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After talking with friends and co-workers and reading reviews online about available GMAT prep courses, I decided to take the Manhattan Prep Online Course. I particularly wanted to take the course with Jamie because of all the great reviews I had read about her. Having completed the course, I believe that those reviews were definitely warranted. Jamie is a great instructor – knowledgeable, friendly, and engaging. Throughout the course she offered very helpful advice on timing and strategies, and her many “Jamie-isms” really helped ingrain the concepts being taught. Jamie was also very responsive outside of class if I had questions or concerns. She provided detailed feedback after each CAT and put together a personalized study plan during the Post-Course Assessment that I think really enabled me to optimize my final phase of studying before I took the GMAT.
In terms of the overall course, I think the classes were very well structured, and I appreciated the wealth of available resources. The course includes access to the Manhattan Prep strategy guides, along with great tools such as Navigator, Interact Videos, and the Manhattan Prep GMAT app. There is a lot of homework before each class, but I appreciated the homework in part because it helped me keep a good study schedule.
If you decide to take this course (which I would highly recommend), one thing you should note is that Manhattan Prep’s CAT exams are generally harder than the actual GMAT, so you shouldn’t be too discouraged when you take them. Since I was used to the CAT exams, I was much more comfortable when I finally took the real GMAT.
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At first I was hesitant at first to take a live online prep course for the GMAT. After taking a couple "trial" classes , one being with Jamie Nelson, I decided live online was the way to go - it truly is interactive and feels just like an in-person class, but without the travel time.
Jamie's sense of humor, ability to engage the class, and her 'Jamie-isms' (metaphors for understanding concepts) stood out initially, convincing me to sign up for her class. In the long run, her passion for teaching/problem solving, commitment to her students improvement, and knack for finding a balance between addressing questions during class vs. after class ultimately reinforced that signing up for her class was a great decision.
The mix of live classes, homework, practice exams (CATS), and a personalized study plan (comes with the class) a few weeks prior to taking the GMAT was a perfect mix. Jamie made a point to focus on not just technical material (quant/verbal), but also time management, stress management, and understanding of strengths/weaknesses.
All this was critical to me not only reaching, but exceeding my stretch goal. My last practice exam I scored a 650 - which was approximately 2 weeks before my formal GMAT. My goal was a 670 and stretch goal was a 700. I ended up scoring a 740. Jamie provided me with the building blocks, structured and flexible prep work, confidence and belief that I could do it. I strongly recommend anyone looking to achieve or exceed their GMAT goals to sign-up for Jamie's class.
When I started preparing for GMAT, I was not sure whether I should take coaching for it or not. One of my friends suggested that I should try one of the trial classes from Jamie Nelson, Manhattan Prep.I tried her class, and instantly I could connect with her teaching style. So I subscribed to the full course and I wasn't disappointed.
I gave the first CAT test(Manhattan GMAT prep test) and could score only 510, which was shocking to me. Jamie reviewed my responses and provided her feedback and told me not to worry about the score for now. Below are the key details from her feedback :-
1. Employing right strategies for particular category of questions.
2. Focussing on the classes to come and finishing assignments on time.
3. Maintaining an error log of the incorrect responses. (I cannot emphasize how important this was.)
I heartily followed these three suggestions.
I think I was good enough at Quant. But still there were valuable things I learnt in her class.Working Backwards,Testing Numbers,Plugging in smart numbers and Making an educated guess on questions when I was running out of time or not sure.
By the time I finished the course , I gave another test and score 650. I knew I was still short of my target score, mainly due to timing issues. After finishing the course in mid-November, I worked on my timing for good one and a half month. I gave a few practice tests in between and I was well with in 710-730 range. A week before my first official test I connected with Jamie again , she was kind enough to provide a Post Course Assessment on such a short notice and the areas where I could still improve.
On 17th Jan, I gave my first GMAT exam and scored a 740(Q50, V41) which till date is my highest score including any of the practice GMAT tests I had given. I highly recommend Jamie and cannot thank her enough for guiding me one step closer towards getting into my Dream Business school.
All the Best!
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I sometimes feel intimidated when I see other reviews for others that are scoring 750+. I hope to score 700+ on my retake in a few weeks, but I am very happy with the score that I received. I am not a brilliant student, nor am I naturally gifted with numbers, I just worked as hard as I could with the Manhattan Prep program. I want to be clear, without Manhattan Prep, and specifically Elaine Loh, there is NO WAY that I would have scored as well as I did.
As the title states, I first scored a 520 on a practice test in December 2018 with a different GMAT test prep company. I used that particular program consistently from October-December of 2018, and I was crushed that I could only score a 520. At that point, I decided that I needed to get serious, and I started the Manhattan Prep instructor led course.
I was skeptical that using a Manhattan Prep instructor led course could really help since I had been working so hard with the other GMAT program. I was completely wrong. The Manhattan Prep materials are simply the best that you can get. I’ve used some different materials from other prep courses, and they were pretty good. However, the Manhattan Prep strategy guides are clearly better than the competition. The online content, including the GMAT Navigator, is phenomenal and certainly worth the money spent. The strategy guides are comprehensive, easy to read, and effective. The course syllabus provided the exact type of structure that I needed to prepare for the GMAT.
