(Part 2) Top products from r/GRE

Real, Official ETS GRE materials are are totally missing from your list.

ETS GRE materials are the best materials to practice with--especially for the Verbal section, where imitation questions can differ significantly from the real exam.

Below is an exhaustive list of all the official GRE preparation materials from ETS currently available:

1. PowerPrep Online (Free): 2 free computer-adaptive tests (CATs) containing 160 real GRE questions per test (320 total), along with a Test Preview Tool (18 additional questions and 2 more essay questions). Note: The PowerPrep Online GRE tests include the exact same 320 questions as the questions from this book.
   
2. Powerprep Plus Online ($40 per test with 90 days of access): 3 more CATs ($40 each with 90 days of access) that you can only take once per purchase. 80 real GRE questions per test, and 480 real GRE questions total, along with a Test Preview Tool (18 additional questions and 2 more essay questions).
   
3. Paper-Based GRE Practice Test (old version): Beware: only 22 questions on the old paper-based test are unique: the other 78 questions overlap with the free PowerPrep Online test #1. Do not take these paper-based tests until after you take the PowerPrep online tests, or your diagnostic scores on the CATs might be less realistic due to question repetition.
   
4. Paper-Based GRE Practice Test (new version): Beware: only 37 questions on the old paper-based test are unique: the other 53 questions overlap with the free PowerPrep Online test #2. Do not take these paper-based tests until after you take the PowerPrep online tests, or your diagnostic score might be less realistic due to question repetition.
   
5. The Official Guide to the GRE General Test, 3rd Edition: 296 real GRE practice questions, including 57 additional math exercises.
   
6. Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions, Second Edition, Volume 1: 150 additional GRE Quant practice problems, along with answer explanations / test info.
   
7. Official GRE Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions, Second Edition, Volume 1: 150 GRE Verbal practice problems, along with answer explanations and information on the test.
   
8. The Official GRE Super Power Pack (includes books #5, 6 and 7 in one bundle, sometimes at a lower price than the individual books).
   
9. The Official GRE Value Combo (includes books #6 and 7 in one bundle, sometimes at a lower price than the individual books).
   
   If you add up all the unique questions in these official resources, it totals about 1,600 official questions, which for many students is more than sufficient for a full GRE preparation. However, many students need more learning, strategy and practice than the official materials can provide. With that in mind, here are some additional 3rd-party GRE strategy and learning guides that we can recommend:
   
   
10. Manhattan Prep 5-Lb Book of GRE Practice Problems
    
11. Manhattan Prep GRE Set of 8 Strategy Guides
    
12. GRE Prep by Magoosh
    
13. Barron’s GRE, 22nd Edition
    
14. McGraw-Hill Education GRE 2018
    
15. Cliff’s Notes Math Review for Standardized Tests, 3rd Edition
    
16. GRE Vocab Capacity (disclaimer: also written by us)
    
    You might also want to consider purchasing the Manhattan Prep GRE CATs, which do not include real GRE questions, but are still (mostly) realistic and make for good practice if you need more than four CATs. The first exam is free, and you can buy six more for $39.
    
    We do NOT recommend Kaplan or Princeton Review books, which are decent for mid-level scorers, but too simplistic for the student who aspires to high GRE scores.
    
    Bonus: Don't forget about the GRE Big Book, which is now outdated, but has 27 old GRE tests, which are still useful, especially for Quant, despite subsequent changes to the GRE test format.
    
    Source: Vince and Brian's (Free) GRE PowerPrep Explanations

I highly recommend Magoohs book in combo with ETS books. Magosh breaks the math down better if that is your challenge. It also does a good job of teaching you how the GRE will trick you! Best of luck! https://www.amazon.com/GRE-Prep-Magoosh/dp/1939418917

Ok, so before I get into everything I have to preface this with some details about me.

I debated for 4 years in college and have been a debate judge ever since, this means I have 7 years of continued debate experience and most of my friends are debaters. The type of debate I did was called British Parliamentary which is perfectly tuned to train you to do well on the writing portion of the GRE. It was all about encountering impromptu topics and being able to make well structured and well sourced arguments while having no physical evidence at your disposal. This taught me to think of very complex and detailed arguments very quickly, I think this is the key to getting a six on the exam.

So, look up BP debate online or on youtube and watch some of the debates and you'll get an understanding on how people like me think about arguments. If you expose yourself to these ideas/habits you'll be fine. I did about 45 minutes of preparation for the test in total not including the 3-4 practice essays I wrote in the practice tests I took leading up to the test.

You can also go to intelligencesquaredus.org and they have a bunch of great debates with experts that also think in the same fashion.

Now to the pointers. First, if you want to learn how to use the Toulmin model to structure your arguments, cut down on fluff and bring your salient points to the table feel free to PM me since it's an entirely different post all by it self.

