All Reviews > Manhattan Prep GMAT > Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course Reviews |
Improvement 90 Points
Course Manhattan Prep GMAT Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Jeff Vollmer
Location Washington, DC USA
After about 5 years away from school and looking for a career shift, I chose to take the Manhattan Prep 9-class in person course in preparation for the GMAT. After graduating from school in 2014 I took the GMAT as a baseline with the anticipation that I may want to go to business school in the future: I scored a 630. For the next five years I spent zero time thinking about the GMAT, although I did work in a field that is fairly quant heavy. That should give a fair amount of background on where I stood going into the MP course. I chose to take the in person course based on the consideration that a set curriculum and a sense of accountability to show up to class each week would help me study more. I think this was the right choice for me.
The course itself was presented in a manner that made it comprehensible for anyone with even a minimal mathematics background. The structure of the course is such that it builds on itself week by week and homework is meant to introduce concepts that would be expounded upon in the next class. I found the course to be critical to my performance on the exam in such that all concepts for answering questions, strategies, and problem type were discussed at nearly all levels of difficulty in class. The course follows a basic outline: present a concept, work through an easy version of the problem as a class, work on a harder version alone, mix in that concept with others in a problem set. I found this manner of learning to be helpful and allowed time for recalling mathematical processes learned years ago.
As for the homework/workload, it is paced at a fair clip but not breakneck speed. I spent about 10 hours a week on homework and performed one 4 hour practice test every 2-4 weeks. The course uses a MP website to direct tasks, readings, problem sets, etc. This clearly set out study plan helped keep me on track and direct my studying. I found this program to be most useful in that it set foundations and built upon concepts learned earlier in the course. One final product that MP offers is interactice videos that explain different concepts/strategies. This was particularly helpful to review as a refresher after finishing the course and just before sitting for the exam.
Finally, my instructor, Jeff, was phenomenal for a variety of reasons. Principally, his presentation of concepts was articulate and easily understood by all members of the class. It was clear based on the variety of backgrounds of my classmates that we were not all starting at the same level. Jeff understood this and was skilled in presenting the material and answering questions in a manner everyone understood. Jeff was always available to help after class or through email. Many times I emailed Jeff with a problem or concept I was struggling on and would have a video back from him talking through the problem within 24 hours. I would recommend him to anyone.
I ended up taking the exam once and scored a 720 (48Q, 41V). I took this improvement from a 630 years ago in large part to be due to the MP curriculum and the instruction and availability of Jeff.
REVIEWER IDENTITY VERIFIED by score report [?]
Improvement 80 Points
Course Manhattan Prep GMAT Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor David Mahler
Location New York (Manhattan), NY USA
I took both the in-person 9 week course as well as a few supplemental in-person tutoring sessions with Dave Mahler (instructor for both).
The course was a great introduction to the proper approach to each section and topic matters as well as best practices. The books are well-written and there is a wide range of basic through advanced material for everyone. Dave did a great job managing students' different levels of comfort with each topic and is a very engaging teacher. He cuts through a lot of the BS and makes sure that his students are focusing their time on the most important topics. Dave was also generous with his time, both before and after class as well as offering to answer one off questions or review practice test scores with all his students via email. My score went from an initial 660 up to 700 following the class when I had to take some time off from studying due to work commitments.
I engaged Dave for some top-up tutoring a few weeks later and he helped me diagnose a few key process areas that were deflating my score as well as teaching me new techniques to help with problematic content areas. He was also great about providing tailored follow-up problems that helped reinforce the areas covered each session for extra practice. Following a few one on one sessions with him I was able to bump my score to 740 and couldn't be happier with my decision to use MGMAT for my prep.
From the instructors to the online portal for tracking assignments and all of the excellent content, Manhattan Prep definitely went the extra mile to help its students succeed.
Improvement 80 Points
Course Manhattan Prep GMAT Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Jeff Vollmer
Location Washington, DC USA
The first time that I took the MPrep GMAT course, I made significant progress during the course but was unable to find the time to study after the course ends (it is recommended that you self-study for 2-6 weeks after the course concludes). I took the Manhattan Prep class again roughly a year later and saw even greater benefit from the course given a starting knowledge base. I found there to be great benefit to the in-person course (particularly with my instructor, Jeff Volmer) to pick up small tips and tricks that added small bumps to my score (accumulating 10 points here and there adds up). Jeff was helpful during class, outside of class, and even after the course concluded. The quality of the Manhattan Prep resources was instrumental to helping me achieve my goal GMAT score.
REVIEWER IDENTITY VERIFIED by score report [?]
Improvement N/A
Course Manhattan Prep GMAT Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Jeff Vollmer
Location Washington, DC USA
Had Jeff Vollmer as my instructor for an in-person Manhattan Prep GMAT class one day a week from 6-9 PM in Arlington, VA.
It was a great experience and I highly recommend having Jeff as an instructor. He was able to keep our post-work, 3 hours long classes interesting and exciting. He was very skilled at breaking down the different methods that could be used to solve each problem, and when each method was applicable. I also enjoyed how Jeff would put myself and other students in pressure situations that helped prepare us for the stress of the actual exam.
For background - I tried to study on my own for some time, but could never quite keep the consistency I needed, and really lacked the understanding of the strategy required for the test (v important!). This class really helped with both of these aspects and led to me gaining a score that I was very satisfied with.
