Cracking the GRE, 2010 Edition (Graduate School Test Preparation) [Paperback]

Princeton Review (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0375429328 | ISBN-13: 978-0375429323 | Publication Date: June 9, 2009 | Edition: 1

Are you hoping to pursue a master’s degree or Ph.D.? If so, the GRE will probably be an important part of your graduate school application. You’ll find everything you need to prepare for this crucial test in Cracking the GRE. This new 2010 edition of our popular guide offers proven techniques from the test prep experts at The Princeton Review. It includes over 300 practice questions in the book and exclusive free access to 2 practice tests, additional practice questions, and expert advice online.

In Cracking the GRE we’ll bring you the key strategies and skills you need to ace the Verbal, Math, and Essay sections. We’ll teach you how to think like the test writers and

•Master specific strategies for answering every question type, including the newer question types like “Enter a Number”
•Solve even the toughest questions in Text Completions, Reading Comprehension, Algebra, and more
•Practice, practice, practice with questions just like those you’ll see on the real GRE, and learn from your mistakes with detailed explanations for all answers

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Review; 1 edition (June 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375429328
• ISBN-13: 978-0375429323
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 1.1 x 10.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #150,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #66 in Books > Education & Reference > Education > Test Guides - Graduate & Professional > GRE

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

333 of 337 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cracking the GRE is by far the most user-friendly and helpful GRE prep book!!!, June 29, 2009

By 

Ian W. Ettinger - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cracking the GRE, 2010 Edition (Graduate School Test Preparation) (Paperback)

I just finished studying for the GRE with Barron's, Kaplan, ETS, and Princeton Review, and Cracking the GRE is by far the best out of the four. Its math and verbal sections are incredibly user-friendly and helpful, and the analytical writing section is essential if you want a top-scoring essay on the test. Princeton Review not only tells you exactly what you need to do to get the highest scores on your essays, but its website also offers LiveGrader, a service which allows you to have your essays scored by actual graders (not computers!) for $6 per test. This is much cheaper than the grading service ETS offers ($13 per test)! The math section is excellent for someone (like me) who is not gifted in math, with the most simple, clear, and useful explanations of any GRE prep book I've found. As far as I'm concerned, Cracking the GRE is ESSENTIAL to do well on the GRE!! The only caveat I would add is that if you want a top score on the verbal section you'll also need to reference Barron's comprehensive vocabulary list, which is unmatched by any other book...

94 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good advice on strategy, but very few practice questions, October 1, 2009

By 

lalina - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cracking the GRE with DVD, 2010 Edition (Graduate School Test Preparation) (Paperback)

This book should not be the only source you use to study for the GRE. While it does contain advice on helpful strategies to employ to answer the different question types, it has very, very little practice, which is precisely what you need most to adequately prepare for the GRE! The DVD that accompanies the book has very little material on it, and even less material that is useful. If you do want to buy this book, choose the non-DVD option and save yourself some money. I don't find the Hit Parade very useful because it just lists the word, part of speech (noun, adjective, verb) and the definition of the word, without giving the word in context. They encourage you to put the word in a sentence yourself, but this is difficult for words that you are totally unfamiliar with (you may be using it the wrong way). I like Kaplan's strategy better, which is to place a word in a sentence, because it helps with recall. Kaplan also creates sentences in which the meaning of the word is clear.

A positive: the PR book comes with a product key which you can plug in on the Princeton Review website and get access to four full-length practice tests and some practice lessons and drills. You can get a demo version of what I'm talking about for free on the website (even if you don't have the product key), but the product key unlocks some more options. Curiously, the study plan that PR provides you with (on the website) tells you to practice using ETS's "Practicing to Take the GRE: General Test, 10th Edition" -- so they expect you to buy yet another book.

Bottom line, PR is good for strategy, but bad for practice. My boyfriend used Kaplan and I'm using some of his material (flashcards, pocket reference, etc), and I'm finding Kaplan much better for verbal (I haven't gotten to the math section yet).

54 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I like the strategies better than Kaplan's, July 4, 2009

By 

T. Duda - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cracking the GRE with DVD, 2010 Edition (Graduate School Test Preparation) (Paperback)

I echo many peoples' sentiments in that I feel both the Princeton Review and Kaplan books are useful. Personally, I like how this book is written better than I do Kaplan's. I also like the strategies a little more. Both are good though. If you're not going to take the courses in person, then I would suggest getting both this text and Kaplan's. The more practice the better. One thing that I found interesting is that after combining Barron's, Kaplan's, and the Princeton review's top 250, top 200 (and top 400 found online after signing up for the online supplements), and top 450 (Hit Parade and beyond the hit parade)words, respectively, I came up with about 940 words. You would think that there would be more overlap; I guess not.