ETS book - difficult to find

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EmergentSym
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jul 05, 2004 11:06 pm

ETS book - difficult to find

Post by EmergentSym » Mon Jul 05, 2004 11:09 pm

Why is the ETS book so difficult to find? Couldn't they make more money if they sold it?

Miles
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Jul 03, 2004 11:25 am

Post by Miles » Fri Jul 16, 2004 7:22 am

My bet is that people were just photocopying the book and ETS wasn't making any money. On top of that, there aren't that many people who take the Physics GRE I'm willing to bet.

Miles

Grant
site admin
Posts: 193
Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 7:55 pm

Post by Grant » Tue Aug 10, 2004 3:07 pm

It is true that not many people take the Physics GRE each year but there is still a huge demand for the book as evidenced by the fact that the book typically sells for 5 to 10 times its list value ([isbn=0886851971]Gre: Practicing to Take the Physics Test[/isbn])

I am not sure why ETS does not print more copies but I don't think it has much to do with students not wanting to buy it. I actually wrote ETS a long letter about how difficult the practice materials were to find and I also offered them the following suggestions:
  • Print more copies (they are guaranteed to sell).
  • Make the other two sample tests available for free like you did with the PDF version of the GR9677 sample test.
  • Turn the book into an e-book and sell that.
  • Waive the copyright and let people like me freely distribute the sample tests so that everybody can benefit from them.
Their reply was pretty generic that they provide the best available material on their website and that they make it equally accessible to everybody. Maybe the thing to gather from this is that whatever they publish on their website is the most representative of the actual exam. However, it still seems obvious to me that students will still want all the previously administered exams that have at some point been put in the public domain.

pix
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 1:54 pm

Post by pix » Thu Nov 04, 2004 10:21 pm

i bought my book by offering $40 on amazon. a total rip off, but i DID get the book. i wish they'd publish some more and some with more of the recent GRE's!

NuclearGirl
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2004 12:53 pm

All Four tests available for download

Post by NuclearGirl » Tue Nov 09, 2004 12:52 am

If you didn't already know, all 4 tests (1077, 9677,9277 and 8677) are available for download at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/physicsgre/

They also have many of the answers worked out.

FSC729
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Dec 29, 2004 3:20 am

How to Find the dreaded ETS book

Post by FSC729 » Wed Dec 29, 2004 3:37 am

Hello everyone, here is the best way to find the ETS book cheap:

ETS Book Cheap

It compares the prices from all online book stores to get you the cheapest price. I don't know if the getting the book is all that critical since most of the tests in the book are available online.

In addition I have a website dedicated to helping people learn any
type of math and physics. At first it started out as a website helping
people how to do proofs, but then I expanded out to physics as well:

http://fsc729.ifreepages.com/

In my forum I have links to partial solution sets for popular textbooks, book reviews and more. In addition I have a link to totally free online textbooks.

Please visit my website and if you have any ideas you want to share
you can sign my guestbook or post in my forum. It is completely free,

Thank You

John G.



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