Customer Reviews

How to Prepare for the GRE: 2005-2006 (Barron's How to Prepare for the GRE: Graduate Record Examination)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The GRE is no joke and neither should be one's preparation for it. The 16th edition of Barron's HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE GRE 2006-2007 is about the best single volume edition for home study. I had already taken some pay to learn courses for the GRE and there was nothing in those courses that Barron's did not cover just as well and at a fraction of the cost. One ought not to assume that an undergraduate degree is sufficient by itself to get a high score. What Barron's assumes is that one's degree is simply a starting point and that guided suggestions will help. The authors, Sharon Weiner and Ira Wolf, provide an helpful introductory diagnostic test that closely mimics the latest version of the general test. From there, they divide the test study material in the following component parts:

Antonyms/Analogies
Sentence Completions
Vocabulary
Reading Comprehension
Analytical Writing
Quantitative Comparison
Data Interpretation

First, a mildly negative comment. The section on Analytical Writing is inexplicably skimpy. True, Weiner and Wolf explain the basics of how to take the computer version, which involves writing two essays on a computer. The problem is that they do little more than provide some very basic advice about how to structure your essay. They provide the theory behind writing an essay without much in the way of presenting finished essays. What I would have appreciated would have been several critiqued and scored essays that would have put verbal flesh on deskinned skeletons. What I recommend for test takers is to use the topics provided and write a word processed essay daily each within a 45 minute time frame. Plus, their mention of "claim," "grounds," and "warrant" seems like an unnecessarily complicated way to tell the writer to write a brief listing of ideas.

The remainder of their text is a rich mine of details, suggestions, and explications that test takers may find more valuable in some areas than in another. Those test takers with degrees in math and science may not need the more than 150 pages that cover algebra, geometry, and quantitative analysis. In my case, they were quite helpful since I have an English background. I found the sections on reading and vocabulary to be a welcome refresher on fine points. For those whose native language is other than English, they ought certainly pay close attention to these latter sections. Weiner and Wolf close out with five fully explicated practice tests.

There is no excuse for taking the GRE general test with insufficient preparation. The Barron's text of Weiner and Wolf is a demanding and arduous step toward getting into grad school. Yet, it is an indispensable step and except for the previously noted shortcomings in analytical writing, I highly recommend it.

I took the GRE for the second time three weeks ago and did better than I expected. When I took the test before (2001), I had used the Princeton Review material (Cracking the GRE), and it definitely gave me excellent pointers on approaching the questions, guessing effectively, and managing my time. As a result, I got a 660 on the math last time -- pretty good. But I felt that the actual math instruction in PR was a little skimpy, and I got Kaplan's GRE/GMAT Math Review and this Barron's book (the 2006 edition).

The math questions in Barron's book are MUCH more difficult than those in the Princeton Review. They kicked my butt, as a matter of fact, and made me work a lot harder. The practice tests, in particular, were very challenging in the math department, and I never scored above an estimated 630. So I wasn't expecting a better performance when I actually took the test again. Low and behold, I got a better score! I really think it was the hard work I put into both the math review (Kaplan's) and the practice in this book/CD. I agree with a previous reviewer that the GRE is more about hard work than anything else. (Of course, all it really tells you is how well you do on the test and has little to do with real life or real ability.)

I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 for two reasons: there are some cringe-inducing typos and some dropped material; and the section on data analysis questions could have been more thorough. I felt as though the data analysis questions themselves had an ungodly amount of calculation as well -- an amount that never would be required on the real GRE.

BTW, there is some free material out there that is also extremely useful. The University of California system has a tutorial at its site for its students and anyone interested in applying to grad school there. If you go to the main page and search for "GRE" you'll find the tutorial. I found the questions in this tutorial to be the closest to the actual GRE questions than any other prep I used. I think the keys are: study a bit every day over a good period of time (6 weeks, say) and use as many different prep sources as you can find and/or afford.

This book is great for the practice tests it provides, and I recommend it for anyone who is practicing for the GRE. However, I think it is important to look at some of the other books out there as well. Some will be stronger in explaining the answers, but may have less practice tests, or other deficiencies. I don't know of one absolute best source to recommend to you, and I doubt that there is one. It depends so much on exactly what you need the practice on. This book is great for general review and practice, and it can help you to identify the areas that you really need to work on. Based on that you may be able to identify what other books or material could be helpful in getting ready for the test.

I've studied from over half dozen books for GRE and this is by far the best book, not only for the price but overall. While other books might be good to skim just to learn some additional details, this one is great as a core text. It's well written, thorough and has great both verbal and math sections. I truly recommend it.

