Customer Reviews

Kaplan GRE Exam Vocabulary in a Box

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The content is good, but these aren't actually flash cards. It's a bound book with very thin pages and two words to each page. Studying with flashcards is best done by testing one's self with cards, slipping failures back into the deck for near-term review, and setting repeated successes aside. This isn't possible with a book.

I purchased last year's edition, where you bought an entire book (the same size as a regular GRE review book) which had nothing but pages full of pull-apart flashcards. I much prefered that format as you could actually tear the cards out and have small flashcards with all of the information on them. I do not like the flipbook method of studying vocabulary becuase then you begin to remember paterns, not definitions.

When I saw this book in the store, I had the same thought as previous reviewers. I thought that I would rather have actual cards instead of words in a book. But it actually works pretty well for me. The book is designed such that you fold the corner of a page when you master the word. So, after I complete a certain number of words, I go back through them randomly, skipping some, but always going over the pages that are not folded.

The good thing about the words being in a book is that I can actually take all of the words with me. There is no way I could carry 500 flash cards and study in the car, at the doctor's office, etc.

Of course there is a chance that you will memorize patterns, but you can lessen that chance if you vary your study methods. Flashcards is never enough.

About me: I'm aweful at vocabulary and reading comprehension.

About the test: The first three questions of each section on the test put you into a bracket. To get a high score you need to anwer the first three questions correctly to be in a high bracket.

My first experience with the GRE: I memorized every word in this box. I felt more than confident in my ability to get a decent score. HOWEVER, the first three words on the test were words that were not in the box. I was put in the lowest bracket and only saw ONE word from this box. I made a 470.

After this: I went to a booksstore and looked through vocabulary books until I found a book that had some words I had seen on the test(simpler words than in this box). I had to look through a lot of books. Finally I found them in the Kaplan Vocabulary Prep Level One for the SATSAT Vocabulary Prep Level 1. I learned most all of the words in this book as well as the GRE box.

GRE take two: Much improvement. I could tell during the test that I was in a harder bracket. I recognized most all the words, there was a mixture from this box and from the SAT book (granted I had forgotten some of the meanings!). My score was a 620 (not great, but I am very happy with it).

Overall: I recommend this box, it is convinient and you can definitely learn the words. As for the example sentences that some have complained about - they may not be an accurate use of the word, but they will help you remember the meaning (which is all I cared about). However, if you vocabulary is abysmal, you will need this as well as a teaching aid with more simple words.

Save your money! I like this product as I own it myself, but I have just discovered that Kaplan offers this same product as an app for my iPod...for FREE! Originally, I liked the flashcards because they are portable, but having this on my iPod is even MORE portable and handy! No paper to flip through, no possibility to play 500+ card pickup...save 10 bucks, and get the free app!

These are NOT 3x5 or 5x8 flash cards. This is a book in which one has to cut out the flimsy and see-through 2" x 8.5" half pages with the word on one side and the definition on the other. One can not simply rip them out, because each page has two words, so cutting is absolutely necessary. I have found a more comprehesive list of words, as well as common roots, suffixes and prefixes, from the Barron's GRE Study Guide and am making my own flash cards from them.

As other reviews have said, the "flipbook" method is just entirely inefficient when it comes to memorizing words. Even back in elementary school when I was using flashcards, I realized my brain often does not memorize the word itself as much as the order, and with this book it is no different. Also, the two words per page is kind of annoying, and I just don't see why they could not just give us normal, real flashcards. They are so much more efficient! Overall I really would not recommend this. It's too bad there really aren't any good GRE flashcards for sale; Thankfully it won't really matter after next summer when the GRE changes to be more about actual verbal intelligence and less about memorizing words that hardly anyone uses...

I wasted a lot of time with this list of 500 words, many of which are common knowledge to grad students already...I literally saw only TWO out of the 500 words on the actual GRE verbal I took five days ago. I know Kaplan can't predict which words will be on the GRE, but come on, only two? I did find that the usage of the vocab. words in sentences did help me remember the word if I didn't yet know it. Sometimes the sentences were a bit odd just enough to make you recall them. Just too bad the GRE didn't actually test those words! Could have been harder and better. Test the HARD words to get a high score, not fill 300 pages with more common, untested words, Kaplan!

These cards are perfect. About 80% of the words I saw on the GRE were in this pack. I memorized every word in this box, and as a result scored in the 95th percentile. I see that other reviewers have commented that the definitions are insufficient, but I disagree. The definition and synonyms that these cards give you are what you need to select the correct answer on the GRE. You don't need a thorough understanding of the word- in fact, I think that might make it more difficult. I'm a very satisfied customer. I highly recommend this product.

If your weakness is the verbal section, this is a great tool (because after all, the verbal section mostly just vocab anyway). I would guess that the average test taker already knows about 1/3 to 1/2 of the words in this book, but for under $10, you can't complain.