Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm a Harvard grad, 99% GRE scorer (337, 168Q / 169V / 5.5 AW) and professional GRE tutor since 2002. Although Kaplan books are consistently among the top-selling GRE guides on Amazon, I usually find them to be of poor to mediocre quality, and this book is no exception. In particular, it is important to note that this book, like all third-party GRE strategy books, does not contain any real GRE questions. Instead, the practice tests and GRE questions within are entirely synthetic--written by Kaplan, not ETS, the maker of the GRE--and thus are often lacking from a realism standpoint. GRE Prep Plus 2018 (currently $24) is marketed as a "comprehensive prep system" for the GRE. Yet like its predecessor, GRE Premier 2017 with 6 Practice Tests: Online + Book + Videos + Mobile (Kaplan Test Prep), to which it is virtually identical in content, almost nowhere in the book (other than one line of text buried on page 576) do the authors reference the GRE official test materials, such as the Official Guide to the GRE The Official Guide to the GRE General Test, Third Edition, the GRE Super Power Pack Official GRE Super Power Pack 2/E (Test Prep), and the free PowerPrep software from ETS, which are indispensable parts of the GRE prep process, and the only sources of real GRE questions (around 1,000 official questions total). So how could this book ever be honestly marketed as “comprehensive?” I understand that there are copyright issues involved, but the least Kaplan could do is to direct students' attention to these essential materials—otherwise it is doing its readers a disservice by making them feel fully prepared for the GRE, when they in fact are not. If acing the GRE were as easy as Kaplan makes it seem, then everyone would do it. The fact is that to maximize your score, you need to put in hard work and practice with real GRE questions. Why are the GRE Official Guides the very best place to start your GRE preparation, other than the free PowerPrep software? Because the questions in these books are super-realistic. They are just like the questions on the real GRE, because these books are written by the test-maker and use actual GRE questions. Don't waste your time and money practicing on questions made by any other companies--these are merely inferior imitations of the real thing. If you must use other materials for test strategy and learning, then that's fine, and in most cases necessary, but try your best to stick to official questions whenever possible. Like most Kaplan books shortly after their release, dozens of five-star reviews of this book are sure to quickly appear. I would urge you to read those reviews carefully, and to evaluate your sources of information critically, in order to determine which reviews are written by actual GRE test takers, and which ones are not. Here are my recommendations for GRE practice, strategy, and learning guides that are superior to Kaplan's. 1) The free PowerPrep software from ETS, which includes 2 full CATs, a Test Preview Tool, an untimed practice test (same as Test #1), and Extended Time options. 2) The Official Guide to the GRE, 3rd edition: The Official Guide to the GRE General Test, Third Edition 3) The GRE Super Power Pack, 2nd edition: Official GRE Super Power Pack 2/E (Test Prep) 4) Manhattan Prep Strategy Guides: Manhattan Prep GRE Set of 8 Strategy Guides (Manhattan Prep GRE Strategy Guides) 5) Manhattan Prep 5-Lb Book of GRE Practice Questions: 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems (Manhattan Prep GRE Strategy Guides) 6) Magoosh: GRE Prep by Magoosh 7) Barron's: Barron's GRE, 22nd Edition 8) McGraw-Hill: McGraw-Hill Education Preparation for the GRE Test 2017 3rd Edition 9) Cliff's Notes: CliffsNotes Math Review for Standardized Tests 3rd Edition For my full list of GRE prep recommendations, google "GRE Action Plan."