Customer Reviews

Kaplan GRE Exam 2010 Premier Live Online (Kaplan Gre Exam Premier Live)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I ordered this book, the Kaplan GRE math review book, and the Kaplan GRE vocab flashcards, and I also separately (off Amazon) purchased the Princeton GRE review book. I got these materials at the end of July and did not start studying hard (about 3 hours a day) until 6 weeks before the test, but the combination of these materials prepared me well. The Kaplan offers a decent variety of questions and a good overview of vocab/math, but I preferred the Princeton book better, to be honest. It was more accessible, and the math review was VERY basic, which was just what I needed. Coupled with the Kaplan math review book, I feel like my sources gave me a very good overview of skills I needed to know. The great thing about Kaplan is the online companion, which provides helpful quizzes, study plans, and 4 full-length tests, three of which are CATs. The answers to all these quizzes and tests are fully explained, so they helped me a great deal.

As far as verbal sections are concerned, the cards and books seemed clear and helpful, but as the verbal section of any test has always been my strong point, I did not really study verbal very much. The cards do provide 500 "standard" GRE words, and I have to admit that I saw about 7-10 of them on today's test (yup, I took it this afternoon). If you are worried about vocab (and the GRE really amounts to a big vocab test), I would invest in the cards. Likewise, if you are worried about the essays, I would invest in the Princeton book, which has an excellent, step-by-step approach to writing solid essays.

The most important thing, though, is practice. These materials will help you review concepts, but practice is key for getting a handle on test pacing (and effective pacing has everything to do with good score, as you are penalized for unanswered questions). I did get somewhat flustered during today's Quant section, but using the various strategies I learned from these resources, I still managed to get a 630 in Quant (which is a triumph for this English major, especially since my poor pacing forced me to guess on the last 13 questions). I got an 800 in Verbal, and I do think the practice drills and tests helped my pacing. I don't know my AWA scores yet, but I completed them with a few minutes to spare. While no particular combination of study materials will guarantee good GRE score, I found that these particular resources worked well for me!

The Not So Good:
The GRE Premier Live Online edition 2010 that I have is a little frustrating. I found that the instructions, starting with the "Quick Start Guide", actually left you groping aroung on the internet trying to find the web pages they are referring to. I think someone who was too familiar with their process wrote it so that started off on the wrong foot. In addition, I am not one who likes to provide information on the internet and Kaplan uses the fact that you have already bought their product as leverage to collect your information.
In addition to these issues the online service gives a maximum of 3 months to use the service that "comes" with the book. With a family, including three young children, I am not sure I whether or not I will really get all of the use from it by Septmber. There is always something good to be said about just getting in and diog it, but I don't need a push from a vendors product that I have already purchased.

The Good:
Once I found the diagnostic test I think it was very worthwhile.. boy do I need some vocabulary work. In addition, the book (and website) does a good job on a question by question basis explaining what you did wrong (unfortunately on vocab issues it is appratent when you read the question!). I definitely have started getting more comfortable with the test as I have read through how the test is generated, scored, and the reasoning as to why Kaplan's philosophy can yield good results.

I haven't taken the test yet and have just started with the Kaplan book, overall I think it will work well. I would rather have a CD with a number of practice tests that I can run at any time or have longer access to the website service though. I gave it 3 stars because I think the product isn't necessarily bad, but left me with that "ripped off" feeling when dealing with the "Not So Good" things I explained above.

I used Kaplan's ASVAB book and the GRE Exam 2010 Online book, and both have similar problems.

1. Kaplan is VERY bad at explaining new concepts. If you're just looking for review and feel comfortable in your math skills, this book is probably fine. But if you're hazy on geometry and algebra, you will probably just be confused and frustrated using Kaplan, because they do things like teach you how to use a concept, then have an "example" problem where the concept isn't even used.

2. The online guide sucks. I got this book because it said it had 5 practice tests online, but once you register the book, it tells you that a new practice test is only available every month. Not only can you not take multiple practice tests within a month (which would be useful if you don't have months and months to study for the GRE), but the online tools are only good for three months. Essentially, there are only 3 practice tests available to you, and given how ridiculously complicated the online segments are, even those are hard to use.

3. Kaplan has the worst practice questions EVER. With both ASVAB and GRE, Kaplan uses real questions taken from the tests, but forgets key parts of the questions, making them unsolvable. For instance, Question 25 from the math section of the book's practice test is missing key information, so you're basically guessing on questions that would NEVER be composed that way on the real GRE.

This book is a frustrating waste of time, whether you're trying to learn new information or just review. Their practice questions aren't reliable, and the online component is practically impossible to use. Go with Princeton. They're not great, but they're cheaper and much easier to use.

This book is good for practicing computer adapted tests (CAT).If you want to get the feel and acclimate yourself to computer adapted tests, this is the book for you. I am used to paper based exam and I am very wary of the new GRE format. I took my first GRE exam last week and I scored in the top 90th percentile, thanks to this book. Not including the diagnostic test, you will have access to fifteen online simulated GRE tests, which to my opinion almost similar to the actual GRE test that I took last week. There are six monthly quizzes (allowed access for six months), five full length practice questions (allowed access for 6 months also) and four free full length tests in Kaplan's website for all "registered" users good for 3 months.

