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| Authors: Sharon Weiner Green, Ira K. Wolf
Publisher: Barron's Educational Series
Category: Book
List Price: $34.99
Buy New: $23.09
You Save: $11.90 (34%)
Rating:  38 reviews
Sales Rank: 2933
Media: Paperback
Edition: 17
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 560
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 10.8 x 8.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 0764179497
Dewey Decimal Number: 378.1662
EAN: 9780764179495
Publication Date: August 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
Best GRE prep book out there December 9, 2007
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
THis book helped tremendously on my math. Being strictly a science major I was lacking GREATLY in my math AND verbal skills. The step by step review of math really helps you build up a foundation you can apply to different types of math problems. As for the verbal part there really is no way to getting around it than to memorize all the words presented in the book. Or read books with higher vocab levels. It also helps to do the reading comp exercises because if your like me your not going to be used to reading anymore complicated than Harry Potter and it will be tough at first to understand what the passages are trying to say. THe reason why I give this book a 4 is because although there are 5 practice tests in the end, all the problems seem to be taken from the practice problems the book has already given to you after each chapter. THe point of practicing is not to redo old problems that you will already subconciously kind of know the answer to. I suggest that for a lot of really good practice buy the ETS book for their 10 practice tests at the end of the book. I also feel that the ETS book is better at teaching you how to do the essay section.
 GRE! Read for Quick Tps on Studying. March 17, 2008
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
I studied for the GREs from October 1st 2007 to November 17th 2007 (the day of my exam). Though some would call me crazy with such a short time studying; I studied nearly everyday, all day long (at least 10 hours a day). This book is perfect and is more or less all you need to study the GREs. The books organization is spot on, and I suggest following it as it is. Like any diet or exercise program, as long as you follow your plan (in this case the book's plan) you will unquestionably see satisfying results in the end.
I also suggest to make sure that you take the Diagnostic test at the beginning of the book in order to make sure, in the very beginning of your studies, what is most necessary for you to study and concentrate on. I didn't realize what the diagnostic test was for and did not take it until midway through my studies. A mistake. For the Verbal, I studied (with flash cards and all) the 333 High Frequency Word List. Do the same, a surprising number of these words were indeed on the GRE. I began to go through the 3,500-Word master list, but with time constraints soon realized that this would be ineffective.
The math section, in this book, is also organized quite well. Follow it. Like math we learned as secondary school students, it builds and builds to an end which is a complication of every thing previously learned.
Lastly, as many out there are concerned mostly with the math I suggest a supplementary book on the math alone. I basically used all of the sample problems in this book and would have easily done more if I had more time.
I do wish I took at least another month to study for this exam. While I am fairly happy with my GRE score, with that extra month I would have had that slightly extra edge in my graduate school applications.
This book is sure to help. Goodluck.
Great tool for the GRE October 28, 2007
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
I looked at many publications before settling on the Barron's GRE guide for my preparation for the GRE. The guide features 6 full length tests (including diagnostic) as well as a CAT test at the end. There are a ton of math exercises and I recommend doing every one. There is also a massive list of words--you can decide to memorize the bold ones, I did not. However, I did do every verbal exercise. My scores on two tests that I took before reading the book average 540 V and 560 Q, my scores on the GRE were 670 V and 740 V, that is an overall score increase of 310 points and is the difference between being in the top 30 percent for my major and the top 2 percent for my major. The average GRE for admission to the Psych PhD program at Harvard is 1388 (not that I have any intention of applying, just making a point)--the book can make your GRE score a very valuable tool in your application process. Buy it!
 2nd book to buy for GRE Prep March 23, 2008
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
None of these books are perfect. Start with the Princeton Review (Cracking the GRE) and then study this book. Both have good points that served me well during the test. If you are still not 100% ready, consider ETS's Official Guide for more practice.
Great for Vocab, mediocre practice tests August 22, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
In preparing for the GRE, I used the Princeton Review book, Kaplan vocabulary flash cards, and the Barron's book. Of the three, I feel the Princeton Review was the most useful to overall test prep.
The Barron's book excels at vocabulary: their list of words is extremely large and pretty comprehensive from what I've seen. In addition, they break down roots and stems which makes taking an educated guess on a word you're unsure of or have never seen substantially easier.
I feel the math on the Barron's was much more comprehensive than it needed to be. Often, questions on the Barron's tests were on material that would not show up on the actual test. In addition, their data interpretation questions are plagued with poorly drawn graphs that make it hard to ascertain the values. I had to make approximate guesses on data questions that demanded exact answers simply because the graphs didn't provide adequate labels.
However, unless you are testing on paper, the practice paper tests really don't help much more than provide more practice questions. To get an understanding of the rhythm of a computer-adjusted test, you really need to take computer-adjusted ones! When you can't skip and have limited time, it's important to learn how much time to spend guessing and how important it is to ace the first third of the test. Where Barron's is weak is its lone computer-adjusted test. For this reason, I feel the Barron's book is less helpful than the Princeton Review. If I had to pick one book, I would get the PR because of those extra tests - they make all the difference.
In short, the Barron's will overprepare you for the math and provide a comprehensive word list. It's great at preparing you for specific questions. However, it doesn't do a very good job of preparing you to TAKE the test, which is the most important aspect of acing the GRE. For that, I would recommend another book, especially the Princeton Review's.
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