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

Comment: I received this product through Amazon Vine, and I used it to study for the GRE, which I took last Thursday. I didn't use any other test preparation material besides the PowerPrep software which ETS provides for free.

The good: Kaplan provides helpful test-taking strategies for the GRE in general and for each section of the test (verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing, abbreviated Q, V, and A). They break down each type of question and clearly what the test makers are looking for and the best ways to answer within the short time allotted for each question. After describing a question type and solving a sample one for you, the book offers you three or four practice questions of that type with answers. For both the Q and V sections, the book includes practice sets of 60 questions each with explanations of the answers, which was good review. The quantitative section I found particularly useful (math is my weaker area for the GRE): the book has review sections by each math concept likely to be necessary, which is great if (like me) it's been a few years since you took your last math class.

The bad: often, I found that the answer explanations for the math problems were too brief to be very useful. They would run you through the process without providing enough clarification. This product includes a CD with several practice tests and sample questions. Unfortunately, it's not really worth using. The questions frequently repeat. For example, if you do "Verbal Practice Set 1," which contains 30 questions or so, you notice that about half of the questions in "Verbal Practice Set 2" are repeated from the first one. The same goes for the practice test. The user interface is very similar to the actual test, but the free ETS PowerPrep software does the same thing.

Using this product, I got a 1400 (710V, 690Q) on the GRE. My score would definitely have been lower had I not studied. Kaplan provides very helpful strategy information and review for both sections of the test. But with its shortcomings, it can't be any better than other test preparation products out there. Bottom line: if you're taking the GRE, use something to study with, but don't necessarily get Kaplan.

Comment: Like others, I found myself unable to use the included software in Windows 7 thanks to a request for (now ancient) MCI drivers. For a supposedly updated 2010-2011 version, I question the relevance of information this old and recommend you look elsewhere.

Comment: This was exactly what I needed to give me confidence to take the GRE. I've been wanting to go back to school for another degree, but I was terrified of taking the GRE. I was pretty sure that I'd forgotten everything that the math portion of the test would cover and since I haven't taken an academic test in twenty years, I knew that my general test-taking skills were rusty.

This book has me feeling prepared and ready to conquer the exam. It's a well organized, thorough and understandable review of the test subjects with plenty of practice test questions.

My only complaint is that the CD only works on Windows, and I would have preferred something Mac and Linux friendly.

Comment: Kaplan GRE Exam Vocabulary in a Box those cards and this book helped when it came time to take my exam, but let me say these are no solution to passing. Study hard and study a lot, don't except this book and cards to be your only solution going into the exam cause you will fail. I give it a minus one (1) star (*) cause of the fact that the book was not to in depth, again this book was not meant to be your only solution but to help for anything you might of missed or to explain anything you might have forgotten. I have to say I did miss something that this book reminded me of and in the end helped out a lot. Passed this book to my friends with the cards and the loved it.

Comment: Great job done by this book. I bought it for my niece and she did very well on her exam... and received extra admission offers because of it!

What more can you say? It worked!