Kaplan GRE 1998 99 with CD ROM: Graduate Record Exam [With CDROM]

I found that this book was a real help. I bought two books and this one covered everything in great detail. The software mimicked the actual test rather well. All in all, I found that this book was the best one I used. If you're taking the GRE, I suggest this book over Princeton Review's or Barron's.

The Kaplan book/CD-ROM helped me increase my GRE score by 300+ points. I was pretty impressed. The CD-ROM comes with tutorials (that teach you the strategies in the book) and a multitude of tests. A couple of things that I didn't like about the CD-ROM include: 1) The tutorials try too hard to be cute and cool rather than making the most of your time; and 2) The section tests (verbal, quantitative, analytical) don't give tangible feedback after you're finished (i.e. you don't know what your GRE score would have been for that section). But, hey, my scores are up by a significant chunk of change so I can't complain.

It has been a while since I have had to take a standardized test, much less use some of the "useless" knowledge they drill into you from school. This test prep guide helped to brush me up on the basics and gave me tips on how to eliminate wrong answers quickly and effectively if I didn't have a clue about the technical way to get to an answer. In addition, it has a lot of useful "shortcuts" for the exam to make the test taking process easier and quicker. It also provides a three step process to attacking the GRE as opposed to simply study, study, study. I also found the CD-ROM very useful. It was easy to install and un-install (provided you have the necessary computing capabilities to run the program). I highly reccommend using this book and the CD-ROM enclosed to achieve a higher score.

I bought this book with the CD-ROM, and my score did increase. If you take the time to read and do the exercises, it works. I found the CD-ROM to be particularly helpful, as I think it pays off to practice taking the test on a computer a few times. It is a slightly different experience than paper tests. The CD-ROM program also manages to tutor you by saving and analyzing your practice scores to help you with parts of the test that consistently give you trouble (thus, it is helpful to be able to use the CD on the same computer every time). Without the CD, the book is still useful and does include a full practice test on paper, but I think the CD is what makes this worth the money. In comparison, I also read portions of the latest ARCO GRE-prep book, and that was helpful too. (I wouldn't buy the CD-ROM versions of both books though; one CD is plenty.) Overall in the past, I have found Kaplan to be a reliable choice for test prep, and they delivered again here.

The reviewer from Oregon should learn to post reviews. This is the Kaplan GRE, he/she posted for the Kaplan SAT/PSAT. Notice to all colleges: do not admit this half-wit.