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As a U.S. Marine, Keith served in
the northern most capital in the world, the southernmost capital in the western
hemisphere, and watched the sun rise on the Pacific Ocean and set on the
Atlantic Ocean. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in electrical engineering from
Texas A&M University and worked in the circuit protection and wireless
industries. As an MBA student and after he graduated, Keith evaluated
applications and conducted interviews for the GSB and often gives students a
glimpse "behind the velvet curtain" of the application/admissions
process. Keith's work with Manhattan Prep has allowed him to "live the
dream." He loves teaching and helping students overcome their fears and
achieve the scores they desire. His work with Manhattan Prep has also given him
the latitude to pursue the other main passion in his life, martial arts. While
at first glance the two pursuits may not seem related, Keith believes that the
mental and physical discipline necessary to becoming a good martial artist is
also necessary to performing at a high level on the GMAT. Students attending
his classes are not only trained in content, but also coached on the importance
of the mental and physical aspects of the test.
Source: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/instructors/keith-blume/
Improvement 150 Points
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Keith Blume
Location Chicago-N. LaSalle, IL USA
Manhattan GMAT is an outstanding course for people that are dedicated to working hard enough to get their desired score. The course teaches the fundamentals of solving all problems, and the extra resources provided ensure that all students have access to upper level questions and an opportunity to score in the 700+ range. Prior to taking Manhattan GMAT, I was scoring in the 500-600 range. Afterward, I was consistently in the 700-760 range. They drill timing and analysis of problems, which allows students to tackle even the hardest of problems. I would recommend the course to anyone that is looking to score high enough on the GMAT to get into top 10 business schools.
Improvement N/A
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Keith Blume
Location Chicago-N. LaSalle, IL USA
Manhattan GMAT's prep course gave me the preparation and confidence I needed to succeed - and I'll consider my 730 a success! The framework helped me organize the GMAT topics into digestable pieces so I could quickly see which areas I needed to focus on most. The quantitative drill set workbooks proved invaluable in helping me shake off the rust on my math fundamentals. And the strategies taught in the classroom helped me focus my time on the exam. I particularly loved the interactive class format where we were timed on practice problems one at a time and got to see where we (classmates and I) got tripped up so we could also learn from each other's mistakes.
Keith Blume is a great instructor who was able to think through problems and solutions from multiple perspectives on the spot to test alternate approaches considered by the students. I strongly recommend Manhattam GMAT if you want to challenge yourself to a high score!
Improvement N/A
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Keith Blume
Location Chicago-Wacker, IL USA
I took the 9-week course a couple of months ago with Keith Blume, who is a fantastic instructor. The class sessions provided helpful, structured exposure to material that I hadn't seen in years, enabling me to then study effectively and efficiently on my own. The most important part of preparing for the GMAT is the effort you put into studying on your own time, and I found that the MGMAT classes were indispensable to my ability to study well for the GMAT.
In addition to the actual class sessions, MGMAT also provides a number of excellent study materials such as strategy guides and online resources. One of the online resources that I found to be especially useful is a platform into which you can enter your timed answers to Official Guide problems to track your progress. The platform then generates statistics that pinpoint the subject areas and question types you need to focus on most in terms of both accuracy and timing.
I'm very satisfied with the experience I had with Manhattan GMAT and I would recommend the course to anyone who's serious about improving his or her GMAT score. Even if you're already scoring well, MGMAT can help you do better - I took the actual GMAT last week and scored a 790 (51Q, 51V).
Improvement 50 Points
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Keith Blume
Location Chicago-N. LaSalle, IL USA
I only had 5 hours of private tutor time with Keith of Manhattan GMAT Chicago, and I improved my score by 50 points (from 650 to 700). I had spent about 3 months of self-study (including 2 online math fundamentals courses from Manhattan GMAT) and scored a 650. I had scored in the 50th percentile for math and 91st percentile for verbal. Needless to say, my quant needed work!
I studied for another 6 weeks on my own and did worse (620 overall with only a slight improvement in my quant and obviously worse on verbal). Needless to say, I was frustrated and defeated. I chose to meet with a private tutor vs. a prep class because I didn't want to invest another 9 weeks into studying.
I met with Keith for 5 hours total and focused solely on quant. From the first meeting, he diagnosed my issues (apparently I was studying TOO much) and taught me a few concepts that I kept getting tripped up on. I actually took the next 5 weeks very easy. I did one practice test, met two additional times with Keith and studied about 3 hours the week of the test. My score improved to 700 (71st percentile quant; 88th percentile verbal). Perhaps just not studying was really the key for me, but I wouldn't have felt comfortable enough to stop studying without Keith's belief in my ability.
I will also say though that at least 4-5 concepts we covered appeared on my quant section on test day - so that definitely did help! Both Keith's knowledge and encouragement were crucial to my success.
Improvement 80 Points
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Keith Blume
Location Chicago-N. LaSalle, IL USA
I took the 9 week course in downtown Chicago from Jan through March. I took the exam on May 11, 2012 and scored 760 (Q49, V 44). Before the 2nd class, I took the MGMAT online CAT and scored 680. I would attribute most of the 80 point increase to the Sentence Correction concepts covered by Keith in the class and the MGMAT Sentence Correction Strategy Guide.
Another great aspect of the course was the online CAT diagnostic report and the OG Archer - these help you zero in on your weak areas and help improve your time management skills.
I would certainly recommend the course/ prep books to anyone looking to do well on the test.
Improvement 50 Points
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Keith Blume
Location Chicago-N. LaSalle, IL USA
Overall, I was very pleased with the quality of the MGMAT material, instructor, and class environment. I highly recommend the system and methodology of MGMAT as I found the review material and study guides to be very helpful.
I would like to focus on the couple areas of constructive criticism I would have for the program-- only because I think MGMAT did a great job. There honestly isn't much I would change, but if I had to, I'd make the following 2 recommendations:
1. Test Readiness: I felt amply prepared for all portions of the test. The few areas where I wish the class spent more time were on the FDPs, Number Properties, and Probabilities sections. I found these to be the problems most represented on the exam. I would have appreciated having some more refresher material for me to review closer to the date of the exam with key FDP and NP concepts. I realize that part of this criticism is my own inability to go out and find representative problems.
2. Online vs. live class: I've always considered myself to be an in-person learner. While I still think this is true, and this is the reason I chose to participate in the in-person class, I would recommend that everyone that this class online. In the classroom, it is much easier to get off-track and distracted. I've heard that online classroom experiences minimize the amount of time spent entertaining individual's questions (when they may not be particularly helpful for the group), and in turn, maximizes the material covered.
Improvement N/A
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Keith Blume
Location Chicago-Wacker, IL USA
The 9 session prep course is a very useful course if you are a person who needs a class atmosphere to study and need a robust study plan. The instructor i have is really knowledgeable. He move at a pace in which everyone can understand and tries to make the class interesting. You are free to ask any kind of questions and the best part is that if you answer right he will really appreciate you but even if you give the most wrong answer possible he will still find a way to appreciate you. More than that their 8 guide are really informative especially the Number properties, word problems and Sentence correction guides. You also get to pick one insider information of the college you wish to apply. They also have a post test review to see how well you performed and if you are happy with it. One the whole its the best class and worth every buck.