Kaplan GRE

by Stanley Kaplan

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684836777
• ISBN13: 9780684836775
• Release Date: February 1997
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 383 Pages
• Weight: 1.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 8.5" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

Excellent prep book to efficiently improve GRE score

Having had a limited time to practice for the GRE, I've taken this book and scored as follows - verbal from 480 (first practice test) to 650 (actual test), quant 540 to 790, analytical from 500 to 800. What I particularly liked was: 1. efficiently learn test taking strategies (succinct text) 2. very well made CD-ROM application (good practice tests, excellent vocabulary builder with over 500 words, interactive lessons, fun!) 3. all practice tests are timed:I was forced to improve my test taking speed (no cheating as in paper & pencil practice tests...) What I would like to see improved/ noted: 1. full vocabulary in the vocabulary builder application (vocabulary shown in the book is only partially included in the CD-ROM app.) 2. export of vocabulary to text-file (better print out, export to Palm etc.) 3. I had an extremely hard time keeping the time on the analytical test until I stopped sketching every question - Use shorthand whenever possible - you can answer most questions without a sketch!

Best of the GRE books

Obsessive student that I am, I bought four different GRE prep books to be sure I ACED the GRE. Honestly, I shouldn't have--the Kaplan GRE book and, especially, the CD were all I really needed. The CD gives you a personalized study plan based on how much time you've got left before the actual exam, and gives you detailed feedback so you know what types of questions consistently trip you up. Plus, the book chapter on the GRE Writing test was really helpful, especially since none of the other GRE books I bought had any info on the (relatively new) Writing test.

The CD is Excellent

The CAT practice tests on the CD are excellent and capture the essence of the GRE style questions. While the questions on test day were different in some sense from the practice questions on the CD, their underlying structural form was an exact match. I'm not very strong in verbal, ie. I was struggling to get over 500, but the guessing techniques Kaplan gives enabled me to not have to worry about scoring below 500 (verbal isn't too important for my field but below 500 looks bad regardless). Finally, don't worry if you "bomb" the practice test the CD gives you right away, but do worry if you study from this book and consistently "bomb" the full CAT practice tests. The reason is that I found the final full CAT practice tests to be good predictors of how well I would do on test day. My actual scores were 560 Verbal, 760 Quantitative, 780 Analytical and it predicted ranges of 520 - 640 Verbal, 700 - 770 Quantitative, 760 - 800 Analytical (this was over the course of me taking all the full CAT practice tests after reviewing their study tips). Even the percentage scores it gives you are good predictions for how they correspond to scaled scores. This is truly a sound investment, whether you have months to study or only a single day.

The Best--It Really Helped Me

I must have ten or so study guides for the GRE, and I have to say that Kaplan's is, by far, the best one. It helped my scores tremendously. What I found very useful was its CD-ROM. In fact, I think I must have just skimmed the book and devoted most of my time working with the CD. Since the GRE is only offered on the computer now, the practice tests on the CD were a big help. The CD is very interactive and actually quite fun. For someone on a busy schedule, Kaplan's interactive CD is a life-saver.