Newbie Looking For Test Prep and Consulting Help

Hi everyone,

My name is Sarah and I am trying to get an early start for next year's round of b-school applications. I have been out of school for several years and am currently working as a chemistry teacher. I am interested in beginning my own not-for-profit to promote green energy in rural areas and think the progams at Berkeley and Yale would be an excellent fit.

But first I need to earn a very competitive score on the GMAT. Does anyone have experience with test prep companies? My math is pretty solid, but I could use real help on the verbal, so any companies offering specialize tutoring services would be ideal. I would also be interested in companies with consulting services that people have used.

Be well!
Sarah

i used manhattan gmat and thought their materials and curriculum were excellent. their instructors must all score in the 99th percentile and they are paid $100/hr. they do have just verbal courses so you can look into that.

Other people will disagree with me on this, but I would highly recommend getting the Official GMAT Prep Guide http://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-GM ... 222&sr=8-1 and perhaps the Verbal review: http://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-GM ... 245&sr=8-3 . Work through those problems and see what you are scoring on the real practice tests off of the GMAC website. In my opinion the verbal material especially is so learnable that its totally doable to self-study and score very highly. If you are still having trouble after completing all the material in those books, then consider professional test prep.

PM me if you are interested in a study plan. The plan that I used I found to be fairly effective. Good luck!

I agree with Leverandon. The Official Guides were the best prep materials for me. That being said though, I did find Manhattan GMAT helpful (I didn't do the professional course, I just got the books and studied on my own with those).

I also did Manhattan GMAT and thought it was well worth the expense and the professor I had was excellent. Small classrooms, substantial assigned homework and all the right books - including the official guide.

I did Veritas online - was okay. The tests were good practice, their material provided a good overview of all the verbal/quant stuff. I then bought the MGMAT practice tests and verbal question bank. Those were definitely the most helpful and really helped me get to my target score.

I'd also suggest looking at the GMAT forum - many folks have posted their prep profiles along with what worked/didn't work.

hope this helps.

I used Veritas in-person prep course. They were okay, I'd recommend them because they had lots of homework problems and motivated me to study.

I think the key is to set a test date, and give yourself a solid deadline so you will prep for the test. Save the online tests from GMAT for the last couple of days as a warm-up to the test. The trick is drilling yourself with lots of practice problems.

Regarding math being solid. I have two degrees in engineering and ended up with a 77% quant, and 95% verbal. So I would practice the quant section. Just dont assume you'll do well .

I've heard good things about manhattan also. but I would try and get some discipline and you do it by myself.

I took the online course of Veritas, but I knew the exam already, it was more to have more stuff to prepare than to understand the test.

Stay way from scoretop

OG11 and practice, practice, practice on the real test. Some people will say that taking the GMATPrep tests more than once each has a diminishing rate of return because of repeat questions, but I think the value of getting comfortable with the testing format far outweighs that. The only other thing I used was the GMAT Focus quant prep from GMAC. Short and a little pricey, but it definitely helped me play to my strengths.

Getting your best possible score on the GMAT is all about knowing your own Q/V strengths and weaknesses. When I hit a type of question I was uncomfortable with, I made a quick, educated guess and moved right along to questions where the extra time may actually help. It worked out pretty well. I think for some people, hubris intervenes, hence the 5:00 questions. Just my opinion.

Lastly, I would take a practice test cold just so you know what you're in for. I did well on the SATs, but the GMAT was a huge eye-opener. If you start with a crap score, you can chalk it up to inexperience and you can just focus you're testing efforts on timing. If you study for three months then underperform, it's going to be a little more discouraging, even though it may all have to do with not knowing the testing format.

FYI -- if you go to a Vandy Discover Weekend, they give out the OG11. Great school visit too.

Hi Sarah,

I took Manhattan GMAT and was pretty pleased with it. However, I actually found that they were most useful on the quantitative part of the GMAT (where I needed the most help.) Their verbal strategy I didn't really get much benefit from--I found I actually did WORSE when I used their verbal strategies, and I abandoned it and did my own thing and got 92% in verbal. So I would recommend it more if you want help in quant versus verbal, but of course everyone has different learning styles so it may be worth checking out. Also, I would echo the other people in that I didnt get too much benefit from the classes--I think I absorbed more just by reading the books and doing the exercises on my own. Good luck!

Rosa

Sarah,

I personally derived much benefit from OG11 and Kaplan 800 verbal (the toughest questions) and practice. I do not think you would need personal help.

Good luck,

Hey guys, thanks for all the great advice! I also ran accross Manhattan Review when I was searching around. I've been corresponding with them over email and had a free consultation on the phone with their admissions consultant (very knowledgeable and friendly).

Anyone had any experience with them? (Here's a link to some of their offerings: http://www.manhattanreview.com/events/)

Again, thanks for all the input!

Peace,
Sarah

I also did Manhattan, but the online version. It was outstanding and I would highly recommend it!

you can always study first and see how your test scores are looking before you plunk down that kind of money. If you have time, (and not wanting to spend a lot of money) then that will be a good alternative.

Sarah,

I was shopping around for smaller test prep companies and I also came across Manhattan Review. I spoke to their MBA consultant who was super helpful. Of course you should try to study yourself, but if you want assistance, then my impression is that they're a pretty solid way to go.

Josh

Hey Josh,

Did you speak to Tom Kania at Manhattan Review? What a cool guy! I did the free o-t-phone consultation and even that was extremely helpful for orienting my application. I'm definitely going with them. I'll keep you updated.

Peace,
Sarah

Sarah,

The GMATClub tests you can buy on this site are very very good......they are kicking my tail...but my Quant has improved a lot.....in a few tests.

I have to echo the praises for Manhattan GMAT. I took a course there, and found it extremely helpful. Reached my goal (750) the first time I took the test. I really needed a course to brush up on quant, but I also found their prep for verbal helpful, particularly sentence correction. They offer one-on-one tutoring for more money, but the course was really sufficient for me.

I think the thing that distinguishes Manhattan from other prep companies is that they really focus on teaching the concepts as the first priority, while Kaplan and PR (from what I've read) teach only tips and tricks.

I've read good things abut Veritas, but no firthand experience with them.

Good luck!