I bought this book off Amazon.com and I didn't know if it's worth its price because a lot of people gave this book less than three stars. The book was discounted so I thought it's worth a try. In order to use this book you have to register to Kaplan's website, the instruction is on PAGE 4, which I unfortunately missed, so I was left searching the internet and inside the book for a good frustrating 30 minutes of my life. Kaplan could have printed the instruction on the back cover or front cover to save customers time.

Once you are registered, Kaplan will send you email of your code so you can use their online tests and everything went beautifully afterwards. Kaplan will not send you junk mails if you opt out in their marketing offers. It's the best little money I have spent on a review book. I did not use the live online session because I only have less than six weeks to review so I cannot give opinion on this feature. So here's my two cents:
Feature #1 About the GRE: this book explains what to expect and what to do about GRE test day. It has eight fast facts videos lasting 2-3 minutes each which I find useful, especially tips to concentrate on the first six questions and what to bring on test day like tylenol,lol. The tips are direct. It has also GRE study sheets that you can print.
Feature #2 Analytical Writing: English is not my native language, so I really find this feature useful. It helped me with writing strategies, like be concise, don't mince words and be honest with your opinions on a subject matter but not too weird, you know what I mean?;)

If you want to get a better score, you might want to check out other GRE review books which I used: BARRON'S,and NOVA. But nothing beats Kaplan's for interactive tests.

Last thing, if you are weak on your math foundation, you might want to try Nova math bible and study Barron's for a good period of time and finish off with Kaplan because Kaplan assumes you have good foundation.

There apparently is no online portion to this product. Even though that is where all the features are supposed to be, I have not been able to access it (along with everyone else, from what I've been reading on these reviews). There is no customer support. I've sent three emails to three different Kaplan email addresses with no response. I've called the phone number that just has a recording telling you to email them. So you just get a book. That advertises all its online features. Horrible experience.

I found the strategies extremely helpful. I didn't use the kaplan diagnostic test; I took an ETS GRE (powerprep) test to see what my score is after a little studying. From that test to my actual GRE, I improved about 100 points on each section (200 points total). The practice test in the book is longer than the computer based test; kaplan did this on purpose in an attempt to simulate the computer based test on paper. The practice tests online were more difficult than the GRE and in that sense, definitely prepared me. I did not find any math or verbal errors or typos in this book - I am confused by other reviews. I found most problem explanations very helpful. The practice problems in the book are also helpful, as are the sample essays. The book comes with a free web class - don't take it if you have already done a fair amount of studying because it's really basic and is a way for kaplan to try to sell you more stuff. The math section in the back of the book has explanations by concept - very helpful. There is also a 400 - word vocab list with definitions. I studied these and knew almost every vocab word on the GRE! I definitely recommend this book for GRE prep. I did a fair amount of research before buying, and it is the best out there.

This book is an excellent GRE prep tool. Getting the online portion to work is not difficult at all, you just go to the web page listed at the beginning of the book and enter the serial number. The fast fact videos are alright, they essentially sum up each chapter for you. There are six quizzes and four practice tests available online as well as study sheets and practice for the new question types on the test. As long as you stick to a study schedule, you will find this book to be a great help. When I first took the diagnostic quiz I got a 29%; I took the first monthly quiz the other day and improved to a 70%.

I recently bought this product and was extremely dissatisfied. I'm very computer proficient but struggled for over half and hour to attempt to login to the "live" and "online" portion of this book with no success. Kaplan offers no customer support number to call (but they do offer an online live chat, phone numbers to call, and the option to be called if you are interested in purchasing products). After giving up on the website, four hours later I finally received an e-mail response to my cries for help only to find out the website was "down". A complete waste of time and money. I bought the Princeton Review and Barron's books and loved both of them. Would avoid Kaplan at all cost. I've spent more time trying to return the book (and now have to pay for shipping to send it back to them) to get a refund than I actually spent using it to study. What a pain.

I purchased this guide because I could not find the CD that came with the 2009 version. I took an entire week off of work to study for the GRE using it. When I used the code in the book for online content and practice tests, the content was never visible on my page. I called Kaplan on a Sunday and they told me there was a technical problem and I would be up in a day or so. A day or so came and still no content. I tried numerous times using live chat. An rep never came on after up to 30 minutes and on reattempts, it would say they are not available. This was during EST business hours. I initially sent an email for help that was never replied to. Only on the second or third attempt did I get a response two full days later. They did fix the problem, but by then it was already Wednesday or Thursday and my entire week was nearly gone. During this time I used [...] to make up for Kaplan's deficient support. I am returning the book to amazon as defective, considering my headache with Kaplan's online content. Conceptually, online content is appealing, no discs to lose or OS compatibilities, however; Kaplan needs to support their system 24/7 with same day email or live chat that is actively staffed.

I have sent them an email notifying them I am returning the book. I suspect Amazon will resell it with a used code. I have asked Kaplan to refresh this code so the person who gets my book does not have any issues. I am awaiting their reply.

Kaplan Live Online, nice concept, poorly supported. Hopefully they will get things corrected by 2011.

I purchased this after looking at a friend's copy. The book itself is very thorough, has lots of practice questions. I liked this better than other books I used because it deals with the skills you need to answer the GRE questions effectively, not just review of the concepts. The online features you get with the book are excellent - lots more practice quizzes and tests. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is planning to take the GRE.