Manhattan Prep GMAT Course Reviews

Great course - focused on efficiency and strategies, rather than extraneous content. Everything I learned was very useful during the actual test. Ryan, in particular, was an awesome teacher. He was very blunt, and direct; and I even found it helpful (weirdly) to approach questions with his emphatic voice/intonations, as well as his helpful analogies. There was an optimal balance of quant vs. verbal content, and the strategies were very helpful, particularly in time management/on the quant section. Additionally, the 1-on-1 assessment during the course to help focus my strengths/weaknesses did wonders for my score. There were only 2 minor negative aspects with the curriculum: 1. Limited practice tests (more personal preference – I study best through excessive repetition, so I wanted more than 6) and 2. Slightly too much IR focus in the homework assignments.

Read More

This course was definitely helpful in learning strategies with verbal problems and cutting down my time per quant problem.

Ryan was really good at making sure we understood core concepts and then proceeded to teaching us and evaluating the best strategies to employ for different questions. We played Jeopardy with GMAT problems and that was a blast and super memorable!

I definitely did feel like the homework assigned in the course was quite imbalanced. I glossed over practically all the reading (which was far too much) and did 4x the number of problems assigned in the homeworks (which was far too little) to be able to apply the right strategies for the right problem.

Read More

I took the advanced online course with hopes of improving my quantitative score.

The course had a nice blend of topic areas and my instructor, Daniel, made an effort to understand each individual's goals and help us move toward them. There were only five people in the course so I definitely felt as though I received enough individual attention.

The materials were great; their explanations for official problems were much clearer than those provided by the GMAT. I will say that I found their practice tests (CATs) to be much harder than the real GMAT, but regardless found the CATs useful for practicing and error logging.

My quant score improved significantly - from 42 to 49 - and I would recommend MP to anyone who asks.

Read More

Chris Gentry was a fantastic tutor and GMAT advisor. First of all, Chris is a verbal whiz, he was able to raise my verbal score from a measly 31 to a 40+ in just a few sessions. His sessions are carefully thought out and he does his best to personalize the experience. My problem with quant was more on the strategy side than the material. Chris helped me formulate a strategy that raised my score from a 44-46 to a consistent 48+. Additionally, Manhattan Prep offers fantastic quantitative prep work. Their questions are as challenging as can be and the best way to quickly improve your quant score.

All in all - fantastic tutor, fantastic material. I was able to raise my score from 580 to 710 in just a few weeks!

Read More

If you only have 3 months to prepare, I highly recommend this course. It helps you frame your practice and gives you techniques to approach each section. Although I have a math background, Manhattan Prep provided me with new ways to think about problems and techniques to speed up in this section. I also struggle with verbal, especially reading comprehension, and Manhattan Prep broke down the process so that I consistently improved throughout the course.

In addition to great instruction, you get access to all of the books, which are fantastic for learning and reviewing, and video lectures. I found it very helpful to go through each video lecture after class to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

Kay was a fantastic instructor. She was incredibly poised and well-prepared for each class. I was in the 600 range before taking the course and improved to a consistent 700 on practice tests.

Read More

I participated in David Mahler’s ten-week Manhattan Prep GMAT course in Spring/Summer 2018. Following an initial practice exam score of 590, I scored a 760 on my first and only GMAT sitting in July.



Having not been acquainted with the exam format or any official GMAT resources, I selected Manhattan Prep as a familiar service with a positive reputation in New York and among my undergraduate classmates. I completed my undergraduate degree in 2014 and am applying this fall to MBA programs for matriculation in Fall 2019. I considered the GMAT to be an unpredictable and time-consuming first step in the admissions process. I knew I needed to prepare strategically, given my time constraint, which justified the course investment.



For me, the robust course materials and carefully organized curriculum were critical for achieving a high score. The strategy guides necessarily walked me through a massive variety of content I hadn’t encountered since high school. Infamously, this content represents only half the battle. The GMAT also tests strategy and decision making, and, in my experience, emotional composure. Rather than separating the content from these components, the strategy guides themselves incorporate these challenges throughout. For example: I found the importance of strategy selection during the Quant section to be remarkable. Solving a problem with even the most refined “textbook” technique is frequently penalized by way of time. As the curriculum advances through Quant subjects, the books reiterate alternative (or “shortcut”) strategies in their different applications. Only purposeful practice with several strategies and, more importantly, review of that practice, can bolster one’s ability to select efficient strategies or cut bait when necessary. Not only do the Manhattan Prep strategy guides cover content with digestible pace and organization, they immerse that content in strategy and in the context of agile decision-making. While it is impossible to benchmark, I think the strategy guides alone enabled me to score in the 700-720 range (a far cry from where I began). The books are ordered, which helps organize studying and makes them less daunting to approach. For those on a budget and/or not local to New York, the materials are a rich resource on their own and well worth the investment.



