Help deciding a GMAT Quant Prep Course?

Question

Hey GC Community -

I need help to shortlist a Quant Prep course.

My current status and background. -

I took a mba mock today and scored a Q47 today. (Cold mock)

I am Indian Engineer with Quant heavy background.

My Quant skills are good but I want to learn a structured approach to GMAT question types.

I am having a tough time selecting a prep course.

Free trials I have taken -

e-GMAT  
- The questions feel extreme for GMAT purposes and too lengthy 
- I like the structure and video approach to teaching.

Queries to people who have taken the e-GMAT Quant program-  
1) Are the questions realistic to GMAT? Feel to lengthy and calculation heavy to me rather than being logic based.
2) Is the course effective to reach a Q50 or are we being over trained?

All the Manhattan Guides 
-Most GC users use this guide and score a Q50
- I believe studying from a book will take more time compared to an online prep course which has everything laid out more conveniently.
Plus I prefer the video way of studying. Can learn more in less time.

Queries to people who have taken the All the Manhattan Guides-  
-Does it cover every topic comprehensively? Syllabus looks lacking to me.
-Where to practice questions from? Strategy guide and online Q bank have limited questions. (30-40 for each chapter) 
- I see alot of questions posted on GC under Manhattan tag but they lack the official solution. Any pdf/doc where all the solution been posted?

TTP  
-2nd most popular course used by GC members. Have passed the test of time. 
-I feel the course content is on the easier side. 
-While I got bombed in the e-gmat questions, I aced the TTP hard questions also. 
 -Same problem as Manhattan - Text heavy content. Takes more time to study compared to video format.

Queries to people who have taken the TTP -  
- Are the Hard questions representative of the official hard questions in terms of difficulty? ( I can score great in TTP Hard Qs but cannot replicate performance in OG hard questions
-Is the content good enough to each a Q50? Or is it meant to be for people aiming in the Q47-48 range?

These are my concerns, but my priority is to use effective course content even if I have to stick to the text way of learning. 
Ex. EGMAT quant feels way out of scope for GMAT and I dont wanna spend my limited time studying things which wont be tested. 
Rather I'll spend time in reading TTP or Manhattan text content but be sure I am within the scope of the GMAT.

I am even considering less popular courses like -  GMATWhiz or GMATWizako.  
Any reviews about these?

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to hear from the members who have used either of the course and aced the Quant.

Cheers! Keep the grind on.

AnindyaGmat · Answer

Hi  rohit2211 ,

I am not an expert (but have a similar background). But my 2 cents:

1. I highly recommend the video series available on youtube from GMAT Ninja, to build up your concepts.

2. Practice questions via GMAT club Practice questions bank (top menu > GMAT > Practice Questions Bank). Finish sub-600 and 600-700 series questions first from Official, Gmat Prep and Gmat advanced tags. Then play around with the search filters to get tougher questions.

If you are bent towards buying a course, go for Manhattan prep. But there are many here who have consistently hit Q51 through structured practice via GmatClub.

Wish you all the best. And plz remember that Verbal is much more difficult for anyone with your background - target V40 with higher priority as Q51 is not too difficult for you.

Thanks,
AG

gmatophobia · Answer

I have used GMATWhiz and the trial of TTP, hence my reviews would be limited to only these prep agencies 1) GMATWhiz - It has all necessary content from a concept standpoint. I don't suppose they have missed covering any concept. Off late GMATWhiz has revamped of the entire quant module (Quant 2.0) and that takes the course to the next level. They have covered some nuances and have provided some tips / tricks to solve some complex problems that I found very helpful in dealing with questions of high difficulty level. Having said that I would like to also point out that the verbal course mediocre. It's not that course won't do you any good, the content is probably not the best (esp. in SC). So if you're looking for a course to focus only on quant, I would recommend GMATWhiz any day. The questions in Quant WhizQuiz (practice questions) are of quite GMAT like standards and the breadth of coverage will give you an exposure to more or less everything that can be tested in GMAT. Your cold mock score of v47 indicates that you're not too rusty with concepts. A right approach can take you to a Q50 or beyond. One of the USP of GMATWhiz - The flexibility to customize the course and insights provided by the AI engine is quite helpful for someone who is looking to target high scores within short period of time. 2) TTP - I had taken the 5 day trail of TTP and I was mind blown by the content. A great course (no doubt about it), however the course is a bit lengthy compared to other prep agencies. So if you're looking to build something from rock bottom, TTP is the best bet for you. From a concept coverage standpoint, I don't suppose they have left any stone unturned (infact at times you may feel some of the concepts are too rudimentary as you come from a quant heavy background). Its a great great course for someone who has been rusty with quant for sometime and would like to master the concepts. If you plan to go ahead with TTP the only thing that I would recommend is focus on chapters / topics that you're weak at instead of taking the entire course in sequential manner. For other modules, you can skim the course content and attempt the chapter questions where ever they are applicable. On thing that stands out in TTP - the verbal module is pretty decent (I loved the SC and CR content). Full disclosure - TTP's verbal methods are bit unconventional that what other prep agencies teach (ex. they don't recommend pre-thinking, they don't go by the intended meaning approach in SC etc.), however if you follow the approach the course teaches you probably will not encounter any issue on the test day. Few USP of TTP - 1) In depth coverage of everything. 2) Ability to log error for incorrect questions. Few de-merits in TTP - 1) The number of questions that are available in verbal quiz (practice questions) is very limited. If I remember correctly, in their quiz section across all difficulty levels, there are around 500 questions in verbal and about 2500 (5x times !) question in quant. 2) TTP does not offer any full length mocks. However if those doesn't matter much then TTP is a great bet ! I wouldn't conclude which course to take as I would leave that judgement to you. Each course is suited differently to different test takers and each course comes with its own merits and demerits, but if you haven't taken a trial of these two course you can consider taking one and evaluate what works best for yourself. Wish you the best in your preparation ! P.S- I love both the course for one reason or the other

Russ19 · Answer

Hi  rohit2211 ,

You might follow a gmat club expert, such as  IanStewart . I love it a lot how he clarifies hard problems in easier terms. You might go through some of his posts.

Good Luck!

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Consider leveraging the trial periods to make an ultimate choice. The gmatclub study plan post also mentions some thoughts about the various prep resources out there. To score high on Quant, it may be helpful to review questions you've done to see if there was a "better" way of solving them, a way to do them quicker with less effort, for example. Some Quant tips on the GMAT Knight blog you might find interesting too.

All the best.

All the best.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi rohit2211.

Video content may at first seem faster to go through than content in text form. However, the truth is that in many cases, one can go through text content much faster than through video content because it's possible to choose what to read, skim, or skip when going through text content, whereas it's not really possible to tell whether parts of a video can be skipped without watching most of it.

Thus, since you are already strong in quant, you may find that a course that uses text, such as TTP, is the ideal way for you to prepare for the quant section of the GMAT.

Meanwhile, the TTP course has an accelerated quant study plan that you can use to focus on your weaker areas while spending less time on areas of quant you are already strong in. So, the TTP course may actually be well suited for what you are seeking to accomplish.

rohit2211 · Answer

That kind of makes sense when you put it like that. Thanks for your input Marty.

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