DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT buy the Princeton Review's "Cracking the GRE" book!

[90sNickelodeon]

It is unhelpful, to say the least.

Maybe the GRE was that easy 10 years ago, but now it's tougher and the advice they give you, particularly in math review, is a joke. Do not become a statistic like me and study that book for months and then end up with a crap GRE score. I wish I had known better but c'est la vie.

Princeton Review is TTT.

[ristastic]

It is unhelpful, to say the least.

Maybe the GRE was that easy 10 years ago, but now it's tougher and the advice they give you, particularly in math review, is a joke. Do not become a statistic like me and study that book for months and then end up with a crap GRE score. I wish I had known better but c'est la vie.

Princeton Review is TTT.

I used this same book and didn't do too horribly, though I do agree that their practice sets are way too easy. The review of math formulas was basic enough for me, having not had math in several years, to understand. I thought Kaplan's was a little too technical for non-math people. I'd recommend the Kaplan workbooks though, for harder practice sets, if you plan on re-taking.

[JohnBom]

I used that book and did just fine.. But I know that Kaplan is generally recommended for the math section.

[Thanks4Downvoting]

It is unhelpful, to say the least.

Maybe the GRE was that easy 10 years ago, but now it's tougher and the advice they give you, particularly in math review, is a joke. Do not become a statistic like me and study that book for months and then end up with a crap GRE score. I wish I had known better but c'est la vie.

Princeton Review is TTT.

Thanks for the advice lol.

[KieBelle]

That's the only book I used in preparation for the GRE and I scored above the 90th percentile in all sections. I have a knack for standardized tests, but I hadn't taken a math class in over 5 years and still scored a 750 with the help of that book.

[LateAntique]

I'm currently working with it along with my Barron's book and I feel like it's a pretty good refresher for us non-math types.

[captiv8ed]

I have actually foudn the tests in the PR more difficult than the powerprep tests. Or at least I score lower on them.

[modernity]

That book helped me score significantly higher - and is the one I usually recommend to people. Yes, if you need a real math review (and I could have used more) there are other better books for that... but as a quick crash course, for me it helped a lot - and a lot of the tips/tricks/words/problems they used showed up on the GRE I took. Sorry to hear it didn't do the same for you. I think with all of those books its hit or miss - either the stuff in them shows up, or it doesn't. Doesn't seem to be much in between.

[JerryLandis]

I used that book as well as the Barrons one. I found that the Princeton Review book was really good for explaining the basic way of approaching the test and the different kinds of questions. Reading through it, I learned that apparently I have spent my whole life taking standardized tests the idiotic way (i.e. "plug and chug" as they call it instead of whatever the correct method is that I've since forgotten). I also found the vocabulary list useful, although if I ever have to take the GRE again I will definitely go beyond the "hit parade" because my official verbal test was loaded with crazy one-syllable words I had never heard in my life.

That said, I did find that the practice tests were misleadingly easy, because a lot of them contained recycled questions that were the same or quite similar to example questions from the preceding chapters. I suppose the solution to this is to use the book to learn the basic strategies, formulas, etc., but use the Powerprep software to test your abilities. Just be sure to register well in advance to make sure you get the Powerprep disc early enough - mine arrived over a month after I registered, a couple days after my test! Yet another reason I still want a refund.

[LTee]

i took that book everywhere I went this summer and FAILED the test, I dont know if it was the book or just me though

[zilch]

I think the GRE is easier than it was 10 years ago because of the average test taker now has access to so much more information regarding the exam. That is, however, a double edged sword because sifting through that information and figuring out what's useful and what's crap can distract a test taker from the actual content.

best way is probably to do some leg work and search a few different sources.

Edited November 11, 2009 by zilch

[joro]

I used the book and got a decent score . Of course it isn't the only book I used.

[Angelicasassy]

OMG!

This is the book I have been using to study and I take the test in under a week. I am going to SOB and WAIL if I don't get the minimum score I so desperately need.

[joro]

OMG!

This is the book I have been using to study and I take the test in under a week. I am going to SOB and WAIL if I don't get the minimum score I so desperately need.

Take the practice tests that ETS mails you. That will be a pretty good indication of the score you'll be getting on the test.

[swisnieski]

I found it very helpful (the math moreso than the verbal). I wound up improving my quant score by about 150 points from my first practice test to my final actual test.

That said there were some things the book did not cover. I basically had to dredge up the formula for slope and intercepts of lines given a pair of coordinates from very cobwebbed-memories of my finite math class two years before.

[Angelicasassy]

Take the practice tests that ETS mails you. That will be a pretty good indication of the score you'll be getting on the test.

I hope they send it soon because I still haven't received it. Do you know how accurate the Princeton online tests are?

Also, I am going to buy the ETS book with old tests, how accurate are they?

[coyabean]

I hope they send it soon because I still haven't received it. Do you know how accurate the Princeton online tests are?

Also, I am going to buy the ETS book with old tests, how accurate are they?

You can download practice tests from ETS' website.

[joro]

I hope they send it soon because I still haven't received it. Do you know how accurate the Princeton online tests are?

Also, I am going to buy the ETS book with old tests, how accurate are they?

My practice tests scores were a lot lower on the Princeton test than the ETS.

[90sNickelodeon]

That's the only book I used in preparation for the GRE and I scored above the 90th percentile in all sections. I have a knack for standardized tests, but I hadn't taken a math class in over 5 years and still scored a 750 with the help of that book.

Maybe you're just brilliant?

