Customer Reviews

Kaplan Gre Exam 2000 2001 With Cd Rom (Gre (Kaplan)(Book & CD-Rom))

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The CAT practice tests on the CD are excellent and capture the essence of the GRE style questions. While the questions on test day were different in some sense from the practice questions on the CD, their underlying structural form was an exact match. I'm not very strong in verbal, ie. I was struggling to get over 500, but the guessing techniques Kaplan gives enabled me to not have to worry about scoring below 500 (verbal isn't too important for my field but below 500 looks bad regardless). Finally, don't worry if you "bomb" the practice test the CD gives you right away, but do worry if you study from this book and consistently "bomb" the full CAT practice tests. The reason is that I found the final full CAT practice tests to be good predictors of how well I would do on test day. My actual scores were 560 Verbal, 760 Quantitative, 780 Analytical and it predicted ranges of 520 - 640 Verbal, 700 - 770 Quantitative, 760 - 800 Analytical (this was over the course of me taking all the full CAT practice tests after reviewing their study tips). Even the percentage scores it gives you are good predictions for how they correspond to scaled scores. This is truly a sound investment, whether you have months to study or only a single day.

I must have ten or so study guides for the GRE, and I have to say that Kaplan's is, by far, the best one. It helped my scores tremendously. What I found very useful was its CD-ROM. In fact, I think I must have just skimmed the book and devoted most of my time working with the CD. Since the GRE is only offered on the computer now, the practice tests on the CD were a big help. The CD is very interactive and actually quite fun. For someone on a busy schedule, Kaplan's interactive CD is a life-saver.

Having had a limited time to practice for the GRE, I've taken this book and scored as follows - verbal from 480 (first practice test) to 650 (actual test), quant 540 to 790, analytical from 500 to 800.

What I particularly liked was:
1. efficiently learn test taking strategies (succinct text)
2. very well made CD-ROM application (good practice tests, excellent vocabulary builder with over 500 words, interactive lessons, fun!)
3. all practice tests are timed:I was forced to improve my test taking speed (no cheating as in paper&pencil practice tests...)

What I would like to see improved/ noted:
1. full vocabulary in the vocabulary builder application (vocabulary shown in the book is only partially included in the CD-ROM app.)
2. export of vocabulary to text-file (better print out, export to Palm etc.)
3. I had an extremely hard time keeping the time on the analytical test until I stopped sketching every question - Use shorthand whenever possible - you can answer most questions without a sketch!

The Book and CD Rom are simply the best. For students unable to attend classes, I recommend it highly. I was not sure if I would have the discipline to do the lessons regularly, or if I would miss having a teacher to guide me through the tough areas. My experience is that they always held my interest and the explanations are so thorough, that no further explanations are necessary.

The Book was a useful to me in 2 areas:

a) The Vocabulary words; Kaplan's analysis of the most common words shows depth, and Lo and behold TRACTABLE did come in the exam!

b) The summary at the back of the book of all the salient points.

CD Rom has so many good points I wouldnt know where to begin. The reason I first bought it from Amazon was because of a good review, now in turn I agree with the original review. Some of my reasons are:

a) The 3 final tests are just like the computer-based exam, in particular the timing feature and the questions

b) The 18 sub-tests, all timed

c) The fun games to lighten up the mood while keeping the focus

d) The Vocabulary builder, especially where the words are used in a sentence so you get a better grasp of the contexts

e) The interface is user friendly, and the screens are easy to manoeuvre. I found it easy to go to a lesson and head directly to the section that I needed to review.

f) The diagnostics received at the end of each test also provide useful information.

From failing miserably at the diagnostic stage to finishing with marks above average in all counts in the final exam taken for the first time in December, I say that this is a good buy.

Obsessive student that I am, I bought four different GRE prep books to be sure I ACED the GRE. Honestly, I shouldn't have--the Kaplan GRE book and, especially, the CD were all I really needed. The CD gives you a personalized study plan based on how much time you've got left before the actual exam, and gives you detailed feedback so you know what types of questions consistently trip you up. Plus, the book chapter on the GRE Writing test was really helpful, especially since none of the other GRE books I bought had any info on the (relatively new) Writing test.

Probably the most helpful aspect of this book (over GRE for dummies) is that it comes with a program that provides lectures, gives you practice problems to solve, and most importantly, sample timed tests that are in the same format as the computerized GRE. It was worth every cent!

