Manhattan GMAT is the company to sign up with if you're aiming for a 700+ score. I signed up for the in-person class option and had Jonathan as an instructor (who I would highly recommend). The course does a fantastic job keeping you on pace and provides many insightful pointers to help maximize your likelihood of success on test day (many of which you won't find using just the books). Jonathan in particular did a great job helping keep the class engaged with what most would consider pretty dry subject matter. The practice tests are also extremely helpful given the structure of the test will be new for most. I definitely felt like it was worth the cost and that it had a positive impact on my score (scored 740).

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I took the 9-week class on Wednesday nights which Jonathan Schneider taught. The entire class felt like they clicked with him right away. He is the kind of instructor who gets it. He doesn't go too slow or too fast. He just teaches at a perfect pace.

In my study group of 3, we started with 550-600 in our diagnostic test. Throughout the class, we all made progress and got around 650. All three of us kept getting 630-670 until the end of the class.

Jonathan recommended we took our tests 3-4 weeks after the end of the class, which we did. As expected, we got 660-680. Unsatisfied with those scores, we kept working, and signed up for the test a month later. All three of us had full-time jobs so that was a big commitment. We sent our breakdown and practice test assessments to Jonathan who gave each of us a detailed path to success. I believe this is really where he added a ton of value. He specifically told us what to work on and what not to work on. This made our lives a lot easier. A week later, 2 of us got our first 700+ on a practice, the third one got a 690.

We kept going, refining our weak spots, and finally took our tests 7-8 weeks after the end of the class. We got 710, 720 and 730 respectively, which we were happy with.

The takeaway is Jonathan is an extremely competent in-class instructor who spends time answering questions after hours (almost 24/7) and will be as good as it gets in class. But most importantly, he will spend the time to sit down and reflect on a study plan and give you a detailed strategy as to what you need to tackle to get a great score.

The three of us took the test twice, but we all felt like we would have gotten an even better score had we taken it a third time. It was just a matter of time until we got a 750+.

Jonathan set us up so we would succeed slowly but surely. We didn’t see it for weeks (and some nights we felt pretty desperate) but in the end it all worked out, and this is all thanks to him. Then again, it happened to the three of us, and the only two things we had in common were busy lives and Jonathan Schneider. It’s no coincidence. Jonathan Schneider is the man.

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My score improved 80 points with Manhattan GMAT! My instructor, Jonathan Schneider, was clear and thoughtful during every instruction. He spent extra time before, during, and after class helping me with specific questions I had and was always able to give me concrete, actionable take-aways so that what I learned for one problem I was able to easily apply to other problems. I never felt like I was wasting time during class. Jonathan struck the perfect balance between allowing us enough time to figure out problems on our own, giving us direct instruction and tips, and providing us with multiple ways to think about a problem. In this way concepts were always sticky and problems were memorable. The class gave me the necessary tools and strategies to study efficiently and effectively on my own. The homework was organized, purposeful, and manageable. The online explanations and extra resources were also great. I highly and unreservedly recommend this course and instructor!

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Jiehae is incredibly sweet, patient, smart, and effective. As soon as you meet her you will be excited to work with her and excited to study for the test. I highly recommend her to anyone. She completely tailors the sessions to where you need the most help, and was able to offer very insightful perspective on why I was making the mistakes where I was - for example, in doing math problems, I had a habit of using one equation, and then going across my scratch paper horizontally to make the next calculation. She asked me to try moving vertically to write the next equation rather than horizontally, and this made a drastic improvement to my efficiency. Not something I ever would have noticed or been aware of! That is just one example of many where she made a huge difference. Ultimately, I was admitted to HBS.

Thank you Jiehae for everything!

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I don't have a business background and haven't done math since high school, but Manhattan GMAT made all the difference for me. I went from a 590 on my first practice test to a 760 on test day.

My instructor JP was fantastic--engaging and adaptable to the needs in the room. Also, because a number of students didn't show up after the first couple of sessions, the class was much smaller and the prep much more personalized than I had expected. I appreciated that while we worked on test taking tips and timing, the real focus was on the content--where I most needed help.

The online test prep materials are amazing. Once the course finished and I had a month left to work on my weak points by myself, I relied almost entirely on the OG Archer and previous practice tests to target my review.

I would say that Manhattan GMAT provides a course that really requires you to spend a lot of time outside class to get out of it what you want--the course time alone isn't enough and you have to be prepared to make that time commitment.

Thanks again JP!

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When I signed up to take the GMAT I enrolled in a Kaplan online course and went through and did all the class sessions and homework. But by test day, I had only improved about 30-40 points. Needless to say, I did not feel nearly prepared enough to take the GMAT. So I pushed my test date back by 4 months and enrolled in a MGMAT course. Luckily, I live fairly close to their Manhattan location.

The course was great. The strategy guides were very instructive and really taught me how to do the problems rather than just tips and shortcuts. It was presented in an easy-to-understand manner and I felt like I was making real progress. The class sessions were also very helpful. They helped to cement what I was learning through my homework, and I learned additional strategies and time management techniques. I feel like the Kaplan course was good for the basics, but the MGMAT course really helped to solidify the concepts and take my problem solving abilities to the next level. The online resources were also pretty useful, especially the practice tests. They seem to be fairly representative of the actual test, and my practice test scores were very close to what I ended up actually scoring.

