Kaplan Gre Exam 2000 2001 With Cd Rom (Gre (Kaplan)(Book ... (ISBN 068487010X)

Get the CD, ditch the book:
Over 5 years out of college and having not studied math since my Calculus AP years ago, I was in sore need of review for the GRE. I bought this along with Barron's "GRE Test" and "GRE: 9th Edition" put out by the ETS. Getting all three was expensive, but I felt it was a worthwhile investment for my future. Just in case you don't want to do the same, here is a comparison review of all three. KAPLAN: Practising with a computer (via CD-rom or whatever you can get from ETS online) is ESSENTIAL. The Computer Adaptive Test (CAT for short) is nothing like the SAT some of us "fogies" (I'm only 27!!) took way back when. Filling in circles with a #2 pencil, flipping between sections, and leaving the hard ones to last is a great deal easier than the CAT. If you are used to working out answers on paper, jumping from screen to paper and back again is something that requires practise to do quickly and efficiently. So for preparing you for that, the CD was excellent with its multitude of practise sections, practise full-length tests, and to a much smaller extent, a couple of the drills. You can also benefit from the immediate feedback that it gives you, showing your weak sections and strong ones, where to review, and so forth. Also, I found that all of my test scores tended to rank me much lower than the actual test. It was discouraging but helped me push myself harder. Still, the actual test was a relief compared to that, and I wonder if I didn't waste some time practising harder problems that would never actually appear, as opposed to studying more vocabulary. Is this the BEST CD out there? I don't know. I didn't try the other CD's, but I did find it very useful for what it was. Perhaps you can do better with another CD or with ETS online, which does offer a free practise test. But please do try some computer-based testing. As for the rest of the CD and book, do not even both with their review. The book and review sucked. Quite seriously. Waste of time. BARRON'S HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE GRE TEST: For the BEST review, particularly in Math, (which was my major concern,) Barron's was the absolute best. Very clear explanations that slowly led you along to a very good understanding of the fundamentals and then progressed you to the more difficult problems in a way that you could easily understand. Practise problems WITH explanations so that you had one more chance to understand how to work a problem. Their vocabulary review list was tediously long, and that typically being my forté anyway, I was tempted to skip it. I found, however, that they included many words for which one might expect to know the definition but of which most of us probably have an inaccurate understanding. (I can't think of any examples off the top of my head.) It was a surprisingly good education for me, and I have referred back to it even after taking the test. ETS PREPARING TO TAKE THE GENERAL TEST, 9th EDITION: Ugh. Just plain "Ugh." No CD. The review is PATHETIC. Don't use it for anything more than practise tests. BUT let me give you a not-so-sublte hint here, A FEW OF THE QUESTIONS ON MY EXAM CAME STRAIGHT OUT OF THE ETS 9TH EDITION REVIEW BOOK WITHOUT ANY VARIATION WHATSOEVER. I kicked myself for having only taken one practise test, because who knows how many more questions might have been in some of the other tests? (Probably an attempt on their part to get more people to buy their books. Shamelessly self-promoting and completely unair, but now that you know that, why not take advantage?) Use that one for its practise tests in the hope that some of the questions may be repeated AND to get the best idea of how well your knowledge meets the needs of the exam. BUT DO NOT COUNT ON ETS FOR A REVIEW. Okay, now the part that is supposed to sell you. Every reviewer seems to put his or her score, and I have perceived these spaces more as a brag-box than a real desire to help other prospective grad-students. Truthfully, anyone can ace the test if they put in the time and effort to studying, and no single book is going to guarantee you the perfect score. To emphasize the importance of review and to keep this from being a brag box, I will tell you the embarrassing truth of just how badly my scores started off to show how these books and a lot of effort helped me. Verbal went only from a 690 to 710, but that was still an improvement. My math score went from a 400-something on my very first practise to a 730 on the actual test. And best of all, Analytical went from a 500-something (I wasn't even able to finish the section on time until many practise tests later,) to a 770. Need better better testament than that? Oh, and as for that other review box habit of bragging about all my schools accepting me, yes they were impressed by my scores, but they ALL said that academic record and experience counts even more. So put this test into perspective for what it is, don't stress too much about it, and good luck. You'll do fine. :o)

CD-ROM lies about full-length CAT tests:
I recently purchased the 5th edition of Kaplan's GRE Exam book with cd-rom, which SUPPOSEDLY has 3 full-length CAT tests included. Upon careful inspection of the software, I found that this was a complete lie. Not only were the section tests "fixed" (even though the software labeled them as CATs), but so were the complete tests. Kaplan's cd just cycled through different "fixed" tests and tried to make people believe that they were somehow adaptive. If you don't care that the tests aren't really CATs then I suppose the book + cd-rom is decent. I found the Princeton Review Analytic Workout to be MUCH better, but haven't had the opportunity to assess the quantitative and verbal sections. This book is also good if your target scores are between 500-650. However, it's not going to help you improve on intricate details that differentiate those who'll get 750 and those who'll get 700. I for one was pleased with the product until I realized the lie about the CAT tests on cd-rom. It seems totally unfair to take someone's money in faith and lie about what you're REALLY giving them.

Simply the BEST!! (Advice from a person just like you):
Kaplan did it again! This book is a complete quide for GRE! I knew nothing for GRE and I studied for GRE the same time with my term exams and I scored with my first try in the top 10% in the Quantitative and in the top 6% in the Analytical!!! Almost everything will need to know for GRE is in this book! Lessons from the mathematics basics to test mentality, from mini-tests to 4 full tests! 4 computer simulated adaptive tests! AND 1 full test in the book! Just like the REAL GRE! Kaplan's book and CD have many similarities but they have different examples and practice tests! A lot of practice!

Not for those who don't study well alone:
After reading all the reviews, I purchased this thinking I had found a great study resource. I was very disappointed at how little information it contained. It has a basis for the GRE but oftentimes takes your knowledge for granted and doesn't completely explain answers to the problems in simple enough terms. If you did great in math without teacher assistance you'll have no problem with the book. However, if you have ever required a math tutor you will not find this all that helpful. Not to mention, the book leaves a lot out that you'll need to practice. Verbal wise, it's okay. It gives long lists of words and practice exams for you to do but again you really need to be a self motivator as the book is not at all interesting. I didn't find anything special about the CD rom. It is average, just like you'll find with any GRE study workbook.

Ok Book... Does not fully cover the complexities of the GRE:
I was surprised how unprepared I was after 4 months of studing for the GRE with this book. The teaching method is clear, and seems good until you get to the exam. The practice exams were much easier than the actual test and the content covered in the book was not as complex as the content on the test. In particular, the verbal portion of the book does not cover the subtleties in language used in the verbal section of the exam. Barron's book is much better. Overall C+ book.