GRE BIG BOOK

GRE BIG BOOK

GRE - Good Gre Scores, Read GRE test experiences


The importance of GRE can not be underestimated by any student who wants to take admission in a graduation course. Because of the high level of competition one has to prepare exclusively for it, leaving all other matters aside. There are a variety of sources one can choose from; chiefly there are online courses, coaching centers, books for preparation and software packages for preparation. Each source has its own pros and cons. In case you prefer to study from a book then there are some very good ones available in the market.

A good book for GRE preparation would mean the one which has both, explanation of concepts and practice questions. If either of these is missing in a book then purchasing it proves to be unsatisfactory. In such a case you have to buy more than one book, one for concepts and the other for practice. Further the language of the explanations should be simple and lucid. Such a book is a pleasure to go through and you will feel like studying form it. You don�t want a book which has a style and language which is difficult to understand and you eventually don�t feel like even picking it up for studying. Such a book becomes more of a burden, neither can you study from it, nor can you throw it away. A large number of books available in the market also have a CD of instructions and GRE practice tests along with them. This is a remarkable feature of a good GRE preparation book. The instructions are easier to understand when someone is verbally explaining them, instead of your reading through the book and it helps those who have to appear for CAT by giving them practice of the computer adaptive GRE tests, before they go for the real one. This way they don�t have to look for taking the GRE practice tests elsewhere.

GRE - Good Gre Scores, Read GRE test experiences

GRE Big Book is one highly recommended book for preparation. This book is a compilation of 27 real test papers along with answer keys. ETS had released this book and that makes GRE Big Book the official document for GRE tests practice. There are no other tests in this book prepared solely for the purpose of practice, nor is there any explanation of concepts and strategies or list of formulae. GRE Big Book is just a collection of genuine test papers. This book is not printed any more.

The most significant feature of GRE Big Book is that it was released by ETS. ETS itself conducts and administers the GRE and consequently the GRE Big Book is the most reliable source for preparation. It does not contain tests which were prepared for mere practice but those which were actually administered in the GRE. There is no other such book available which contains the original tests. With such a large number of actual questions available in the GRE Big Book, there is seldom a need for any other GRE practice material. Moreover when you have such a source at hand which contains the true tests then all other sources seem unauthentic. The GRE Big Book consequently becomes a must for those who are appearing for GRE. Many students claim to have benefited by using this book, to the extent that some of the questions were actually repeated in their test! ETS carries out a number of researches before making any sort of change in their paper format, question type, difficulty level etc. It is not easy to change the question pattern for GRE; a lot of research goes into it. This means that a large portion of the GRE Big Book still remains worthwhile. The GRE Big Book is considerably useful for vocabulary. This is because of the fact that the difficulty of vocabulary was a lot more when the papers in the GRE

Big Book were administered than it is at present. The questions on vocabulary in any test tend to be repetitive to a certain extent. If you go through all the vocabulary questions then there is a good chance of your scoring well in the GRE Verbal section. The reading comprehension passages will give you a fair idea and practice of the type and standard of questions asked. Reading comprehension question from other sources might be either too easy or too difficult as compared with the real test.

This book does have a lot of demerits. Since it is such an old book it does not completely satisfy today�s test takers. They find the questions easy and outdated. Especially the quantitative questions of the GRE Big Book are far too easy, if you score well in it do not get excited and feel you are prepared enough! Be prepared for a much tougher Quantitative section in the real GRE. The syllabus taught in schools has become tougher over the years but the questions in the GRE Big Book have not changed. As a result, only the simpler questions, which were once considered tough, are mentioned in this book. Some students also find the vocabulary section easy while many don�t, so it is up to you to decide. But the quantitative section is certainly misleading.

Another disappointment you are likely to feel is that there is absolutely no explanation of the answers. You only get to verify whether your answer is correct or not, nothing beyond that. You might feel helpless if you are not satisfied with the correct answer but there is no one who you can approach for the explanation. And if this happens repeatedly then it can get really upsetting.

The GRE Big Book only contains the GRE practice tests. It thus fails to be a complete source of learning. You will have to look for some other supplementary material for the formulae, basic concepts, common grammatical errors, quick calculation tips etc. This can be cumbersome as you will have to refer to another book for making good this shortcoming. This book also lacks the traditional GRE wordlists mentioned in other books. It is better to learn a lot of words from a wordlist before attempting any test, but there is no wordlist at all in the GRE Big Book.

When you practice a test from the GRE Big Book you are likely to forget the time constraints in the real test, so you might just go on practicing at your own pace. And doing that does not help at all. The GRE test is not merely a test of your knowledge but also a test of your speed. You will have to learn many techniques to save time for attempting the real test well.

GRE - Good Gre Scores, Read GRE test experiences

The format of the test has changed over the years. The number of questions in each section is now different from what is mentioned in the GRE Big Book. Furthermore the GRE Big Book was released when CAT was not available. This makes it absolutely unrelated with the computer adaptive GRE tests. Nor is there any CD available for the computer adaptive test takers to practice from. The GRE Big Book resultantly stands insufficient for the computer adaptive test takers.

It is best to incorporate other sources with the GRE Big Book for preparation. What you can do is go through this book before you start your preparation. You will get a fair idea of what standard to expect in the real GRE test. Concentrate more on the Verbal section. Try to make the most of the GRE vocabulary mentioned in it; you can prepare a wordlist from the questions and start learning the meanings. Now take up some other GRE review, learn and practice all that you need to and then get back to the GRE Big Book. Now you will be able to make optimum use of the book. Keep time limits on yourself and practice the tests. The GRE Big Book will prove to be a good source of practice; after you have revised your concepts and learnt some wordlist. As for the quantitative section, those of you who are not good at math will get a glimpse of the real GRE test; keep in mind that the GRE test you appear for will be of a much higher level. Get a lead from the Big Book but don�t get mislead!

The GRE Big Book is now out of print. This can be a huge trouble for some. It is not available off the shelf and you will have to work hard to obtain a copy. Most likely you will get a book which is already used. Endeavour to look for a piece in which the answers are not marked, as someone might prefer to have done for reference. Try to buy a hard copy of the GRE Big Book from some seller on ebay, amazon or other such sites. It is better to obtain a GRE Big Book soft copy for the ease with which you can study from it. Look for some GRE Big Book download links. Generally such links are mentioned in some blogs in the form of GRE Big Book rapidshare links. For GRE Big Book free download you can follow the link http://www.freewebtown.com/loveanygirls7/bigbook_scanned_by_huy.zip. The zipped file contains the GRE Big Book pdf. This GRE Big Book scanned copy consists of 27 GRE Big Book tests in separate pdf files. Though obtaining a copy will require some effort, if you can get it, it shall be worth the effort.