However, I think the real difference was the course led by Elaine Loh. I can’t say enough good things about the actual course. When I was taking the class, I had confidence knowing that who I was working with actually scored in the 99th percentile. Elaine was fun, charismatic, and most importantly, she was genuine in wanting to help us score as high as possible. She really took the time to make sure that we understood the material. She taught the class in such a way that I could actually recall specific moments while I was taking the GMAT. I know it sounds weird, but I was actually singing our “peanut butter” words song under my breath while doing the verbal section. My wife laughs at me when I randomly say “when in doubt, get the pronoun out!” And lastly, I specifically recall Elaine telling us to “WORK IT OUT” when doing data sufficiency questions.
Elaine not only taught us the appropriate content, but also the strategy behind the questions---I think this is the real difference between high scores and mediocre scores. She taught us different ways to approach questions, and made sure we understood WHY we worked problems the way that we did. Knowing content will only take you so far with the GMAT. After completing the course and actually taking the test, I’m convinced that anyone can score above a 650 with the right preparation.
In closing, I want to thank Elaine Loh and the Manhattan Prep team for helping me to score as well as I did. This sounds dramatic, and maybe it is, but her course really helped me get closer to my dreams. For 3 long months, I had serious doubts about whether I could make it in business school. I could only see myself working in sales for the rest of my career. However, with Elaine’s help and Manhattan Prep, I can not only say that I WILL go to business school, but I also have a good chance of going to legitimate top business school. Thank you Elaine!
This course is set up for 5 classes for students who have already achieved a 650 or higher and want to excel into the 700s. I suggest already being familiar with the Manhattan methods to some degree (self study the books or take their other classes), but it’s not 100% necessary as it is all covered in details.
This course was perfect for me. Extremely detailed step by step, problem by problem schedule. A complete roadmap for success. You have a main path to follow with plenty of optional work to fill in gaps. Trust in the program, forget everything you know and do the test the way they teach you and you’ll crush it.
Mark specifically is very engaging. The online atmosphere quickly feels like you are in person. He is polite and very responsive to individual questions during class and after. Cannot tell you how impressed I was with an online class.
I had self-studied using Manhattan Prep books for the GMAT for two solid months and took the test in July - sadly, I got a 640 and was deeply disappointed in myself.
After giving myself a month off, I decided to take matters into my own hands and enroll in a GMAT class. I would have preferred an in-person course but live in the Midwest, so an online class was the next best option. I ended up choosing Manhattan Prep for their live online class, and I am so glad that I did.
The course I took was compressed into about 6 weeks and boy was it a marathon! It consisted of 3-hour classes every Saturday and Sunday with a long list of homework assignments to complete during the week in between classes. It was definitely a slog, but it was worth it. What stood out about Manhattan GMAT's approach, in my opinion, was the way they taught the course. They placed a firm emphasis on mastering foundational quant skills and then taught techniques and shortcuts to use on the test. I also really benefited from the timed questions that they used during the class. They were excellent practice that helped me shed my jitters around completing complex math questions in such a short period of time. Tony was also a great instructor. He was patient, kind, and always willing to explain a concept multiple ways so that students fully understood it.
Thanks to this class, I increased my score from a 640 to a 710. I also got a 99th percentile Verbal score and a much higher quant score than I received before. It's not cheap -- financially or time-wise -- but I firmly believe that committing to a Manhattan GMAT course will significantly increase your score.
I took both the in-person course with Marcus Hedal and the Advanced Live Online course with Daniel Fogel. The in-person course was a great primer to the GMAT and really useful. (I hadn't done much self-study on my own before). Marcus was awesome and I thought the course covered a lot of important information, but I wasn't thrilled with my quant score on the official exam. I used the retake option to enroll in the Advanced Live Online course at a discounted rate.
I was thrilled with the Advanced Course -- I had expected the online course to be harder to interact with, but it was a small group and really engaging. The Advanced Quant textbook itself was really useful too. My quant score went up from a 42 to a 47 in just 6 weeks.
If I could do it again, I'd probably self-study more from the beginning and then enroll only in the Advanced Course, but regardless I'm really happy with my score and grateful that Manhattan Prep had the options that worked for me.
My knowledge of the subject matter was rusty and I was having trouble concentrating for the 3 hr period. Apart from the content, I found the guidance regarding test-taking and attitude very helpful. It really helped me see this exam in a new light and treat it as a decision making test. I was nervous going into this preparation and my mock test was giving me <700 score.
Mark was very responsive to our questions - both in and outside the class. The class size was small and I was able to get all my questions answered (and I always had a lot!).
The online class gave structure to my preparation and regularity. The advice around timed sets helped with the timing issue. I felt within the short span of 5 weeks, Mark was able to capture the crux of the material that helped me push my score beyond 700.
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I had prepared on my own using the Manhattan Prep Interact (on demand) option for two months. However, I never really found improvement. I constantly got 650s on all of my practice tests and on the actual exam. However, I switched to the live online advanced course (to help those struggling to break the 700 barrier), and it was a tremendous help. My instructor, Mark, was very knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and offered great strategy and advice. It was a lot of fun going to class. At the end of the course, I took the GMAT again and was able to break the 700 barrier. Manhattan Prep is correctly referred to as the gold standard of GMAT Prep. It was such a big help. Definitely upgrade to the live online class
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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.
