Cracking the GRE, 2011 Edition (Graduate School Test Preparation)

After a month and a half of studying with Kaplan GRE Exam 2010-2011 Premier with CD-ROM (Kaplan GRE Premier Program (W/CD)) and this Princeton Review book, I took the GRE over the weekend and can say that between the two I was extremely well-prepared. I began with Princeton and reviewed all the material in this book, including the practice tests, and then moved onto Kaplan, subsequently reviewing all the Kaplan material and using the online quizzes and tests as well. Here are my thoughts on the positives and negatives of the Princeton Review Cracking the GRE 2011 (with DVD) book compared to the Kaplan GRE Premiere 2011 book (with CD):

Positives:

- Analogies, Sentence Completion, and Antonyms: Princeton does a really great job of explaining how these sections work and then telling you exactly how to have the...Read more

The Princeton Review GRE books are wonderful in helping prepare students to take the test. I just took the test this morning, and decided I wanted to write reviews for all of the study aides I used. The Princeton Review book is very well-written and straightforward. It's overwhelming at first, and I found that the best way to go was to buy study aides at least a month in advance and just focus on one section at a time. I read this book cover-to-cover and many of their hints helped me a lot (such as, on analogies where you do not know all of the words either in the analogy given or in the answer choices, to eliminate those sets of words that have no relation to one another). Much of what was in the book seemed like common sense once I read it and mastered it, but I wouldn't have thought of it without the help of the book. The writing section was especially helpful to me, with great breakdowns of how to write both essays. The only thing I was slightly disappointed with was the online...Read more

I don't plan on taking the GRE anymore (I am a graduate student now), but I read these test prep books every year to refresh my skills. I actually enjoyed preparing for the test (weird, I know) and I don't want to forget what I learned, especially the vocabulary and analytical writing content. I don't know if this is the only book you should buy for the test. However, I think it ought to be one of them!

VERBAL
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The advice they give is extremely helpful. I've always had trouble with the analogies (I scored well, thanks to an earlier version of this book). I like the idea of writing down a defining sentence with both words. It actually does help to spend time doing this. I relied heavily on flashcards when I studied for the test. I made one for EVERY word that I thought would appear on the tests (various lists exist online and in books). This was VERY helpful. However, because I did not write stuff down and THINK about the relationships...Read more