Cracking the GRE, 2010 Edition

by The Princeton Review

Cracking the GRE brings you proven techniques from the test prep experts! The 2009 edition includes over 300 practice questions and exclusive free access to practice exams and further review online. In Cracking the GRE we’ll teach you how to think like the test writers and

·Solve analogies even when you don’t know the meanings of all the words in the problem
·Crack even the most complex algebra problems by plugging in numbers in place of variables
·Master even the toughest problems in the Verbal and Quantitative sections

We give you plenty of practice problems to help you master our proven techniques. In addition, you can access 2 full-length GRE practice tests online. Our practice questions are just like those you’ll see on the real GRE—but with detailed answers and explanations for every question.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Education

433 pages, Paperback

Published June 9, 2009

About the author

The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book best out of the few I picked up (including Barron's Math Workbook and a set of Kaplan vocabulary flashcards). The only downfall - and it's a big one - is that there are only a few math problems given and solved for in each chapter, and there isn't a section of practice problems to solve after quantitative chapters. There are practice sections for the verbal chapters, so if that's your problem area then this is likely the book for you. If you're like me, though, and terrible at math, you probably will want to pick up something else as a supplement.

There are practice tests at the back, which felt helpful at the time, but honestly my GRE problems for the quantitative section looked NOTHING like the sample questions in this book. Not that they looked anything like the questions in my math workbook either, though.

So you can imagine how that went.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far, I am impressed with the verbal section of the book but not the math section. I am sure this is partially because math is more of a struggle for me, but I think it is also because there are very few practice problems in comparison to a huge amount of information in that math section. I'll write another review after I take the test as that will be the real test...
I felt really well-prepared for my test and was very happy about my verbal score. I think my math score proved, however, that this book is not strong for someone preparing for the math exam...or else I'm bad at math.

[Eve Williams]

OMG!!! I actually like- yes, I mean like- this book. I have found myself so overwhelmed and frustrated over this stupid test that means nothing (oh except perhaps admissions to MA and PHD programs of my choice) especially after I have been working i.e. not studying algebra and latin for the past 7 years! But this book is actually helping me understand new concepts as well as awaken some long dormant ones!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I had a number of these GRE prep books and this was easily the friendliest of the bunch and written in language that was easy to follow whilst toddlers and babies wailed in the background. It contained a number of helpful techniques that improved my scores. My overall score was good enough...it could have been better, but my innate inability to perform college (or hell, even high school) math was my downfall.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Princeton Review is much easier to follow than Kaplan, so if you need a prep book you may as well get this one. But skip the edition with the DVD; it doesn't add anything. I hate to recommend giving any money to this racket. When will universities have the good sense to drop the GRE?

[Cecelia]

I haven't atually taken the test yet but after reading this and doing the excercises I feel very confident approaching the test. She explains things in a way that are simple and make sense so that there are few places where missunderstanding could potentially arrise.

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book offers some good tips in most places, with only a few flaws throughout. But when there's a flaw in the book itself, it's BIG. For instance, page 248-249 presents a problem for which you're supposed to fill in a number in the box. After a long explanation of how to find the answer, it says "Adding 20 and 30 gives us 50 total committees, and the answer is (C)." Err... except that there is no A, B, C, D, or E on this particular question because it's a fill-in-the-box problem. Oops. But there aren't a whole ton of errors of that degree, so don't worry.

The website that accompanies the book is also horrendously slow and buggy. Expect to have to exit and re-enter your practice tests and drills multiple times while using them. If you're using any browser but old Internet Explorer, the site will occasionally not even load due to errors in the way the site handles cookies. Just delete your cookies and it should load fine. A major reason for these errors probably have to do with the fact that they haven't significantly updated/improved their website and the tools in 5 years or so. No, I'm not kidding -- the setup was the same half a decade ago. If you do have a problem, don't bother emailing their technical support. They simply won't respond.

I'm giving the book an average score for containing a few truly helpful tips, and because the author shouldn't be penalized for the failings of the rest of the Princeton Review crew. Still, they package and promote it all together so I'm offering a balanced assessment of the entire package. As an individual study book, it's at least as good or better than many of the other GRE books out there. But if you really just need access to practice materials and can take or leave the tips, just go to the ETS website and download their free Powerprep software and the basic manuals they offer. That should be more than enough for most test-takers.

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

Difficult to rate this one. I read through it and studied it cover to cover in the period of about 5 weeks. I memorized every single vocab word I didn't know, and I made sure I understood every math problem. It seemed to be really informative. Long story short I got a miserably low score on the GRE - several math problems showed up on the actual test that didn't have corresponding examples in the book. I also felt really confident about the verbal section, but only got a 570. My total score was 1050. I still sort of recommend this book, but I wouldn't rely on it as my sole study guide for the GRE. In the words of a well-beloved TV personality - "But you don't have to take my word for it".

[Shersta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found some of the tips really helpful, and certain sections do offer some useful strategies for, as they call it, "cracking" GRE questions. I was disappointed by the lack of sample questions, however. I would have liked to have seen a lot more drills and more practice tests. When used in conjunction with other study guides, I think this one's a fairly decent resource.

[Adam Floridia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the setup and tone of the Princeton Review books better than those that Kaplan offers. This is a much more reader-friendly study guide.
Using both, though, certainly paid off: Verbal-- 750 (99%!) Quantitative-- 690

Now it's only a matter of filling out all the applications...

[Jayme]

It improved my score quite a bit . . . Just by reading reviewing the math, my score went up 170 points. Granted it was really bad before and only moved to OK, but that's because of my use of it, not because the book was insufficient.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hope never to have to read it again!

[Joshua Nomen-Mutatio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some solid general advice about test taking. Not a pleasant "read" but an important one.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far this has been a tremendously helpful and easy guide towards taking the GRE. I guess I'll see what happens in a few days... :-)

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

The 300 'essential words' this book demands you know constitute .00001% of the English language. I recommend a thesaurus.

[Stb]

yet to read

[Aloysius · Rating 3 out of 5]

*fingers-crossed