What books do you use for preparing for GRE®?

[Paul229]

Hi,

I'm a medical doctor in the US, and someone I know wants to pursue his Masters Degree here. He's a fresh graduate from the faculty of technology.

The problem is that I have no idea how things should go for him, how to start, what to do,... :(

I learned that he needs to take GRE :? May somebody help me with my questions?

What is it for?
How many exams is it?
Just one? A general one, or a specialized one in his field?
And what books do you use for preparing for it? Suppose he's not that hot-shot, and would like to start with something easy :shock:

May you please fill me in about anything else I should know about? I would appreciate it a lot :)

Thank you very much and good luck!! :)

[Sprightly]

Good places to go to get info about the test:

www.gre.org
http://www.princetonreview.com/grad/gre-information.aspx?uidbadge=

He'll need to take the general GRE, which has a math section, verbal section and writing section (2 essays). There is a computer science GRE, but he'd have to look up some schools he's interested in going to, to see if they require it.

If English is not his native language or he's an international student, he'll also need to take the TOEFL to prove his English proficiency. There's info on that test on www.toefl.org

I thought the best book to begin with was Cracking the GRE. It does a really good job of explaining how the test works, and has good tips for dealing with it. The tests are also really good, and they have answer explanations.

Your friend can download the free Powerprep tests from the official site, www.gre.org He should do those along with the tests in Cracking the GRE. If he plans his studying well, he shouldn't need more tests than those. The GRE folks also publish a guide with practice questions.

It's important to study vocabulary for the GRE. I have a book called Word Smart for the GRE, and it has tips for learning new words along with several word lists. This book is GREAT. Unless your friend doesn't have a solid grasp of English, I would not go for one of the massive word list books, because they're overkill. Even then, he'd be better off with an English course than just getting a fat vocab book.

I hope this can help him get started! Oh, and he shouldn't schedule his GRE until he's started prepping. Many people spend around 2-3 months to prep for it, but he could need more or less depending on where he starts out.

[Paul229]

Oh, thank you very much for your help. It's really helpful.

For cracking GRE, you mean Princeton's, right?

I'll check on what you typed, and try if I can pick it from there. Otherwise, I believe I'll be sticking around for a while.

Thank you very much for your help! :)

[Sanyo]

I think you will get relevant tips and information here - www.grevocabulary.org

[Paul229]

Thank you very much for your input.

[Sprightly]

Yes, Cracking the GRE is from Princeton Review. I hope your prep is going well!