I was told I'd have to achieve an extremely high GRE score to get into my desired graduate program. This seemed unlikely since I had been out of school for many years and was unfamiliar with CAT strategies.

The CD enabled me to master the mechanics of the actual test-taking procedure so I didn't have to waste time on the actual test reviewing help screens. The practice CATs made me realize my responses were too slow and I learned to speed up: on the GRE I completed every question. Scores on the practice CATs corresponded well to my actual scores.

I had never done logic puzzles before and was totally clueless about how to solve them. I couldn't answer logic problems on the diagnostic test. By following the tips in the book and CD I was able to score very respectably in that area on test day.

However, In addition to this text prospective test-takers should study additional vocabulary lists. Many of the vocabulary words I saw weren't in Kaplan's package. (In fact, I saw words on the actual GRE that I didn't see on ANY list!)

I made it into the graduate program. If you are willing to put in enough time studying this book and CD, you can get the score you need.

I bought other GRE books, but this is the major one that helped. I don't usually perform well on standardized tests (PSATs, SATs, and LSATs), but I did very well on the GREs because of this book. The reviews and strategies are a great resource to help the test-taker when it's time to take the test. Even though many of the vocabulary words in the book and on the CD were not on the actual GRE, the vocabulary that you learn in the book will allow you to deduce the meaning of many words on the test. Also, my major weaknesses before I bought this book were the quantitative and analytical sections. On the test, I scored a 600 on both of these sections. These scores may not be as high as others who take the test, but considering where I was previously, this is an great accomplishment. All in all, this book is a great buy and I definitely received my money's worth. Actually, this book should be used in conjunction with the GRE Powerprep software from ETS. The powerprep software will give you more realistic questions and practice tests, since it is endorsed by ETS itself.

The CD that comes with the book was what really helped me the most. The book offers you some useful strategies, however, the same strategies are givin to you on the CD. All of my full length exam scores increased (you really need to do the practice tests in between and read the explanations, though). If you are really bad in one section (math for me), you are probably going to need to buy supplamental information, the tutorials are not very comprehensive, and you get no information on how to tackle the graphs. As far as the verbal section goes, the root list located in the back of the book really helped and about 5 of the words located on the verbal list were actually on the exam. The only down side that I saw to the CD was that the timing was messed up on the practice tests (you get about 6 for each section, 18 total), you get a lot more time on the actual exam to complete each section (THEY CHEAT YOU ABOUT 10 MIN. ON THE SECTION PRACTICE EXAMS), so don't freak when you don't complete them. When I called the help line to find out why, they did not even know and never got back to me. The 3 full lengths were good indicators of my actual score, my V+Q score was 10 pts. higher than the V+Q average of my full length tests (not counting diagnostic) and my V+A score was 40 pts. higher than the V+A average of my full length exams (I used the CD + supplamental information every week night--give or take-- for about 1 solid month and took full lengths on the weekends). In short, if you cannot use the CD, it is probably best that you get something more comprehensive, with more practice tests located in the book (the practice problems in the book are a lot easier than the ones on the exam). Hope I have helped and good blessings on the exam!!!

Supplamental Information I Used: Princeton Review: Math Smart-Essential Math for these Numeric Times

I found this book and CD to be very helpful. After taking the diagnostic test on the CD, a plan of attack is designed based on your weak points and time. There are also games and flashcards on the CD, if you want to take a break from your prescribed plan.

The book itself has slightly scaled down versions of the lessons, vocab lists, and math problems. Those who do not have a computer will still find the book useful, but not as much as if they had a computer. The book does a great job of telling you about the test and gives other great advice about mental preparedness.

The CD had some annoying features. Everytime you open the program, you have to watch a time consuming intro. As far as I could tell, you couldn't bypass it. Also, each lesson began with a silly cartoon that could not be avoided. At the end of each lesson, a lengthy summary of CAT strategies most of which had been mentioned before, could not be stopped. At times I felt like I was wasting valuble time watching all of these clips.

All things considered, the book and CD helped me a lot. After I took the diagnostic test on the CD, I thought I had a bleak future. However, after studying, I improved significantly on the CAT practice exams. When I took the actual exam, I did far better than the CD predicted.