<p>Hello!</p>
<p>I am upcoming college freshman; I have been heard that GRE makes SAT/ACT look like a chicken in the basket...So I decided to study for GRE starting this summer vacation. I got an Official Study Guide to GRE and Manhattan GRE (10 sets of book) from college student I know from church, but I do not know whether I should start with prep books like Princeton Review/Kaplan/Barron/McGraw Hill or start with Manhattan prep..</p>
<p>Which prep books do you recommend beside Official Guide and Manhattan Prep? How long one must prepare to score well (near-perfect)?</p>
<p>You haven’t even begun freshman year yet, and you’re studying for the GRE? Slow down! Most people don’t start looking at the GRE until junior year (at the earliest). </p>
<p>And the GREs “toughness” depends on each person. I know some people who took the test without studying and ranked within the top percentile. For me, I read through a Kaplan book, took the practice tests and scored extremely well, though I haven’t taken the real test yet.</p>
<p>But to answer your question, Kaplan had been working for me. Very easy to follow instructions and really breaks down each section.</p>
<p>Definitely unnecessary to study for the GRE as a freshman</p>
<p>I’d advise you to wait until at least your junior year to start, maybe spring of your junior year.</p>
<p>But the kaplan book is highly recommended.</p>
<p>Thank you for your detailed response!</p>
<p>I really want to start preparing now so I can score really high, especially on verbal and writing sections.</p>