If you need to know it, it’s in this book.
Cracking the GRE, 2013 Edition has everything you need to know to master Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and the Essay sections of the GRE, and includes:
• Access to 4 full-length practice tests
• Practice questions with detailed explanations for every question
• Key strategies for solving Text Completions, Sentence Equivalence, Numeric Entry, Quantitative Comparisons, and more
• Thorough review of all GRE topics, including everything on the revised GRE that debuted in fall 2011
• Online video tutorials offering in-depth exploration of key strategies and concepts
Cracking the GRE, 2013 Edition
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
287 of 296 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
First, I am certain that someone is planting reviews on this book to get sales. Unethical. All of the reviewers thus far only have made one review (look at their history) and that review is on this book. Shady. With that being stated...
The book is pretty good, however; it is lacking. There was a question type on the math GRE that it does not cover. As far as Princeton Review is concerned, this certain type of question does not exist. Well, it does! Fine if you don't want to max out your score. Not fine for me. I figured out how to do it in real time the last time I took the GRE, but I missed it the first time around because I wasn't expecting it at all. I am paying for a book to tell me how to beat the system. I should beat it. You should beat it.
Also, the section on permutations was overly brief, skimming over juicy bits. I can see why they did that, though. Most people don't want to know all the permutation and combination formulas. I do! So I reviewed the material online. The issue is that if you don't know that stuff during the test, you have to guess with the letter of the day because you aren't prepared to answer it. I'd rather have a 100% chance of getting it right than a 20%. Maybe that is just me.
For $15 off Amazon, I would recommend the book, however; these planted reviews saying the book is perfect are just lies.
The book is pretty good, however; it is lacking. There was a question type on the math GRE that it does not cover. As far as Princeton Review is concerned, this certain type of question does not exist. Well, it does! Fine if you don't want to max out your score. Not fine for me. I figured out how to do it in real time the last time I took the GRE, but I missed it the first time around because I wasn't expecting it at all. I am paying for a book to tell me how to beat the system. I should beat it. You should beat it.
Also, the section on permutations was overly brief, skimming over juicy bits. I can see why they did that, though. Most people don't want to know all the permutation and combination formulas. I do! So I reviewed the material online. The issue is that if you don't know that stuff during the test, you have to guess with the letter of the day because you aren't prepared to answer it. I'd rather have a 100% chance of getting it right than a 20%. Maybe that is just me.
For $15 off Amazon, I would recommend the book, however; these planted reviews saying the book is perfect are just lies.
83 of 84 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
One of the earlier posters complained of all the reviewers having only one review. Well, I'm one of those "one-reviewers," simply because I've been too lazy in the past to post a review about... well, anything. Anyway, just wanted to let you know - this isn't a shill review or anything of the sort. I just felt compelled to report on my experience with the GRE and the Princeton Review book.
So, I decided to enroll in film school and many of them require taking the GRE for admittance. Before purchasing ANY books or looking at any notes, I downloaded the official PowerPrep software available at the ETS website. The free software comes with 4 or so tests - 1 unscored practice test (although you get the answers at the end), 2 scored tests (that you can take timed or untimed - I recommend times) and I think another weird practice test. Anyway, I took the untimed practice test and got a perfect score. Unfortunately, the difficulty of the untimed practice test is misleading. I ended earning a 154/170 verbal and 130/170 quantitative on my first timed PowerPrep test. Needless to say, I was rather disappointed with both my scores.
Now that I had a baseline, it was time to seek out a good GRE training book so I could accurately gauge my improvement after taking the second timed test. I actually went to Barnes and Nobles and analyzed all the other books (Barron's, Kaplans, non-brands) until deciding on this book. The other books didn't seem BAD, but the test questions in both the Barron's and Kaplan books didn't read like the ones in from the PowerPrep test. Make no mistake, neither does the Princeton Review book. However, this book did an amazing job at deconstructing the questions and illustrating a few universal strategies to attack them.
Now, here's the two faults of the book -
1. You can tell that the Princeton Review did NOT have access to actual ETS written questions, so they wrote their own. Unfortunately, the example questions provided tended to cater to the Princeton Review's strategies. In other words - the strategies worked VERY WELL for the book's example questions (where I was hitting 100% accuracy), but not so much on the actual ETS questions. However, I could apply the strategies to get the correct answer. Just took a bit more thinking.
2. As the other reviewers have mentioned, the math section is a bit lacking. What I did to compensate was writing down everything I had a problem with while taking the PowerPrep test, studying those sections in the book and seeking outside online help. There was one GREAT tidbit of knowledge found in this book that rang true on the actual GRE. Many of the math questions are INSANELY easy, but the question is worded in such a way that you'll waste precious minutes on advanced calculations that are unnecessary. This book has a small section devoted to seeing through that crap.
So, after 2 weeks of studying, I took the second PowerPrep timed test and landed a 163/verbal and 155/quantitative. Not bad, in my opinion. I took the actual GRE yesterday and earned 160/verbal and 150/quantitative. I was a bit disappointed in the drop, but - there was definitely improvement from studying this book. Personally, I underestimated how daunting it was to sit in a cold metal chair for 4 hours taking a test. Midway through, I experienced heavy brain fatigue.
In the end, I do believe this book helped a lot. I'd advise beginning your study 3 months out (not a few weeks, as I ridiculously tried) and getting some supplemental test questions.
Oh, I kinda glossed over the training for the essay questions, so I don't know how accurate that section in the book is. Once I get my essays graded, I'll read what the book has to say about that, compare it to my essay and give an assessment.
Good luck!
