In reading this novel entitled The Essential World of Psychology, I was pleased to find such a rich written work in its particular area of study. The author, Samuel E. Wood, has done an extraordinary job in portraying the fundamental elements of psychological study. He uses his knowledge of the field to demonstrate a true understanding and an effective teaching method to be taught to beginners and professionals alike. He covers definitional psychology and psychology on a personal level to create the perfect blend of teaching material. I was pleased to have read this book, specifically because it was used as the guidelines for my psychology class at the university I attend. This book is undoubtedly more than appropriate to be used to teach all college-level psychology courses.

As a pyschology student I bought this book in college because it was my intro to psychology class' textbook. How would I know that it would be so easy to follow? It really helped me out when I had to sit up late at night and review for the finals. What else can I say about it, besides it is a great book for anyone who wants to becomes more knowledgeable in the general field of psychology.

This book was, for the most part, a waste of time and money. The computer software contained errors and did not look like the actual test (fractions, for example, were written on this software in a difficult-to-decipher format). The test-taking strategies in this are not useful, and the instructional sections are more time consuming and less helpful than in GRE for Dummies. The only things this book is useful for are additional practice tests and lists of word roots.

Use this book in addition to the official Big Book and PowerPrep software. Read the strategies and hints and learn the 3500-word list, but disregard the model tests and software: they have almost nothing in common with real tests.
I started learning English only after high school, but this book helped me score 2320 on GRE. I must say that most of your preparation time should be spent with the Big Book and also familiarize yourself with the CAT GRE several days before the test date. However keep in mind that GRE tests your life and language experience of many years as well as overall educational background. So the sooner you start preparing, the better.

I found this Barron's book a much better help than any other GRE book I used or looked at (esp the Priceton Review book - very bad). This book has a huge number of example problems and exercises (and practice tests) that are really beneficial. The tips about each section of the test are helpful, informative, and well explained. The vocab section is tremendous - with many many words and quizzes to test yourself.

If you are considering a GRE study book, I highly recommend this one as the only one you'd need.

My aim was to buy a PSAT prep book that would prepare for the test. I, knowing very little about the reputations of various SAT prep companies, ended up purchasing this book because it was the cheapest on the rack at Borders. I was, however, immensely disappointed on the quality of instruction it offered. The first sample test was utterly glutted with errors and mistakes. I also heard later that the questions weren't even real PSAT questions. Personally, I plan on contacting Barron's so I can receive a full refund.

I bought this book as an impulse after seeing it contained eleven practice exams, plenty of practice. However, the questions are terrible representations of actual questions, the answers are often mistyped, and wrong portions of sentences are underlined. The format of the book is not conducive to a true test either. If you are studying for the PSAT I recommend getting the Princeton book and a solid SAT II Writing book. Don't be conned by the many practice exams inside, they won't help you at all.

I used Barron's SAT review book this spring and did fantastically on the May exam. My younger brother is taking the PSAT in October so he got this book to get ready. I looked it over and realized that all the good strategies from the SAT book are here. And it has all the stuff from the PSAT as well. When I studied for the PSAT this book wasn't out yet. How lucky is he. It is the only book that I have seen that has more than 10 practice PSAT's---including the writing skills part.If you are in 10th grade and are taking the PSAT next year, you should get this book!

I have done five of the practice tests, and I have found mistakes in every single one! Now, I'm just a student; I'm not a teacher who's nitpicking at every little thing.

Some questions in the practice tests do not have a right answer because of a mistake in either the question or the answer choices. There are mistakes where the answer key differs from the explanation. There are also questions that have glaringly obvious puctuation errors.

This book has a lot of mistakes. It has too many tests, but not enough practice problems to help correct your weakness. It has good tips on doing the problems.

I am a private tutor. I work with 80-100 students per year on the PSAT/SAT. I find that of all the PSAT books, this is the best, although imperfect, since it has the most practice materials. I concur with another review that there are mistakes, so the user has to be careful. However, the mistakes are few compared to the volume of material in the book. There is also a lengthy section of vocabulary building which is valuable.

All of the study suggestions and coaching seemed very helpful...UNTIL I took the three practice tests in the book. Several of the answers the book gives are totally wrong, mainly typos on math problems. This casts doubt on the accuracy of the rest of the material in the book. Typos are to be expected in any book. But somebody should have checked to make sure the answers matched up with the questions before this thing was published. This is a seriously sloppy editing job. I'm sure there's a better GRE study book out there.

I'm certain that I did better on the GRE than I would have without having read this book. However, there must be better books out there. For one thing, this one (2nd edition) spends an awful lot of time on strategy for the pencil-and-paper version of the GRE. I don't know of any place in the US that doesn't offer the computer-adaptive version, and it's my understanding that the vast majority of US test sites will not *let* you take the pencil-and-paper version. Let's hope the book's 3rd edition takes that into account and gives more strategy info on the computer-adaptive test.

Then there were all those typos. Big ole honkin' errors everywhere. So the practice tests were almost worthless. They were also arranged in such a manner that I had to use three bookmarks to refer back and forth after each section. Very annoying, and the book's squat shape wouldn't let the pages stay open by themselves, so I always had to use a hand or a knee or something to anchor them down.

Where the book does give useful information, it doesn't give enough. There was a little section (about a page) on math formulas, which was nice, but what I really needed was a page or two of those little math "tricks"--those shortcuts you learn in high school and promptly forget until the next time you take a math class (which is a looooong time for some of us).

I would have given this book one star, but a) it was better than nothing, and b) there *is* a 3rd edition out, so maybe there's hope.

This pass key could benefit from a more careful locksmith. Multiple proof-reading errors_in questions, answer keys and solution explanations_made studying with this book almost as challenging as taking the test.