OMG!

This is the book I have been using to study and I take the test in under a week. I am going to SOB and WAIL if I don't get the minimum score I so desperately need.

LOL I'm sure you'll do fine, at least...I hope so.

[captiv8ed]

I have actually foudn the tests in the PR more difficult than the powerprep tests. Or at least I score lower on them.

Whoops! Sorry. I have too many GRE books floating around here. It was the ETS GRE that was more difficult for me.

[KieBelle]

Maybe you're just brilliant?

LOL well I'd like to think I'm smarter than your average idiot, but like I said, my GRE score is more likely the result of the freakish ease I have with standardized tests. But the PR book did help me brush up on my math and vocab.

[misterpat]

It is unhelpful, to say the least.

Maybe the GRE was that easy 10 years ago, but now it's tougher and the advice they give you, particularly in math review, is a joke. Do not become a statistic like me and study that book for months and then end up with a crap GRE score. I wish I had known better but c'est la vie.

Princeton Review is TTT.

It seems a bit ridiculous to entirely fault the book you used. As a Princeton Review teacher, I can't attest to the quality of that exact book, since the books we use in our classrooms are laid out differently. But I'm pretty sure the strategies are roughly the same, and I'll say that I prefer TPR over Kaplan for a couple of reasons, Math being one of them. TPR teaches you to "beat" the test, so to speak, by avoiding algebra and plugging in answers given to you instead of constructing algebraic equations and such. I've always taken standardized tests this way, so to see my way of approaching tests in a manual is a big step up from Kaplan, which is what I used when I prepared to take the test.

I understand you're frustrated, but the entitlement in your post is very unbecoming. Take the test again. It doesn't hurt to take it multiple times. You probably just didn't study enough. Reading one manual and doing the practice exercises within isn't enough for a lot of people. Do every test in this book from ETS (the company that makes the GRE) and review your mistakes, before re-taking: http://www.amazon.com/GRE-Practicing-Take-General-Test/dp/0886852129 If you practice TPR's methods on ALL of those tests and STILL bomb, then you either have a point about Cracking or are hopeless.

And to the person who remarked about the supposed difference in the difficulty of TPR questions: this should have been off-set by taking as many practice tests as you can get your hands on

Finally, I noticed that you're going into education. Comfort yourself with the fact that education is about the lowest-scoring discipline that takes the GRE: http://www.ncsu.edu/chass/philo/GRE%20Scores%20by%20Intended%20Graduate%20Major.htm

Good luck!

Edited November 12, 2009 by misterpat

[keylimekai]

I also did extremely well with this book (690v, 750q, 5.5aw). Obviously it wasn't the ONLY thing I used, which is never a good strategy. But the book has some great tips for how to take the test.

[jlee306]

I used the 2010 edition of that book. The only thing I found wrong with it was the math section where you fill in the blank yourself with no multiple choice answers. However, because it was the 2010 edition, that info was correct because that section will be on the 2010 GREs...just not the test I took.

[spozik]

I used the Princeton Review "Cracking the GRE" as my main source of review for the first time I took the GRE and didn't do all that hot. I think that this was partially my fault and partially the book's. The book is very absolute in its directions not to deviate from its recommended methods. However, it wasn't until I actually went to take the GRE that I realized two things in particular didn't work for me: (1) the writing down A B C D E and narrowing down for every question just takes way too much time, and (2) I found their suggested approach to the reading passages extremely unhelpful, as I had a much easier time just thoroughly reading the passage and then answering the questions that followed. It would have been helpful if the book did not portray itself as the solution to all of your problems, but rather encouraged you to seek out other sources. I don't have it in front of me now, but I remember reading several times passages like "trust us, if you can follow this method and get the correct answers, you'll do well," etc.

For my second test, I continued using the "Cracking the GRE" only for its vocabulary, for which I had already made flash cards. The rest of my review I did with the tools on number2.com. I found it much more accessible than the Princeton Review book. One thing that was entirely on me was that I didn't take a practice test online before taking the GRE the first time. I took 4 of those in between the first time I took it and second time I took it. I increased my verbal score by 90 points and my quantitative score by 130 points. Now, I think that my current cumulative score (1430) is my reflective of my abilities, since it's right around what I scored on the SAT (1400) when I took that about 8 years ago or so, and I'm sure I didn't get any less intelligent. I must admit I was much more nervous for my first test than my second test, since I didn't know what to expect. For whatever reason, I was unaware of the GRE PowerPrep software provided by ETS, so those practice tests helped a lot the second time.

I'm sure that some of the PR's book helped with my score overall. I don't think that I could recommend it to someone for anything more than the vocabulary, though. There are free, online tools (e.g. number2.com) that provide a little more adaptive approaches (their explanations for answers you get wrong are stellar) and are more thorough. I left the PR's verbal review section thinking that all I really needed to do was learn vocabulary, but I ran into several analogy questions on my first test that, despite the fact I knew all the words, just made no sense to me.

I hate to sound brash, but I think that the PR's "Cracking the GRE" appeals to a lower common denominator than most other review materials. If you're comfortable with reading a lengthy passage or doing simple math, a lot of its "tricks" will simply encumber you and take more of your time than actually solving the problems or reading the passages. However, if you have trouble focusing on a lengthier passage and shudder at any math problems that have parentheses or exponents, you'd probably find "Cracking the GRE" really helpful. That said, your mileage may of course vary. This is just my two cents, but I thought that it might be helpful in this thread.