Barron's How to Prepare for the GRE Test: 14th Edition

For each section of the GRE, and type of question in each section, Barron's gives you tactics to answer each question effectively. I felt those tactics did help me, on all sections. Especially on the math section, which had a whole chapter which reviewed, point by point, each math concept which you could be expected to know. That geometry is always a pain! :)

I didn't miss the CD, and one word of caution, don't take the Diagnostic Test too seriously, just practice alot and get familiar with questions and strategies to deal with them. That will help more, because you are probably more aware of your weak areas than the test can show you.

I recommend this book, not necessarily for it's tests, but for the abundance of study material, and for practice questions at the end of each section to review what you just learned. Also for the LARGE vocab list (love those notecards).


You NEED the 3500-word vocabulary list   February 4, 2001
David P. Ellis (College Park, MD)
39 out of 40 found this review helpful

As I've mentioned in other GRE preparatory material reviews I've written, I used four resources from four different publishers to prepare for my GRE. In the end, three only proved useful. To that end, Barron's was useful primarily for one reason - the 3500-word vocabulary list. It is broken down into 50 lessons, each of which contains an average of 70 words. The definitions are clear and concise and the lesson quizzes at the end of each section are helpful in reinforcing your knowledge. As it turns out, I studied the list religiously, eventually learning literally every single word in the list (I knew about 60% of the words before starting out). Because of the list and my fervent dedication to learning it, the Verbal portion of my GRE was demonstrably easier (or more difficult, actually, because of the computer-adaptive nature of the test). In any event, I am certain my Verbal score was enhanced as a direct result of studying the list. I trust you will find the same. Good luck!


Outstanding help for the GRE   October 17, 2001
Bob (Syracuse, NY)
30 out of 30 found this review helpful

Let's just start by saying that I never used a test prep book of any kind that was more helpful---and I've used plenty: for both the PSAT and SAT, for AP courses, NYS Regents exams, etc. The best parts for me were the math---because everything was explained so clearly, and I was never very good at math--- and the analytical reasoning--because I had never seen questions like that before, and I found them intimidating. The practice analytical questions were just like what I saw on the real test, and I got most of them right!

I can't contradict any other review, but I didn't find a single error in the math section---maybe because my book was the fourth printing and the typos from the first printing were already corrected. In any event, what was even more helpful than the math review were the math tactics, which enabled me to answer correctly several questions for which I was clueless at to the correct mathematical solution. That was amazing.

I also found the vocabulary section good, but I spent less time on that, since that wasn't my problem area.

Good luck to anyone taking the test. I honestly think this book will help you.


Best book for GRE preparation   May 29, 2004
17 out of 17 found this review helpful

I studied for 2 months for the GRE's and tried out lots of books. This one was the best. (I used the 15th edition which is bit more recent). The math review was the most comprehensive I found, and I needed a great deal of math review because I've been out of school 15 years and haven't taken a math course in 19 years. The vocabulary lists were terrific too. Unlike some other reviewers, I found the practice questions to be about the same, and in some cases a bit easier, than the actual test. But I scored higher than I'd expected to on both the math and verbal sections, largely due to this book. My one complaint was there there is no index listing where to find help with specific math concepts so I had to do a lot of flipping around to find particular sections. I'd say: leave yourself plenty of time to study, try several books out to get different tactics (such as Cracking the GRE, the GRE for Dummies, the Kaplan's GRE Prep) but use this book extensively and definitely, definitely, definitely work with the GRE Powerprep software offered by the ETS, the people who make up the real GRE. I'd recommend downloading it from the web site because, although you're supposed to receive it in the mail once you register for the GRE's, it may not arrive in time. Best of luck!


Good book to prepare for GRE   December 6, 2000
Janice (Arlington, VA)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

I think this is a very useful tool to prepare for the GRE. What I like about this book is that, it gives you a lot of strategies on how to prepare for the verbal, quantitative and analytical part. If you plan to study extensively for the test, you should get this book too. Besides giving you strategies, they have plenty of exercises that you can practice and also one of their main feature is the 3,500 words that are commonly tested throughout the years. In addition to that, if you have fears on the math part, they run you through possible questions and how to answer it. At the end, I think they have 3 sample tests which you can practice on. What I like best about this book is that, for instance, when I practice some of the exam questions, and if I get em' wrong which happens very often, I can look up the answer and they even tell you where to refer to in their chapters solutions for that kind of question.