Before you even get to the test, I would suggest you familiarize yourself with some science philosophy because questions about scientific institutions or fields of inquiry or business come up all of the time and the lessons taught in these books teach you content you can use in the argumentative section, and things to look out for in the assumption/logic section. I based the bulk of my argument section on "The Structure of Scientific revolutions, by Thomas Kuhn. I would also highly suggest checking out [The Logic of Scientific Discovery, by Karl Popper] (https://www.amazon.com/Logic-Scientific-Discovery-Routledge-Classics/dp/0415278449/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474048437&sr=1-3&keywords=karl+popper). Both of these texts not only give you a great picture of how science functions, they also give you substantial insight into the reasoning behind science and other ventures. This is crucial to pull from in the logic/assumption section.

Before we go on, I'll give you the essay topic that I recently encountered, I'll refer back to it throughout the post: "In regards to fields of inquiry, younger professionals are more likely to make massive contributions to their fields than older professionals".

Before I start actually writing the essay, I take scratch paper and outline my argument. I give myself about 7-8 minutes for this (we used to get 15 minutes to make a 7 minute argument in BP, which includes getting to your room, you can practice this ability by looking up BP topics. If you can't find some, PM me and I'll send you some). I don't put together all of my arguments in full form, I just write "tag lines" pertaining to the gist of my argument. For example, in my essay I would write:

I: Kuhn, structure of sci revs: Paradigm. How young=better

A. What is paradigm

1. same data seen differently=different qualitative result/sci impact
   
   B. Young scientists unique to push paradigm
   
   
2. Based on livelihood of seeing things different
   
   a. Older scientists base livelihood on old assumption/paradigm
   
   This is more words than you need. You're not going to refer back to this word for word, instead it's a mental exercise to keep you organized. You came up with the ideas, so you're not going to forget why you put something in the linear order if it is linearized. I wouldn't forget what I was going to talk about in regards to assumptions/paradigms if I put down old scis base livelihood on old stuff.
   
   This model helps organize your thoughts so you don't have to waste time thinking of what's coming next, you can just throw a narrative down on the page. I think I wrote about 1000 words per essay this way. Most guides say you need to write above 600 words to get above a 5.
   
   When I'm thinking of arguments, I put myself in the shoes of the people I'm being asked to discuss. I think about the obstacles that an old or young professor or business owner confronts when trying to make a massive contribution. I think about what their crisis is, along with what their strengths are. I balance the strengths and weaknesses of the competing parties. I also think about the people in their environments, how are they going to treat the people in question. Will their peers respect them, not respect them, will they engage with them or let the researchers show that they should be paid attention to first. There's a lot to think about with this, but if you put yourself in their shoes, all of these characteristics play themselves out in front of you very quickly. This is why practicing those debate topics are so important, it trains your mind to think quickly about these alternatives.
   
   At the top, I used a phrase to begin that was relevant to the topic at hand. I probably started off saying something along the lines of "the life of a researcher is chaotic, the notion of publish or perish lies in wait, hovering over everything you do". This is preferable to simply restating the prompt. Remember that graders only spend a couple minutes on each essay, and if you seem boiler-plate from the get go, you're going to get a boiler-plate grade.
   
   Like many debaters, I like to do an overview at the top of my essay. Once I get my introduction finished with a hint of where I'm going to go with my arguments, I then make just the claims of my arguments and perhaps the impacts/solvency (check out Toulmin) in the second paragraph. This provides the reader with a clear line of what he/she expects to see in my essay and it makes the arguments seem more clear to them because they know what to expect.
   
   This was something along the lines of: "The arguments present in this paper will consist of analysis of the notion of the paradigm and how it contributes to advancement of the entire pursuit of science. Following this, the ramifications of tenure on a scientists career will be expressed and critiqued. Finally, the idea on how infrastructure access could hamstring younger scientists and thus, allowing for older researchers to take command will be discussed." This takes very little time to write, but it's very helpful for the grader because now they know where to look for, for development of arguments and the power of your reasoning. If you don't do this, it's possible that the grader will overlook some of your points and you may get a worse grade by human error.
   
   The rest of the paper writes itself if you have a solid outline. You just need to make sure that all of your points have a "why" to them. Why is your claim (assumption at the beginning of your argument) correct, you should use reason and substance to make these seem true. Don't leave anything as an assumption.
   
   Furthermore, I think the single most important characteristic in making a great argument is establishing what we call uniqueness. This is establishing why the thing you say is happening is actually CAUSING the thing to happen. You make it clear through your arguments that there are no other justifications for what your saying is true is actually true. I have a couple arguments on this one. First that older scientists have built their livelihood and careers on the assumptions and paradigms that they helped create/maintain, so they have developed a unique myopia to other alternatives that younger scientists haven't yet developed. Furthermore, young scientists are in a unique position to need to see things differently so they can make the contributions that lead to tenure. My entire second argument is about how tenure forces younger scientists to make big contributions and how it makes older scientists lazy because I ground the discussion in terms of publish or perish, up until you get tenure. The emphasis here is on mutual exclusivity, if "this" happens "that" can't happen. If a person doesn't have tenure, they're not safe and they have to publish exciting new things. If a person has developed or instilled a paradigm, they (I would argue) can't find another paradigm because it threatens everything they've worked for so they develop a selective myopia. Now this may not be the objective truth, but it comes across as a solid argument.
   