I selected this book from the glut of GRE preparation manuals based on two factors--the lower price and its five model tests. My thinking was the more times I practiced taking the test, the better. While I certainly can't hold this book accountable for my performance or my score, I can caution potential test-takers that this book seems a little incomplete. There are areas in the math portion where items are left blank. For one of the passages in the reading comprehension section, the question asked about an author never even mentioned in the text! These sloppy details don't cancel out the whole of the book, but they are distracting. When you are preparing to take the GRE, do you really want to worry about your test-prep book being wrong or incomplete?

I feel I MUST write a comment here after my experience with the GREs. The first time I took the test, this was the only book I used.
Things it was good for:
1. Excellent vocab list
2. Comprehensive math review
HOWEVER, as many others have written before DO NOT USE THIS AS YOUR ONLY BOOK. This was my biggest mistake in my first GRE. While the Barrons has many practice tests and problems, first of all, if you're taking the CAT the feel of the test is VERY different than the paper ones in the Barron's book. Second, I found that the sentence completions and the reading comp in in Barrons were a lot easier than in the real GRE.
So, the best way to really improve your score is to use this book with other practice materials. If you're taking the CAT, you MUST DOWNLOAD ETS POWERPREP SOFTWARE. This is the most realistic version of the test you can find. Hands down.
Kaplan's cd was also helpful in getting accustomed to the CAT, but some of the tests were unrealistically hard. I haven't tried the Barron's or Princeton Review cds, but i'm sure any sort of software will help.
All that being said, my verbal score improved by nearly 200 points after using the combination of these test materials (590-740). Math score stayed the same, but that's because I didn't practice/care as much since my potential grad programs are based in writing.
The best thing to do is keep taking practice tests and make sure that you TIME yourself. Timing and stamina in the GRE are as important as knowledge in the subjects! Good luck!

This is the single best review book for the GRE on the market, at least as far as quantitative review and vocabulary. I recommend using this book's information along with another book that teaches you a bit more about the format of the GRE and tactics, like Kaplan, but DON'T depend on Kaplan for a good review of math, they only help with tactics. The math review in this book is very dense and can be hard to sift through. -But if you dedicate yourself and learn all the concepts, you'll be all set for quantitative!

If anyone out there is in need of ramping up their quantitative score and is willing to put in the hard work, this is my study plan and I highly recommend it. It involves 3 books; this book, the Arco GRE/GMAT Math Review book and the Kaplan GRE & GMAT Exams Math Workbook (I recommend 3rd or 4th edition).

1) Go through the arithmetic chapter in the Arco GRE/GMAT Math Review book. Take notes if necessary, and do all the practice problems. This is an excellent BASIC review.
2) Go through the arithmetic chapter in this book (Barron's). Again, take notes if necessary and do all problems. If you get any of them wrong, review them until you know how to get the right answer.
3) Go through the arithmetic chapter in Kaplan GRE/GMAT Math review book. This is NOT so much for you to review math concepts; you already did that with ARCO & Barron's. This is just for you to REINFORCE what you learned from the previous two books.
4) Take one of the math tests in the ARCO book.
5) Repeat steps 1-4 for every math subject chapter (ie algebra, geometry, word problems, etc.) There should be 6 math tests in the arco book which is perfect for the roughly 6 sections of math review in all three books.

I am intending to complete this plan in a month with roughly 1.5 hours of study per weekday and a little more on the weekend. You may not need as much time for review if you are good at math and know your weak points. If so, then just work on your weak points.

ALSO, don't forget to go over CAT strategies before the test and TAKE SOME CAT tests to help you with your timing! Be sure to do your powerprep!

This book definately serves its purpose. If you need a good review on math and vocab this book can help. Also the tips on answering questions are extremely useful. I wouldn't use this as my only tool before taking the GRE but it is a huge help.

Excellent prep for the verbal and math sections of the GRE General Test. A pretty comprehensive wordlist, good tactics to attack verbal questions discussed. The reason I am giving 4 stars is that the sample tests were much easier than the actual test. Nevertheless, this is the best way to prepare for GRE.

The Verbal and Analytical Sections of the book contain general tactics and strategies that are helpful. However, you still need to polish up on your vocabulary to actually answer the questions, and practise writing essays and identifying issues, etc. The 3500 Master Word list is helpful but some definitions of some words are inaccurate. I had to double-check with a proper dictionary! The Math review section and practice exercises seem to be incomplete in some areas - No answer choices (A, B, C, D, or E) were given, so you don't really know what the actual answer is other than the letters A, B, C, D or E! The Math Review section is a tad bit cluttered and not as concise or simple as I'd like it to be. I have not done high-school math for 15 years and really need a refresher course that I thought this book would provide, which it did not. I regret having bought this book.