So, I decided to enroll in film school and many of them require taking the GRE for admittance. Before purchasing ANY books or looking at any notes, I downloaded the official PowerPrep software available at the ETS website. The free software comes with 4 or so tests - 1 unscored practice test (although you get the answers at the end), 2 scored tests (that you can take timed or untimed - I recommend times) and I think another weird practice test. Anyway, I took the untimed practice test and got a perfect score. Unfortunately, the difficulty of the untimed practice test is misleading. I ended earning a 154/170 verbal and 130/170 quantitative on my first timed PowerPrep test. Needless to say, I was rather disappointed with both my scores.
Now that I had a baseline, it was time to seek out a good GRE training book so I could accurately gauge my improvement after taking the second timed test. I actually went to Barnes and Nobles and analyzed all the other books (Barron's, Kaplans, non-brands) until deciding on this book. The other books didn't seem BAD, but the test questions in both the Barron's and Kaplan books didn't read like the ones in from the PowerPrep test. Make no mistake, neither does the Princeton Review book. However, this book did an amazing job at deconstructing the questions and illustrating a few universal strategies to attack them.
Now, here's the two faults of the book -
1. You can tell that the Princeton Review did NOT have access to actual ETS written questions, so they wrote their own. Unfortunately, the example questions provided tended to cater to the Princeton Review's strategies. In other words - the strategies worked VERY WELL for the book's example questions (where I was hitting 100% accuracy), but not so much on the actual ETS questions. However, I could apply the strategies to get the correct answer. Just took a bit more thinking.
2. As the other reviewers have mentioned, the math section is a bit lacking. What I did to compensate was writing down everything I had a problem with while taking the PowerPrep test, studying those sections in the book and seeking outside online help. There was one GREAT tidbit of knowledge found in this book that rang true on the actual GRE. Many of the math questions are INSANELY easy, but the question is worded in such a way that you'll waste precious minutes on advanced calculations that are unnecessary. This book has a small section devoted to seeing through that crap.
So, after 2 weeks of studying, I took the second PowerPrep timed test and landed a 163/verbal and 155/quantitative. Not bad, in my opinion. I took the actual GRE yesterday and earned 160/verbal and 150/quantitative. I was a bit disappointed in the drop, but - there was definitely improvement from studying this book. Personally, I underestimated how daunting it was to sit in a cold metal chair for 4 hours taking a test. Midway through, I experienced heavy brain fatigue.
In the end, I do believe this book helped a lot. I'd advise beginning your study 3 months out (not a few weeks, as I ridiculously tried) and getting some supplemental test questions.
Oh, I kinda glossed over the training for the essay questions, so I don't know how accurate that section in the book is. Once I get my essays graded, I'll read what the book has to say about that, compare it to my essay and give an assessment.
Good luck!
67 of 69 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is overall pretty good; I definitely recommend it for the price.
On the other hand, I'm a math major, looking to go on to a Ph.D. in math, and have found the math section of this book in need of some serious editing. There are incorrect explanations and answers, though not many, but enough to cause concern. Some of the questions in the math part are written in a logically unsound manner; that is, they could logically be interpreted more than one way, and relatively often the correct answer is I can not tell (although this is not often a choice, thank goodness). For a subject based on the application of logic to certain assumptions/definitions/axioms, this seems strange to me.
The verbal section has been very helpful to me, especially in test-taking strategies (if it's not in the passage, it's not the answer!!). However, someone from the Princeton Review has got to rip the math section apart and start over.
On the other hand, I'm a math major, looking to go on to a Ph.D. in math, and have found the math section of this book in need of some serious editing. There are incorrect explanations and answers, though not many, but enough to cause concern. Some of the questions in the math part are written in a logically unsound manner; that is, they could logically be interpreted more than one way, and relatively often the correct answer is I can not tell (although this is not often a choice, thank goodness). For a subject based on the application of logic to certain assumptions/definitions/axioms, this seems strange to me.
The verbal section has been very helpful to me, especially in test-taking strategies (if it's not in the passage, it's not the answer!!). However, someone from the Princeton Review has got to rip the math section apart and start over.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
WONDERFUL!
I cannot say enough good things about this book! This is the next best thing to a GRE prep course. The information learned consists of SKILLS, not merely information. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Med Assoc
3.0 out of 5 stars
Emphasizes tricks, rather than knowledge
I took the GRE in May 2013. I bought this book mainly to review the quantitative reasoning section of the test, since I was applying for an engineering program. Read more
Published 5 days ago by L. Becker
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not the best
After taking a course and completing two full texts on the subject, I can report officially that this was the least helpful book in my GRE preparation. Read more
Published 7 days ago by C. F. Harrington
1.0 out of 5 stars
Good material plagued by too many errors
Overall this is a good book for learning strategies but there are too many typos especially in the math sections. There are wrong formulas and practice problems that are wrong. Read more
Published 10 days ago by R. Price
4.0 out of 5 stars
One week prep time
I've been contemplating back and forth about going to graduate school for sometime now. About 1.5 weeks I decided I might as well go for it, there is no time like now (plus I work... Read more
Published 13 days ago by Hannah Drew
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved the book
I can't wait to get started on this fun adventure. A whole summer worth of cramming lies ahead. Thanks again.
Published 17 days ago by Just George
5.0 out of 5 stars
great offer
any kind of study utensils for the GRE are useful, I like that it has practice quizzes in the back.
Published 22 days ago by WHITNEY GILBERT
5.0 out of 5 stars
Typical
This review is as good as any review. I would buy it again, but there are a number of review books that are just as good.
Published 23 days ago by Michael Walker
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cracking the GRE is very useful and helpful book
Actually, I bought this bool and I found it very useful and beneficial. It has a lot of information helping me to get a good score in the GRE exam. Read more
Published 23 days ago by ali
4.0 out of 5 stars
just as i expected it to be
i have bought this product used ... and honestly just like the expectation, really good quality, loved it, but not loving GRE
Published 25 days ago by COLEMAN
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