In order to score those additional 40-60 points (it’s all relative), I believe the in-person class to be worth the incremental investment. Research the instructors and consult the online reviews. I had an exceptional and memorable experience with David Mahler, whose instruction was as effective as any college professor I can remember. While I chose Dave because we shared an Alma Mater and he recorded a 790 GMAT, I believe online reviews such as this one testify to his talent and led many of my classmates to choose his course. I’ll begin there: my section was fully booked with ~12 students as opposed to a section with four or five students that I addended as a make-up. All things equal, the smaller section was surprisingly less productive than the larger. The smaller headcount did not come closer to resembling a tutored course—if there is even one other student the curriculum cannot be tailored to you. The increased individual attention only caused the instructor to check in with each student before proceeding to the next practice question or topic. Class is not about solving individual problems—there are too many to address. Rather, as Dave emphasized, a class succeeds if it can polish your study and review process. You must prepare mostly on your own. As a person that struggles with self-regimen, I needed Dave’s guidance to “work smarter” and accomplish as much as possible with the little time I had. Dave held us accountable in our coursework. There was no passing his class, as his objective was to nudge us as close to our potential as was possible in ten weeks… you are not evaluated by your instructor. I performed well on the problems in class, but this was not a barometer of my ability relative to my classmates. It was an opportunity, each time, to recognize areas of improvement and consider better strategies. I got careless and made silly mistakes. Dave did not hesitate to knock me down a peg and I never once felt like I “passed the test”. There was always a critique to be made and a weakness to recognize in future problems, when exams don’t break for discussion, when there are 20 problems ahead, when review is no longer a luxury. Dave was able to challenge every person in the room at once, facilitating discussion and holding attention. It was masterful instruction and it was a blast.



The GMAT is a terrific test. I don’t believe it can be conquered, but I know that it can be whittled down to a more manageable feat. Believe it or not, that process can be fun. No exam, including the GMAT, can print an objective assessment of your intelligence. The GMAT doesn’t try to do this. It anchors itself in 30-60-90 right triangles and comma splices and proceeds to test your decision-making and composure. But it doesn’t do this mysteriously—there’s tape on its schemes that you mustn’t break down yourself. Manhattan Prep has done it for you. I can’t imagine approaching the GMAT without being coached on its tricks. It is my enthusiastic recommendation that any prospective MBA student prepare for the GMAT with David Mahler and Manhattan Prep. The cost was a large investment for me, and provided an overwhelming return, which feels pretty good.

Read More

I was concerned about the cost but I had tried to just use the online resources and needed some specific strategies for how to master the test. Daniel was incredibly helpful and flexible. He didn't waste any time and we got to the core issues immediately in each session. We worked on my timing and approach. I was doing things that I had read about and I thought would be helpful but in reality they were slowing me down and he helped me realize that. He was was dedicated to my success and not only when we were in a paid session—he would respond to emails with questions and was very helpful.

Read More

When I began talking to older people about the GMAT, everyone recommended I use Manhattan Prep. I strongly echo this advice. They are unparalleled in their resources and knowledge of the GMAT.

I used Kevin Shen for about 6 private tutoring sessions, following a stint with another tutor. I worked with Kevin over their online software (I was remote at school), which worked out great. It is easy to use and very helpful. Kevin was a very good tutor. He came prepared to every session, knew the answers to my questions, and had a game plan each time. He was very responsive over email, and never cut off sessions until he was done explaining answers to my questions.

I worked with Kevin almost exclusively on the Quant section. He was realistic in setting expectations, and always helpful. I highly recommend working with him!

Read More

The instructor was great but the true value of this course is that the materials are comprehensive (there's a book for everything) and the class forces you to study at a healthy pace and really set daily, weekly and monthly goals. We only went over a few problems in class, which I thought was too few, but the instructor was engaging and funny. Great anecdotes and made you remember some important tricks that came in handy on the test. Overall, I would say the depth and quality of the materials is top notch and the benefit of the class lies in forcing you to study on a timeline.

Read More

Joe Martin is an incredible GMAT tutor. I worked with Joe for several private tutoring sessions. First off, Joe is incredibly skilled and intuitive with respect to the GMAT. He shows his students powerful tricks and strategies for approaching questions. He makes sure to reinforce where these strategies can be applied, which allows for broad improvement in scores. This also allows his students to grow and develop their skills generally. Joe also pushes his students hard to learn and develop their skills, which is much needed given how people can plateau on the GMAT. He is perceptive and can see when a student cannot follow along on a technique, and he then is able to pull out an alternate strategy for a problem. Joe is also a fun tutor to work with, and cares a tremendous amount about the success of the people he works with. Given the intensity of prepping for the GMAT, this makes the whole experience more positive and fun. I would highly recommend working with Joe and prepping for the GMAT (or another) test with him. It is a very positive experience, and if one puts in the work to study and prepare, working with Joe can yield very positive results.

Read More