Conquering the Physics GRE

One of the hardest things about preparing for the physics GRE is the sizable amount of material that needs to be covered. I remember reading the ETS' pamphlet about the test and then saying to myself, "How long is it going to take me to get through all this?" It was almost overwhelming at first because I didn't know where I should start. I searched online and found many books that had physics problems and one expensive guide printed by ETS. This book provides an excellent starting point for preparing for the GRE physics subject test. Not only does this book cover each of the subject areas included in the GRE, but it also gives you insight into the extent to which each area is covered in general on the test. If you need a more in-depth explanation of a certain topic, outside references are included (most of which are from widely-used undergraduate textbooks) to accomplish the task. GRE-style review problems are provided at the end of each section so you can test out the skills covered. It also has full length GRE-style tests for more practice. I have to say I am very happy with this book and feel it should be the new gold-standard review guide for the GRE physics subject test.Before I close my review, there is important thing you should note: READ THE FORWARD OF THE BOOK BEOFRE YOU JUMP IN. This is a first edition textbook so there are bound to be errors. The authors are aware of this and encourage readers to contact them about anything that seems unclear or amiss. Another review complained that the book is "riddled with errors." There are some errors, however, I feel this largely an overstatement. Most of the errors are easily spotted and when I emailed the authors (on a Saturday afternoon at that) they got back to me right away with an explanation of the errors and informed me that an errata sheet is on its way.

This book is an awesome resource. The authors have effectively compressed all of the relevant information you'll need on the PGRE into one book. It is very compressed though, so if you're new to a particular topic, you shouldn't try to learn it from this book alone. In fact, it says so right up front. They have a list of books that you should have and study from in addition to this one.There is a chapter for each topic that ETS lists will be on the exam. They cover all of the essential info, and then there's an end of chapter "test" for each chapter with a detailed explanation on how they got to the solution. There are 3 full length mock exams at the back of the book and full explanations for all 300 of those questions.They're pretty candid and informal about each topic and tell you if you need to memorize something (or not), or if they're skipping some detail because you just don't need it for the PGRE.The only downsides to this book are the fact that there are "only" 3 practice exams (but you can get more from ETS and physicsgre.com) and that there are some typos and errors. However, there is a detailed errata on their website that corrects these issues, so it's not that big of a deal.In a nutshell, if you're practicing for the PGRE, you need this book.

Very good review of all relevant concepts on the physics GRE. The authors focus only on what needs to be known for the test and skip a lot of derivations, but often direct readers to resources where the derivations can be found. Also covers tips and tricks that I found useful - limiting cases in particular allowed me to answer 5 problems on the real test that I wouldn't have been able to previously. The chapter on statistical mechanics is particularly good and well organized - that's a tough subject to cover but they strip away all of the unnecessary information to make studying more clear.Suggestions:- The mechanics subsection on normal modes of oscillation was unclear, and I think the discussion of the oscillation matrices could be left out entirely. This is difficult to explain without detailed math and unless the full derivation has been on a recent test I think this section can be shortened a lot.- I found the practice tests different from the ETS released tests and the real GRE, so they weren't much use in simulating a full testing experience.- More problems overall at the end of each chapter. I would rather have 20-30 more worked/explained problems for each section than 3 practice tests at the end.

Conquering the Physics GRE is a great comprehensive review of the topics covered in the GRE Physics subject test. Being (at the time of writing) one of only two Physics GRE review books available, Conquering the Physics GRE is orders of magnitude better than the other book available. Not only does it cover the relevant topics in a concise manner, it skips over needless details not needed for the GRE. Note however this book is only designed augment your current knowledge of physics in preparation for the standardized GRE, and in no way completely covers the topics.Not only does it give a great review of the relevant material, It gives many tips on how best to answer GRE type questions, including ways to eliminate answers to better your odds.The printed version of the book does have many errors, I will admit, however there is an extensive online (and downloadable I believe) PDF of the errata organized by page number, so it is easy to keep open and check for errors if something seems amiss.This is my second time preparing for the Physics GRE and I did not have such a resource my first go at it, and it was very difficult to prepare, even with the practice tests and all my undergraduate books. This book shows you how to prepare for the correct types of questions, something that cannot be learned from randomly picking out questions from a book.I recommend this to anyone preparing for the Physics GRE, regardless of background, just note that if you do not come from a physics background, extra materials will be needed to prepare correctly, however there is a nice list of such references noted in this book to help with that.