After the 9-Session Prep Course, I reviewed for a week before taking the official exam. I sat down confidently that day, believing that I would score at least a 680. However, soon after accepting my scores, I realized that my official score was a disappointing 590.

I took a three day break and re-planned my schedule again. I simply went over the whole set of books again. I wrote every piece of detail I did not know or understand on a note card. I reviewed the note cards at the end of each week and meticulously solved every problem on the OG13 and Quant and Verbal books. By the end of the ninth week, I had around 350 note cards of which I started discarding slowly. When taking the Practice Exams, I also realized that I did relatively well throughout most of the exam. My only problem was that I lost stamina in the second half of the Verbal section. I would get about 80 to 90% of the questions right on the first 20 questions but then nearly 50% of the questions correct in the second half of the questions.

These two changes in my strategy helped me reach a goal well above my expectation: a 740 (Q49/V41).

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My pre-class scores were below 600, so needless to say I had a lot of work ahead of me. My goal was to clear 700. The course with David Braslow was great for reviewing and re-learning a lot of the concepts (math in particular), but make sure you're willing to practice, as the amount of material can be overwhelming.

If you're like me and really need to go through all of the strategy guides to re-learn the math, practice problems are the best way to burn those concepts into your memory (something I failed to do the first time around). I tried learning as much as I could in the 9 week session, but I don't think I practiced enough, and I was still prone to making careless mistakes. My first test scored a 640, I was disappointed. I started private tutoring sessions with Kate McKeon to refine my skills, learn my weaknesses, and give me areas for focus. After a few sessions with Kate, I was back up above 700 on my practice tests, and I ended up with a 760 on my 2nd official attempt.

Highly recommend the instructors at Manhattan GMAT, especially for personalized sessions. They won't tell you what you want to hear. If you're weak in a particular area, they'll let you know! Better to have that honest feedback upfront than to be disillusioned by a few successful practice tests.

Rather than familiarity with concepts, try to master what you can before you even step into the test room.

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Hi eveyrone,

I recently used Manhattan GMAT and had a great experience. The company's material is very applicable to the test, and the OG Archer is a great way to identify area where you need to improve.

My instructor, Jihae, was very good. She was engaging and did a great job connecting with the students despite the class starting after a full work day.

The most valuable asset, for me at least, was the FREE MGMAT post exam assessment. My test scores were as follows:

MGMAT Diag: 630

MGMAT 1: 730

MGMAT 2: 670

MGMAT 3: 690

MGMAT 4: 680

MBA.com 1: 720

MBA.com 2: 730

My goal was a 700, but I scored only a 620 when I took the test in July. After the test, I used Manhattan GMAT's post exam assessment. I spoke to Eric, and, after reviewing my file, he identified areas he felt I should focus and pointed out that I may have burnt myself out or that I perhaps rushed through problems on test day.

After speaking with Eric, I took a week off, relaxed and refocused for my exam in three weeks.

I scored a 710 (47Q, 40V) and am pleased with my performace.

Thank you Manhattan GMAT!

Sam

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I highly recommend the Manhattan GMAT 9-Session Prep Course for anyone studying for the GMAT. The course provides a comprehensive overview of the all content on the GMAT, focusing specifically on the content and test-taking strategies that I believe are the difference between a mediocre and a great test score. Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, the Manhattan GMAT course instills in you the confidence that is so important for success on the day of the actual test.

I am a lawyer and have not had much math in my daily life since high school. Of course quant was a big concern of mine. Manhattan GMAT's content-based approach and repetitive drilling helped me tremendously. My instructor Kate McKeon was also a huge help in this regard. She made the class fun and kept the atmosphere light, all the while challenging us to master a combination of the most tested and difficult content. In addition to helping me nail down the content, she taught me not to sweat the small stuff and what areas to focus on for test day. This relaxed approach kept everything in perspective as I prepared for the real test.

After scoring a 560 on my first practice test, I ended up scoring a 720 on the real thing and was thrilled. I am certain that without Manhattan GMAT I would not have achieved such a satisfactory result.

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The smartest decision I ever made. The bootcamp was a challenge because it was a lot of material in a tight period, but worked best for me as I invested my summer vacation into completing it, and there was a lot of work offline, but it paid off.

