*Readers, I apologize for my extended absence. Lab work is stubborn, you know 
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I have received several requests over the last few months on how to study for the GRE and which GRE study guides are the best. Of course, this is a personal decision and what worked for me may not work for you. Having said that, here are some of my favorite GRE study guides.
1) Barron’s GRE Study Guide
In my opinion, this is the granddaddy of all GRE study books. The Barron’s GRE Verbal Section Vocabulary list is l
egendary. It lists 3500 words that have or are likely to appear in the GRE and the 300 or so most frequently used words. If you want to reach the upper echelon of GRE verbal scores, then mastering the shorter list is an absolute must. Realistically, most applicants will not be able to tackle the 3500 word list, but it can’t hurt to give it a try.
The word lists alone make Barron’s GRE guide a good buy, but there are several other notable features. Firstly, the book contains several full length GRE practice tests and many more test snippets. This kind of practice is sadly lacking in many books. The Verbal section is well-crafted with many strategies. However, I found that the Quant section was a bit lacking. It wasn’t bad per se, it just didn’t find it lived up to the high standards of the verbal section. Too much emphasis on “tricks” and not enough emphasis on, you know, actually solving the darn problems.
2) Princeton Review “Cracking the GRE” GRE Study guide
If you thought that Barron’s had too many “tricks” then the Princeton Review book will be many times worse 
in that respect. Frankly, I found this book wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on. The focus is almost entirely on “beating” the exam and finding little flaws to exploit. I prefer to actually learn the material and rely on my own wits to beat the test.
Again, this is my opinion and your mileage may vary. Customers at Amazon give the Princeton Review guide 3.5 out of 5.0 stars, so clearly it is useful to some students. I think it is fair to say that the Princeton Review is good at getting average students above-average scores, but it will struggle in getting very good students great GRE scores.
I do have to give it bonus points for the most attractive cover model among the reviewed books, however =).
3) GRE: Practicing to Take the General Test
This GRE study book is unique among those reviewed here. It contains actual GRE exams from years ago with answer key. You will not find much here to study, and the explanations are often lacking, but having actual GRE exams written by ETS is a great resource. I encourage you to buy this book and use it to simulate test conditions. Please note, however, that the questions are old and the testing format has changed significantly over the years. So the questions in “GRE: Practicing to Take the General Test” should be thought of as “in the spirit” of the GRE and not carbon copies of what you will see on test day.
4) PowerPrep
PowerPrep, by ETS, is the ultimate GRE prep tool. It is made by ETS and it accurately simulates actual GRE test conditions. Like the real GRE, question difficulty will shift as you answer question correctly or incorrectly. The questions are very similar to those in the real GRE exam. Best of all, it is entirely free! You can download it here from ETS: click here, or a CD can be mailed to you from ETS. Unfortunately, PowerPrep only has two tests loaded on it, so use them wisely. I suggest using one earlier in your studying and the other a week or so before taking the GRE.
5)ARCO GRE/GMAT Math Review
One problem specific to engineers and other students that use advanced math is that we often forget how to do simple math. Sure, I can solve PDEs in my Transport class, but God help me if I need to do long division or factor a polynomial. That is where this GRE book comes in. It is a little simple, but a great refresher for the engineer who has not used simple math for years. In my case, a decade! Engineers face a unique challenge in the GRE Quantitative section. In many ways, the high-value, difficult questions will be very, very simple to a good engineer. But the easier, lower value problems may present some issues. That is why I liked this book.
I’d be happy to hear your comments, especially if there is a book that I missed.
