Manhattan Prep GMAT Course Reviews

I'd highly recommend Manhattan Prep, and specifically Marcus Hedahl as an instructor. I improved over 100 points from the 600's into the 700's from the beginning of the course to test day in a little less than three months.

Manhattan Prep has the GMAT down to a science, without a question. (Not to mention, the customer service is incredibly professional, responsive, and all-around very helpful). Specifically, Marcus knows the exam backwards and forwards, and has tips, tricks, and invaluable insights into how to approach the exam, which I imagine are unparalleled among other prep companies. He also makes each class fun, lively, and engaging, which makes a real difference with a 3 hour class after a full workday. He's patient with everyone in the class, and has really great advice on how to approach various question types, common mistakes, study habits, and generally anything at all related to the test. I really can't speak highly enough of Marcus.

I would recommend focusing less on strategy books and more on practice problems, but as far as prep companies to use, Manhattan Prep is undoubtedly the way to go.

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Took Avi Gutman's class - great teacher and very engaging. You have to be fully involved in the classroom discussion to make the most of the course, but if you do so, your score will definitely improve.

MGMAT's quant strategy guides are super helpful; in my opinion, the Number Properties guide really is the best of them all. Put simply, I would not have obtained my quant score of 50 without this guide. The GMAT is all about thinking logically and using quick tricks wherever possible - MGMAT's Number Properties guide really knocks it out of the park in this regard.

The verbal strategy guides are also very useful; I have found the CR strategy guide to best most effective in raising my verbal score. While I am no expert at CR, MGMAT's CR guide lays out an extremely effective framework for approaching each CR question type. It took a lot of practice to get used to this framework, but the extra boost to my verbal score (42) was worth all the trouble.

MGMAT also helped me tremendously with my timing issues, a very important part of this test.

Advice for prospective students: Take your MGMAT CAT scores with a grain of salt. I will note that the MGMAT quant section is much tougher than that in the actual exam (this is why I am giving Quant 4 stars). While over-preparation is obviously better than under-preparation, MGMAT runs the risk of demoralizing students into not taking the test. I recommend MGMAT re-calibrate the difficulty level of its CAT quant questions.

Thank you MGMAT for getting me to my dream score!

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I purchased the Manhattan Prep strategy guides in April 2015, but it was difficult for me to structure my time to incorporate serious prep. This past January, I made the decision to enroll in a 9-session Manhattan Prep class in Santa Monica. I committed to doing the homework each week, so I'd be prepared for Ben's engaging class discussions. I scored a 620 on my first practice CAT exam. Thanks to the Manhattan Prep platform and Ben's tips and tricks, I was able to get a 750 (first try) on the official GMAT. I would highly recommend both Manhattan Prep and Ben Ku for anyone struggling to structure their study time effectively.

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this is a brutally honest review of MGMAT Interact, which is basically the 9 week course, and the tutoring sessions offered.

1. I looked at all the interact and attended one trial course. IF YOU ARE SCORING ANYWHERE NEAR 650, I WOULD SAY THE COURSE IS TOO EASY.

2. private tutoring helped a lot. the instructors are obviously knowledgable about the materials. They can help you improve on your areas of weakness, but even then it isnt guaranteed. All test have a very high level of luck. The instructors are also very responsive, ready to answer any questions and provide you with great explanations. The one big con is the price. given that the gmat requires a lot of luck, you have to ask yourself if the price is worth the gamble. But if price isnt a issue, definitely worth taking tutoring courses.

3. the six MGMAT CAT exams...... i hated them . on 2 gmat prep exams, i scored 720. my real score was 720, and 690 before then. out of i think 4 MGMAT exams, I DIDNT SCORE ABOVE 660 ON ONE EXAM. i even scored a 610 on one.... in my opinion the questions are 1. too difficult 2. not accurate reflections of the real test. the MGMAT test actually negatively impacted my mental state, so i decided i wouldnt even review my error log for those test.

