Took the in-person Manhattan Prep course with Keith Blume in Chicago at the beginning of this year and highly recommend! The curriculum offers ample material to not only learn the core content necessary for the exam but also efficient test-taking strategies. Keith was very helpful in pinpointing ways to reduce mistakes and see things I had not previously seen before, and he also created a customized post-course study plan based on my previous practice tests and goals. My first practice test at the beginning of the course was a 600 and I managed to increase that score 100+ with a first attempt on the actual GMAT. Highly recommend Keith and the Manhattan Prep course!

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After struggling to improve my GMAT score on my own, I decided to try private tutoring sessions with Ryan. Ryan helped me make great strides towards hitting my goal score by breaking down problems and material to their core. While I knew nearly all of the content in the Manhattan Prep guidebooks I couldn't seem to apply all of the information to problems until Ryan came along. Ryan has an uncanny ability to make GMAT material, which can often be dry and boring, fun and engaging. He also helped put certain problems into a context that I could more easily understand by drawing relevant analogies or even employing certain voices and characters in problems to more easily illustrate what was going on in a problem. In doing so, Ryan created several eye-opening moments for me. My favorite quality about Ryan is how he challenges you in tutoring sessions. Even if I got a question right, Ryan would force me to explain WHY it was right and other answer choices were wrong. It sounds simple, but being able to articulate why exactly certain answer choices are wrong can be tough but super rewarding. By painfully going through that exercise with Ryan, I started to recognize certain patterns and traps in problems, particularly on CR. In only a few sessions Ryan helped me raise my overall GMAT score by 60 points. Ryan is extremely smart, patient, understanding, entertaining, and can help anybody improve their score on the GMAT. If anybody is considering taking a 9-week M. Prep course or Private Tutoring, I fully endorse Ryan and his teaching abilities. Ryan will do everything in his power to help you reach or surpass your target score and will make the whole process fun and insightful.

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I was very lucky to have studied with Keith from Chicago. I initially met Keith through the Manhattan GMAT class pack in which he was the instructor, and later took a few private classes with him to improve my understanding.

Overall, Keith is a very efficient and to-the-point instructor. I was quite confident in math but was making unnecessary mistakes so Keith pinpointed it to exactly where it was and provided CUSTOMIZED study plans for me based on my goal and schedule. As for verbal, he was instrumental in teaching me how to read and answer the question.

My first practice test was in the 600, and with the help of Keith and many hours of hard work, I increased a score of 100+. I would highly recommend Keith to any student who would like to learn and achieve a good score.

Manhattan GMAT also offers one of the best online platforms. It syncs up with the book and the explanations really helped me understand why an answer was right, and better yet, why other answers were wrong. In addition, you can use the report feature to see your overall performance and area of improvement. I would recommend taking a GMAT course with Keith through Manhattan. Thank you Keith!

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I found the Manhattan Prep test books and the overview of the GMAT that my instructor provided to be very helpful. I personally got more out of the books and the first class than I did the remaining eight classes, but everybody learns differently and I have a more independent learning style. That being said, my instructor (Keith) was great. He was supportive, patient, and encouraging. Even if I didn't find the class to be particularly helpful, I think access to an instructor is invaluable. If nothing else, purchase the Manhattan Prep Test Books and work through them on your own. I can't emphasize how helpful and manageable they were.

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If you are a beginner in quant like I was, go for Manhattan GMAT - their strategy books are hugely helpful and give you a roadmap to learn what you need to knew. The online CAT assessments helped me identify my target areas. When I had a case of text anxiety and didn't do as well on my first exam, they did a one hour session with me to reset my study plan for the next exam. This really helped me zone in on why I didn't perform as well as I expected to on test day. They recommended I start taking tests in less comfortable atmospheres since test day would be a new environment and it really worked! I was very happy with my final score - 690 - which was my target score.

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I took the Fall 2011 nine week MGMAT class in Evanston, IL. A room booked in the Hotel Orrignton, Evanston, IL was used for the class. Our tutor was Viren Tellis, a Kellogg JD-MBA student. He was smart, with a good sense of humor.

Who am I?
I am a mechanical engineer, working in the software development area in an US company. I have a Masters from an US university. I obtained 550 in my first GMAT and currently preparing for my second GMAT. Although I believe the review has nothing to do with my score, I wanted to disclose my score before you spend your time reading the review.

