(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best gre test guides

Two months? Stick with ETS and PowerPrep (around 1,000 official practice questions total), and whatever supplementary guides/videos/drills/workbooks that you need to brush up on math basics, vocabulary, etc. To generalize, Barron's is better for quant, Magoosh is better for verbal, McGraw-Hill is more balanced between the two. None of the books are perfect or enough for an all-in-one preparation, however, which is frustrating.

I am also co-authoring a PDF guide to all 320 PowerPrep questions, which is coming out soon.

I also co-authored this GRE vocabulary book: https://www.amazon.com/GRE-Vocab-Capacity-2017-Mnemonics-ebook/dp/B008BA9CUA/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=

Online learning programs and resources / prices:

1. Vince Kotchian (friend and co-author)'s GRE prep course on Lynda.com: https://www.lynda.com/Higher-Education-tutorials/Test-Prep-GRE/461916-2.html $20/month
   
2. Greenlight Test Prep: $98. https://www.greenlighttestprep.com
   
3. Quantum Grad Prep (math only, but excellent): $89. http://www.quantumgradprep.com
   
4. Magoosh ($149 or about $100 when they have a promotion). It's not the greatest, but is improving. The score guarantee is especially helpful if you have an official GRE score already on file. https://gre.magoosh.com
   
   There is plenty of good free stuff out there, too. A guide that I co-wrote with Vince to the first 40 questions from the free GRE PowerPrep software, for example: http://www.mcelroytutoring.com/blog-post.php?id=4185&title=Free+Explanations+to+the+First+40+Questions+from+the+GRE+PowerPrep+2+Software
   
   Classes: 1) Manhattan GRE 2) I don't know what else I can recommend...your local college class? I teach GRE for UCSD Extension, for example, and you can find good GRE instructors in similar places.
   
   Tutors like me: the best option, but can be cost prohibitive.

You're welcome!

Check out Vince Kotchian's guide for how to use Khan Academy (the bottom has links to specific sections of Khan Academy relevant for the GRE): https://vincekotchian.com/blog/gre/complete-gre-math-concept-list

Other free online material for Quant:

1. Hooligan College (geared for GRE): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCflITsiDy0WUxQhdd9VEBiA/playlists
   
2. Greg Mat (he has plenty of other awesome GRE stuff on his site too and is very popular on here): https://www.gregmat.com/learn-quant
   
   Yes, there is a verbal-specific book from ETS (there's a quant one as well that can be bought online - you might be able to find them at a library or at a bookstore as well): https://smile.amazon.com/Official-Verbal-Reasoning-Practice-Questions-ebook/dp/B01NH09WNS/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=gre+official+verbal+questions&qid=1554581809&s=gateway&sr=8-3
   
   Best of luck!

Does it ever hurt, being so lovely?

Wondering if GCs are acceptable as my wish item is pricey and I wouldn't ask for it all at once. If so, gift cards toward my pole fund would be AWESOME. I've already vowed to put $20 from my paychecks each month towards it, which means I could have it by February or so... but I'd love to have it sooner, because the sooner I have it, the sooner I can start working out more & getting more comfortable with my body.

Otherwise... these?

C'mon... gimme.

It's 88 cents over the limit, but I thought I'd link it anyways: GRE Prep Flashcards! I'm applying to vet school in the fall, and I'll need all the help I can get on the GRE.

But if you're a stickler on the $15 rule (and you probably should be, shame on me for being greedy), I think these pencils would really help me get back into drawing. Think of all the critters I should be sketching right now!

I wanna tell you that I really like this contest. All of us are crazy about gifting each other, but we gotta remember to TREAT YOSELF and take care of ourselves and our futures, too!

ROI!

I used the Princeton Review's Cracking the GRE, Barron's Essential Words for the GRE, and Shortcut to Word Power: Essential Latin and Greek Roots and Prefixes. The last book may help you figure out the meaning of a word you don't know and Barron's is supposed to be the best for verbal prep. I got a 610 on Verbal and 770 on Quantitative with either 2 weeks to a month of studying (I don't quite remember). I think my best preparation for the Verbal section was just being a voracious reader and writing often (I keep a personal blog)...

You will probably have better luck with this kind of question in /r/learnmath. That said, the key to doing well on the GRE is the same as doing well on the SAT or most other standardized tests: practice. I would suggest you pick up a GRE study book (any will do; I like Barron's) and read the intro on the math section and then just do tons of practice problems.

I am math challenged as well. I know my low quantitative score did prohibit me from being accepted into a couple of schools that had minimum scores for applications.


HOWEVER, my graduate school cared more about my practical experiences and only cared that I took the GRE. That being said, this book (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0804125961?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image) is how I increased my score when I took it for the second and final time.

I highly suggest The Official Guide to the GRE and using this thread for anymore information you need. However, if you're tight for money look at older editions (the one I hyperlinked is the second edition) or PM me if you're really desperate.

Take some considerations when using/buying the book because MOST OF the information in the ETS book is available on their website. However, your situation says you aren't able to get online often so I can understand the advantage, however I'd like you to be aware of this. I also forgot to mention I've used the Manhattan and Princeton and liked those as well.

Hello,
I haven't seen these videos but I do happen to have previously used a Princeton review GRE book that is chalked full of practice questions. I believe he could be referring to "Cracking the GRE Premium" here's a link to amazon so you can see the cover https://www.amazon.ca/Cracking-Premium-Practice-Tests-2016/dp/0804126038 hope this helps!

Get the official book. It shows you exactly what to expect on the test and has sample tests to practice with.

Then get a third party book, like Princeton Review or Kaplan. They give you the non-BS lowdown on the different types of questions to expect.

