GMAT Tutor for retakers?

Question

Hello, I'm not sure if this has been discussed in here, but I recently saw on the Economist website an advertisement for their prep program, GMAT Tutor.

After reviewing the options they have, this seems like the perfect program for someone who scored a fairly high score IE 670-720, but still wish to retake. Here is the link for a description of the plans they offer:

https://gmat.economist.com/plans

Using my own experience, if I choose the Premium Prep option there is a 70 point score guarantee or a complete refund of the money spent on the course as well as the cost of the GMAT, another $250. So that would mean that I would need to score a 780 on my GMAT Exam or I get my money back and they'll pay for my GMAT Exam...um, this seems like a free way to get my retest paid for, does it not? It seems like a pretty sound investment, $695 up front for a $945 return 3 months from now (36% increase). The only downside would be if I actually scored a 780 or higher...how is that a downside again?

Has anyone used this program and had success when retaking the exam?

jumsumtak · Answer

Looks good. But you would be better off by calling them and asking if this holds for 700+ scores as well. There are people who score a 730 and sit for a re-take. I can't fathom how these guys will do business if a few of these turn up.

Economist, as far as my knowledge goes, is a fairly new program. So, I doubt there will be many takers for this. Obviously, the best thing is to wait and see.

I will also say take a trial class. Money isn't everything at the end of the day. I'm not sure if you will be happy if you have a similar score on your re-take, get your money back, but, eventually waste 3 months of your valuable time. Make sure you make a sound investment.

Best

MacFauz · Answer

Hmmmm.... Sounds too good to be true....
If I wanted to cheat them, I could take their classes, take a GMAT and perform poorly, get a below par score, get my refund of $945 and then take the GMAT again for $250.. I get the classes for free.. I dont think a professional company (especially one that has to coach reasoning ability) would leave open such a loop hole..

souvik101990 · Answer

LOL, I would try that!
 
I d say for a guy who has already scored 710, some self review and introspection is the best way to go about it. I d take a MGMAT CAT and see where I am making mistakes and work my way up. You seem to have a Q47, which leaves a definite 2 point improvement room in Quant which should not be a very big deal with the free quant resources we have on the website.
You already aced verbal once. So I am pretty sure with some practice you can ace it again (with a couple of more points may be?)
Think about it.
One of the mistakes that I made initially in my prep was to think that a course would be all I need for a stellar GMAT score. I could not be more wrong as the GMAT is designed to make you think. If you end up doing a lot of stuffs yourself, why pay somebody else?

AbhiJ · Answer

The GMAT guarantee programs works based on assumption that they would default on a small percentage of cases.
The majority of people taking these courses score in 500 and low 600. That's where they make the money. The high scorers know the value of their time and are unlikely to enroll in the program. Now what you get is basically a web based program for which there is very little operating cost. Just ask any course which guarantees 50+ points as to what percentage of their customers who scored initially in 700 improved by 50 or more points.

ajt1087 · Answer

I agree, I do not necessarily believe that this course will provide additional value, except for the fact that they essentially will pay for me to take the GMAT a second time. I wrote them a message and asked them for more specifics, and there is no score limit for those wishing to take advantage of the guarantee program. So long as I meet all of the requirements, one of which includes going through 90% of the course material (and I do not know how much of a time commitment this might be), then I will be reimbursed for the program and the cost of the GMAT so long as I do not score a 780. Additionally, I will get a free subscription to the Economist for a year. Economically, this makes sense to me regardless of how much value the resources of the program provides me.

ajt1087 · Answer

Yes, you make some good points for sure. The real reason I want to retake is because I consistently scored 44-45 on Verbal on practice tests. Unfortunately, taking the actual GMAT was the first time I had done everything at once: AWA, IR, Q, V and my focus was not quite there at the end of the test. Even if I shoot for a modest improvement of +2 on both Q and V for a 49/42, this is in the 750 range.

In regards to the free quant resources, my plan is to review the GMAT Club Math Free book and then take some GMAT Club Tests. Any other suggestions to raise my Q score 2-3 points? For verbal I'm going to re-read MGMAT Sentence Correction a couple times and redo some OG Problems. I only missed maybe 2 or 3 CR and RC OG questions total so I don't really plan to focus on this.

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