GRE - The Materials

There are a variety of ways to study for the GRE -- classes, online materials, self-paced, books, etc. Personally, I work best in a self-paced manner, so I chose to not pay for a tutor or class. Out of the various companies that produce workbooks, I went with Princeton Review. How did I come to this decision? I went to Barnes & Noble study aid section and paged through Kaplan, Princeton Review, Barron's, and Manhattan Prep. All were great at presenting information and providing examples and practice questions, but Princeton Review clicked with me more than the others. It was easy to follow and understand. I strongly recommend you read a paragraph or two in the various books before deciding on which book to buy. It will be important when you actually go to study. 

There are a few Princeton Review book choices for the GRE -- I went with Cracking the GRE Premium. The basic version of Cracking the GRE does not offer a study plan with your purchase or as many practice exams. I wanted to set myself up for success right from the start and I felt this was the better decision. There are individual Math and Verbal books that they offer. I did not purchase the individual books since I got the overall book. However, I did purchase their Word Smart for the GRE. Despite ETS telling you that their new test does not require just basic vocabulary, I strongly recommend this book. 

There were a few other materials that I decided to get for my prep -- Barron's GRE Verbal Workbook and GRE Math Workbook, Junior Skill Builders: Basic Math in 15 Minutes a Day, Sparkcharts: Geometry and Algebra I, and multiple types of math worksheets. I also had a variety of colored pens and highlighters, a notebook, and flashcards. 

Below are the reviews of the materials: 

Cracking the GRE Premium                                ~$40.00

- well worth the money
- choice of 4, 6, 8, 12 week study plans online with purchase of book
- provides the HIT parade vocabulary list
- in depth explanantions that are easy to follow and understand
- great tips throughout the book
- plenty of practice problems and exams




Word Smart for the GRE                                     ~$15.00

- Used it every single day in combination with the HIT parades in the Cracking the GRE Premium
- quizzes every 10-15 words
- provides other categories of words such as word roots or foreign words
- provides part of speech, definition, and examples for each word
- multiple vocab exams at the end




Barron's GRE Math workbook                           ~$15.00

- only used the practice problems from this book
- material was not presented in the best way
- found this book to not touch base with the material on the GRE as much as Princeton Review 





Barron's GRE Verbal Workbook                        ~$15.00

- Great tips on how to approach various verbal situations
- information presented in a concise and easy to follow manner
- used the practice problems extensively, especially days before my exam date






Basic Math in 15 Minutes a Day                       ~$15.00

- great if you have some basic skills that were forgotten or you need to strengthen
- many practice problems!






Sparkcharts: Geometry and Algebra I              ~$10.00 combined

- provide ALOT of information
- only got these for quick reference and honestly only used them a few times








Printed Math Worksheets and essay prompts with essay grading rubric

- fractions, order of operations, and decimal worksheets to increase my speed on basic math skills
- essay sheets were used to speed up my brain maps and critical thinking for essay prepping

Notebook and Pens

- 100% need this to succeed - used to organize thoughts and act as a quick reference guide/quizzing book
- color coded by section

Flashcards

- VOCABULARY!!!! easy to take anywhere vocabulary flash cards. 100% recommend!
- math flashcards for multiplication facts up to 15's and for various basic math facts. trust me. This is important to save time.

 For more on my journey, follow me on Twitter @_gradgirl_

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