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physics GRE books..

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:33 am
by Loveneesh
hello friends..

i need to know is there any standard book for (GRE) physics subject test exam...??
if not which book should i go for..??

Re: physics GRE books..

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:56 am
by secander2!
The out of print ETS Book (which is pointless to buy because you can find the sample tests online) and the Purple Book are probably the two most commonly used resources.

Check out the Articles section on this site, it's probably got answers to most of your questions!

Re: physics GRE books..

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:48 pm
by Helio
secander2! wrote:The out of print ETS Book (which is pointless to buy because you can find the sample tests online) and the Purple Book are probably the two most commonly used resources.

Check out the Articles section on this site, it's probably got answers to most of your questions!
and the purple book does not have any actual connection with test so you can throw that in the fire

Re: physics GRE books..

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:05 pm
by nathan12343
Not only that, but the purple book has numerous obvious typos that will make you laugh and not so obvious typos that will make you want to pull your hair out.

Re: physics GRE books..

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:06 pm
by dlenmn
Like Helio and Nathan said. See the reviews at amazon. 1.5/5 means don't buy.

Re: physics GRE books..

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:55 pm
by secander2!
I should have added a disclaimer: "most people hate the Purple Book, I'm one of the 2% who thinks it has a place".

Helio, nathan12343, and dlenmn are quite right. The book sucks and is hated by almost everybody. If you use the book expecting to have a "good" or "comprehensive" study guide, you'll be gravely disappointed! In fact, this book made me give up all hope for the PGRE. When I first started studying, I had the ETS book and the Purple Book. I tried to start with the practice exams from the Purple Book, but I quickly despaired and gave up studying altogether. When I finally started looking at the actual practice exams a few weeks before the test, I realize that it was doable, but by this point, it was too late to do any serious studying (thanks to a tough fall semester). I ended up getting a 780.

When I started studying again for the second time, I grudgingly decided to give the Purple Book (and the easier "Physics Builder" also published by REA) a second chance. Working through the selected problems, helped me get a lot faster at working multiple choice physics questions, and using the ETS practice exams, I was able to discover and patch the holes in my knowledge. This study method resulted in a 200 pt increase up to a 980.

If you do end up using the Purple Book, never get hung up on a question. If your answer disagrees with the solution, there's about a 50% chance that the solution is wrong! At first I found this extremely frustrating!

In summary: don't put too much reliance on the Purple Book, but still recognize that for all it's faults, some people (myself included) have found it to be useful on occasion.