Princeton Review 700+ Gaurantee

Question

Any thoughts or opinions? Seems like a great steal $1500 for a guarantee 700+

Abhi077 · Answer

Well, it ain't that easy as it seems to be. Remember, the guarantee is about your money and not the score ultimately, no one can guarantee you a specific score, you'll have to earn it. you may get your money back but that's it. Besides, the starting point to be eligible for the guarantee is 620, basically, all they are saying is it's an 80 points score improvement guarantee which you can get from a lot of other online courses for a much cheaper price. In the end, it all depends on you and your skillset and how further you can take it. Any score is achievable on GMAT. it's a standardized test after all.

This is straight from Princeton review:

At the beginning of your GMAT 700+ course, we’ll establish a baseline starting score. Your starting score can be either:

Your official GMAT score that you received no more than 1 year before the start of your course and that you submit to us before your second class session; or
The score you receive on GMAT practice test #1 in the Online Student Portal, which must be your first practice test in the course and which must be taken before the second class session.
You need to take the official test on or before the recommended test date for your course that we posted on our website at the time of your enrollment. If you registered for an official test on the recommended test date but it was canceled, you need to take the next official test that is available. If your official GMAT score did not increase by at least 80 points (if your starting score was under 620) or did not equal or exceed 700 (if your starting score was 620 or higher), then subject to the paragraphs below we will refund your tuition, less the fee for course materials (as reflected in your invoice) that we shipped to you and shipping charges.

In order to be eligible for a refund, before your test date you must:

Attend all scheduled class sessions.
Complete practice tests #1-#7 in the Online Student Portal in accordance with the schedule provided in the Online Student Portal.
Complete the 4 hours of private tutoring included in your program before your official test date.
Complete all assigned homework according to the schedule in your syllabus.

You must submit your official GMAT score as well as your guarantee request form within 60 days after your official test date.

*The relevant “score” is the total or composite score over all sections of the exam. For clarity, scores for individual sections from different exams may not be combined to establish the total or composite score.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi star7rulz,

Since this is your first post at GMATClub, it's not clear whether you're just beginning your studies or not. Have you done any studying so far?

If you're just beginning, then it would be a good idea to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test; you can access 2 for free from www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). If you want to do a bit of practice first, so that you can familiarize yourself with the general content and question types first, then that's fine - but you shouldn't wait too long to take that initial CAT. A FULL CAT takes about 3.5 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have those scores, you should report back here and we can come up with a study plan.

I'd like to know a bit more about your timeline and goals:
1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

Currently, the 700+ Score is just a bit shy of the 90th percentile overall (meaning that 90% of GMATers will never score that high regardless of how long they study or the number of times that they take the GMAT. By extension, no combination of study materials can "guarantee" that type of result. Most GMAT Companies offer some type of free materials (practice problems, Trial Accounts, videos, etc.) that you can use to 'test out' a product before you buy it. We have a variety of those resources at our website (www.empowergmat.com). I suggest that you take advantage of all of them, then choose the materials that best match your personality, timeline and budget.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

bigge2win · Answer

What you said in parenthesis in your first sentence is a bit of misrepresentation. 90% or any percentile just means how much proportion of total test takers that the person’s score exceeded. It’s in no way, shape or form an indication of future success or failure, as you made it sound like in your statement.

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi bigge2win,

While the percentiles associated with various score results (including in the Quant and Verbal sections individually) have fluctuated a bit over time, the 700 Score result has been remarkably consistent (right around the 90the percentile, going back YEARS). Obviously, percentile data doesn't really mean anything in regards to how any one individual might perform on the GMAT - and it's simply information (neither indicative of "success" nor "failure" on this Test). Statistically-speaking though, if a random person shows up on Test Day, the historical data implies that that person will probably NOT score 700+ and unless there's some radical shift in how the GMAT is written and administered, that percentile is not likely to change. The point of providing that information is to help establish an expectation. The GMAT IS a remarkably consistent, predictable Exam - and regardless of your current ability you CAN almost certainly train to score at a higher level. That type of higher Score requires specific training and commitment to developing certain skills. That's not something that a randomly-selected person has probably done though - and certainly not a result that any combination of study materials can 'guarantee.' 
 
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

bigge2win · Answer

I see what you're saying. My initial point of contention was when you said that "90% of GMATers will  never  score that high regardless of how long they study." Your statement here is an absolute, whereas your response to my contention says "probably not," which are two different points where your latest reply is actually valid. (Someone can obviously study more/better and actually improve their score.) The population of test takers include people who prepared and people who didn't. Telling someone they aren't likely to score 700+ is a fairly black and white comment because there's no context of how they prepared, how they scored during practice exams, whether they're naturally good or bad at aptitude tests, etc. So making a statement about a person who prepares with a randomly selected person is not necessarily an accurate comparison.

Also, if it were true that 90% of people could never score above 700, then why bother allowing people to take the exam more than once? Additionally, the population set of the percentiles for the exam is the total tests taken, not the number of test takers. The percentiles do not account for a unique test for each test taker. So there are many test takers who have several tests. If I'm wrong on the last point, I'd like to see an explanation of it if it's available on MBA.com.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi star7rulz,

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