Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course Reviews

I went into Manhattan Prep’s 9 week GMAT course (with teacher David Mahler) completely blind - I had not opened a book prior to the first class and was 6 years removed from my last college course. The class was totally comprehensive - after the 9 weeks, plus a few extra sessions with David to polish off my skills, I was in a great place to take the test. Got a 740 on my first attempt and never have to think about it again!

I highly recommend this course to anybody who could use a bit of structure in their studying. Also David rocks.

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I took the 9-week Manhattan Prep course for the GMAT with Isaac and was very happy with the experience and results. Besides the useful techniques and strategies I learned in class, Isaac was very responsive and helpful as I had questions prior to and following my test day. He really helped me hone my strategy, which had a huge impact on my score. Manhattan has a number of great resources (practice tests, blogs, etc.) and can cater to people of all backgrounds. You really don't need to use anything else. Overall, it was a very satisfying experience. I would recommend!

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I was very happy with my experience with Manhattan Prep and my instructor Abby. I took a practice GMAT test cold before the course and got a 580. Flash forward to 3 months later after I completed the course, I walked out of the testing center beaming with a 730 score, hitting my target. Abby kept her classes engaging, and really got to know her students. I personally really appreciated her continuous involvement in my studying even after the course had ended (I took the GMAT about a month after the course was over). She was the perfect combination of encouraging and realism when we discussed my goals. She gave me great insight on ways to improve my school beyond what the Manhattan syllabus regimented as my goal was to achieve a score competitive enough for top business school.
Instructor aside, I found all the tools provided by Manhattan Prep to be very helpful. My personal favorite thing about the program is that their practice exams are harder than the actual GMAT, which made my feel more at ease when taking the actual exam.
Overall I would definitely say they are worth the investment!

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I took the 9 week course which was offered on site at my workplace. My first practice CAT I got a 650 on, with no prior experience. The class gave me a study plan and motivated me to study and devote time to the GMAT. The class material was concise and very useful. Joe, my instructor, was passionate about teaching, and made the dry subject matter interesting and fun. The homework was time consuming, but it was designed to be so in order to get you in the rhythm of studying and to teach you all the relevant concepts. Joe strongly encouraged participation in class, and pushed us to set up study groups, which helped you become even more invested in the journey. After the class ended, there was still an abundance of free resources available from Manhattan Prep, from post course/exam tutoring sessions to the online Interact courses. I felt like Manhattan Prep was there with me every step of the way. I would recommend it for anyone who wants a structured plan to study for the GMAT while having some fun along the way.

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I took the Manhattan Prep GMAT prep 9-session class summer with David Mahler in New York City. I did well on my first attempt and even better on my second attempt.

The Manhattan GMAT classes/books helped me improve in those specific areas. Personally, I am a strong quantitative person but not so much on the verbal side. I had many difficulties in sentence correction and critical reasoning before I took the class. I practiced a lot of questions in the section books. The Manhattan Prep online portal is also particularly helpful in terms of taking mock exams.

I strongly recommend anybody who wants to improve greatly on their GMAT scores to take the class.

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I came into the class confident in my ability to master the principles of the test but frustrated, like many, with my inability to cope with the fast pace and stress of the adaptive test.

Isaac thoroughly and patiently taught us the necessary strategies to confidently determine the path forward to cracking a problem in a way that simplified them and made them all feel approachable, causing my score to jump dramatically.

If I could do it all again I would have supplemented the class with a little bit of tutoring (expensive, I know). There were things I felt great at and when we focused on them I felt like we were dwelling and others that I had trouble with that I felt like we were speeding through. This is the pitfall of a class and I felt like I would have benefitted from having someone else who was aware of where I needed work to push me there.

Even so, the class provides tools for you to identify and work on your own weaknesses and Isaac made himself very available outside of class to talk and give advice.