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Studying for the GMAT was a long and hard journey (as I think it is for a lot of people) but once I got connected with Manhattan Prep, and specifically with their private tutoring, my scores started to improve dramatically.
I jumped in not really knowing what I was doing and signed up for an accelerated Manhattan Prep course without much planning, hoping to crank out a 700 after 8 weeks of studying. Before the course, I took a practice test and got a 540, which terrified me! After the course, I was consistently scoring around 650 but could not get my quant any higher. My tutoring with Dan was great because we could focus so specifically on the quant and my weak areas, versus paying for a course where I had to sit through verbal lessons that were much easier for me. If you are struggling with one side more than the other, the private tutoring is great for personalizing your studying. Dan was so knowledgeable, helpful, and really kept me accountable for my studying. It was a great experience!

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I'm really happy that I signed up for Manhattan GMAT Prep. I only allowed myself ~7-8 weeks to study (which is less than recommended), so I needed the course to keep me on track and make sure my studying was efficient.

I ended up completing the homework before each class and used the class as a review. The homework plan, resources, and pacing was the most helpful part of the course. The live-online format was really nice because I could take the class from home (I was working full-time while studying) and also ask questions of the instructor when needed. My class was really small (3-4 people total), and I really liked that because we were able to keep a quick pace.

My score improved 80 points from my diagnostic exam and 60 points from my last practice test (I only took 3) to a 700+ score. If I had given myself more time, I may have been able to score even higher (but there is a chance I might have also burned out as I was studying ~20+ hours each week in addition to working full time).

The resources and questions were very helpful. I did find the IR section on the Manhattan Prep practice tests to be significantly more difficult than the actual tests, and there were fewer prep resources for IR. I scored between a 0-2 on each IR practice test and ended up with a 7 on my actual IR.

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Noah was an incredibly dedicated tutor. He helped me to achieve a higher score and boost my confidence for the MBA application journey. Noah was always well prepared for our sessions, readily available in between sessions, often checked in on me in between sessions, and held me accountable to the work assigned. Noah took the time to get to know me and my working style to best understand how to help me learn and retain information as the GMAT is not a one size fits all study method. He not only helped me learn the logic and material, but helped teach me stress management techniques, study techniques, test preparedness, and mindfulness techniques. Noah was an all around resource for me during this time as a tutor and, as I like to call it, a "therapist". Noah helped me increase me score by 40 points, which got me into a top MBA program. I am extremely grateful to Noah and credit a large part of my acceptance to a top MBA program to Noah.

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If you want to score a 700+, look no further. Going through the well explained Manhattan GMAT guides and watching Thursdays with Ron alone will help you score that 700+.
My verbal did not improve from my diagnostic exam. (I am a native speaker). In my diagnostic exam I got a 41V but on test day I got a 37V. I am not sure why this is as I have scored at least a 38V or higher on all of my practice tests. I do wish that the MGMAT verbal guides had multiple choice questions in the back (to simulate test questions) instead of the short answer questions that they currently have.
For Quant, the books are good to clarify concepts and lay down fundaments but I felt overall the quant tests from MGMAT are a bit more tedious than the actual GMAT which has slightly more witty questions which can make the real GMAT challenging. Along with this I would suggest to use the gmatclub Quant practise tests which are extremely representative. I suggest to focus on verbal for MGMAT and gmatclub tests for Quant.

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As I mentioned, MGMAT Prep is a good investment but I do think to really ace both Verbal and Quant you need a bit more specifically on the quant side. The verbal of MGMAT is brilliant - it seriously helped me clarify my understanding and devise an attack strategy for my verbal. For Quant, the books are good to clarify concepts and lay down fundaments but I felt overall the quant tests from MGMAT are a bit more tedious than the actual GMAT which has slightly more witty questions which can make the real GMAT challenging. Along with this I would suggest to use the gmatclub Quant practise tests which are extremely representative. I suggest to focus on verbal for MGMAT and gmatclub tests for Quant.

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I had a fabulous experience in Isaac's class. I was very crammed on timing (class ending 9/11; test on 9/16; application due 9/21) and Isaac was super helpful in answering my questions after class to make sure that I had the best possible plan in place for achieving those goals.

I also really appreciated the studying tips that he gave us in addition to the basic material. For example, we would start classes by reviewing what we had learned in our studying over the past week and would end class by writing down our big takeaways from that class. Isaac also encouraged us to do this in our own studying sessions at home, all of which had the effect of constantly reinforcing what we were learning.

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