Found this comment:

Just took the test on Saturday and got 170V/168Q. Let me tell you a few things about prep:

1)DO NOT waste your time or money with Kaplan/Princeton/Barron's etc.. they are inadequate and full of distracting typos.

2)Do use Magoosh.com and/or the Manhattan course. They both come with top-notch instruction and lots of practice tests/questions. I actually used both. For even more practice questions (which you probably won't have time for at this point) check out the 5 lb book of questions.

3) Definitely memorize every word on the free Magoosh vocab flashcards. Knowing these words saved my verbal score.

4) For the love of all that is holy please use the official GRE book that is put out by ETS.

5) Do not ignore the essay. It requires a very specific type of writing. Even if you are a "good" writer you will be disappointed in your score unless you write the way they want you to. What you may not know is that every essay is graded by one computer reader and one human reader. For $13 you can actually have 2 essays graded by the exact algorithm the computer reader uses and you'll get an idea of where you stand.

http://www.amazon.com/LSAT-Logical-Reasoning-Encyclopedia-Disrespecting/dp/1479391271/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1465083245&sr=8-2&keywords=fox+lsat

I found it really useful. I decided law isn't the path for me, but the questions where you have a big text and have to infer what the author is implying or arguing is really useful, and there is a question type on GRE Verbal that is pretty analogous, even if the question stimuli is a little more brief.

The book is a little expensive for what it is, it might be worth looking for at a uni library or public library.

Hello,
I haven't seen these videos but I do happen to have previously used a Princeton review GRE book that is chalked full of practice questions. I believe he could be referring to "Cracking the GRE Premium" here's a link to amazon so you can see the cover https://www.amazon.ca/Cracking-Premium-Practice-Tests-2016/dp/0804126038 hope this helps!

You should read Narrative of a Life, his memoir, if you’re interested. This version below comes with Harriet Jacob’s Incidents in a Life of a Slave Girl—so good!! https://www.amazon.com/Narrative-Frederick-Douglass-American-Incidents/dp/0679783288

Been having good luck with the Manhattan GRE books - https://www.amazon.com/Quantitative-Comparisons-Interpretation-Manhattan-Strategy/dp/1937707873/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473100331&sr=8-1&keywords=manhattan+quantitative+gre

I really liked this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1101881763/

It’s got examples and a lot of small quizzes.

Just search for lsats 62-71 and 72-81, from lsac. They say 10 more lsats or something like that.

Here’s one: https://www.amazon.com/10-Actual-Official-LSAT-PrepTests/dp/0998339784/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2MS42DQRICNGL&keywords=lsat+62-71&qid=1556112119&s=gateway&sprefix=LSAT+62-%2Caps%2C155&sr=8-2

It's alright, but shouldn't be the strength you're looking for. The most important thing that the GRE is looking for is your reading comprehension (RC).

One resource I cans suggest is the GMAT Review 12th Edition. You're not using it for the GMAT portion, but for the RC portion which is Ch 7.4 and Ch 8.4.

Another great book that will hone your math and your vocabulary is Journey Through Genius.

https://smile.amazon.com/Journey-through-Genius-Theorems-Mathematics/dp/014014739X?sa-no-redirect=1

This book was like a revelation to me.

Introduced me to non-Euclidean geometry and all other kinds of crazy shit.

Selling the following book! $17

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1506219837/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ooops, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1438007493/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

These are from page 410–411 of McGraw-Hill Education GRE 2020.

Maybe you can try this. McGraw Hill is a reputable publisher. Also, checkout the reviews. They are very helpful for filtering out the bad ones.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1260122476/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_81mkDbMMEZAAQ

I'm also a newbie trying to figure things out.
I've been pointed to these a ton
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1937707911/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

haven't got them yet..
i'm abroad and will be taking it abroad. so it'll be weird in my case..
but i'm probably going to buy these

Test anxiety sucks. One way to deal with it is figure out where it's coming from.

For example, if Quant is a source of stress, figure out why. Is it because you're uncomfortable with numbers? Then you should work on your times tables and basic arithmetic. Figure out what causes the fear/stress and directly take action against it!

Also, remember that a good score is what YOU need to get into the program that YOU want. These scores don't mean anything by themselves, they're just a step towards where you want to go.

Also, here's a book recommendation for test related anxiety/pressure that has helped our students.

1. Performing under pressure