Burn all your other prep books! Well, I could confidently say this were money not an issue. The Manhattan GRE series is so good, the rest of the books out there are basically a joke. That is not to say Manhattan GRE is perfect, though it comes close in the math portion.
Of course, money is an issue. Unlike Barron’s, Kaplan, and Princeton Review, Manhattan GRE is not a single book but a set of eight books, consisting of 1,500 pages. This arboreal decimation explains the price.
So perhaps it isn’t completely fair to compare the Manhattan GRE series to the rest. However, if you are serious about your score, and do not flinch at the price tag, then don’t waste your time with the other books.
The Layout
Each book is based on certain areas. For instance, a complete book is dedicated to algebra. Another covers quantitative comparison and data interpretation. Within each book, concepts are broken up into chapters. Before moving on to a new concept/chapter, you can test your newfound skills with plenty of relevant practice questions. Other prep companies treat most concepts superficially and provide few pertinent practice problems.
Because Manhattan GRE is spread across a series of books, each book does not feel cluttered. While this may sound trivial, having to stare at an unruly forest of facts and figures can quickly drive one batty.
Finally, the end of each book has easy, medium, and difficult practice sets, consisting of the different revised GRE question types. By the time you get to the end of each book, you will have been exposed to the range of concepts tested on the Revised GRE, and been given ample opportunity to practice.
Approach
With these books you will actually learn. Manhattan GRE does not resort to cheesy gimmicks or “tricks.” You will have a solid grasp of the fundamentals. The books also do not lull you into a false sense of complacency by dumbing down the test.
The Voice
The voice used throughout the series is direct and engaging. Explanations are also clear and will probably not leave you scratching your head, the way you might after reading other prep books. Basically, you feel like you are working with a smart, patient tutor.
Comprehensiveness
While I’ve already mentioned this a few times, I want to point out that Barron’s, Kaplan, and Princeton Review do not cover every concept and only cursorily cover many important concepts. The Manhattan GRE series covers almost anything you will see quant-wise on the test (I noticed that parabolas – an uncommon question type seen only on harder questions – were absent).
They also offer a code at the back of each book so that you can go online to take 6 new practice tests, complete with explanations! The material online is slightly more accurate than in the book, especially when it comes to text completions and sentence equivalence (I discuss this further below). I’m assuming this is because the material online was probably easier to update as they learned more about the new GRE.
Taking price into account, you may want to just pick one or two of their books to purchase– particularly question/concept types you want some extra practice on– since you only need one book to get access to their online practice tests.
The Not-So-Good
The Math section, which comprised of six of the eight books, is excellent. Every concept is covered and practice problems abound. However if you are looking for a high quant score, you may already know much of what is covered in these books. You will definitely want a greater number of difficult questions.
The flaws in the verbal section, namely the text completions/sentence equivalence, are more salient. Most text completions rely on obscure words (the way the old GRE did) rather then twisted sentence structure. The Revised GRE has intentionally done away with this approach, focusing instead on a student’s ability to grasp the big picture. Manhattan GRE’s focus on tough vocab, however, may unnecessarily intimidate students and, paradoxically, leave them unprepared for the actual exam.
Magoosh GRE vs. Manhattan GRE (Magoosh GRE + Manhattan GRE?)
Basically, we recommend Manhattan GRE to those of you who enjoy studying from books and are looking for a good score. For those looking for a more personalized experience or top percentile scores, we recommend Magoosh GRE, which offers everything from the basics to highly advanced practice (the latter is missing from the Manhattan series.) Magoosh is also a great way to establish a solid foundation of skills for the GRE, and it also offers support for any questions you may have.
Magoosh is also better for video learners, i.e. those who want to hear and see something explained. For example, here’s a video lesson from Magoosh on special right triangles. We have similar videos for every practice question as well. Additionally, the Magoosh team responds to any question you send to us within a few hours (definitely not available from any prep book!) to complete the “tutor experience”.
Lastly, Magoosh is better for those who enjoy studying on their mobile devices since you are able to answer questions and watch videos from any internet-connected device.
Video Review:
Grade: A
Takeaway
If price is not an issue and you’re a “book learner”, the Manhattan GRE series is the best prep book on the market. Taking price into account, you may opt for another means of prepping.
This is the eighth in a series of new GRE book reviews.