Going from a 500 range score to a 700 range score was exactly what I needed to supplement my profile. And as an international student it helped a lot with getting into the right mentality to play the GMAT game and not just "memorize and ace" exams as we were typically taught, but learning how the components work and the strategy to throw questions that just don't work to invest time on others was a big takeaway. The analytics were also impeccable at focusing on weaknesses and observing my own trends with time and questions to build an internal awareness of how "I" functioned in a test.

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The course was really fantastic. Patrick is a terrific teacher. I took this class in Santa Monica, CA (although that option was not listed). The nights really do fly by even though it's a long class (3 hours). Patrick makes it a lot more fun than it should be, and he'll even give you a bit of extra time - he's not someone looking at his clock for the course to end. It's definitely a lot of work, but it's all on you. The more you put in, the more you get out of it.

Also be sure to take advantage of the free private sessions. Best way to get the most out of those is to prepare questions in advance, or ask the instructor to look at previous practice tests.

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My time with Manhattan GMAT was well spent. When I started the course I was completely unprepared, not to mention I hadn't done much math between my senior year of high school and now. Not only did MGMAT prepare me with detailed books and plenty of coursework, but they have a number of resources available to students, and they are very generous with their time/practice center.

My instructor was excellent--he was clear, practical and held my attention for the whole class. In addition to strong instruction, the books were easy to read and kept me very busy.

The practice center was a helpful tool. I get anxious when it comes to test taking. Not only was I able to practice in "test-like" environments, but I was able to use the center for regular practice and homework as well. Having a quiet work space is key, and while I know it wasn't policy to have some classrooms open, every now and then when I needed to do timed drills after work, they let me use an empty classroom.

As someone else in another post mentioned, if you start to test at the top of the range and continue to take the adaptive tests, you start to run into some repeat questions, which does inflate your score. This only happens if you go through all six tests and then reset them (although it looks like they've also added a bunch of new questions along with the integrated reasoning practice.)

Overall, I had a great experience with Manhattan GMAT. I did take it twice, but I am very happy with my score. It is a high quality experience and I highly recommend the program.

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The Manhattan 9-week GMAT prep course is exceptional, as are all the proprietary on-line and off-line materials associated with the course. My teacher, Jonathan S. was excellent - not only in class, but also outside, making himself available by email and through outside sessions.

They whole program went above and beyond. My score increased ~200 points. The class is highly customizable based on goals and performance throughout the program. The books are a provide a very good platform for your review and the on-line materials are extremely comprehensive. The data-driven approach makes you feel confident that your time is being spent efficiently.

I highly recommend the course.

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I thought MGMAT did an excellent job providing all the tools that it takes to do well on the GMAT. From day 1, my instructor Kate stressed that "relearning" the fundamentals of both verbal and quant would be largely up to students during the week in between class meetings. This means doing ALL of your homework from the materials that MGMAT provides and doing ALL of the practice problems. This is not easy, but absolutely essential to being up to speed for weekly meetings.

During class, we reviewed several types of questions and talked through various strategies for solving each of them. I felt this was the biggest value add of MGMAT- the strategy portion for each different type of question- both verbal and quant. Once you are armed with a systematic approach to every question, all you have to do is practice, practice, practice. Reviewing strategy greatly reduced anxiety on test day, because I had a "game plan" for each type of problem.

Overall, excellent structure and I would highly recommend.

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Manhattan GMAT's 9-week live online course was incredibly helpful in orienting me to the GMAT's structure, giving me solid strategies, and preparing me fully for test day. I really liked the instructors' approach of going through a couple problems in-depth - rather than try to cover tons of problems each time - in order to illustrate the most effective strategies. I found their quantitative strategies particularly helpful - they help you quickly eliminate options and hone in on the two or three answer options that remain.

I also found the instructors very personable and the format of the class fun. It's very participatory and engaging - and I felt like I got to know a couple other students' personalities and marvel at how they approached problems in different ways.

I scored a 680 on my first practice test. After taking several Manhattan GMAT simulations (their prep materials are EXCELLENT), I was getting 780s - the score I eventually ended up with. I was very satisfied!

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