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- published in 1988.Just so everyone is clear, this book was published in 1988...this information is not included in the product details. upsetting. Rating: - Only useful prep I can findWhen I was looking for books with tests to practice for Chemistry GRE, I was really disappointed at the lack of selection. Many people recommended getting the original tests to practice on, but how do I get them? The chemistry field hasn't changed very much in the past few decades, so the last book ETS put out was in 1996 and that cost 121.50 on Amazon!!! This REA Test prep book is the next best thing. I took 3 out of the 5 full-length tests and selectively tested myself on my weak areas in the last two. That plus the free GRE test I got from ETS (when I signed up for the test) was enough to prep me for the real thing. Yeah, there are a couple of questions and answers that don't match, but most of the answers are correct and are explained well and is still better than the Princeton Review Chemistry book that I also got. Another good point is that all the tests were 150 questions. So when I practiced taking the test, I paced to 150 questions for 2hr50min. The real test on my particular test date had only 136 questions. As a result, I had plenty of time left to go over questions that I missed or would like to double check. I think this book helped me pinpoint my weak areas and helped me feel comfortable with the format of the actual exam. Rating: - Useful practice, but lots of errorsI bought this book for practising real GRE chemistry tests and wasn't disappointed by the test material it contains. Unfortunately, several solutions are simply wrong. Additionally, the book contains lots of typographical errors that make it hard to select the correct answer choice. Chemical formulas are often written incorrectly, too. For example, one question asked about the REAL gas law, while the solution dealt with the IDEAL gas law. Sometimes the explanations do not even match with the possible answer choices. The book is recommendable if you intend to practice for the test without paying the money for ETS' book, but you must be aware of the fact that a discrepance between your solution and the "correct" answer choice doesn't necessarily mean you're wrong. Rating: - Practice tests in this are easier than the real thingThis book contains no test material from any bonafide chemistry GREs. Instead it contains material that is "based on the most recent GREs." Many of the subtleties and difficulties of the real chem GRE are lost in the translation. If you compare this with the other test-prep books that actually contain old GREs, you will see the difference in many of the questions. I feel sorry for anyone who uses this as their sole test preparation booklet. It is quite misleading. Although many of the questions in this book are indeed reflective of some the topics that are covered, it is not up-to-date and some newer topics are left out. The explanations accompanying the answers at the ends of each test are nice, but it doesn't make up for the significant mismatch in level of difficulty for many questions (although some are okay). The questions on the real thing are designed to be tricky. The designs of many of the questions in this book are simpleminded and too straightforward in comparison. It might be marginally helpful to you after you have gone through some of the other available test booklets (which I strongly recommend) as a review, but do not count on this as your main review book or you will be surprised in a bad way. 1.5-1.75 stars at best. P.S. I scored in the 82nd percentile. My best advice: GET BOOKLETS WITH BONAFIDE PAST TEST MATERIAL Rating: - REA's 2000 Edition is up to date and very helpfulThere are 5 comprehensive exams, each of which reflects todays GRE exams: 30% Organic, 30% Physical, 25% Inorganic and 15% Analytical. The 2000 version of REA's Chemistry GRE preparation booklet is an excellent review of both format and actual content of the Chemistry GRE. page 1 of 2
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