Manhattan is top on my list, as is Nova’s GRE Math Prep Course (would love to see a review on that one), but your review of the verbal section concerns me. Is it bad enough that you would recommend only purchasing the Quant sections for Manahattan? And another book for Verbal? I’ve always considered myself strongest in Verbal, but in looking at the GRE official site and their sample questions, I definitely need some serious work. What is your strongest recommendation for verbal practice?
Hi Julia,
The best prep for verbal is the ETS material. I recommend purchasing the book, which comes with the a mock test. Get a feel for those questions and you should be ready.
As for Manhattan GRE, I think the Sentence Equivalence/Text Completion book was rushed to print. As a result it doesn’t really mirror the test. I think most of the words will end up freaking people out. The good news is Manhattan GRE did a much better job with Sentence Equivalence and Text Completions on their mock tests.
Also give Magoosh a try. We have a free trial, which you can get a sense of our verbal content.
As for NOVA math, it is next on my review list!
Hello Chris,
Great Review!
Just had quick question, You mentioned a CD – Does it come with every guide? Secondly, does it have any updated text completion questions ?(ones with twisted sentence structures rather than obscure vocabulary based questions)
Jon
Hi John,
Actually, it’s not a CD but a series of practice tests. To access them you have to scratch the back of the book for an access code (you only need to buy one book to get all the tests, which is great). The on-line tests have the twisted sentence structure and so are more up-to-date than the SE/Text Completion book. The overall quality of the tests is pretty high.
I got all the sectional gmat quant books of manhattanprep,is it sufficed fr gre quant??
Great question! The GMAT goes beyond the GRE in math, esp. in terms of question difficulty, so you will learn more.
One area where there isn’t overlap is the data sufficiency. The GRE has quantitative comparison (QC), that, while easier, may necessitate that you practice this question type.
If you don’t want to purchase the entire series, you can have access to hundreds of QC for you to practice from in the Magoosh GRE product. Unlike Manhattan GRE, we are completely computer-based. All instruction is by video.
That sounds better because the entire series of manhattan prep is quite costly as compared to ur site. Another question i want to ask u is tht am confused whether critical reasoning questions comes from the verbal section or not.
For the Revised GRE, critical reasoning is part of the reading comprehension section. Unlike the Manhattan GMAT series, which has a separate book from critical reasoning, the Manhattan GRE series combines the two in one book.
Chris, what do you think of electronic version of these books? the price of ebooks is significantly lower. $20 per books(print) vs $8.99(ebook from manhattangre.com store) or $9.99(iBooks)
That’s a great question! In terms of price, it is definitely a winning proposition. However, I’ve never learnt in workbook form on an e-reader. The ability to scribble on the paper is lost, and I wonder how much that will affect the overall experience. At least working with scratch paper could somewhat make up for this.
Yes I am leaning towards buying print version because its easier to work with. Also your article shows the price of the books to be $180 and not $118 which is what manhattanGRE site shows.
Hmmm, that’s weird. I must have made a mistake. I will make the necessary changes in the post. Thanks for pointing that out.
Hi Chris,
It’s Sunny again. I’ve purchased the ebook version of MGRE book 7, and I am happy to share my review here:
Pros:
1. train you to read GRE articles and practice on the computers.lol
2. changeable text size.
3. provide hyperlinks of each chapter, in-action problem and solution.
4. way cheaper than the paperback version.
5. can’t take notes on there obviously. but it’s a pro because you can’t underline or circle in the text during the actual GRE anyway. lol
Cons:
1. have to install Adobe Digital Edition in your computer, create an Adobe account, active it, download the urllink file from MGRE under your Student Center page, and then open the urllink and download the file using Adobe Digital Edition. That’s the ebook you need. (yeah, the procedure is tedious, and I’ve encountered activation failures, but I eventually solved it.)
2. need to authorize computers and mobile devices during ADE activation. ADE only authorizes up to six computers and mobile devices to read the downloaded ebook
3. The page number does not match with the paperback version. And the location of the page number in the text changes when changing the text size even though the number of total pages doesn’t change.
Overall, it’s a great substitute if you only focus on the material and want to quickly get used to the computer based exams. I prefer to read everything online and type my essays in some noisy public area, so my eyes and mind will get use to it when it comes to the real GRE test
Sunny Sun,
Thanks for the great review
. I think many will find it helpful. So it sounds like most of the cons are related not to the content but to the electronic format (which always a lot of hiccups at first).
Thanks again for your review
.
