Kaplan GRE Exam Vocabulary Prep (Kaplan 5 Steps to Success: GRE Vocabulary)

I bought this book to carry with me during my commute to work. It is about the size of a paperback novel and it is very conducive to studying while you travel. That is about the only thing it has going though.

Frankly, after running across mistake after mistake I got more than a little peeved. Here is a company selling an overpriced book, that basically just requires typing up some definitions, and they didn't even have the courtesy to do a proof-read. Mistakes I found include:

-Misspelled words
-Words in the incorrect alphabetical order
-Using the word itself as it's own definition
-Using the word itself at it's synonym
-Forgetting to list the synonyms
-Repeating the same definition twice for the same word ( ex. "strong; forceful; strong"
-Using words found later in the book as the definition for the earlier "easier" words

I know these are nit-picky things, but there is just something annoying about holding a...Read more

This book has poor definitions for words. There are less than 500 words in this book, it doesn't have review activities, and there are many typos. Many of the definitions for words are only one or two words long--grossly oversimplifying the meaning of the word. Some of the definitions are even misleading.
On the bright side, it only costs $4 to ship the book back to the company with the receipt and they will refund your misguided purchase, though not the shipping.

Instead of the Kaplan book, I would recommend:

Barron's Essential Words for the GRE
It has 800 words, longer and better definitions, multiple example sentences, and a review every 10 words. The review consists of 10 matching questions, 10 fill-in-the-blank, and 5 questions asking whether the vocab word is used appropriately in a given sentence. After the 800 words there are 300 word roots that also have review activities.

If you want to another book for additional...Read more

I have been working with the vocabulary in this book and it is very useful if you make vocabulary flashcards, writing the synonyms and your own sentence using the word. Thus, you raise your GRE vocabulary so you do well on the verbal section of the GRE and also helps you start actually using those words in your own writing.

As an International Student, I can say this Kaplan GRE Vocab Workbook helps you raising your score. If you have a GRE study group, it can be quite fun to practice writing your own sentences and sharing with your friends.