Reddit reviews GRE Vocab Capacity: 2017 Edition - Over 1300 Powerful Memory Tricks and Mnemonics

Just going to play devil's advocate here. I've never bought any tutoring from Brian. The only experience I have with Brian is reading his comments/posts on the GRE subreddit, reading his GRE tutorial, and his GRE Vocab Book. Although his vocabulary book is hot garbage, his GRE comments are generally insightful and his free GRE tutorial is actually spot on. I've been following this community for about a year and his recommendations are usually pretty good. Not as good as gregmat but no one can really live up to the enigma that is GregMat.

Looking through your purported "evidence" I don't see any foul play here. It is at minimum true that Brian has tutored for 15 years, I don't think that anyone was under the preconceived notion that Brian has been tutoring the LSAT specifically for that amount of time.

Further, I've done practice material from the LSAT, the GRE, and the GMAT and I've got to say that there is a lot of transfer between tests. I'm reasonably certain with minimal effort that I could score decently high on the GMAT or LSAT as I have on the GRE. Even if Brian has less experience with the LSAT, his knowledge is still very valuable for the LSAT because many of these strategies/techniques are transferable between tests.

If you wanted to bash the way Brian incessantly avers his Harvard degree and his absurd tutoring prices, then I think the whole community would get behind that (Why most GRE prep material suck). But I cannot stand by and see a man's clear talent for standardized tests be the object of reproach in this way.

For 160+ targets, 1000 is a bit low. I recommend https://quizlet.com/SherpaPrep and https://smile.amazon.com/GRE-Vocab-Capacity-Powerful-Mnemonics/dp/1477650555/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510028747&sr=8-1&keywords=gre+mnemonic.

I used this book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1477650555

I heard from someone who used the Manhattan deck that the content is pretty much the same, so just pick one and stick with it. But this is hearsay, since I don't actually know their differences myself.

there's something they're not telling us! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1477650555/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i03?ie=UTF8&psc=1

here's a picture of the book on Amazon.. might be easier to see. She seems to have the same eyebrows, nose, and eyes to me.

Don't waste your time with that crap, unless that is effective for you. For me, whenever I read I gloss over words I don't know or can't pronounce. If you do this at all then reading won't increase your vocabulary.



For me, what worked was creating a mental picture of the definition based on the pronunciation of the word. The more personalized and outrageous the better. That last part on being personalized and crazy is key.


For example, truculent means "eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant." To me it sounds like "truck-you-lent" so I picture a guy driving a semi truck which costs like 400K who owns the truck, but works for a shipping company. He lends his truck out, but the guy doesn't give it back and so the big burly truck driver is pissed and eager to fight and argue.


I practice recalling the key phrase "truck-you-lent" and associated picture incorporating the definition. After three times I just know the definition without really being able to articulate it well. Its just in there, but it takes struggling and recalling it ~3 times over a 2 week period.


I have a database of GRE words with descriptions of pictures that I have been working on in hopes of writing a book based on the above idea someday. PM if you want me to send it to you.


Also, check out these books for ideas and even words. They tend to be simple SAT words but you need to know them as well for the GRE.

GRE Vocab Capacity: Over 900 Powerful Memory Tricks and Mnemonics to Widen your Lexicon

Vocabulary Cartoons II, SAT Word Power

Vocabulary Cartoons: Sat Word Power

Vocabulary Cartoons II: SAT Word Power

Picture These SAT Words!

Picture These SAT Words in a Flash

Vocabulary Cartoons: Word Power Made Easy

Vocabulary Cartoons: SAT Word Power

How to Build a Better Vocabulary

Verbal Advantage: 10 Steps to a Powerful Vocabulary

I'm using 2 sets of vocab flashcards (obviously they overlap) - one is the app for GRE vocab words from Magoosh, it's solid because it has tons of specifies which definitions are important for the test as opposed to giving you every definition when they aren't all relevant. The other method I'm using is hand-made cards from this GRE vocab book: it's clearly written by two former frat bros based on the mnemonics they suggest but that makes it funny and entertaining. I hand-make 5 new ones from their list every day and add them to the stack. It's working well so far.