Chris,
Yes, you are right! They are cheap for a reason. lol It’s not very user-friendly and definitely not a good choice for the people who don’t have much experience of tackling software. But the content is the same! So think carefully before purchasing.
By the way, here’s the tip when you encounter ADE activation errors: Open your clock time, then the time zone and check if the time on your time zone is the same as the country where you are. After adjusting the time try to activate again. That should solve the problem.
You are very welcome Chris, I am just happy to share my review in the Magoosh group
Best,
Sunny
man, it’s a horrible software, I was wondering why MGRE uses that. lol
Hey Chris!
I’m planning on giving the new GRE around August 2012. I have seen your video review and I’ll probably stick to the Official GRE guide and another book. Should I go for the Barron’s 19th edition or the Manhattan series? You mentioned that the verbal section in the Manhattan series is flawed. How is it compared to the Barron’s (or any other for that matter)?
Also, is there a “word-list” in the Manhattan series?
Overall the Manhattan series is soooo much better than Barron’s. In the one area of SE and Text Completions, Barron’s is okay.
Consider giving us a try. We offer a free trial – and I personally recorded all 300-plus verbal videos so I can attest to their quality.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Hi,
Honestly, I am very confused that which book is better because you said Manhattan GRE is better and some other blogs i.e. Happy School recommend other books like Kaplan new GRE premier 2011-2012, but I need the right path… I am planning to do GRE in Sept.2012 and my native language is not English, I am not so good in English I got 6.0 in IELTS; this is my standard stage in English. But I want to complete my M.Sc in Electric Power from University of Southern California – it’s my dream. So, how can I prepare for GRE and get a good score? Need your great and kind suggestions please.
Best regards,
Zahid
Hi Zahid,
Thanks for your message. I think you bring up a good point: who do you trust on the Internet, typically when there is conflicting information?
Let’s compare reviews:
Here is an excerpt from happy schools:
“Kaplan GRE Books are well known in GRE Test prep market. Some test taker might not like the way book are presented, be it Kaplan or GRE. Understand your need and find the right test prep books.
Its not possible to buy all the available GRE Test prep materials in the market. Barrons and Kaplan have good reputation for their GRE Test prep books.
Both Barrons and Kaplan have published book for New Revised GRE.”
Apparently, he is recommending Kaplan because it is well-known. He then goes on to say Kaplan (and Barron’s) has a good reputation. According to whom? My experience with students who only used Kaplan before coming to me, as well as GRE tutors, in no way supports this assertion.
In all, his review is very vague. Does he at any point discuss the content in the book? No, he sticks to generalities. To say that Kaplan has good strategies is an example of where he is making a general assertion without backing it up with any specifics.
After reading this post, the only information I’m really getting is Kaplan is well-known and, according to a shadowy somebody, has a good reputation.
Hardly a ringing endorsement.
My reviews make general assertions about each specific section, and back up each assertion with specific examples. I essentially dissect the content on every part of the test. Not surprisingly my posts are much longer.
I also balance the positive with the negative, providing a view that is comprehensive and nuanced. He does neither.
Who would you trust?
Well, to answer that question, email the happyschool blog and see if he (or she) can give you any specifics for why you should choose Kaplan.
My advice to you is to use Manhattan GRE over Kaplan. The difference in quality is so vast that to say Kaplan is better is downright laughable.
Let me know if you have any other questions regarding what is best for you.
I’m happy to help!
Hi Chris,
Thank you very much for your long response and patience, but you didn’t touch on my second question…
(I am planning to do GRE in Sept.2012 and my native language is not English, I am not so good in English I got 6.0 in IELTS; this is my standard stage in English. But I want to complete my M.Sc in Electric Power from University of Southern California. So, how can I prepare for GRE and get a good score?)
I’m very frustrated over whether or not I can succeed at the GRE. Another point is the need to get the latest edition of every book – if someone gets the Manhattan GRE book now, he or she might lose something new or a current topic from their next edition; especially those who are planning do their GRE exam 6-8 months or more later. If I sign up for Magoosh online Premier, is it enough? How else can I start my preparation for GRE? Please give your great and kind suggestion.
I am waiting for you suggestion to start my GRE preparation. Thanks
Best regards,
Zahid
Zahid,
As someone whose native language is not English I commend you for your initiative. The GRE is very, very difficult for non-native speakers – many such students have faltered, so you’re not alone
.
