Cracking the GRE with 4 Practice Tests, 2015 Edition

by The Princeton Review

THE PRINCETON REVIEW GETS RESULTS. Get all the prep you need to ace the GRE with 4 full-length practice tests, thorough GRE topic reviews, and extra practice online.

This eBook edition has been specially formatted for on-screen viewing with cross-linked questions, answers, and explanations.

Techniques That Actually Work.
• Powerful tactics to avoid traps and beat the test
• Step-by-step problem-solving guides
• 9 strategies to maximize time and minimize errors
 
Everything You Need To Know for a High Score.
• Expert subject review for all test topics
• Bulleted chapter summaries for quick review
• Extensive GRE vocabulary list featuring key terms and exercises

Practice Your Way to Perfection.
• 2 full-length practice tests with detailed answer explanations in the book
• 2 additional full-length practice tests online
• Drills for each test section—Verbal, Math, and Writing
• Thorough score reports for online tests

Genres: School

512 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 3, 2014

About the author

The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, I sacrificed my soul this summer to study and take the GRE. My eight-year-old aspiring-psychologist self did not predict that his twenty-year-old aspiring-psychologist self would have to go through such trials for his future career. Still, I recognize that taking the GRE does not equate to an actual serious life struggle, in particular when I have the privileges of resources like this book to prepare myself.

Similar to its guides for the SAT, the Princeton Review draws its strength from its tone. This prep book has a comforting voice that revels in its allyship. Instead of forcing you to swallow hefty formulas or learn how to read at the speed of light, the writers of this guide teach you tips and tricks to circumnavigate ETS's annoying questions while still scoring high. Some overall pros of the book include easy-to-understand and reassuring explanations about the verbal and quantitative content, a stellar vocab list, verbal practice questions that mirror those of ETS, and an overall non-pretentious voice.

However, this guide does go a little easy on the quantitative section. It does not include a few of the more difficult concepts and formulas ETS tests on. While using this book alone may be enough to score in the 150-155 range on the quantitative section, or maybe even the 155-160 range, if you are aiming for a significantly above average score I would recommend a supplement with more thorough practice problems.

Overall, a recommended test prep book. For full disclosure, I scored a 164 on the Verbal section and a 159 on the Quantitative section after reviewing for a few hours every week for three months, using this book and ETS's Official Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions (which I will review soon). Good luck on the test, my fellow graduate school hopefuls!

[jennifer]

well, thank god that's over!

[Joseph · Rating 1 out of 5]

Despite completing graduate school with a 4.0 GPA and a reference letter from a Pulitzer nominee, I did not receive a favorable score on my GRE test that was good enough to be accepted into a Harvard PhD program using this book.

[Eleanor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hated every second lol
But my scores did improve

[Garrett Zecker · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a helpful and accessible book to help study for the revised GRE general exam.

There are four practice tests within its pages, and plenty of exercises and strategic study and test taking practice and skills that will help with many aspects of the test that are difficult. I found the strategies in the ENGLISH/VERBAL section to be very helpful. I found some of the strategies in the MATH/QUANTITATIVE section to be helpful. The things in the quantitative that I found to be not helpful has to do with the way the skills were being taught. What was most confusing was that I had been taught all of this material in grade school, and found the strategies to actually do the opposite of help me on my test.

I have some data to share about the preliminary scores I got when I took it. First, I will be applying to PhD programs in literature, and this book is only helpful to do well on the test and does not reflect my skills in anything but preparing for the test.

Preliminary results at the exam were
VERB 157/170
QUAN 144/170

I thought both scores were better than if I had not done any preparation.

There was another student I spoke with that prepared using MAGOOSH, and he was applying to medical schools. This is what he got:
VERB 152/170
QUAN 157/170

I think depending on your skill level and the time that you put into preparing for the exam really depends on what you get out of it and how you do. It really just measures how you do on the test, and the test has a lot of tricks on it that this book helped to steer me in the right direction for. I am happy that I used it, and I plan on donating it to my public library now that I am done.

[J.I. · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is especially satisfying about this book is that it's very jaded, cynical take on the test is a practical one that will save you time. Will you learn very much? Nope. That's what your educational background is for, but you WILL stand a much better chance of doing well on the GRE. I didn't see huge improvements (163-167), but it was significant, and the strategies are helpful. I cannot possibly compare this to other GRE books (well, the first time I took it, some 7 years ago, I think I used Barons, and I remember that one being similarly useful), but I would recommend this one.

[Mills College Library]

378.167 P615g 2014

[Imaduddin Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good verbal review, but the plug-in suggestions at the cost of teaching how to solve real maths problems was at times silly.