How to Use This Book

WELCOME TO KAPLAN GRE PREMIER 2016

Congratulations on your decision to pursue a graduate degree, and thank you for choosing Kaplan for your GRE preparation. You’ve made the right choice in acquiring this book—you’re now armed with a comprehensive GRE program that is the result of decades of researching the GRE and teaching many thousands of students the skills they need to succeed. You have everything you need to score higher—let’s start by walking through what you need to know to take advantage of this book and the Online Study Plan.

Your Book

There are two main components to your Kaplan GRE Premier study package: your book and your Online Study Plan. This book contains the following:

·        Detailed instruction covering the essential Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Analytical Writing concepts

·        Time-tested and effective Kaplan Methods and strategies for every question type

·        One full-length practice test and chapter-end practice questions with detailed answer explanations

Your Online Study Plan

Your Online Study Plan lets you access additional instruction and practice materials to reinforce key concepts and sharpen your GRE skills. Resources include the following:

·        Five full-length practice tests

·        500-question Quiz Bank you can use to create customized quizzes

·        Ten 20-question Quantitative practice sets

·        Ten 20-question Verbal practice sets

·        Five Analytical Writing practice sets of two prompts each

·        Detailed answer explanations and sample essay responses

·        Online answer grid for the practice test found in this book

·        Academic support from Kaplan faculty via our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/kaplangradprep

GETTING STARTED

1.    Register your Online Study Plan.

2.    Take a GRE practice test to identify your strengths and weaknesses.

3.    Create a study plan.

4.    Learn and practice using this book and your Online Study Plan.

Step 1: Register Your Online Study Plan

Register your Online Study Plan using these simple steps:

1.    Go to http://kaptest.com/booksonline.

2.    Follow the onscreen instructions. Please have a copy of your book available.

Access to the Online Study Plan is limited to the original owner of this book and is nontransferable. Kaplan is not responsible for providing access to the Online Study Plan to customers who purchase or borrow used copies of this book. Access to the Online Study Plan expires one year after you register.

Step 2: Take a GRE Practice Test

It’s essential to take a practice test early on. Doing so will give you the initial feedback and diagnostic information that you need to achieve your maximum score.

Your diagnostic test is Multi-Stage Test (MST) 1, which is found in your Online Study Plan. MST 1, like all of Kaplan’s online full-length tests, is a multi-stage test, which is the same format as the actual GRE. The multi-stage test format feels different from a paper-based test and is scored differently, so the more you practice with MSTs, the better off you’ll be. However, for your convenience, we’ve also included a practice test in this book. This practice test, which includes full-length Analytical Writing, Verbal, and Quantitative sections, will give you a chance to familiarize yourself with the various question types. It also allows you to accurately gauge the content you know and identify areas for practice and review. (Use the online answer grid available in your Online Study Plan to enter your responses from the practice test in this book to see a detailed breakdown of your performance by question type and topic.)

Review the detailed answer explanations to better understand your performance. Look for patterns in the questions you answered correctly and incorrectly. Were you stronger in some areas than others? This analysis will help you target your practice time to specific concepts.

Step 3: Create a Study Plan

Use what you’ve learned from your diagnostic test to identify areas for closer study and practice. Take time to familiarize yourself with the key components of your book and Online Study Plan. Think about how many hours you can consistently devote to GRE study. We have found that most students have success with about three months of committed preparation before Test Day.

Schedule time for study, practice, and review. One of the most frequent mistakes in approaching study is to take practice tests and not review them thoroughly—review time is your best chance to gain points. It works best for many people to block out short, frequent periods of study time throughout the week. Check in with yourself frequently to make sure you’re not falling behind your plan or forgetting about any of your resources.

Step 4: Learn and Practice

Your book and Online Study Plan come with many opportunities to develop and practice the skills you’ll need on Test Day. Read each chapter of this book and complete the practice questions. Depending on how much time you have to study, you can do this work methodically, covering every chapter, or you can focus your study on those question types and content areas that are most challenging for you. You will inevitably need more work in some areas than in others, but know that the more thoroughly you prepare, the better your score will be.

Remember also to take and review the practice sets in your Online Study Plan. These quizzes give you additional test-like questions so you can put into practice the skills you are learning. As always, review the explanations closely.

Initially, your practice should focus on mastering the needed skills and not on timing. Add timing to your practice as you improve fundamental proficiency. As soon as you are comfortable with the question types and Kaplan Methods, take and review the additional full-length practice tests in your Online Study Plan.

If you find that you would like access to more of Kaplan’s practice tests and quizzes, as well as in-depth instruction on the question types and strategies, look into the variety of course options available at kaptest.com/GRE.

Thanks for choosing Kaplan. We wish you the best of luck on your journey to graduate school.