I definitely recommend reading in conjunction with learning vocab. The new GRE is no longer a raw vocab test. Rather it tests your knowledge of words in context.
For instance, Newsweek and Time magazine are good places to start. Look words up when you don’t know, even if you recognize them but can’t quite define them.
Don’t worry about the editions. If anything Manhattan GRE, out of all the paper books, is the most up-to-date. Our product might be slightly newer but in terms of ‘timeliness’ I don’t see much of a difference.
Magoosh alone should be helpful for verbal. But a lot of that depends on if you are a video learner. If it works for you, remember to read a lot, so that you are learning academic English – which is more advanced than TOEFL English.
Hope that helps!
Hi Chris, awesome! Thank you very very much for your kindness and great suggestions. <<<< Zahid
Your welcome! Best of luck!
Hi Chris
I’m an international student applying for a business graduate school. I’m concerned about whether to take the GRE or GMAT. By the way, I’m not that good at math, and I heard and read online that the verbal section on the GRE test is really hard. From your experience and knowledge which test do you recommend for an international student, and do you think 3 months will be enough to prepare for the test? What is the best book for either test?
Thank you
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
You are correct:
GMAT – difficult quant
GRE – difficult verbal (esp. for non-native speakers)
I recommend downloading a practice test for the GRE (gre.org) and one for the GMAT (mba.com).
Afterwards, determine where you rank percentage wise. If the scores are about the same, go for the GMAT. It still carries more weight, b. school-wise, than does the GRE.
If your GRE score is higher percentage-wise, then I would recommend spending your three-months prepping to take it.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Chris,
I have studied for the MCAT a few times and am now looking to take the GRE. Therefore, I am able to study on my own for standardized testing.I am mostly worried about the verbal section of the GRE because my vocabulary is not as extensive as it may need to be. I have no experience with the format of the GRE exam. Do you provide that with the magoosh online experience or do I need to get other books to learn about it? I have a strong math background, and I feel that I will only need refreshing. I have the money to purchase the manhattan books, but I am unsure about their sentence completion section. Do you have a suggestion about how to determine what will work best for me? I see that your online practice is on sale now and I would like to purchase it while on sale.
The Magoosh product focuses on how to attack questions and how to answer specific questions (we have hundreds!).
But really speaking it’s pretty straightforward. Buy the GRE official guide by ETS and spend half-an-hour learning about the format of the test. Follow that up with an actual GRE test (it’s at the back) and you should have a solid grasp of the format.
Then of course it’s just a matter of practicing. If you feel you are confident on strategies, and only want practice questions, then I don’t think Manhattan GRE is necessary.
Finally, from a vocab standpoint, here are two posts I wrote. Hope they help!
http://magoosh.com/gre/gre-vocabulary/
http://magoosh.com/gre/2011/strategies-for-how-to-study-vocabulary-for-the-new-gre/
Thank you! Does the review on the magoosh website provide enough math refreshers, like formulas and strategies, and verbal strategies so that I would not need to buy a book?
Yep, we do have a few things on our blog that you will find helpful. For Quant here is a litte cheat sheet.
http://magoosh.com/gre/2011/gre-math-formulas-cheat-sheet/
For verbal, you can definitely cruise around the blog. You will find general strategies/tips for the various sections (RC, Sentence Equivalence, etc.) There are also vocabulary posts featuring high-frequency words.
Hope that helps!
It does! Thanks!
I took the GMAT but i did really bad in the test the math was hard and the time wasn’t enough to finish it . is the math in the GRE easier than GMA? and im good at memorizing vocabulary – will this help me in the GRE vocabulary?
please advise me
Thanks
Hi Sarah,
The math on the GRE is definitely easier – however, it is no cakewalk. To score in a competitive range you still have to have a solid grasp of the fundamentals and be able to think quickly. The complexity of the questions (the trickiness etc.) is not as bad as the GMAT, and the candidate pool taking the GRE, is filled with fewer quant jocks to skew the curve.
As for memorizing vocab…doing so will def. help on the GRE. However, you want to have a strong sense of how those words function in context. Coughing up a pat definition from Barron’s 3500 list, say, won’t help much.
Hope that helps!
Hi chris,
I am preparing for gre, and I need some material for verbal section; can you please provide some material for me?
thank you
Jyohtesh,
Check out our free Magoosh trial. Sign up on gre.magoosh.com. If you sign up you can access hundreds and hundreds of questions.
