The GRE? Cat for Dummies?

I used this book as my only preparation for the GRE, and found it invaluable. The GRE itself is serious and stressful enough, and it was nice to have a book that looked at it more light-heartedly and with a grain of salt. I took the computerized version of the exam, and was very happy with my results. In fact, before buying this book I had no idea what to expect from the Analytical section of the exam, and thanks to the advice and practice questions provided, my analytical score was an 800--a perfect score! If you feel you need more preparation than a book can provide, by all means take a preparatory course or get a CD-ROM, but I found this book to be more than adequate.

This book is extremely helpful, and the author's sense of humor makes the studying bearable. Also, the way the vocabulary is integrated into the entire book means you are learning it even while studying for other parts of the exam. The most helpful parts are the math reviews, I actually re-learned years worth of algebra and geometry without too much effort. Again, the best part about the whole thing is that the author actually has a sense of humor, the book is not nearly as dry as some of the others I bought.

I am taking the GREs to get a certain score to get into the school of my choice. I have taken this test twice and failed to reach my goal. Prior to the the first try I shelled out big money for a Kaplan course and bought Kaplan's cd-rom. For the second test I bought Princeton's cd-rom. I memorized hundreds of vocabulary words, took endless practice tests, and sat through banal classes -- and still was not able to meet my goal. If you are applying to graduate school, all of the standard guides and cd-roms will seem patronizing at best. In desperation and preparation of my third try I bought the 'Dummies' book. While some of the vocabulary is rather general, the tactics are marvelous! The vocabulary is based on roots, prefixes and suffixes... much better than memorizing definitions by rote. The study strategies are really useful. The math section explains each answer in full. The time management strategies are great. I would highly recommend using this book in conjunction with one of the standard ETS guides. While the title is daunting, you won't be disappointed with the content.

If you are going to take the GRE, buy this book and no other. The author fills you in on all the tricks you need to know to score well on the GRE (and there are many), and does not waste your time with lists of 30,000 vocabulary words. Spend your time learning the structure of the test and how to avoid the traps, then learn the basic information. Her chapters on algebra and geometry are much more useful than Barron's or any other books I looked at, and her strategy for vocabulary makes much better use of your time than memorizing vocabulary. The only way the book falls short is in preparation for the unique features of the computer-based test. All the books I looked at fell short this way, even the ones that claimed to have sections on the computer-based test.

I flipped through several "traditional" GRE self-study books, but with little time to prepare (i.e. two weeks) and no desire to memorize lists of obscure vocabulary words, I bought this book. After a week of learning strategies and understanding how the test works, my practice test scores soared! And I wound up scoring well over 600 on the math and analytical portions of the test. Thanks to the author for the first EFFECTIVE book for taking a standardized test!