-preparation company in the country, with over 60 franchise offices in the nation. Each year, we help more than 2 million students prepare for college, grad school, professional licensing exams, and successful careers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Review; 2 edition (September 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375763635
• ISBN-13: 978-0375763632
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,862,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Cheap Book with Deplorable Typos., November 11, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Crash Course for the GRE, Second Edition (Graduate School Test Preparation) (Paperback)

I bought this book not because I was running out of time to study, but because I needed a quick brush up on Algebra. I completed the exercises and checked my answers against the guide in the back of the book. I was upset that I missed several of the problems.

Then I checked the explanations that accompany the answers and realized that both the questions and answers contain a considerable number of typos. For example- the question will ask for "the length of the diagonal of a rectangle with a perimeter of 20" then the answer will state that, to help you visualize the problem, you should "draw a rectangle with a perimeter of 16".

Sometimes, equations are missing from the text entirely. On a quant comp on page 146, given that "3 is the remainder when f is divided by 9. 6 is the remainder when g is divided by 9" you are asked to compare "3" to "the remainder when is divided by 6." This statement makes no sense until you look to the answer and realize the question should read "The remainder when F+G is divided by 6."

I contacted Princeton Review's editorial support to make them aware of the errors, and they seemed rather blasé about the unacceptable state of their book, saying that it is impossible to prevent errors in post production. That statement is, of course, ridiculous.

This book and the editors of this book are extremely frustrating. I do not recommend buying the book or reading the book.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Definately get this book, June 18, 2004

By 

"hopingtogetintomsu" (Wall NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crash Course for the GRE, Second Edition (Graduate School Test Preparation) (Paperback)

I highly recomend this book. After reading this short book, download the practice tests and you can decide if you need an additional book for vocabulary review. I believe my 5.5 out of a possible 6 on the essays is due to the tips in this book. It is short but to the point. You may need more than a week to absorb the math if you are out of practice. Also, it can not make up for a lack of vocabulary.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for last-minute study for the verbal section, May 26, 2004

By 

David M. Ng (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crash Course for the GRE, Second Edition (Graduate School Test Preparation) (Paperback)

I decided to apply to graduate school on October 31. I had to take the GRE really soon to meet the application deadlines, and since I registered at the last minute the best test date I could get was November 25. That gave me less than one month to prepare! I went shopping for test preparation materials and one of the books I found was "Crash Course for the GRE." That seemed perfect for my needs. The book is organized around the "ten steps to the GRE," basically one step for each type of question to be found on the test. I found the steps for the verbal section of the GRE (analogies, sentence completion, antonyms, and reading comprehension) to be extremely practical and I got a score I was quite pleased with. However, the strategies for the math section (numbers/vocabulary, figures, equations I/estimating, and equations II/plugging in) were less effective for me and I decided to take the test a second time (I contacted the schools to which I was applying to request that they accept a second set of late GRE scores). The tips for the analytical writing section (issue essay and argument essay) were helpful, as was the general information on the GRE.

I highly recommend this book for an overview of the GRE, for general GRE test taking strategies, and for its test taking strategies for the verbal section. The math strategies might be helpful if you are really weak in math, but I suggest supplementing the Crash Course with another book (I used "GRE Exam 2004" by Kaplan). Also, I used "Word Smart for the GRE" to help with vocabulary. Note that the Crash Course has practice problems but it does not provide any sample tests; you should download the free POWERPREP software from the GRE Web site, and you may want to get a book with sample tests (such as "GRE Exam 2004"). But if you only have time for one GRE test preparation book, I'd recommend the Crash Course.