Let me know if you have any questions
Hi Chris,
I picked up guides 7 (reading comp) and 8 (text completion/sent equiv) of the Manhattan series. Your suggestion that guide 8 relies too much on obscure words seems right to me. At least, I hope you’re right! I’ve been studying for verbal through Magoosh for about 3 months, and it’s been most helpful. I just started working through Manhattan’s guide 8 and much of the vocab seems much more difficult / obscure. I felt pretty good after doing Magoosh mock exams until Manhattan hit me with their obtuse vocabulary. Do you think it’s still worthwhile to work through the book perhaps while taking the vocab with a grain of salt?
Thanks
Hi Glenn,
Oh yes, those words are definitely obscure. But MGRE adapted – in their on-line tests they do a far better job of mirroring the Revised GRE. The good news is each book comes with a code that allows you to access the tests for free.
As for the book, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to run through the MGRE Text Completions, mainly to make sure you can pick up on sentence structure and the non-obscure word that would fit in the blank.
Good luck!
hi chris,
thanks in advance
I have my GRE in june 4th 2012, but my weakness is the verbal section. I want to improve it, so I downloaded 1500 words from majortests.com and am almost done with 300 words. It would be great if you could suggest some books for verbal….as you said, Manhattan GRE text completion and sent enqiv contains very obscure words and i heard that the Kaplan verbal workbook would be easy compared to the actual GRE test…can you help me choose a correct gre verbal book to practice?
Hi Prakash,
Magoosh.com has Sentence Equivalence and Text Completion questions that are as difficult – and in some cases even more difficult – than those you’ll find on the Revised test. Have a look at: gre.magoosh.com
I’m sure you’ll find our content very helpful. Don’t hesitate to ask me any other questions!
Hello Chris
I’m an international student and I need some help to find the best preparation for the reading comprehension and writing section since I find them very difficult, so do you have any suggestion for a good and easy to understand book for these parts of the exam.
Thank you for your Help!!!
Hi Carol,
For the best take on the essays, I’d recommend Manhattan GRE’s Essay book.
For Reading Comprehension, MGRE is pretty good. Magoosh is also excellent for RC – our lesson videos will help you develop an effective approach. The 100+ questions will help you refine this approach.
Barron’s also isn’t too bad for writing – the rest of the book is okay.
Hope that helps
Hello again Chris,
I forgot to ask you one more question, I have a bunch of GRE books for the old version of the exam do you think they could be helpfull in math and verbal or should I just throw them away and buy new books?
Thank you.
I would only keep the old books if they are ETS books. The practice questions were written by the creators of the test. Sure the test has changed, but much of the logical required to answer questions, esp. RC, haven’t.
As for the rest – bonfire time
.
Hi Chris,
can you already give some feedback about the NOVA Math book vs. Manhatten GRE?
Also I have the NOVA Math Prep Course for the old GRE and wanted to ask, if this is a disadvantage over the 2012 edition, if I am aiming for a 162+ quant score?
Thanks a lot for your advise
Best regards
Zac
Hi Zac,
From what I gather, Nova has not released a book for the New GRE. At least, I can’t find any 2012 on amazon. As for the 2011 Nova’s, it was mediocre verbal-wise for the old test. Now, it’s just mostly irrelevant.
Quant-wise – which you care about – I’d say the 2011 Nova book is a good question bank. Def. some harder stuff. The explanations are pretty awful. And if half the battle to the GRE math is answering the question quickly, then Nova does not offer many helpful strategies.
Manhattan GRE, is for the New GRE, so it already has a one up. That it is pretty strong across the board makes Nova pretty obsolete.
Hope that helps!
Hi Chris,
There is a website named http://www.my-gre.com who are selling 3 ebooks for GRE Math called
Winners’ Guide to 99 Percentile New GRE Math
Winners’ Guide to Core New GRE Math &
Math Question Bank for New GRE Winners
Can you let me know if these guides are as good as they sound?
Thanks
Hey Khansa,
I looked over the math and the questions look okay. One thing I didn’t see amongst their math problem set was quantitative comparison questions. The questions in the ebook may be okay. I recommend buying just one book and seeing if the questions are similar to those found in the GRE. If so, then go ahead and purchase the others.
-Chris
Chris,
I was kind of “lost in the woods” until Mike`s 90 day GRE study plan(Verbal Focused) surfaced.. This Plan acts like a guiding source and I have decided to follow it.
