2010-06-20 Too many mistakes to use as a study guide (1 of 5)
I noticed 3 mistakes within the first few pages of chapter one. If the author doesn't know an ester linkage should have a double bond to oxygen, doesn't know that the chemical formula for an unsaturated fatty acid is not the same as for a saturated fatty acid, and thinks that carbon can have 5 bonds, then I don't feel comfortable using this book as a study guide for more advanced topics. I wouldn't buy this book.

2010-03-21 Better than Princeton Review but still not enough (3 of 5)
A bit better than the PR guide, at least the paper is of higher quality. More topics are covered in more details, but there are still things missing. And beware, some of the details in this book may not be correct. The best thing to prepare for your GRE biology is to use this book to determine what materials you need to know for the exam, and study the equivalent topics in your Campbell (or any intro. Biology textbook)

2009-10-08 Sloppy, but can be useful (3 of 5)
I bought this book to study for the 2009 GRE, which I just took. The book is very light on detail, and very sloppy throughout -- you probably saw better diagrams and explanations on the home-made handouts you got from any of your professors. It certainly isn't up to the standard of a good textbook. All the way through, there are inaccuracies and errors.

However, it does provide a crude sort of overview of what topics are on the test. It's slightly more useful than the official list of topics from ETS, in that you think you might know about a particular topic, but when you read the review section you'll find that you've never heard of certain subtopics. My advice would be to skim it, reviewing the stuff you know, and noting which areas you need to learn more about. DON'T try to learn new material from this review guide. Instead, go pick up a GOOD college intro bio textbook, and learn as much as you can from that over a few weeks. Or if you're really ambitious, and have several months, go to the intermediate textbooks.

The single (!) practice test is also kind of infuriating -- full of sloppy questions and outright errors. And it doesn't give you any feedback about how well you do -- you might freak out after only scoring 75% on the practice test, but if you then take the official practice test from ETS, you'll find that a 75% actually translates to a damn good score -- somewhere around 90th percentile.

2009-09-19 Decent but needs revision. (3 of 5)
This book provides a decent look at most of the areas that are emphasized on the Biology Subject Test. However, I found inaccuracies in some very basic concepts, so double-check what it tells you with other sources. The book is also poorly written both in terms of grammar/syntax and explaining concepts clearly. Other reviewers recommend purchasing the Campbell Biology text instead of this guide, and that is a good idea if you can determine which concepts will be useful for the GRE and how many details you will be expected to know. Campbell is so detailed that it would be easy to become overwhelmed and to spend too much time studying unnecessary concepts or facts. I studied using both books and found that I could determine what was important with the Kaplan Guide and then learn those topics properly with Campbell.

2008-11-29 kc (5 of 5)
It works as long as you have enough time to study don't think that the book alone will help. But it early enough to read and review to take practice tests. It is an excellent tudor.