Books for Prep | |
 - if you take the GRE psychology test, you must buy this bookI bought this book in December 2007 in preparation for the April 2008 GRE Psychology test. I have been out of college for a few years and only took one psychology course (Intro to Psych) as an undergraduate. As someone coming back to psychology after an extended absence and after forgetting most of the material, I found this book indispensable. There are some errors and confusing sections, but there is nothing out there that matches this book in terms of the breadth of coverage and the clear, concise explanations throughout that vast majority of its content. If you plan on taking the GRE Psychology test, buy this book and do the practice tests (even though they are geared towards the material in the study guide, taking any practice tests you can get your hands on, including the one that ETS provides, is great preparation) That being said, at best, this book will prepare you for 50-60% of the material you will see on the GRE. I learned the rest of the material with Weiten's Psychology. By studying from those two books and taking 4 practice tests, I was able to score a 740 (92nd percentile). Rating:  - Very Good Study Aid (But don't use only one book to study for the Psych GRE!)I used this book in conjunction with the Princeton Review study guide and a used general psych book (Gleitman's "Psychology"). The Kaplan book provided a good summary of the general topics that should be studied for the test but lacked more obscure/specific information. The Princeton Review book provided far less detailed (and questionably accurate) summaries of the material but highlighted more concepts/terms. I used the two books as a guide but really relied on the general psych text to review. I feel I was able to get a much better picture of the material overall but was able to use the two study guides to filter the overabundance of information in the textbook. However, if I could only buy one review book it would be this one. Rating: - Helpful but not as your only study aidThis book is great in that it provided a quick but comprehensive review for the psychology GRE. While the in-depth explanations are there, you will definitely need something else for last minute studying and review. I used Kaplan's together with Princeton Review's and did quite well on the psych gre. Rating: - Must-read for anyone considering grad psychThis book was an excellent study guide for the November 2007 GRE psychology subject test. Like some reviewers pointed out, it didn't cover everything. That is to be expected on a comprehensive exam like this. To its enormous credit, this book does provide a wealth of information you need to know, for the Subject Test, and as someone preparing for a career in psychology. Although the book's coverage of most topics is extremely superficial, it succeeds in its purpose of providing a broad overview of the range of topics tested on the exam. It also offers a unique (and kind of weird) perspective on the field of psychology. The book is organized as a set of self-contained almost unrelated topics, thus making psychology seem like a collection of random theories and facts rather than a unified science. As a test review book, however, this is not a fault but very appropriate. Rating: - Very thorough, but use in conjunction with The Princeton ReviewThe Kaplan outshines the Princeton Review by far in terms of the depth of their explanations. I had never taken Personality, Physiology, Sensation/Perception, and only had limited knowledge of Cognitive Psych. The explanations were very clear and thorough in this book. There WERE errors (sham rage is listed in a box at the end of a section and incorrectly paired with an experiment, I believe, even though it was correctly explained earlier, as an example; also, on a sketch of the eye light was shown to be entering through the optic nerve instead of through the lens). HOWEVER, I was very glad I had it. I went through this book first, and then went through the Princeton Review. After that, I took the practice test provided by ETS. This took me approximately 6 weeks, and I received a very good score (95th percentile). I'm not guarunteeing anything, but spending the extra 15 bucks on this book will definitely be worth it in the long run. Just be sure you have ample time to work through both books. In association with Amazon.com | |