Books for Prep | |
 - CD- ROM not Mac compatibleThis book does not specify on the cover or in on-line descriptions that the CD-ROM is not Mac Compatible. It is finally addressed on page xviii. If you had planned on using quizzes on the disc and have a Mac, you will be disappointed. Rating: - Ok, but Barron's is much betterI bought this book as I prepared to the take the GRE again. I have yet to take it, and so I don't know how helpful this book will be, but so far it does not seem to be as thorough or polished as the Barrons Guide. The Barrons Guide gives you a much longer list of vocabularly, goes over all of the math (including the more difficult quesitons) in full detail, and I think it is a bit more difficult. The GRE Kaplan CD pales next to its much better LSAT CD which had a much more friendly user interface. This cd merely directs you to select quizes from a drop down menu... couldn't you at least have created a simple GUI for this program? Still, if you want some additional prep, this books seems to be alright. But I would definitely go for the Barrons Guide first, mainly for its wonderful vocabulary list (3000 words I believe). Rating:  - Kaplan GRE ExamEasy to read and thorough. Makes it easy to study for the exam on your own. Rating: - As expectedThis book stood out to me for my students because it offered online tools in addition to a CD-ROM with quizzes and practice tests. I've invested in actual Kaplan courses before for students, however, and think that I had my hopes up very high about what was available online. The online diagnostic was disappointing in that the analysis it provided was only correct/incorrect answers and the amount of time spent on each question; clearly not enough to let a student know where they stand in strengths and weaknesses. Otherwise, the text is full of great strategies (one has to break his old habits first) and the practice tests online and on the CD-ROM are great for getting used to the CAT as compared to paper tests. GRE test preparation books are certainly great for structured studying so I dont think that people should expect anything more from them. In association with Amazon.com | |