Review of Manhattan GMAT Instructor Josh Braslow

I will agree with you, I called for the tutoring twice, and the guy wasn't very helpful. Sounded like he couldn't wait to get off the phone. If you do have certain problems that you need extra help on it can prove useful.

Anyways, I just got out of the exam. I got a 650: 62% on the math, and 88% on the verbal. You really have to have a high comprehension of the math material in order to get to the 700 level questions.

Since my app deadlines are 3/1, I really didn't have the time to study as much as I would have liked.
But here's a couple of suggestions based on my experiences with regards to the math section:

1) Take the time to read each question carefully. During practice, I got a lot of questions wrong simply because I didn't read carefully. For example, I might have solved for X, and answered X, when they were really looking for 1-X.

2) Do not randomly guess! Try to eliminate at least one answer choice and as many as possible. This was something that was really hard for me to break out of during my practice, and that I still didn't do when I took the test.

3) Approach each question systematically. In data sufficiency, rephrase the question, then rephrase the two statements. Try to think of everything conceptually when you can, and write out equations. Try not to do things in your head when you have time. Writing things out will help reduce mistakes.

4) Try to make the best use of your time. No sense in rushing through the test. One problem I had was the fear of not having enough time to finish the test. I had a bad habit of doing the first half of the section very quickly, and while I could have answered more difficult questions, I didn't get the opportunity to since I didn't do that well in the first half.

5) I also couldn't sleep the night before the test, and took the test on 5 hours.I would suggest you get plenty of sleep the night before. Also, bring something to eat with you and keep it in the locker. I only at a bagel before I left the house, and I got hungry during the end of the verbal.

I think the most important point in this rant is to try to do the math systematically, and avoid doing things in your head when you have time.

Please ask any questions you might have. I'm going to repost this in another section of the forum so more people can read it. I would be happy to share my experiences and help anyone else get a better score!


(The testing center was an hour from home)