The course was fantastic. It focused on teaching you how to beat the test efficiently and to best improve your score. My teacher did a great job of both explaining the "right" way to do a problem and then exploring other more efficient ways to do it. She gave us a lot of tips throughout the class about taking the test/time management/etc. With the 9 session class, you also get a free consulting session which was extremely helpful. Because Manhattan GMAT has very sophisticated tracking software, he was able to see exactly where I was going wrong and gave me very specific feedback/tips that very much helped my strategy and approach to the test.

Read More

Jon was a terrific instructor and the Manhattan GMAT platform was extremely helpful in my test preparation! The online, time practice tests are a great resource to get as many reps as you need.

Consider pros/cons of small/large classes. Popular class times are good, but large classes can move slowly due to student questions of varying levels.

Overall, it was a terrific experience. Very nurturing environment and Jon gave terrific guidance along the way. I missed several classes and was able to make them up at other times at my convenience. Finally, the set of preparation books were comprehensive and, together with the course syllabus, provided a structured test preparation schedule.

Read More

Manhattan GMAT's course was really really helpful. In addition to well thought out curriculum that helps you go through all the 10+ books efficiently, they have tons of resources available online. There are labs (video guides on specific topics), interactive integrated reasoning materials and practice software.

OG Acher is another great resource, it let's you practice questions, records the time spent and generates reports so you can track your progress. It also has video explanations for many of the official guide questions.

Now, on the instructor, Dave is really amazing, you can tell he knows how the test works. He is able to keep the 3 hours interesting, stress important points and explain concepts efficiently!

Read More

I could not have been happier with my experience with Manhattan GMAT! Not only because of the outcome -- I scored a 740 (49Q/42V) -- but also because of the experience. Manhattan GMAT made studying for the GMAT far less painful than I thought it could be. Definitely worth the price premium. Manhattan GMAT's core strengths are the quality of its instructors, curriculum & content, and resources.

(I) Instructors: Probably Manhattan GMATs greatest asset. I worked with 3 instructors in person (2 taught my course, 1 was my tutor). I also had limited exposure to an additional 4 instructors (online advanced workshops). I can't say enough good things about each and every one of them. The teachers all utilize the same curriculum, of course. But rather than the instructors having to adjust their personality to the course, they can adjust the course to their personality. Perhaps it is because the instructors are encouraged to make the class their own that the classes are so effective and engaging. For example, two of my instructors could not have been more different: one was extremely energetic and informal, encouraging people to shout out answers to his questions; the other was quiet and more formal, asking that we raise our hands with questions/answers. And yet I learned just as much from one as the other! I suspect that, because each instructor was able to stay true to his own personality, each was as effective as possible.
What also struck me about the instructors was their passion - both for teaching and for their students' success. They were willing to go the extra mile for their students. Finally, the typical 'generic' adjectives apply to the instructors - smart, personable, well-spoken, creative, able to think on their feet, etc.

(II) Curriculum and content: they know the ins & outs of the GMAT better than gmac itself! Well, that's an exaggeration, but you get my point. MGMAT's question banks are completely on-target and mimic the real GMAT questions extremely well. Moreover, after completing the course, I was not only prepared to take the GMAT, but I was also a more educated person. (e.g. I now use the words "less" and "fewer" correctly).

(III) Resources: The books themselves are great, and they are only the tip of the iceberg. My favorites: additional question banks. OG Stopwatch (such a simple concept, and yet such a useful tool). I was also extremely impressed with MGMAT's online platform - the virtual workshops were far more engaging than I thought they would be (what's great is that they staff 2 instructors to 1 online session: one teaches while the other answers questions).
I will say, the sheer quantity of resources started to feel overwhelming at times. No matter how much I prepped, there was always more available for me to do. Listen to the instructors - go for quality over quantity.

---------------------------------

*Note that I took Manhattan GMAT's boot camp. The boot camp is the same curriculum as the regular course, but is on a condensed timeline - it meets every weekday for two weeks and has two instructors that tag-team teach it. I chose the boot camp because it was the only option that met the needs of my schedule. After the boot camp, I spent a number of weeks self-studying, with a few supplemental private tutoring sessions.

If you're taking the boot camp, here is what I would recommend:
-Before the class begins, brush up on your fundamentals of math and get familiar with the exam/materials. The class is a whirlwind two-weeks. Spend that time learning the MGMAT material, not re-learning how to do long division or reading about what a computer adaptive test is.
-When you register for the course, you will be scheduled to take practice exams each weekend. Though that's what the instructors recommend, you are not required to take the exams on this schedule - do what's right for you.

---------------------------------

Good luck!

Read More

The GMAT was the one thing that was hanging over my head and I had a limited amount of time to study and get it over with in time for first round application due dates which are all approaching in the next 2 months. On top of that, I've never been a fan of standardized tests. I'm not a natural test-taker, and I'm one of those people who has to prepare/study a lot for these things.

I moved to New York on May 4th and then started the course on May 6th. I ended up having to travel a lot in June for work, so I missed 2 classes. I spent all of June trying to catch up/stay on track with the coursework. Balancing work, travel, and preparing for the GMAT was rough, but Manhattan GMAT really makes things easier - specifically because of their high quality content, strategy guides, and instructors.

Manhattan GMAT sets its self apart:

1) Strong quantitative preparation - strategy guides are extensive and detailed.

2) Very thorough verbal - strategy guides re-teach grammar that I don't ever remember learning - very very helpful.

2) Foundations of Math and Verbal books: although it was a pain to start from the very beginning and go through these textbook-like guides, this was a really important part of my preparation. These guides were essential in my journey to a achieving a high score.