But, Mike mentions the use of Manhattan Series (Vol 7 &
and Vocab flash cards. These books are pretty expensive. Currently I have the following resource.
1. Magoosh
2. Official Guide
3. Barron`s
Can`t I just manage with these. Do I really need to get Manhattan series. Would Manhattan`s GMAT series help ? Or, could you suggest any alternatives to Manhattan.
Hi Arun,
Sure, you can definitely manage without the MGRE resources. Barron’s is by no means terrible, as my review indicated. I would recommend at least buying one MGRE guide. That one guide will give you access to all 6 on-line MGRE tests. Those tests are very helpful from a practice standpoint.
Hope that helps
.
Hi Chris,
I’ve been taking Manhattan’s new GRE CAT tests.
How do they calculate the scores? Is some sort of scaling done? I’ve noticed they do some sort of upward scaling. And how accurate are these scores?
Thanks.
Hi Srikrishna,
I’m not actually sure which scale they use. To the best of my knowledge ETS hasn’t released the breakdown of scores, i.e. how many wrong answers equals any given score.
That said, I’m not really sure how accurate these tests are. I think we will need a lot of data over time to see how well the MGRE tests correlate. For now the best indication of your score is the PowerPrep tests.
Hope that helps
hiii mangoosh, i have my gre on may 14 i.e i have roughly 50 days ..can you suggest me some tips ,how to start my preparation ?
Hi Sumanth,
Here is our 30-day study plan and an overview of our various study plans. I am sure you will find one that works for you and your time frame.
http://magoosh.com/gre/2011/30-day-gre-study-guide/
http://magoosh.com/gre/gre-study-guides-and-plans/
Hi Chris,
First of all, this blog is incredibly helpful! I’ve been scouring the Internet for a decent source of new GRE information and this blog is a veritable gold mine.
A quick question:
I previously purchased the MGMAT book series. However, now I am preparing for the GRE. To avoid redundancy, what books should I purchase from the Manhattan GRE series to supplement the MGMAT verbal/quant books I already have? Basically, I am assuming that the math doesn’t change nor the reading comprehension between both tests (GMAT and GRE). Would this be a fair assumption?
Also, as a suggestion to your blog readers, some excellent novels to improve vocabulary: Pride and Prejudice (any Jane Austen novel really) and the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery.
Hi Gaia,
Thanks for the kudos
.
Great question! The math overlaps significantly – though you can avoid the Data Suff. altogether. Verbal I would say the same techniques apply, but you should definitely be sure to pick up the ETS GRE guide to practice with GRE RC passages (the format is different and the range of passage is greater. You get the dry academic passages and you get other passages that are more encyclopedia-esque.
As for books, I literally just recommended Pride and Prejudice yesterday to one of my SAT students. I qualified that by saying that females tend to love the book, whereas males tend to go more for the Count of Monte Christo (though many enjoy both books). I’ve never read the Anne of Green Gables series but I have a friend who is hooked.
The key of course is a great read with lots of vocab words. I think this topic definitely deserves a blog post: Great Classics and GRE Vocabulary.
Thanks for the inspiration
.
which books to buy for verbal and math sections,plz brief it along with name of specialised books for each section
Hi Ranchoram,
The following link provides info. on the best books for each section:
http://magoosh.com/gre/2011/new-gre-book-reviews/
Hope that helps
.
i’m a beginner in gre i want to master vocabulary ,i have gone through your review for manhattan but i’m confused please suggest me the best that helps me for my gre exam .i already have princeton review and ets official guide.
Duruvash,
To master vocabulary, no one book will do. In fact, using only books is not the way to mastering vocabulary. The two links below should guide you in the right direction:
http://magoosh.com/gre/gre-vocabulary/
http://magoosh.com/gre/2011/reading-vocabulary-in-context-where-should-i-start/
That said, MGRE has a word list that you can easily turn into flashcards. Each word is good one to learn for the GRE. The reason I didn’t give MGRE full reviews is their SE/TC questions didn’t accurately mirror the ones on the actual exam.
