Anyone know any good study guides for the GRE?

[Edited on February 13, 2008 at 6:25 PM. Reason : aaa]

2/13/2008 6:24:47 PM

I liked the Kaplan guide.

2/13/2008 6:27:23 PM

Yeah do the Kaplan ones. They have online adaptive tests you can take that are the best help. But, if you're trying to do well on the verbal, start EARLY.

2/13/2008 6:59:27 PM

I used Princeton Review. I think it helped some. And, yeah, improving your verbal score is very difficult. I took the GRE twice. Studied for several months strictly for verbal the first time. Learned hundreds of common words. Did okay on verbal. Took it again, learned even more words, and my verbal score did not improve.

2/13/2008 7:22:41 PM

Its actually for my gf, shes taking it in like two weeks. She hasn't studied.

2/13/2008 7:38:11 PM

This is like the SAT, either you know the stuff or you don't.

I bought the Kaplan book, which was good, but only looked at it a couple days before to review all the Geometry crap I hadn't seen 7-8 years.

I did well on Quantitative.. however Verbal, not so much.

2/13/2008 8:11:56 PM

^I agree, either you know it or you do not.

I used both CliffNotes and Kaplan. I would have to say that I liked Kaplan over CliffNotes.

2/13/2008 8:17:59 PM

I used the Princeton Review book. For the verbal, I memorized the 4 main tables of commonly used vocabulary words and there were maybe 2 or 3 words from the list on my test. If you don't read a lot of novels with big words I would suggest trying to find as many practice vocab websites as possible and/or using the study books.
I found out that there is always more vocab you can learn.
http://www.manythings.org/fq/m/2991.html
http://supervoca.com/
http://www.testprepreview.com/vocabulary.htm

2/13/2008 10:11:10 PM

I had pretty good results using princeton with the GMAT review...so not suprising to see the princeton GRE review here

2/14/2008 8:05:55 AM

Yeah, I learned every single word in the Princeton Review book. And, honestly, I was a little bit shocked at how many of them were on the test. I would say approximately 1 out of every 3 questions had one of Princeton's "Hit List" words (or whatever they called them). This was a couple years ago, so the test might have changed. Most of the questions I missed were reading comprehension, I imagine. I'm a poor reader.

2/14/2008 11:49:35 AM

Princeton Review- used Kaplan- didn't like it. PR actually gives you strategies to answer questions.

2/14/2008 2:51:17 PM

I used both the Princeton Review book and the Kaplan book. Only the Princeton one the first time I took it and then both the second time. I'd say the most important thing is to take a lot of practice tests so she's really used to the format of the test. If I only had to get one, I'd say Princeton Review.

Also, you can get 1 free practice test on a lot of the prep companies websites, like kaplan.com. The disc ETS sends you after you register has like three practice tests on it too.

2/14/2008 3:01:14 PM

If she only has 2 weeks to study, memorizing words and whatnot would probably be a waste of time. I would just take some practice tests and get a general feel for what the GRE is like. Maybe learn a few of the strategies for narrowing down right and wrong answers and how to approach the writing part. It depends on what type of program she is interested in and where she is applying.

2/14/2008 8:07:02 PM

I have the 2008 Edition of Kaplan's GRE Premier Program thing with a little writing already in it (have the CD too). I already took the test, so if someone wants to purchase it off me for a good bit less than I bought it for ($36 w/o tax), send me a message.

2/15/2008 7:09:06 PM

2 weeks? that sucks. i took the practice tests, did OK on the verbal, and then learned a whole bunch of words... my verbal score went up almost 200pts on the actual test. i used both princeton and kaplan, although i went more in-depth with the princeton. kaplan could be a little confusing..

[Edited on February 15, 2008 at 10:18 PM. Reason : .]

2/15/2008 10:18:08 PM

after doing horrible the first time, i bought the princeton review book and it bumped my score up a couple hundred points. my writing score improved too (3 to a 5.5). i skimmed through books at barnes and noble to see which one looked the best. oh, and i had maybe one month to study before i took it again...if that helps.

2/16/2008 9:54:24 AM

http://www.freerice.com is a pretty good way to bump yourself up to the words you aren't too comfortable with so that you can learn their definitions. Combining that with one of the online adaptive GRE-style study resources with synonyms and antonyms would probably be the best way to go at the last minute.

Learn some latin roots and prefixes and suffixes for words. The roots often times define the word you'll be looking for very well. Even if you can't get the rest of the word correct, knowing that its rooted in something related to fish or bears or humans or yelling or whatever will make it way easier on the test to determine what to pick when you're doing the synonyms & antonyms.

I took the GRE with about 10 days of prep time available, and I focused entirely on the verbal. The quantitative part is not very difficult, all you have to do is write out every problem and figure out what they're relating to what. They'll combine geometry concepts in one problem and if you don't write down a little sketch on paper you will probably end up confusing yourself and screwing up.

My verbal score was lower than my analytical by about 25%, but I kind of expected that. The words are more advanced than most words you'll ever encounter, and as you get tired you'll get sick of answering the questions and start having trouble thinking clearly. I'm pretty sure that's where they got me.

Pace yourself and don't burn your brain out and all will be well.

2/18/2008 12:47:15 AM

How long does the GRE last?

2/27/2008 12:23:56 PM

3-4 hours in total. As fast as you can finish it, so 3-4 hours. 4 is the max allowed time, not including the untimed parts of the test.

2/27/2008 12:41:21 PM