3) The course keeps you on track - the teachers are very engaging. Jonathan Schneider is an especially gifted instructor. He has great study techniques that he shared with us in the end. He also has a knack for articulating strategies for both math and verbal - he is an extremely talented and smart teacher who really takes a strong interest in his students. He makes the possibility of a high GMAT score very achievable for everyone who is willing to put in the study hours and work.

4) In my opinion, if you can get through the whole syllabus, and stay intellectually honest with yourself in terms of really reading all the strategy guides/doing the problem sets/practicing/completing practice tests etc - I think Manhattan GMAT over prepares you for the test!

5) The online CAT exams were crucial. Manhattan GMAT really recreates the test experience. They also provide post-practice test metrics and stats that help you figure out where to focus your preparation. You can evaluate your strengths and weak areas in a clear and efficient way. The tests are hard, and really push you to work hard to surpass your previous scores! Between my first couple practice tests and the actual test, I improved my score by 140 points (which I truly thought was impossible before).

With Manhattan GMAT's help, I was able to score in the 99th percentile range for verbal - which greatly boosted my score. I am above a 700 - which is what I originally set out to achieve.

I COULD NOT HAVE DONE THIS WITHOUT MANHATTAN GMAT.

Enough said.

Read More

It's hard to overstate how well MGMAT does its job. Want to score well on the GMAT? Willing to work hard but looking for the most efficient path to content acquisition? MGMAT is your path. It's not cheap, but what you are paying for is not only top-level 99th percentile instructors (by far the highest paid in the industry) and original curriculum materials drafted and constantly revised by the instructors themselves.

I took the 9-week course, though if you wanted to do it in less time or felt that you could just teach yourself the material I suppose you could just buy the books and online access to the tests. But I do have to say that at least in my class, my teacher (Jen Dziura) gave us specific strategies for some questions that I wouldn't have paid attention to in the curriculum. These strategies for questions in math on rates or in verbal on CR were often ultimately the ones I studied and used in the final test.

I also appreciated the pacing and layout of the content over the 9 weeks. I did the homework every week (which was especially time-consuming at the beginning, as I really needed some work in re-learning my high school math), but just trusted in the schedule and kept going. I made some flashcards and spent some extra time on things that didn't come back as easily, but after the class ended I was impressed by how much of that content stuck as I started doing timed OG problems.

At that point, all I needed to do was tie up loose ends (like memorizing the right triangle rules) and speed it up to get each problem under 2 minutes. I spent 1 month doing OG problems and then took the test, to see a huge improvement on my original score. (From 630 to 770 -- Q50 V46)

The forums are helpful, as are the other online components of the class -- I made use of the "Thursdays with Ron" live online sessions, as well as their online companion to the Official Guide, which allows you to track progress on your OG problems -- giving you not only immediate explanations to questions after you've done them, but also tracking your timing and track record on questions sorted by theme, format, etc.

Also, the practice tests are the best in the business, and in my experience very representative of the actual test. And their systems provide tons of feedback based on your answers to questions to guide your subsequent studying.

MGMAT's method is building content expertise -- no silver bullet, no reliance on "tricks" or "talent." It's a harder path, but the good news is that anyone can learn content, and their materials lay out the best path to do so.

Read More

The course led by Gregg Lachow is incredibly helpful. He's an engaging and thoughtful instructor who provides several tools for absorbing the material.

The Manhattan GMAT facilities are top class. They offer realistic testing centers, which help prepare you for the feel of test day. They also provide fantastic online resources, including video tutorials on the essay and IR sections that supplement the classes.

Manhattan GMAT classes are large enough to spur discussion on difficult problems and small enough to allow for individual attention for students.

Thanks to Gregg and Manhattan GMAT for raising my score by 100 points!

710
Q45
V44

Read More

As an English major who hadn't done math since high school, I am very grateful for Manhattan GMAT's clear instructional style and their breakdown of basic math concepts. The books and syllabus were an excellent complement to the in-class instruction. The extended syllabus's easier and harder options helped me to find additional practice for the areas that I needed. I also found the online labs very helpful for picking up on little tips and tricks. I really enjoyed the class and will definitely recommend it to my friends. Thank you so much Manhattan GMAT for helping me get that magical 7 in front of my score!

Read More

Three years ago I took the Princeton review class and this one is better by 1,000x. They focus on the important elements that can actually improve your score and teach you logic as opposed to memorization. For example, the first time I took the test post-Princeton review I was so worried about memorizing math formulas and idioms that I felt overwhelmed and didn't focus on the right things. With Manhattan GMAT, they teach you the reasoning behind formulas (so you can logically recall as opposed to memorize) and don't get caught up on details (like odd idioms) that could maybe come up on 1 question of the whole test.

Overall, the instructor quality and availability was excellent. Also, the online tools of MGMAT really are differentiating and helpful (aka assessment reports).

I would only recommend MGMAT to people in the future.

Read More

The best thing I did in preparing for the GMAT was to take the Manhattan GMAT 9 week prep course. The curriculum was outstanding and paced all of the material well. The strategies and tactics outlined by the study guides, class exercises and instructor were extremely helpful.

Jonathan Schneider was my instructor. Jonathan was not only knowledgeable about all of the topics but also taught them in such a way that made the concepts and theories easy to grasp. When a certain concept was not clicking for a student, Jonathan was able to creatively present the material in a different way to ensure the student grasped the concept. Jonathan was also extremely personable and approachable. Furthermore, Jonathan's teaching style is such that he not only is able to teach the material well, but teaches his students how to best continue to study after the completion of the course. In my opinion, it is that skill that will ultimately determine a student's success on the GMAT. I could not have scored my goal score without Jonathan's instruction. I would highly recommend him as an instructor!

Take the class! You won't regret it.

Read More