HI Chris:
I’m preparing GRE now, and I have 2 books as below:
1. ETS’s Official Guide to the GRE Revised General Test
2. Princeton Review: Cracking the New GRE 2012
But, a friend think these will not enough for me, i.e. cracking the new gre was not enough in verbal
He recommended “Verbal Workout for the GRE” or “Kaplan New GRE Verbal Workbook” for enhance the verbal section, but I have find “Manhattan GRE Prep (COR)” also have published about verbal, and I can’t decide what should I buy…?
like “Reading Comprehension & Essays” or “Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence GRE Preparation Guide 8″
Please give some recommend for me
thanks a lot~
sincerely
Hi Michael,
I would definitely stay away from Kaplan. Check out my book reviews at the following link:
http://magoosh.com/gre/2011/new-gre-book-reviews/
Then for a range of study plans that blend the best books and on-line resources take a look here:
http://magoosh.com/gre/gre-study-guides-and-plans/
Hope that helps
.
Hey!
I am looking for more text completion/sentence equivalence than what is found on Magoosh. I am a visual learner and I remember the answers so I cannot practice with these questions as often. The Manhattan series seems to be the most promising in this area but is still lacking. Is there another book that has better TC/SE practice?
Thanks!
Hi Alex,
The only book I would recommend–besides ETS material–is Barron’s…however I do so only as a last resort, as there is nothing really else out there that is even halfway decent.
For practice on old Sentence Completions you can also pick up the old GRE Official Guide by ETS. Sure, you don’t have any newfangled three-blankers or SE questions, but the questions are challenging and sophisticated.
Hope that helps!
Hi Chris, I was about to order the Manhattan GRE book on RC/essays. There are a couple of links that gets me confused. Can you pls help me out over here.
Below are the two links, pls do let me know which one to pick from..
The one you have depicted here is by Manhattan gre, gmat. Looks like there is another one exclusively by Manhattan gre?
link 1:
http://www.flipkart.com/reading-comprehension-essays-gre-strategy-guide-1935707523/p/itmdynen8rqjwjmc?pid=9781935707523&_l=G9ODp0mC2F2aNP7c7E%20Y9Q–&_r=vnu63vD8ZNyKu6WF%20Dj02w–&ref=b7af0ca2-bbae-481d-8cb3-308f832953e9
link 2:
http://www.flipkart.com/reading-comprehension-essays-gre-strategy-guide-1935707086/p/itmdynenujyyyzaq?pid=9781935707080&_l=nQSx3qqnZWVZtC1z5TwtyA–&_r=vnu63vD8ZNyKu6WF%20Dj02w–&ref=b7af0ca2-bbae-481d-8cb3-308f832953e9
Hi Akshay,
The first link is for the more recent edition, so I would definitely get that one (and it’s cheaper
).
Thank you very much for the prompt reply Chris! I just placed an order for that.
I dont know if I am asking too much here, I’ve been preparing on AWA and I recently gave a mock test. It would be great if I could get my issue & argument essays analysed by somone from Magoosh. Is that possible? I can upload it for the readers too in a comment page if you think thats feasible…
Again, thanks a lot for your inputs Chris. Appreciate it.
Hi Akshay,
Actually, we do not read/critique essays
. Of course, I am always happy to answer questions relating to the issue/argument, and provide helpful tips 
.
Hi this is karthik. presently i am pursuing 3rd year of my b.tech. i am planning to take gre in august 2012 . i am planning to join manhattan review for gre coaching. ut i am confused between manhattan review and princeton review. which will be the better option.
Thanks®ards
k.karthik
Hi Karthik,
I would do as much research on-line as possible. See if you can talk to former students. One thing I can objectively say is that MGRE has more rigorous standards for prospective teachers. A MGRE teacher will likely have a higher GRE score than a PR teacher.
Hope that helps
.
Hi Chris,
i believe my math,verbal and analytical skills are not good enough for international standard test such as GRE, GMAT,SAT.English is not my first language and i achieved a band score of 7.5 in IELTS. Therefore, how should i start my preparation for these test buying only manhattan series books are enough or i also need to buy Manhattan GMAT and Veritas Prep book.Plese let me know if there is any book or series of books to improve specially in analytical or math(from basic to advanced).thanks and waiting for your prompt reply
Hi Sakib,
If you are studying for the GRE, I’d only recommend using GMAT materials if you are scoring in the top percent. You will be fine as an international student, using just the MGRE series.
If you do get to the advanced point in Math, I’d recommend Magoosh’s GRE product (we have some of the most difficult questions out there!). And don’t forget to use official material from ETS.
Good luck!
Thnks chris
Hey Chris,
Any thoughts on the EZ solutions series of books? I have heard they are very strong for the quant section.
