GRE General Test Preparation Book Reviews

For quick reference, here are links to related books we have reviewed:

AN IMPORTANT NOTE ON GRE TEST BOOKS

We strongly advise all prospective grad school applicants to purchase at least 2 books on the GRE General Test. First, we recommend an official guide from ETS (Educational Testing Service), the test’s author. There is a difference between the official questions you will be asked on the exam and the practice questions contained in all other books.

Secondly, we recommend an “unofficial” guide since there is indeed a way to study for this test and materially improve your score. The better unofficial guides contain many time-proven test-taking strategies as well as excellent explanations for the correct answers to the practice problems. You will greatly increase your chances of receiving a higher test score if you are armed with GRE test-taking strategies as well as actual questions from previous exams.

Official GRE Super Power Pack 2nd Edition by Educational Testing Service

Buy all three official GRE guides from ETS (each reviewed individually below) and save by bundling!

The Official Guide to the GRE General Test, 3rd Edition by Educational Testing Service

This is the book that has authentic GRE questions. The real GRE test questions are very carefully scrutinized. Nothing is left to chance. As a result, there is almost always a difference between the questions used by ETS and those manufactured by the unofficial guides. A CD-ROM containing an actual GRE test is included.

Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions, Second Edition by Educational Testing Service

You’re buying 150 real GRE quantitative questions with this workbook. If you only need help with the math section, this is for you!

Official GRE Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions, Second Edition by Educational Testing Service

Just like its Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning cousin reviewed above, you’re buying 150 real GRE verbal practice questions. If you only need help with the verbal section, this is the book for you!

Barron’s GRE 22nd Edition by Sharon Green and Ira Wolf, Ph.D.

This Barron’s guide, now in its 22nd edition, is a solid, well rounded GRE prep book and has long been a clear favorite amongst our graduate school clients.

Magoosh: Test Prep Made Simple

Magoosh, a test preparation website created by renowned GRE experts and MBAs from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, offers hundreds of GRE questions, detailed explanations written by 99th percentile experts, and statistics to compare your score and pace against other users – all in an easy-to-use online interface, with no software to install or CD to run.

GRE Prep Plus 2024: 6 Practice Tests + Proven Strategies + Online + Video + Mobile by Kaplan Test Prep

This GRE guide is the newest edition of a slight favorite among our current and former grad school admissions clients. It is very comprehensive and presents some good study tips and strategies. Six practice tests are included. Five of them are online and one is in print for ease of reference. Use these practice questions to augment your studies as we don’t believe they’re as well calibrated as the official practice questions from ETS.

GRE Math Prep Course by Jeff Kolby and Derrick Vaughn

If you feel like you only need help with the quant section or, perhaps, that you need additional help with the quantitative section of the GRE, this is, in our opinion, the best book for GRE math preparation.