A friend who teaches test prep classes gave me that advice when I took the test 2 years ago and it served me well. I aced the math, but the English was a little tougher. Like musicnerd1023 said, it's mostly vocabulary words, and it's impossible to know which words will come up. There were a few words that I had never even heard before.

The math was pretty much middle school difficulty, but you have to be fast. The tricks given in the books were very helpful in showing you how to eliminate wrong choices quickly to narrow down the possible answers.

However, I don't know how much the test has changed this year. You may be screwed. ;)

I could not be 100% sure as I only kind of flipped through it after he bought it, but I believe it's this. Granted don't take his story as a sign this is all you need, he's a pretty solid test taker in general. As I am I, but not quite like that, heh.

For the old MCAT I used Nova MCAT physics which was a great book; however, looking through the new MCAT it seems to emphasize passage based questions that incorporate biology and chemistry. Regardless, people still seem to be using the baron review so maybe start there?

For the GRE, I used the book I was telling you about earlier (just the general GRE prep book that covers every section) but of course you'd want the revised version. I also used GRE vocab cards (these are what I have actually). If you're not very proficient in math I'd highly recommend getting a GRE math practice book.

These are the study materials I ordered:

• CliffsNotes Math Review for Standardized Tests
  
  
• Cracking the New GRE with DVD by Princeton Review
  
  
• 30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary by Wilfred Funk, Norman Lewis
  
  
• New GRE 2011-2012 Premier with CD by Kaplan
  
  
• Barron's New GRE, 19th Edition
  
  
  

I used Kaplan's Premier (~10 bucks on amazon with a practice CD), and used ETS' review PDFs as complimentary study.

isnt it 23 dollars on amazon? https://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Premium-Practice-Graduate-Preparation/dp/1101919698

Speaking on the GREs. Really just lots of practice will help. Try to take practice tests regularly (every other week or so) while studying. Performance on standardized tests improves the more times you take them. It’s not about being smart, it’s about knowing how to take the tests. If you haven’t already, you’ll want to invest in a GRE prep book. It doesn’t need to be anything crazy, you should find a decent one for ~$30 or less. I used the Princeton Review’s [Cracking the GRE 2018](https://www.amazon.com/dp/152475790X/. They make a new edition every year based on the GRE from the year before ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_KPMsDb1K2RD4K) You’ll want a prep book bc it will guide you through all the content you’ll need to know and provide strategies for doing well.

If you want more practice I spent ~$15 on this book which is essentially a large book of practice problems. I liked this book because it provides you with ~ 30 problems per each math category ( fractions, word problems, algebra, geometry, etc) and I needed a lot of practice for math. It also has a lot of verbal questions and practice tests. It is also part of a series and you can get a new edition every year. Both books I mentioned are great because between them you end up several practice tests to try.

Finally my specific advice for verbal and math would be this:

Verbal: learn the “GRE words”. There are huge lists online and in practice books that lay out 300-400 words that typically appear on the GRE. I literally just learned these and did practice tests and my verbal grade was a 160.

Math: review all the concepts you’re going to be asked (this is where a GRE prep book is useful). None of the concepts are tough, it’s all high school level math, you just have to be quick with problem solving. Practice problems frequently and you’ll have no problem. I worked through the chapters in the books linked above for like 3 weeks and easily got a 157 on my math.

TL;DR- invents in some practice books/ GRE guide books, try to regularly attempt practice GRE tests, study GRE vocab lists for verbal, try some practice problems for math

http://www.amazon.com/MCAT-Physics-Book-Garrett-Biehle/dp/1889057339

If you have a week:

• Establish your strategies for each question type, adjust as you get more practice
  
• Establish strategies for tackling a section: order to do questions in, how much time to spend on a question etc etc and adjust as you get more practice.
  
  
• Buy the Offical GRE Verbal Reasoning Book, do all the questions and review/understand every question you got wrong or weren't 100% confident
  
  
• I recommend doing practice sections w/ blind review: do a section, before checking answers go thru each question and A) check each problem you are very confident about B) circle each problem you can eliminate some answer but eventually guessed the best fitting one C) put an x next to any problem you are clueless about => first give yourself unlimited time and open notes to go thru B and C and then check your answers. If you got any questions of type A wrong => REVIEW CLOSELY THESE AS THEY ARE SHOWING A HOLE IN YOUR GRE THINKING
  
  
• Do the Magoosh flashcard decks @ https://gre.magoosh.com/flashcards/vocabulary/decks |
  Try to get thru Basic VII. Write down any words you miss and review them when you have a break. The Magoosh vocab app is great too.
  
  So get the Official GRE Verbal Reasoning Book and Magoosh flashcard app and grind thru them. Do blind review, review mistakes, update strategies as you gain experience, and always note down any missed/new vocab words. That should get you 4 points.
  

I'm going to let you in on a secret. I've also worked in exam prep. The vast majority of exam prep courses teach you a book. That's all. Nothing more. I tutored students for the SAT for years. Now I got the job because I scored high on my SAT I (1550 in the 1600 days), but we used two books: Barron's and the Official SAT Guide. When I had clients paying up to $180 an hour, 90% everything I taught was in those books. What you got by paying me in addition was someone who was also an expert on the book's techniques and could hand-hold you through them, and also spot what kind of mistakes you were making. But contentwise, books have just about everything you need. The list of things I taught that didn't come from the book were materials I made up myself. The only reason I got away with that was because I was with a small independent company that allowed me to do so. Big companies that offer courses (like Barron's and Caplan) don't allow it at all. Their tutors have a script that they teach from.

I took the GRE a few years ago and got a 1450 Overall + 6/6 Writing. What was my method? I bought this book, this book, and these flashcards. I worked both books cover to cover and all 500 flashcards until I'd mastered every single thing in them. Took a few hundred hours. If you do that, it works.