I would definitely recommend this course for anyone looking to see a huge bump in their score. Even if you can't attend a live class, the full set of books is definitely a score improvement guarantee.

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Prior to taking the GMAT I was unsure if I should sign up for a course to help me prepare, thinking that I would be able to do well just by studying on my own. After hearing the opinions of some of my friends, however, it became clear that the best course of action would be to enroll in a prep course and that Manhattan GMAT was the most highly recommended.

After taking the 9-week course I cannot agree enough. The course helps you prepare for all sections of the test and every possible topic you could see. This was helpful, but the biggest thing for me was that the course provides you with a syllabus that outlines a study plan for you, telling you where to find certain problems in the books and which topics to study when. This, along with the great instructor and course plan, was a huge contributor to getting a 700+ score.

After taking the course I will definitely recommend it to anyone who plans on taking the GMAT.

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By far, hands down, the best GMAT prep course around. Interestingly, I heard about the course from a friend in Korea. My friend in KOREA had heard about Manhattan GMAT! So I tried the course and rocked the GMAT.

I took the 9-class course in the summer and studied with the Manhattan GMAT prep books. About a month after the class, I took the exam. The course is demanding, requiring solid 5 to 10 hours of studying a week, but it is definitely worth it. (Though, frankly, the course is made so that you can still keep up with the class if you hadn't done much outside studying... You will just feel really stupid in class).

Great teachers, great books and great on-site test simulation center.

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I took this class in the spring at their flagship location. My goal with taking the course was to structure my studying and break it up into manageable parts rather than going it alone and not having a sense of what I needed to cover and stagnating.

My effort in studying for the GMAT consisted of two parts. The first, where I attended all 9 sessions and completed all basic and advanced homework. And the second, the end of the course and month afterwards before the exam, where I did additional studying using the Official Guide and Manhattan GMAT practice exams.

In the first segment, I think the course was really key for me in the way I mentioned above - it provided the structure to get me through all the material and broke my studying down into pieces.

Specifically:

-The 9 live classes: For me, this was necessary to move myself along the process.

The instruction was helpful - Steven taught both Manhattan GMAT methods as well as personal tips and insights. The instruction on Quant was very helpful. On Verbal, I found the MGMAT methodologies less useful and I think Steven did as well because he didn't strongly recommend that we use them and his deviation from some of the materials was actually very helpful. I appreciated this flexibility. All in all, I felt, throughout the whole process, that my instructor was an expert and knew the material backwards and forwards.

The materials provided - the subject area books are great - they provide both depth and breadth and achieve the right level of detail and complexity. They served really well as the place to 'learn' the material. Later, when practicing and reinforcing, I primarily used the Official Guide, coming back to the subject area books as needed.

In the second part of my studying, towards the end of the classes and afterwards, I really focused on practicing problems and taking exams. For this, I found the Manhattan GMAT practice exams and the ability to go to their center to take them, especially crucial. For several weeks, I would go to the center every Saturday and take a full exam. Not only are MGMAT's exams very good quality, simulating the actual test day experience is key and was one of the main value adds of the course to me.

If I have any criticisms of the course, I would say that for me personally, I probably could have use a more custom experience. Although historically a stronger quantitative test taker, for the GMAT I found that I put 95% of my effort into Quant and that Verbal came easier. As a result, I probably would have benefited from a Quant focused course. I think that a lot of native/fluent English speakers find themselves in this situation and as such, I think Manhattan GMAT would do well by creating this kind of class. I also found the Quant section on their practice exams to be a little bit too difficult, and not in a way that was beneficial. The practice exams you get from the actual GMAC are more representative.

Overall, however, I am extremely satisfied with my experience and would definitely a. do it the same way if i had to do it again and b. recommend Manhattan GMAT to others. I have not taken any other company's courses but based on what I've heard, I feel comfortable saying this is one of, if not the, best prep companies out there.

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I first found out about Manhattan GMAT from a co-worker/friend of mine who had just gotten a full ride to Columbia Business School. She told me it was hands down the best course around, and that was all the proof I needed (the fact that she got a 730 helped too).

I actually took the course twice. the first time I was pretty swamped at work and didn't have time to keep up with the pretty demanding workload of the course (about 8-12 hours of work a week). Before I knew it 8 weeks had passed and the course was over. I didn't even bother to take any more practice tests because i knew I hadn't taken the course seriously. This course is great but you only get out of it, what you put in.

Fast forward a year later, and I hear that the GMAT is changing in June, so I take the plunge, sign up to take the course again and register to take the GMAT the last week in May (about a week after my final Manhattan GMAT class). This time around i buckled down, stopped going out on weekends, and kept up with the course curriculum. Needless to say, this dedication paid dividends! I ended up getting 10 points above my target score and got a 730 on the GMAT.

The course is great because of how thorough the materials are and how charismatic the teachers are. They take something that should be boring and mundane, and make it fairly enjoyable. The math section of their practice test is a little more difficult than the actual GMAT, and I think this is due to the difficulty level increasing much more quickly on the Manhattan GMAT exams then on the real GMAT. This could be considered a good thing though, because it forces you to really work on your time management, an essential skill for getting a good score on the GMAT.

Regardless, I definitely recommend Manhattan GMAT to anyone really looking to get a good score on the exam. Just remember that there are no tricks or shortcuts, the more you put into the course, the more you'll get out of it!

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