CD doesn't work with Vista or Mac
I have used Kaplan study products for many different exams, and I like their approach and the fact that they have a CD-ROM with extra features. But it doesn't work with either my PC (which has Vista) or my Mac laptop!! This seems ridiculous for a 2009 version. I am very sorry I paid the extra money for the CD-ROM.
Unuseful
I bought this book to get an overview on the GRE (which I could have got on ETS page) and to increase my Verbal and AW scores.
After three week of learning words, the Verbal scores didn't improve and the AW skill is simply unmeasurable.
Their verbal CD tests are pretty limited, after making them twice I get maximum score because of learning the answers by heart, not because any improvement actually occurs. The Math was no challenge except the probabilities, whose I had to review once again. Sadly, no probabilities problems occurred in the test, but statistics (distributions, percentile, standard deviation), which I had barely remembered (I have a 10 year old CS/Math undergraduate degree).
I scored 800 Quantitative (with very less preparation) 480 on Verbal and 3.5 on AW. Same score, (at least after my appreciation, I had the official test only once) as when I have acquired the book.
The book may be good to give an image about what GRE is, this is the reason I gave two stars, but if you wish to improve your score, you may look elsewhere.
Excellent Product!
The GRE Premier Program 2009 Edition is a fantastic study guide for the GRE tests. Having the groups of words and math examples in the back of the book make it a lot easier to study.
I would suggest that those word groups and math examples be pages that can be torn out so that they can be used as notecards!
Excellent study guide
I purchased this book because I wanted to be well-prepared for the GRE. This book is easy-to-understand and very thorough. I especially appreciate their test tips. Kaplan gives explicit information about how the GRE is written and points out pitfalls to avoid. They train students how to easily eliminate certain answer choices to increase their odds of choosing the correct answer. There are practice tests both in the book and on the disk and there is a wealth of additional information on their web site. I highly recommend this book.
Not Good
The strategies and practice are good. The CD-ROM is a disaster. I was doing one of the 3 CAT included in the CD-ROM and my time expired after 10 minutes of the issue essay. The same thing happened with the quantitative section. It's worthless. Also, I found more productive and interesting the analytical writing tips in Princeton review.
I don't recommend it.
(25 reviews)
