Need Harder Math Prep!!

[sweetdreams2k1]

I wanted to know what is/are the best book(s) for GRE Math practice? I did the review from the GRE website, but now I need more problems to practice including prob. & stats. Everything I have is too easy to even call it practice, which includes Barron's, KAPLAN CD, and ARCO. I also heard that the GMAT math books are great, because they are harder than the math in GRE prep books, is this true?

[Dimas]

I think GMAT 'practice' books are tougher than the GRE 'practice' books. But hey, the real GRE Quant is much tougher than all practice materials. Keep an eye on the Just Finished GRE forum and keep practicing whatever material you find. I also suggested before to view the GRE Mathematic Subject test. Most of the questions are manageable for Eng/Sci students. About 20% of the questions can be answered on the light of GRE basics.

[Holden_Caulfield]

I think GMAT 'practice' books are tougher than the GRE 'practice' books. But hey, the real GRE Quant is much tougher than all practice materials. Keep an eye on the Just Finished GRE forum and keep practicing whatever material you find. I also suggested before to view the GRE Mathematic Subject test. Most of the questions are manageable for Eng/Sci students. About 20% of the questions can be answered on the light of GRE basics.

I agree with this statement. I even put it in more strict words and eager to listernm the opposite opinion:

Almost all of the "GRE Practice Books" are absolutely useful, if you are aiming for the high Q-Score (around 800).

[i went through Barrons (new&old), ETS 10th Edition, Kaplan(new), GRE BigBook, Princeton Review (new), ARCO, Peterson and etc]

 

The funniest thing that I've found - it is the statement in Kaplan new GRE book. It is said something like this:"Well, whole this math review cover the material that helps you to get 700. For doing better on GRE Quant you should review additional math sections like statistics, probability theory and so on."

The idea: people with non-humanitarian majors! Don't waste your time and money on these books for preparation to Q-GRE! One book that helps to become familiar with the test format is enough. The books are oriented to the completely different target group - we are not there. So for everybody who are planning to get high Q-Score: we are alone and TM GRE Math seems to be the last resort. :(

 

:D I'm excited to hear your opinion on this, my dear fellows :tup:

[SenorSaru]

Well, you could try making your own problems. That may sound silly, but that's what I'm doing this evening. I've worked very meticulously through 3 books, done the PP. I still need to focus intensely on a few specific kinds of problems. So, after gathering all the problems I could from the books, I started writing some of my own. I made them intentionally harder so I could really challenge myself and think about why I screw these up. It seems to be helpful. I'm planning to make a set of probability questions tomorrow. I figure by making the questions and then solving them myself, I'll really think about the little issues that sometimes trip me up.

 

Of course the drawback is that you have to trust yourself to eventually find the right answer. But, after practicing from the books, that shouldn't be an issue. It's just a matter of doing things quickly, without hesitation, and without any kind of errors.

 

All that said, I don't think the books are a waste of time. If you can do all the practice tests in the Barron book perfectly in well under 45 minutes, you're either ready to ace the real test or darn close. If not, then, well, you know what to work on. Since I still make a few mistakes on those and/or take a little two long, I know I know what to work on.

[Holden_Caulfield]

I agree with this statement. I even put it in more strict words and eager to listernm the opposite opinion:

Almost all of the "GRE Practice Books" are absolutely useful, if you are aiming for the high Q-Score (around 800).

[i went through Barrons (new&old), ETS 10th Edition, Kaplan(new), GRE BigBook, Princeton Review (new), ARCO, Peterson and etc]

 

The funniest thing that I've found - it is the statement in Kaplan new GRE book. It is said something like this:"Well, whole this math review cover the material that helps you to get 700. For doing better on GRE Quant you should review additional math sections like statistics, probability theory and so on."

The idea: people with non-humanitarian majors! Don't waste your time and money on these books for preparation to Q-GRE! One book that helps to become familiar with the test format is enough. The books are oriented to the completely different target group - we are not there. So for everybody who are planning to get high Q-Score: we are alone and TM GRE Math seems to be the last resort. :(

 

:D I'm excited to hear your opinion on this, my dear fellows :tup:

There is a typo: instead on "useful" in the bold text should be "useless"

 

All that said, I don't think the books are a waste of time. If you can do all the practice tests in the Barron book perfectly in well under 45 minutes, you're either ready to ace the real test or darn close. If not, then, well, you know what to work on. Since I still make a few mistakes on those and/or take a little two long, I know I know what to work on.

If it is morning and I've slept well - I don't do them :(

Few mistakes in the end still not affect 800 score, as far as I understand.