Gre

[MJHUSKERS]

Hey guys,

I'm curious if any of you guys took a class for the gre test, like a gre prep course? Or did you pick up some books to help you study for it? A college near by is offering one of those gre prep classes for 12 weeks, but it's $550.00 dollars.

What books did you use to study from and do youwant to sell them?

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[Muscles00GT]

I'm not so sure a course would be beneficial, but it may be to some..depends on what type of learner you are. I just bought a book offline, Cracking the GRE by Princeton Review. It got good reviews and was only $23. Has a bunch of practice exams and questions...can't really beat it.

 

[PharmDan2]

I bought a couple word smart gre books, sample tests, and GRE/GMAT math books to help and they REALLY helped. While tooking the test, i found about 8 analogy questions that had words that I studied which led directly to me getting them correct. Definitely go for some books and spend a couple weeks studying and take the test. If you dont feel that it is enough, try the courses...but dont waste your time or money on courses if you haven't taken the test first. Who knows, maybe you'll get a 1300 without even trying!

 

[pttrac]

I have not taken the courses, but I don't think it would help. Just buy the guide books and study them. I found that reviewing old algebra/geometry/trig books helped a lot.

For the verbal section, just learn the vocab words and read more. I read the newspaper every day and I try to read a few books a week, so that helped as well.

 

[durandel]

I used Kaplan and Princeton books. In retrospect, I'd have done stronger on the quantitative if I'd taken it after I'd taken all of my Physics courses, but in the end it was good enough to get me into my first choice university. Incidentally, I also used the Kaplan flash cards for verbal, and it significantly strengthened my verbal score.

I've heard good things about taking the courses. I've heard they're expensive, but the best way to prepare too.

 

[HCO]

The only advice I have is to make sure and take some practice tests on the computer (the kaplan book I used came with a cd) becuase I found that taking the test on the computer was a lot different than taking tests in a book.

 

[UCLAbruin08]

I think that the classes are beneficial partly because they force you to be in a classroom and learn the tips and tricks of the test. Most, if not all, of the tricks are covered in the practice test books (Kaplan, Princeton Review, etc.), you just have to sit down and study it yourself. So I guess depending on the type of learner you are, you should assess whether or not you'd benefit from the classes. I personally just used the books for a couple of months and got a decent score. I felt that Kaplan Premiere Program prepared me well for the math portion, while Princeton review's Cracking the Gre was geared towardsw the verbal section (though I didn't do as well as I wanted to). Both had CD's with practice tests that were really helpful. I'd suggest to do as many practice tests. If you take it and don't do too well, there's always other chances, plus after the first one you get your first test jitters out of the way. I took it twice and raised my score the second time around. Hope all goes well!

 

[callmecrazy]

Hey guys,

I'm curious if any of you guys took a class for the gre test, like a gre prep course? Or did you pick up some books to help you study for it? A college near by is offering one of those gre prep classes for 12 weeks, but it's $550.00 dollars.

What books did you use to study from and do youwant to sell them?

Honestly, I wouldn't even consider shelling out that kind of money for a prep course unless you've already done really poorly once, or you are certain that you're a terrible standardized test taker. I don't consider myself any sort of genius, and the only prep I did was a few computer based practice tests a week beforehand. I did just fine, nothing astronomical but enough to get into the schools I applied to. If you feel like you need a little more than that, pick up a few prep books at the library. Good luck!

 

[lee9786]

Barron's Essential Words for the GRE
Barron's The Leader in Test Preparation
Cracking the GRE (get 2008 version, little difference than 2009 with less of a price."

Still have Kaplan's verbal flashcards coming in the mail.

I'm going through the same process right now. I basically looked on Amazon.com and started reading comments from people that have taken the GREs, what seemed to work, and got a couple books that would be complementary to each other. I'd definitely get some type of book and study it (The Barron's Leader in Test Prep book seems like it's the most exclusive) as oppose to just taking the test. I know for my case anyway I wouldn't do very well. There are a number of different words I've never even seen before. The test is different than what I'm use to taking. "Cracking the GRE" focuses more on the process of how to take the GRE. good luck

 

[Akiramay]

I just used the Kaplan and Princeton Review books. I don't think taking a class is necessary if you have the discipline to study on your own. Flashcards and practice tests are your friend!