35 GRE Preparation Books and Free Resources for Students 2021 Update

Filed in School News by on June 6, 2021

GRE preparation books. Earning a good score on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is a must for many graduate programs. Developing a strong study plan, learning useful exam strategies, and gathering test-taking tips can help you earn a score you’re proud of.

gre preparation books

In case you’ve been looking for GRE preparation books, look no further, for here we’ve listed the various book to aid you on your GRE examinations, and any other information you may need!

What is the Graduate Records Examination?

The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) is a standardized test that is an admissions requirement for many graduate schools in the United States and Canada and few in other countries. The GRE is owned and administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS).

 The test was established in 1936 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. According to ETS, the GRE aims to measure verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing, and critical thinking skills that have been acquired over a long period of learning.

The content of the GRE consists of certain specific algebra, geometry, arithmetic, and vocabulary sections. The GRE General Test is offered as a computer-based exam administered at testing centers and institution-owned or authorized by Prometric.

More Info about the Graduate Records Examination

In the graduate school admissions process, the level of emphasis that is placed upon GRE scores varies widely between schools and departments within schools.

The importance of a GRE score can range from being a mere admission formality to an important selection factor.

The GRE was significantly overhauled in August 2011, resulting in an exam that is not adaptive on a question-by-question basis, but rather by section, so that the performance on the first verbal and math sections determines the difficulty of the second sections presented.

Overall, the test retained the sections and many of the question types from its predecessor, but the scoring scale was changed to a 130 to 170 scale (from a 200 to 800 scale).

The cost to take the test is US$205, although ETS will reduce the fee under certain circumstances. It also provides financial aid to those GRE applicants who prove economic hardship.

 ETS does not release scores that are older than five years, although graduate program policies on the acceptance of scores older than five years will vary.

Why Use a GRE Prep Book?

Many students hoping to enter graduate school must earn a good score on the GRE. Without the right study plan and resources, getting into grad school can be difficult. Fortunately, with the help of a valuable prep book, doing well on the exam is just a couple of months of study away.

GRE which is a mandatory entrance exam for pursuing master’s/Ph.D. degrees in renowned abroad universities will be conducted online this year in all the GRE test centers offering the computer-delivered test.

gre preparation books

GRE Prep Books

The GRE prep books are mentioned here;

  1. The Official Guide to the GRE General Test – Third Edition
  2. Manhattan Prep – 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems
  3. GRE by ArgoPrep 2019-2020
  4. Barron’s GRE with Online Tests
  5. Kaplan’s GRE Prep Plus 2021
  6. Magoosh GRE Book
  7. The Official Guide to the GRE Revised General Test, 3rd Edition
  8. Official GRE Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions & Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions
  9. PowerPrep and PowerPrep PLUS
  10. Barron’s 6 GRE Practice Tests
  11. Manhattan GRE Math and Verbal Strategies
  12. Kaplan GRE Prep Plus 2021
  13. GRE Analytical Writing: Solutions to Real Essay Topics
  14. Vibrant’s GRE Analytical Writing: Solutions to Real Essay Topics Books
  15. Official GRE Super Power Pack, 2nd Edition
  16. The Princeton Review’s GRE Premium Prep, 2021
  17. Test Prep Books’ GRE Prep, 2021 and 2022
  18. Barron’s Essential Words for the GRE, 4th Edition
  19. The Princeton Review’s 1,027 GRE Practice Questions, 5th Edition
  20. Mometrix’s GRE Prep, 2021 and 2022
  21. GRE Reading Comprehension
  22. GRE Sentence Equivalence & Text Completion, and GRE Vocabulary Builder
  23. The GRE Math Essentials
  24. GRE Statistics & Data Interpretation
  25. GRE Quantitative Question Bank
  26. The GRE Number Properties
  27. GRE Arithmetics, GRE Algebra
  28. GRE Geometry
  29. The GRE Word Problems
  30. GRE Combinatorics & Probability
  31. The Official Guide to the GRE General Test
  32. GRE Prep 2021 and 2022: GRE Study Book 2021
  33. GRE Subject Test: Psychology (Kaplan Test Prep)
  34. The GRE Math Workbook
  35. GRE Vocabulary 3000: Official Test Prep)

What makes a good GRE prep book?

What makes a good GRE prep book may seem subjective, but there are actually some pretty solid criteria we can use to rate each one relative objectively. Here’s how we evaluated the GRE study guides out there!

gre preparation books

  1. Depth and quality of review material:

Good test prep books will have in-depth overviews of the material you need to know for the GRE general test. This includes both content areas (e.g. number properties, statistics) and question formats (e.g. sentence equivalence, reading comprehension, word problems).

However, longer isn’t always better: you want a book that will cover the material you’ll see on the GRE—and only that material! Extraneous explanations won’t help and could overwhelm you, making prepping for the GRE all the harder.

  1. Quality of practice GRE problems:

Trust us, you don’t get to be a master of quantitative comparisons, text completion questions, the analytical writing section, or…well, really any part of the GRE unless you’ve worked with test-like materials. This means that the questions should test material you’ll see on the real GRE, be formatted using GRE standards, and be of a similar difficulty level to the official exam.

  1. Clarity and thoroughness of explanations:

You could be working with the best-written GRE questions in the world and it wouldn’t matter if you don’t understand exactly why each correct answer is correct.

As a general rule of thumb, longer, more detailed answer explanations are better, with the caveat that they should also be really clear. Ideally, they’d break down why each incorrect answer choice is wrong, as well as why the correct answer is right.

  1. Number and quality of practice tests:

It’s really hard to show up to the GRE exam and do well if you haven’t had practice taking lots of high-quality practice tests. Great GRE test prep books will give you at least one, and preferably more, tests with thorough answers and in-depth explanations.

Read Also:

Best Free Online Resources Available for GRE Preparation

  • GRE Study Schedules
  • GRE Practice Test
  • Complete Guide to the GRE (eBook)
  • GRE Math Formulas (eBook)

A lot of these GRE preparation books consist of an in-text portion as well as an online portion. If you are someone who does not want to use a textbook and wants to study for the GRE completely online, check out our best GRE prep courses.

A lot of these providers above offer completely online GRE prep courses. These courses may be better suited for some individuals.

Please feel free to share this article (gre preparation books).

CSN Team.

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