Customer Reviews

Word Smart for the GRE (Smart Guides)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I got this book to study for the GRE, I thought it would be great. I memorized the list using flashcards and reviewing them daily. I was pumped.

Then i took the test and my experieince corroborates the two reviews immediately below: NONE of these words were on the test! When I took the GRE a few years ago (that time for my Masters degree), I used a Kaplan vocabulary book and, as I recall, its word list was more represented on the GRE. In addition, it's layout was a bit better.

This book is quite simply a list of words and definitions (without pronunciation keys) interspersed with a few quizzes to test you. By contrast, Kaplan's book, while similar, had things like pronunciation keys (it is easier to memorize words you can pronounce), more creative quizzes, and a nicer layout (words went from easier to harder, rather than straight alphabetical.)

All in all, I've been disappointed with Princeton Review more times than once, and I would reccomend vocab and verbal books by Kaplan over PR any day. This is no exception.

I have to disagree with the first reviewer on this book. I have never been disappointed enough by a book to write a negative review - until now. I took the GRE a few months ago. I found the best study to be actual, past GRE exams. I honestly do not recall seeing a single word from this book or the other WordSmart book (which had a GRE Hit Parade) on the actual exam. I made notecards and put alot of time into learning these words and feel that it was not a valuable use of my time.

I have to agree that words used in word smart series are not often seen on GRE tests themselves. I made tons of note cards and i did not see even one from my extended note card collection.

This is a very helpful guide for picking up more vocabulary words in preparation for the GRE. This is not a book conducive to last minute cramming however....if you are scheduled to test in a few months, or you just want to brush up on your word power, then Word Smart is a good way to pick up a few words every week.

I used this and the ultimate math refresher to prep for the GRE and scored in the 90th Percentile on the verbal section. I'd say that speaks volumes. Considering I'm the guy who just doesn't do well on standardized tests I'd say it worked pretty well.

As a full-time test-prep tutor, I wish my GRE students knew more vocabulary. Many of the questions on the test hinge on the knowledge of a vocab word or two.

This book is a good start toward learning words that might appear on the GRE. If you only have a few months to prepare, learning all the words in this book is a good use of your time, since they are pretty typical of the vocab level the GRE tests. And unless you have a photographic memory, you're not going to be able to really learn more words than are in this book in a few months.

Does that mean any of these words will be on the GRE you take? Probably NOT - the GRE can pick from thousands and thousands of words. This book only has a few hundred. If you had a year to prepare, you could make more of a dent, and in that case, buying this book wouldn't make as much sense. But if you've only got a few months, you probably want to learn some words.

The reviewers that complain that "none of these words were on the real GRE" probably don't realize the above. If you're interested, I have more GRE advice for you in my Amazon guide here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/R7YY90Q1ZFFNN/ref=cm_pdp_sylt_title_1

This is a book similar to a dictionary its good to learn potential words for the GRE but since there is a vast number of words its practically useless since the GRE is a conflicted test that measures your ability to reason through and since this book gives no strategies for reasoning through the answer I would get a different one.

I cannot give this book a super high recommendation.

I actually got 670 on my verbal for my GRE, but this book didn't give me much help.

Let me put it this way, in order to get really high grades in GRE verbal, you need a decent amount of advanced vocabulary. The list of words here is insufficient to give you a good score.

I believe that the only people who will benefit from this book are people who already has very good vocabulary and are looking for a quick review on more important words.

The ideal books are recommended in my listmania! for vocabulary building.

I bought countless books to build my Vocab for the GRE and this was the one I found most useful. It is comprehensive and helped be significantly raise my score. If you are to buy one book to study vocab for the GRE, this should be it.

I must say that my first try at GRE was awful, after that I got this book and studied it like crazy and I improved my verbal score by 200 points. If you are serious about nailing this exam give this book I try.