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Before I dive into my personal story, if you don't want to read the entire review, I will say this right off the bat: Avi is an INCREDIBLE teacher, he is literally the definition of what a perfect, ideal teacher should be.
My story:
I researched online to find a tutor in Toronto with amazing reviews, and found Avi. I approached Avi four weeks before my exam, to inquire about his tutoring availability and rates, and gave him a brief explanation of my situation; I wasn't scoring where I wanted to be in my practice tests, so I figured a few tutoring sessions with the right instructor would help to boost my score. After explaining my situation to Avi, however, he did not encourage me to get tutoring sessions with him (he did not try to sell his tutoring at all, which I found to be very honest and genuine), instead, he made me realize that there was no rush to be done with the GMAT in the time period I was expecting to be, and told me he thought I would benefit more from enrolling in his 9-session course (much cheaper than private tutoring!), which covers the entire GMAT content. I decided to take Avi's expert advice, and enrolled in his course. This was an AMAZING decision! Avi is all of the things an ideal teacher should be: patient, extremely intelligent (goes without saying he knows the content inside and out), caring, devoted, thoughtful, funny!, did I say patient?, very calming and reassuring whenever you are in doubt or stressing, and he is extremely effective at explaining things in detail, he breaks every concept down so much so that everyone is able to understand even the most complex concepts and problems. It's absolutely incredible how simple he makes everything seem! Every time I would email Avi with a question or letting him know I am stressed out about my upcoming exam, etc., as soon as I’d read the first line or two of his email, I would IMMEDIATELY feel calm and reassured, he is truly a fantastic therapist, and always knows what to say to calm students down, while providing great advice with a sound plan of action. For anyone considering it but not sure if it is worth it: IT IS! Plus, with the cost of the course comes the 10-volume Manhattan book series, and access to all of Manhattan’s online services, including 6 practice CATs.
Thank you, Avi, for being an amazing teacher and therapist!!!

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In my opinion, the course is not necessary to supplement the books. If you're pretty competent in math and verbal, the books itself were good enough. I didn't gain much additional help from attending the course because you end up being part of a larger group and the skill level varies widely, especially for those that require more basic brush up after more than 5 years post-college. I finished all 10 books before the course started and it was good at my own pace. The course is good to provide structure if you don't have the self-motivation or willpower to stay on a strict regimen. Otherwise, my instructor was Joe Martin and he was very energetic even during a weekday evening session and he explained what we should prioritize if we asked questions about things that had a 1% chance of showing up. That helped because I was going to take the test within a couple of months and I wasn't looking to learn every nitty gritty detail but just what I needed to get above 700. The first time I took it, I got a 700 (Q48/V38)... second time was 720 (Q49/V39). I didn't practice as much as I wanted to between the second and first time because work got in the way, but I did do a post-GMAT Manhattan Prep consultation and the consultant gave me a few tips that must've helped push me to my threshold of acceptable. Overall, the course helps give structure but the books provided 80% of what I needed to know along with the OG books.

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Ron Purewal of Manhattan GMAT is the only verbal and Quant instructor who can make the learning of both sections pretty easy. I had to put a lot of work just to understand the GMAT exam I never had a great standardized candidates. Nine-week course that is very helpful. I found the lesson to learn exactly how the test should be approached helpful. Teachers to concentrate on strategy, not content. I insist syllabus close to all, but a class session. Even nine weeks, I have not, after my practice GMAT scores improve, in fact, my best was to take the exam before my course.

After the end of the course, my coach and my willingness to continue to work together to identify strengths and weaknesses. I have proven the point where I feel comfortable about 10 weeks after the exam gradual improvement. I scored my best practice test above 50 points.

Everyone learns different, so I can not speak for other people, but the GMAT certainly need time to gradually adapt. I learned in class is good because it forces me to keep up with homework. If you are in the process of investment use, you will follow the rich syllabus and practice practice practice questions!

Finally, do not panic, IR MPrep the problem if you do not get good grades. They are ridiculous effort to do my practice test is to get a 3, I actually got to test 7. I did not review one week IR until the official tests.

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I approached studying for the GMAT pretty seriously. I've never been a great standardized test taker so I had to put in a lot of work just to understand the GMAT. The 9-week course was very helpful for just that. I found the in-class sessions useful for learning exactly how the test should be approached. The instructor focused on strategy rather than content. I stuck to the syllabus closely and went to all but one in-class session. Even after the 9 weeks I still hadn't improved on my practice GMAT scores, in fact my best score was the test I took before the course.

After the course my instructor was willing to continue working with me to identify strengths and weaknesses. I gradually improved on practice tests to the point where I felt comfortable ~10 weeks later to take the test. I scored 50 points above my best practice test.

Everyone learns differently so I won't speak for everyone else but the GMAT definitely takes time to get comfortable with. I learn well in-class because it forces me to keep up with the homework. If you invest in the course, you'd be well off to follow the syllabus and practice practice practice problems!

Lastly, don't freak out if you don't score well on MPrep's IR problems. They are ridiculously hard and best I got on practice test was a 3 and I got a 7 on the actual test. I didn't review IR until week of official test.

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