kaplan tutor vs. mgmat tutor?

Hi, I am currently enrolled in Kaplan classroom course and I like it a lot. My prior GMAT score was 620 (V-31/M-45/AWA5.5). I am still in the middle of my course but my latest score is 690 (M-52, V-32). I know I have to improve my verbal and try to get a more balanced score.

The reason why I enjoy the Kaplan course is that once you sign up you get a course book, the OG and a little Kaplan math and verbal bible. Additionally, you also get online syllabulus full of quizzes. A third piece is that all of its class sessions are available on line for you to watch. All these are in additional to the actual class that you attend in person.

There are some negatives to it. Because you are in a class setting, the teacher has to accommodate other students. So there are times when the class spends time on concepts that you might easy. Also, I personally felt like I was being treated like I was a high school student in class. For example, my teacher (who is about my age) would ask individual students to read a section from the textbook. Maybe it's just me, but I sure felt like I was teenage all over again.

But overall, I like the class. Kaplan is definitely flexible. If you miss a class due to schedule conflicts, you can always make it up either in person or by watching the online video.

Oh, one important thing that I forgot is that Kaplan has a higher score guarantee. The way how it works is if you go to all the classes and completes all the course assignments and if your score if you satisfactory, you can take it again for free. I thought that was nice touch.

Well, hopefully I wouldn't have to go through the course a second time.

I hope y'all find this helpful.

Oh and I don't work for kaplan and I don't get commission from Kaplan.

It's not exactly a money back guarantee so I think that's just "peace of mind" for the customers. You can repeat the course as many times as you like, but if you did everything that was required and didn't get a higher score, there's no reason to believe that repeating the course would help you.

In fact, you'll become disillusioned and see the gimmicky techniques that are oft repeated by the teachers. I don't mean to sound too caustic, but I used to be an SAT teacher.

Good point. Kaplan doesn't offer money back guarantee. For me, its high score guarantee did sway me to sign up with them. It costed me $1450 so I guess I did want some sort of assurance.

If anyone else has any pointers on how to prep for the verbal section, I'd sure appreciate them.

For verbal even if you don't do the class I highly recommend the MGMAT SC book. If you browse through the forums you'll see others have made the same recommendation.

Thanks all. I hope MGMAT's price tag is worth it.

I am using kaplan tutor and I highly recommend him. I know that MGMAT does have more highly qulified 99th percentile folks teach the class. However, to me a 99th percentile does not mean he/she can teach a class well. I have a personal friend who scored 99th percentile and he does not even know how to explain a question to me in a simple understandable sentence and some 99th percentile folks are very arrogant. Maybe that's just my personal opinion. My tutor has lots of great math short cut techniques. I love those. He also scored 95th percentile in LSAT. He teaches LSAT as well. The huge asset to me is that he also teaches international students. He knows how to explain complicated question in an easier understandable way to a student like me whose English is not native language. All I can say is I like him a lot and he is the greatest teacher I have ever had in my life.

I took the Kaplan GMAT course/class, I think the increase/help you get is too marginal...so not worth the time and money.
I like the MGMAT books and approach much better. The only fault here is that they provide nothing on the AWA part.
...don't know about tutors though.

To me, tutors are either hit or miss. If it's possible, I would try to interview the prospective MGMAT and Kaplan tutor and see which you like better. Even among good tutors, people prefer different teaching styles, and that is something that changes from person to person.

Be very careful with tutors. I just did a 15 hr with Kaplan. The first one didn't meet with me for 2 weeks then next two week skipped out of two classes, leaving me with valuable time wasted right before the test. In a month we ended meeting 3 times. The second did help some but it was 90% motivation 10% substance. Also, it depends on where you are at with your studies. If you are brand new, Kaplan or MGAT online classes are very good. In my opinion, tutors are better for hitting the weak areas. In my experience, Kaplan wasted my 6 weeks and of course no money back guarantee. If you have done an initial class and your scores are still where you want to be and you goal is 650+, Kaplan is not your address (in my experience). I had two tutors and they both gave me the standard Kaplan run of the general class. Honestly, I gained more from Kaplan advanced online class than the tutors. I am off to a fresh start and looking at other resources, books, strategies, etc to get me to 700+.

Did you contact Kaplan regarding your experience?

Yes. Their suggestion is to give me 3 starting hrs free and I have to pay the rest. In the simple terms of service, they are not providing the service they promised and giving me options that I have to pay more to see if it is going to work out next time. It should be a shame that I gained more out of the generic online class than the tutoring. Why should I pay more to try a third tutor. Besides, I don't have time to "try" unless they convinced me that they can really guarantee a tutor who will be able to help with getting a mere 50-70 points. And that should be free. I will be sending a letter to their customer service but I am pretty much done with Kaplan tutoring after I talked to their tutoring faculty head on Friday. By just reading a few things on MGMAT site after I purchased their CATs and looking through some of the resources referred on gmatclub, I gained a lot more insight on my strategy then hoping a Kaplan tutor will be able to guide in the right direction for the last 6 weeks. Honestly, I have the distinct feeling that Kaplan is geared towards for initial kick for brand new people. But if you have done the online class and really exhausted all the material in that class, Kaplan will not be able to get you to a 700+.

I started with 530 with their diag and got 650 in my last CAT during the class. I spent 6 more weeks with Kaplan tutors still hovering between 600 and 650. 650+0=$700+$1600