Why MGMAT?
I choose the MGMAT because all the online review for the MGMAT courses and books were excellent!

When I went to take the sample Kaplan course, I was informed that shooting for 700 is not necessary! Be practical and shoot for 650+. On the contrary MGMAT did not limit the target, rather focused on content. The feedback I got from GMAT Club forum resonated with my findings.

Although I did not research much about Veritas, I felt two study sessions per week would be too much for me. I prefer studying on my own rather than sitting in a classroom.

How did the course go?
Once the class started, it went fast! I was having hard time to keep up with the home work. There was a scheduling conflict for room and we got an one week of break. I was able to finish all the homework up to that point and started working on the foundation of verbal book. When the course ended, I had about 90% content covered.

We were instructed to take an exam three weeks after the course. I did so. But I took a different route during my practice after the course. The rest is history.

Debrief

How was the Instructor?
The instructor Viren Tellis was energetic, smart and funny. He would not move on to the next topic until everyone in the class understood it. He used make funny mnemonics to help us remember rules, tricks etc.

What did I like about MGMAT?
+ Content based learning

+ Access to great books, both online and offline, online video labs, online recordings of class

+ Access to online tools: OG Archer, Online Exam and assessment, question bank, forum, online classroom, weekly half hour of personalized phone help

+ Great tutors: covers a good amount of material and questions in class

+ Post exam evaluation was very good to identify my problems and get going accordingly

What could be improved?
Although I listed a ton of issues, these are just suggestions for improvement. If I researched correctly, the MGMAT content, tools and methods are superior than any other test company out there. I would strongly recommend MGMAT to the future GMAT test takers.

- MGMAT says that the course requires about 15 hours of reading every week. I spent about 20 hrs/week, but had hard time finishing it. Specially if you are working full time, it is more so.

I was creating notes during my reading, slowing me down. However, I would argue that note taking is good for you.

One class was rescheduled due to the availability of the room. This provided a great break to catch up with the home work. I wish there were one more break! This kind of break should be included in the course.

- The course is not tailored to fit a particular need. I am pretty solid at Math. But I was just sitting there doing the simple drills that did not help me much.

To solve the problem MGMAT can introduce three variants of the course: a) Math Emphasized b) Verbal Emphasized c) Same weight on both (i.e. current offering). A pre-assessment can be done online to categorize and suggest the student with better offering customized for him/her.

- The CAT assessment could be enhanced by using the graphical tool available for OG Archer. The textual representation is hard to read and categorize.

The article on practice test evaluation points out five areas to focus on during the analysis.

I. 50+%, Correct timing
II. 50-%, Correct timing
III. 50-%, Fast
IV. 50+%, Slow
V. 50-%, Slow


- The OG Archer graphical tool is great but not available for OG 11, OG 10 etc.

Moreover, the OG archer does not show the difficulty level on the chart. It would be better if the Y-axis showed the difficulty from 200 to 800 and the size of the bubble as the %right.

- No audio material is available. This could be helpful for commuters.

- The online interface is not very user friendly. It took me a lot of time to get used to it.

Any other advice for prospective students?
- Do you research. Take the sample classes offered by different companies. Read reviews. Seek for help in GMAT Club. Find out what’s best for you before you decide.

- Take notes and do it with your own hand. The notes created by other people don’t help you much. Notes that you wrote yourself recalls the memory much better than any other notes.

- If you choose MGMAT, make room for at least 20 hrs of time per week for the home work.

- Finish the foundation book(s) BEFORE the courses begin. You won’t have time to read it during the course. If your foundation is not brushed up, the course content will be a waste.

- Take the time to familiarize yourself with the online resources. They have great resources but poorly organized.

- Replace the CR book with the PowerScore CR bible. Although the MGMAT CR book is good, PowerScore CR is much better. Please note that the course is synchronized with the book so it may cause a bit of disorientation. Rest of the materials are of excellent quality.

- Do not look for any other materials/books out there. I have tried plenty. Stick to MGMAT, stick to OG and you will be almost there.

- Use the half an hour phone session offered every week. I did not use it much. But realized it could be helpful.


Good luck!

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