I needed LOTS of math and quantitative practice, so getting this was mildly helpul. By far, I thought Barrons Pass Key to the GRE was much better for building quant skills. But, realizing that this is paper-based and the real test is computer-based, unless you seriously need boot-camp on the math then skip this book and get something else. It's not "better" because it's made by ETS, don't be fooled by that. I got the most help from Barrons and from a book called The Ultimate Math Refresher. The ETS book was really just more sets of practice problems, because I did so many. My first GRE was 55% quant, and second was 71% -- so the practice and studying helped. I think, for me, Barrons was the best because they helped me with my personal albatross -- quant comparison questions.

Dear Amazon,
I purchased the book GRE:Practicing to Take the General Test. I did receive it quite timely. I did use it to study for the GRE General Test. I did find the section on the verbal/reading comprehension/vocabulary part of the test to be useful. However, I did not like the explanations for the Math/Qualitative section. I don't know if a math professor authored this particular part of the book. I had a great deal of difficulty understanding the explanations in this math section.
Therefore, I was glad I had also purchased a separate book which reviewed the Math/Qualitative section of the GRE in a more clear and concise manner. I was not very happy with the ETS version of the Math/Qualitative section in the book I purchased by ETS. Therefore, I used the other book to review my math skills.
Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Elizabeth H. Roessner

This new book is nothing but a condensed form and repaged version of the already out of print "Big Book", edited by the same ETS a long time ago. And being such, simply just don't waste your time and money if you can have any kind of access to the "Big Book". All of the seven REAL tests of this "brand new" book are already contained in the Big Book (and the Big Book has other 20 tests!).

First of all, this is a stale dated material! The old Big Book, used to disclose the period when the tests were taken: between 1980-something and 1994 (this "brand new" one does not even mention it!). But since then the difficulty level of the GRE Quantitative Section has raised its bar several notches up! So if the reader is purchasing this book with a specific focus on the Quantitative Section, chances are that she or he will feel tremendously frustrated.

However, the same cannot be said of the Verbal section questions. The old Big Book and consequently this new book are good sources of real-type Verbal Section questions, as such Section was already VERY difficult back then and things haven't changed that much as of October 2005. Despite this, it's good to remind the reader that ETS is planning to change the structure of its Quantitative and Verbal Sections of the General GRE Test for 2006, turning into obsolete even the real Verbal Questions of this book. (But likewise, even with such ongoing planned changes, ETS is also considering how to improve the preparation material for GRE).

The only good and really new thing about this "new" book is the Quantitative Section Review material where they mention how to obtain basic descriptive statistic concepts that test takers mention to have been finding so much lately in their real GRE questions. Nevertheless, two points should be raised on this topic. As a matter of coherence, the tests of this book SHOULD contain such type of questions, otherwise test takers can be wrongly misled and feel that including such topic to be revised is nothing but pure ETS terrorism since it is revised but by the new book tests it wouldn't be on the real test. And this is so not true! The other point to make is that, although this is relevant, it is also true that such new revision material can also be downloaded for free from the very ETS website.

Finally, I would say, that this material can only be good reference for other reasons than the above mentioned only if the purchaser is in her or his very early preparation steps, trying to familiarise her or himself with the type of questions. But let's face it. The purchaser could also have a glimpse of what is about to face in the real GRE by studying by whatever other updated book, software or online preparation material.

To conclude with, this book should only be bought if the purchaser really doesn't have access to the old Big Book or if the purchaser intends to buy as much material as possible and this one is only in her or his portfolio of material to be studied. As a solo buy, it is a real waste.

I bought this book in order to improve mu verbal skills. I read the advice of the previous reviewers who said that the maths are useless. I confirm this: it is to easy, to much geometry, ... only 2 or 3 questions on a maths test are interesting.

Conversely, the verbal part is consistent and in my opinion useful.

The several essays samples can inspire and give substantial ideas and methods for this part.

Some buyers may balk at purchasing the 10th edition of ETS's "GRE: Practicing to Take the General Test", citing the book's age (published almost three years ago), and the lack of test-taking methods and strategies.

Regarding the book's age, the key point is that it remains up-to-date, reflecting the current structure of the GRE general test. The book features seven full-length practice exams, each consisting of four sections (two verbal, two math). The math sections are comprised of thirty questions each, and the verbal, of 38 questions each. Here's some math prep for you: How many practice questions is that, in total? A whopping 532 verbal questions and 420 math questions, all of them written by the same people who write the test that you are prepping for. The book also has several practice questions for the written component, although every single Analysis of an Issue and Analysis of an Argument stimulus is available on ETS's website.(Of course, if ETS publishes an 11th edition tomorrow, BUY IT. You want the latest version.) Coupled with the GRE Powerprep software (which is free on ETS's website) I used this book as my principal preparatory tool. The difficulty of the practice tests was indicative of the actual test. In the tests in the book, the more difficult questions come at the end of each subsection within a test section. For example, in each math section, quantitative comparison questions constitute the first 15 questions, with the questions getting progressively harder. Furthermore, there are detailed answer sheets for each test that explain what percent of students answered a given question correctly. Thus, you can accurately assess the level at which you experience difficulty.

Granted, the tests in the book are written, and the vast majority of test-takers will take the GRE-CAT, not the written version. However, no test prep company provides a realistic simulation of the actual CAT experience, because none of the computer-based practice tests are adaptive. All computer-based practice tests have a predetermined format. The value of practicing on a computer is to gain familiarity with the test format and the computer interface. But, aside from the added eye movement required by practicing on a computer, there is no radical difference between answering practice questions on a computer screen versus answering them on paper. As for timing and test-taking discipline, the same rules that apply to timing a paper-based test apply to a computer test, with the exception that on the computer you cannot skip a question and go back later. At some point, you must answer, even if it's a random guess, and move on.

As for the lack of strategies in the ETS book, you will simply need to look elsewhere. Books from Kaplan, Arco, Princeton Review, Barron's, and others have plenty of material dedicated to method and strategy. Whether these tips are worth the price of the books (a debatable point, as they are often painfully obvious suggestions, such as "Step 1. Read the question carefully") is not my concern. I would say, however, that the ETS book ought to be a cornerstone of your GRE general test prep strategy.

In summary, if you are prepping for the GRE general test, buy this book. (Disclaimer: I took the GRE General Test in August 2005, and scored an 800 on both the verbal and the math sections.)