Kaplan GRE Exam Vocabulary in a Box,   ISBN:9781607140528

Customer Rating: 

Great product. VERY easy to use and convenient to carry along and study on the go.

Customer Rating: 

These flash cards are great! The box is so small that I carry it in my purse -- I can study anytime I have a free moment. The words seem right on level; there are a lot of words I've seen but can't exactly define. Learning the subtleties of the definitions should help me get the best score possible. I also like the lists of synonyms for each word (there are some words listed there that don't have flashcards of their own, so you really get more than 500 words to study). And there are some in there I've seriously never seen before (and I'm a 34 year old English teacher!). Now I won't be unpleasantly surprised during the test.

Customer Rating: 

There are a lot of words in the GRE sample test that were not covered like cajole or penchant.

Customer Rating: 

Lots of new vocabulary. A word, its type (noun, adjective, etc.), and its pronunciation are on one side of the card; a definition, a brief example of the word in a sentence, and synonyms are on the other side. They come alphabetically organized.
The box containing the cards is sturdy and the cards are made of good material, resistant to moderately frequent use. Maybe a small envelope to carry a couple dozen cards at a time would be a good addition, since carrying the whole box is not so convenient.
Overall, a great acquisition.

Customer Rating: 

This is a good resource for people cramming for the GRE; you can easily learn a lot of new vocabulary in a short time with these flashcards! Unfortunately, there are several shortcomings which you should be aware of before purchasing this set.

FLASHCARDS VERSUS ALTERNATIVES
This is a great tool for studying. I've tried books with lists of words, but the flashcard approach in my opinion is far easier. I've also tried audiobooks, and while those are good if you're on the go (i.e. iPod during a commute), these get incredibly boring very quickly. Furthermore, since during the GRE you will see the word written, it's much easier to learn it visually than through audio, in my opinion.

WHY I RECOMMEND THEM
This is convenient. In this tiny box (it's much smaller than I expected), you have many flashcards that offer spelling, pronunciation, definition, and sample sentences of many words that appear on the GRE. This will help you learn new words, plain and simple.

SHORTCOMINGS
I found the quality of the cards to be somewhat disappointing. These are small, which makes them incredibly portable. That being said, I'm reluctant to lug them around because once outside of the box, these are incredibly vulnerable to damage. Instead of thin cheap paper, it would be ideal if they were made of something a little more solid, like many other flashcards I've used in the past. If these felt more like playing cards and less like flimsy magazine pages, I'd give them more stars.

Additionally, this set doesn't have as many words as it should, in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, learning these will undoubtedly help you, but there are many more omitted words than there should be.

Lastly, like other reviewers, I feel that some words are excellently defined and well-used in the sample sentences, but some other definitions and synonyms are a bit more ambiguous or inaccurate. Don't let this be your sole study tool, and you'll prevent that from becoming a problem during the test!

FINAL THOUGHTS
This is a good set, but better definitions and card quality would be much appreciated in a future edition. While lacking some words that should be there, this set still offers a lot of useful vocab cards that will be able to help boost your verbal score.