Customer Reviews

Cracking the GRE, 2009 Edition (Graduate School Test Preparation)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The verbal section gave very good tips. The quantitative section, I felt, was a mess. (And I've been an editor for 15 years -- so I know a mess when I see it!) The author would spend ridiculous amounts of space explaining a concept as simple as a "digit," yet skip over the reason for using a certain formula to solve a more complex problem. Moreover, the author recommends "plugging in" answers for many problems that are actually easier to DO.

Very disappointed. After reading book, I took their first online practice test, and got 770 verbal, 490 quantitative. Granted, I already knew that I need to go back and memorize geometry formulas, which I haven't done yet. But then I'll need to practice using them--and this book doesn't provide for that practice. I'll be buying another book for that--from a different publisher.

There are two kinds of people who take the Graduate Record Examination. Well, three, actually: Those who don't study for the GRE, those who take a course costing several hundred dollars, and those of us buying a book or two. Buy "Cracking the GRE." It is what you need.

I suspect those who take the courses get their money's worth.

However, "Cracking the GRE" is a much cheaper, quicker solution. It cuts to the chase, tells you what you need to know, and shows you how to figure out those algebra problems better than your high school freshman year teacher.

They teach you how to be organized during the test. And you'll learn how to draw sensible charts for the logic portion. This will save you precious time as you realize you have no clue how to answer number 27. It teach you how to effectively guess.

I took the GRE. I used the Princeton Review. I crammed. Sure, sure--not the best approach for an important exam, but the fact remains, I'm not alone. Effective cramming involves knowing what to jettison, and what to keep on board. That is, knowing what is important to focus on. The Princeton Review folks know this.

I dreaded the math portion. If I told you how low my high school grades were for math, and then told you my GRE score, you'd likely believe neither. But it is true. My score rocked. Why? The easy teaching style of "Cracking the GRE." The MIT admissions people wouldn't be impressed with my score, but for a guy with a literature degree looking to get into a marketing communications program, the "Cracking the GRE" helped me get the math score I needed.

Have I convinced you? No more delaying. Hurry up, get on with it, and buy "Cracking the GRE." You'll get the best results cramming can bring you. Oh, and be sure to get to the exam early. Long form to fill out beforehand.

I fully recommend "Cracking the GRE."

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

I have been using this book to review for the GREs, and I have found it extremely helpful. It has prepared me 100% more than without a review guide, and I find the layout and techniques they use to be really easy to learn. What this book does that I didn't find as much in Baron's is teach you the "tricks" behind the GRE and how to master taking this test. Plus it provides "drill" opportunities throughout to practice these new techniques (which may seem a little elementary, but is actually quite helpful). I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking to prep.

I highly recommend this product as a GRE prep tool! It's not going to miraculously teach you information that you've never learned, but it's great for making you feel prepared to go into the test. It gives you all kinds of little tricks and tidbits as to how the test works. I bought three books to prepare, but this was the main one that I used because it was so great. I highly recommend it.

I used several GRE prep books, and this was by far the most useful. It seems written for a more intelligent audience - those aiming for 700+ on the Quantitative and Verbal sections. The "Hit Parade" section gave clear definitions as they are given on the GRE. I also reviewed the book's Analytical Writing section the night before the exam and it greatly helped organize my thoughts.

The only way to improve this would be to add a CD-ROM with practice test software. The Princeton Review's online exam was difficult to access and required registration, and the book didn't give access to any more than the basic online test (which is already free to anyone). Use this book in combination with other testing software for better results.

Also, don't buy separate vocabulary flash cards unless you are in a real hurry. It was much more efficient for me to make my own flash cards with index cards, based only on the words that were new to me.

This was my only resource for taking the GRE, and I only studied two weeks in advance, and I scored in the top 85%, so it must be a good teacher. This book is good at breaking things down so that you know how to take the test and select the best answer. Good review of all the sections, and two full length practice exams. I would recommend.

This book was helpful, it was written well and in a positive style (which is good if you're freaking out about the GRE). When I bought this book I also ordered a couple of other GRE test prep books, and compared to some of the others (like the Barron's book for example) the Princeton Review book did not have as much practice sets and their word list was not as comprehensive either. This books was great in a lot of ways, but i just wish it had more.

After reading many Amazon reviews, I couldn't decide whether I wanted to buy the Princeton Review book or the Barron's book (How to Prepare for the GRE with CD-ROM (Barron's How to Prepare for the Gre Graduate Record Examination)(16th Edition)), so I ended up buying both. I really like the way the PR book was written - almost as if you're talking to a peer. I actually bought the DVD edition of the PR book, but I never used the DVD. I was disappointed that the book had so few exercises to practice on. The vocabulary section of the book was helpful but not as comprehensive as Barron's. The best part of buying the PR book is the online supplement. My edition came with 3 practice drills and 4 CAT practice tests - all online. The CAT practice tests were especially useful because they're similar to the progam that ETS uses to administer the GRE. Also, when you take a practice test, the PR program records your scores & then gives you advice on pacing & what scores you should aim for based on your previous scores. The CAT practice tests definitely give PR an edge over the other prep books out there.

Good review of the basics. Only downside is that you need to go online to get the full benefit of all the lessons (and buy another book).

This book is helpful for those who need additional instruction understanding the basics of math. It focuses on building skills from the beginngin (starting with what is an interger, etc). I found it to be a bit disorganized in the math section, and I think the Kaplan book (which I also used to study) is much more helpful in the verbal section. Note also that the Princeton book provides a DVD companion- it is not a supplemental CD with exam questions. The Kaplan book was much more organized, strategy-focused, and understandable. It also had more practice questions.