Honestly, I’ve never heard of them, so thanks for putting them on my radar
. It doesn’t seem that it has been released yet (so no reviews). So sorry, I couldn’t be more helpful. Do you plan on preordering the book?
Hi Chris,
I scored 1120 in my gre last year after studying for 10 days.
Quants-590
Verbal-530
I want to try again in 3 or 4 months and my target score is 1450. I believe I can get 770 plus in math and 600 plus in verbal. What material do you recommend for me?
I was thinking magoosh and Manhattan math guide. What do you think?
Aj,
The Magoosh Manhattan combination is definitely the best way to go. With all the helpful tips and practice material (questions, mock tests, etc.), these two sources will help you hit your goal of 1450. And don’t forget the Magoosh blog too
.
Anyhow, let me know if you have any questions along the way.
-Chris
Hi Chris,
My daughter provided me with a list of GRE publications she wants, including the Manhattan strategy set. My question: How much better is edition 2 than edition 1? (I can get the first edition for about $60; the second edition costs about 50% more.) She has several other must-haves, and I’m not, as parents are so fond of saying, made of money.On the other hand, I do want to help her get into grad school, and I don’t want to be penny-wise and pound foolish. (If there were a cliche section, I’d tutor her myself!)
Thank you.
Hi Holly,
Actually, the 1st Edition GRE guide is for the old GRE test. So you definitely want the new one, even though it is significantly costlier. The old guides, while not totally unhelpful, don’t take into the new question formats on the test.
Hope that helps
.
hey chris,
how are the strategies given in manhattan gre for Text completions and Sentence Equivalence?
Hi Sai,
I think the strategies are pretty good, but the questions themselves rely too much on obscure vocab. The SE/TC questions on the computer-based test tend to be more GRE-flavored.
Hi chris,
I recently bought the Magoosh gre premium plan and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Since I did not want to leave out any preparation options I have decided to also prepare from Manhattan Prep gre books after reading your book reviews on it. However I already have the Manhattan Prep gmat books (the 8 guides) which a friend of mine gave me. I was wondering if I can prepare the quant section for the gre from the gmat books. (this ll save me money
) Do you guys think it will be ok? Thanks
Talha
Hi Talha,
That’s great you are enjoying the Magoosh GRE program. As for the MGRE math guides, I’d say that MGMAT guides couple with Magoosh will cover everything you’ll probably encounter in just the MGRE guides alone.
With MGMAT, the math is a little more advanced and the section that deals with Data Sufficiency does not pertain to the GRE (though make sure you use Magoosh to practice with the new question types).
Hope that helps
.
Thanks Chris for the prompt reply. What about the verbal section? Since the RC is common to both the gmat and gre, can i also use the mgmat books for just the RC? Thanks a ton.
Yes, the RC has good overlap. Again, as long as you are practicing with the new question types (which abound in Magoosh), the MGMAT RC books works well
.
Hi Chris,
I’ve found this page to be extremely enlightening and helpful! I am planning on taking the GRE and am interested in an online live class. I’m basically deciding between Kaplan and Manhattan. Do you have any thoughts on which may offer a better class? I know you think very highly of the Manhattan books. A friend of mine took a Kaplan class and said she was not very impressed because it taught to the lowest learner. Would Manhattan provide a more stimulating learning environment?
Thank you!
Hi Katherine,
It’s hard to say, as I’ve never taken either class. Material-wise MGRE is clearly the winner. The instructor standards for Manhattan are very high. I know, from past students, that Kaplan hires teachers with little experience and not very high test scores. Finally, I’ve never – and I don’t mean to necessarily slander Kaplan – but in all these years doing this, I’ve never heard a good thing about Kaplan’s classes from my students. True, many of my students come to me because they didn’t do well in the first place. But still…
Thank you very much for your opinion. Think I’m going with MGRE.
You’re welcome – I hope the class works out
.
Hi Chris,
You reviews and following discussion have been really helpful so as to select “right” material, I have am above average in Math (i.e. I know the basics well) and I would need a perfect score in Math for my PhD admission which book would you recommend?
Prithvi
Hi Prithvijit,
I’d recommend you hunt down as many practice questions as possible, always focusing on any area that is not as strong as the others. NOVA offers many practice questions. You should also use GMAT material: The Official Guide, MGMAT, Magoosh (we have GMAT too
), NOVA, etc.
Good luck with the perfect score!
P.S. – have you seen our perfect score challenges?
Hey Chris,
Thank you! I would definitely look into the GMAT books…