My experience studying Quant with Target Test Prep (TTP)

Question

Moderator Edit: This does not appear to be a legitimate post; The user is blaming the course because it told her she will have to study to reach her goal longer than she expected. Not sure if the user purposefully used the name Karen to make this sound more dramatic or maybe it was intended as some kind of an odd joke? Make sure you read the comments below from the community (the poster never came back to respond, unfortunately). Do you agree/disagree with KarenV? Feel free to post your comment here. If you are searching for reviews, you can find actual legit reviews here As a full-time working adult, many years out from my undergrad degree, I knew I would need help to master new concepts and skills to pass the GMAT. After some online research, I resolved to study for 3 months, by steadily reviewing each day for 1 to 3 hours, completing approximately 150 to 180 hours of learning total. After completion of a practice test, I decided to initially focus on the Quant section. This is when I stumble upon Target Test Prep . Based on what Quant score range you want, TTP constructs a personalized study plan. The higher the score range, the more modules, chapters, lessons, and practice problems revealed to you. TTP’s collection of questions and practice tests are similar to those in the official guides and packs, however they are not specified as retired questions or tests. I’m not sure if their home-made material is appropriate, but there is certainly an excess of it. I started the modules, following hyperlink after hyperlink, across chapters and lessons. To complete their proposed Quant study plan, they state you’ll need to dedicate 180 hours for just this ONE section of the GMAT . Their proposed schedule was way in excess of the more often stated period of 150 hours to prepare for the entire GMAT. I would need to expand my study routine by hundreds of hours, resulting in a longer membership and spending lots more money, which I’m sure TTP likes but is an inconvenience for me. After several months of using the TTP course, I decided to step back to reassess. Having lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay area for more than a decade, I was able to reach out to a possible mentor; a co-worker who completed his MBA at Stanford ! Upon hearing that the TTP study plan BEGAN with 180 hours just for the Quant section, he was astonished, declaring his first year of in-class time in the MBA program at Stanford took less hours to complete. I’m going to say that again: the material he learned at this ivy league university took less time than TTP says I need to complete just their Quant modules . I was stunned and felt slightly deceived by TTP. I signed up for TTP hoping to learn from GMAT specialists with superior insight, not just an organized collection of lessons and questions. This excessive timetable and increased expense shocked me early in the study process. Any increase in the time I need to set aside to study is time away from my spouse and children. I understand there is a time sacrifice needed to excel at the GMAT. Nevertheless, as a working adult with family responsibilities and limited time, I needed to pinpoint strategies for the GMAT. Expertise and techniques were promised but repetition learning was what TTP offered. In the end, I felt that I paid for an impractical study plan that I could recreate by working through questions and exams online at GMATClub for free. Now I hear that TTP is doing Verbal. I assume that they’re going to make that really long and repetitive too so that their customers have to pay more and more and more.

KhulanE · Answer

thanks for sharing your experience.
once i heard that ttp is offering verbal, i was interested in.

Russ19 · Answer

I did not go through the full course but got access for five days to the entire material at $1. I am grateful to TTP because no other company gives the facilities that they offer. Mentionable that I used the two other paid online platforms, and I found TTP's resources up to the mark. Their material is very comprehensive and worth investing in. A friend of mine 'an Indian engineer' covered the whole quant course in only two months, and she is happy with TTP. In my trial session, I covered several chapters in 5 days, so I must enroll in the full course for a month. The best thing about TTP is they offer verbal for free, a sign that they are not commercial but professional.

DisciplinedPrep · Answer

KarenV - Not true. Most test prep companies' sectional courses include an average of 120-150 study hours. As Target Test Prep claims, the course is designed for students aiming to score a very high sectional score on the Quant section and therefore the course is quite intense. If abridged courses and tips & tricks alone could help someone score high, the GMAT would not be the challenging exam it is.

Most importantly, Share GMAT Experience sub-forum is to share real-GMAT experience NOT provide course reviews. Please visit our course review section to provide reviews on any GMAT course by using your registered email address.

GMAT Course Reviews: https://gmatclub.com/reviews/gmat_courses/

Mizar18 · Answer

KarenV

Did you even try to explore the course in depth? You have an accelerated option for the Math course (if you already scored 40 on official GMAT practice tests), otherwise makes sense that you need to spend more hours completing the full course.

So you either wanted to get a high score effortless, or did not take the time to select the most convenient preparation plan for you.

bb · Answer

I think the issue here is not with the course ? ... the issue is Karen’s quant skills. I am sorry you got called out ... but blaming an object is childish. Next we will probably be seeing a post about how terrible the Spanish language is because you have to study vocab and it is taking too long?

The GMAT is about you and your abilities and I am sorry you got called out by the course but you don’t have to follow it. You are welcome to study for 180 hours total and take the test. You clearly seem to know better and seem to be an expert. Perhaps you can start your own course even.

At the same time, you don’t have to get Q51. You can easily score a Q45 and V48 and get in with that score. GMAT has to do with priorities. Priorities in studying and priorities in test taking under timed conditions. I would recommend that you take a note of this suggestion. TTP course has been used by many people with great results and I’m sure if someone could cut down on the time and number of exercises, they would’ve done that. It’s a lot easier to sell a short course with fewer questions. It’s a lot cheaper to make that course and it carries a bigger profit margin so you have to realize that it is your interest that is being prioritized here. Nobody is forcing you to study and I am sorry the study projection did not meet your expectations but you should not jump to conclusions so quickly. But keep in mind that paths with shortcuts are worth taking with GMAT Quant.

Posted from my mobile device

VirFortis · Answer

While everyone here seems to be bashing Karen without waiting on his/her response or clarification. Not taking sides, but let me point out a possible reason why this post could be written out of frustration and needs to be acknowledged for that. Most aspirants would feel the same as Karen, like I would. And giving an analogy of "Spanish", is even more childish.

My experience studying Quant with Target Test Prep (TTP)

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