Improvement 90 Points
Course Manhattan Prep GMAT Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Ryan McGorman
Location New York (Manhattan), NY USA
Without Ryan's instruction, I would not have made the huge improvement that I did over the course of his 9-session class. The structure of his class was very well balanced, as we spent enough time both digging in on concepts and going through OG problems. I found Ryan to be particularly helpful when it came to the Verbal portion of the test. He was able to help me understand how to quickly and efficiently identify what a SC problem was testing, how to deconstruct a complex CR problem, and how to simplify and take away what was necessary from a complex Reading Comp passage. My Verbal score improved from a 35 before the course to a 44 on my first GMAT attempt. I also saw big improvement in my Quant score, going from a 41 before the course to a 46 on the exam. Highly recommend Ryan, thanks!!
Improvement N/A
Course Manhattan Prep GMAT Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Jeff Vollmer
Location Washington, DC USA
Jeff was incredibly knowledgeable on all things GMAT. While Manhattan Prep has a set curriculum, they also encourage you to determine and correct your weaknesses. Jeff helped me to delve further into topics that went beyond the level of the course material. As a result, I had the confidence I needed entering test day and got a great score (730). Jeff's responsiveness and clear and concise answers to my questions helped me to make my study time more efficient. Further, he helped me to simplify methods and develop test taking strategies that proved integral on test day. If you want a good GMAT score just remember the wise old peanut butter company motto "Choosy moms choose Jeff."
Improvement 40 Points
Course Manhattan Prep GMAT Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Mark Sullivan
Location Seattle, WA USA
Mark was great to work with throughout my GMAT studying process. Not only is he just super smart and skilled at the GMAT, but he made the material digestible to everyone in our class even though we all had varying experience and skill with the test. He also was really approachable and helpful when I had questions throughout the class and even made himself available to help afterwards. Of course, at the end of the day you have to do the work to get a good GMAT score, but it sure is a whole lot easier when you feel like you have partner guiding you throughout the process.
Improvement 120 Points
Course Manhattan Prep GMAT Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Jamie Nelson
Location Houston, TX USA
Jamie is an amazing instructor, in addition to being a very nice person and sincerely cares about the students and their progress through the MBA journey. Many times she provided alternate explanations to help us understand how to solve the question in different ways, and was able to manage the different knowledge levels between the students. She made class very enjoyable and personally motivated and inspired me to continue the focus.
I really enjoyed the format, teaching style, and classroom of the program. The online platform, books, and mobile app were very well designed and user friendly and I used them until the last test. The other staff I met, either when troubleshooting technical issues or in doing post course assessment, was equally helpful and pleasant.
I had a great experience with Manhattan Prep and would highly recommend the program to anyone. I had many friends taking prep courses from other providers and by comparison it seems I had a much better learning experience at MPrep!
Improvement 140 Points
Course Manhattan Prep GMAT Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Mark Sullivan
Location Seattle, WA USA
I signed up for this class at the beginning of 2019 after doing quite a bit of research on the course and the instructor, Mark Sullivan. Like many prospective GMAT takers, I had tried (and failed) the self-study route on multiple occasions. When I finally decided to get serious about taking the GMAT and going to business school, I knew that I needed professional guidance. What really sold me on Mark was the fact that according his Manhattan Prep bio, he was a self-confessed Seattle Mariners fan. As a Seattle native and long-suffering M's fan myself, I knew I had found my instructor.
All jokes aside, I realized shortly into the first in-person session that I had made the right choice. Mark has the unique ability to keep students engaged and excited about GMAT content throughout the 3-hour classes. It had been several years since I had been in a classroom environment; at first, the idea sitting through a session that long seemed daunting. But Mark breaks down each topic by using easy-to-digest examples and explanations, and I left every session feeling inspired to study on my own. My winter class had 7 students, and we were able to work with each other (without pressure) each week to tackle problems and collaborate on various subject areas.
I scored a 600 on my first practice test, which I took a week before the course started. It was demoralizing. However, Mark reassured me that my "stretch" target score of 730 was still attainable if I put in the effort. For me, the key was the way in which Mark guided our studying. Instead of assigning hundreds of practice problems, Mark showed the class how to focus on a particular set of problems and subsequently evaluate the strategies we used during the set. As a result, you learn how to identify problem types and solve them in a much more efficient manner, rather than blindly trying to solve as many questions as possible.
I never needed to cram for the test, nor did I ever feel like I was drowning in my GMAT studies. I studied for about an hour each day outside of the course--consistency is key, rather than trying to put in 4 to 6 hour days on the weekends. The course ended in early April, and I took the GMAT in mid-May. I highly recommend purchasing the add-on 1-on-1 "coaching sessions" with Mark, as those really helped me hyper-target areas of opportunity before my exam date.
In the end, I got a 740 on the GMAT, a full 140 points higher than my initial diagnostic test. Without Mark's wisdom and coaching, there's no way I would've reached my target score. For the sake of brevity, I'll finish my review by stating that this course opened up doors to MBA programs that I previously thought were closed. Thank you, Mark!
Improvement 10 Points
Course Manhattan Prep GMAT Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Whitney Garner
Location Philadelphia, PA USA
I took the online advanced course with Whitney and the class was super helpful! I had taken a class in the past (not advanced course though) and it was not nearly as beneficial. Whitney explains the strategy well and makes you dissect each answer choice. During the practice tests I was able to get up to a 750 (previous high of 720) and I felt much more comfortable with the Verbal section. Whitney also does a good job of mixing in group interactions so that class members can learn from each other and different styles or techniques of solving problems. She also provides some helpful spreadsheets and study tips/guides to assist with proper way to study and ensure that you become a master of each topic.