Manhattan Prep GMAT Course Reviews

I found the Manhattan GMAT course very helpful. The instructor was great at coming up with strategies to study for the exam. The books were also great and studying practice problems and explaining the solutions to the questions.

I also liked that you could go to the center and take a practice exam in an exam room setting. MGMAT also allows you to reactivate your practice exams twice after the course is over, in case you decide to retake the GMAT. I found the practice tests at the center a bit more challenging than the tests you would find on www.mba.com. All in all a very helpful and friendly experience.

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After having MGMAT recommended to me by several friends and family members who were accepted to top business schools, when the time came, I naturally chose MGMAT myself, and registered for a 9-Session course in Silicon Valley. Although I have a solid academic record and did my undergraduate studies at a top university, I've always been weak at standardized tests, especially computer adaptive ones (I've also taken the GRE) and especially on the quantitative sections. To cut to the case, I started with a diagnostic test score of only 510, but scored a 740 on the actual GMAT I took one week after the course ended. That's an increase of 230 points. The course materials are very thorough. In fact a lot of the advanced sections are not really needed if your goal is only to achieve a 700+ score (as opposed to a 750+). My instructor was very intelligent and knew the material extremely well. A MGMAT course is not cheap, but once you start the course you quickly realize you really are getting your money's worth, in terms of the quality of the course materials (i.e. the strategy guides and class lecture content) and the quality of the instructors (mine had multiple perfect 800 scores under his belt). The online tools are also top-notch. I found the O.G. Archer tool and the study organizer spreadsheet to be very useful. MGMAT also offers 6 high-quality practice CATs. I actually found the two free practice CATs from the GMAC's GMATPrep software to be too a bit too easy compared to the actual exam, and the MGMAT CAT to be closer in difficulty to the real thing. In fact on the most recent MGMAT practice CAT I took before taking the real exam, I got a Q47/V45/740. On the real exam I scored a Q46/V46/740, so it was a very good predictor of my real score. The course is fairly intense (there is a lot of homework and lots of supplemental material if you have time for it), but if you put in the time and effort, in my opinion MGMAT is probably the best GMAT prep company you can choose to help you reach your score goals. I haven't taken a GMAT prep course with a competing company, but I did take a GRE prep course several years ago with Princeton Review, and in my opinion the quality of MGMAT is higher in all respects. Anyway, much thanks again to Manhattan GMAT and to Ron for helping me get a great score.

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Manhattan GMAT instructors are definitely amongst the smartest out there. Each instructor's style varies, but one can attend a different session, or see online videos from a different instructor if one is comfortable with that. The classes are very interactive and cover all the different types of problems one could see on the test. However, one definitely needs to practice from the OG.

I do think that the course material is geared towards getting students to the 700-730 range. If one is aiming higher, one should supplement the MGMAT coursework with the Kaplan 800 book.

Finally, MGMAT has 6 online CATs which give a real-world GMAT experience. The questions are on the tougher side, which one can't complain about if one comes out better prepared. Further, MGMAT course also allows you to practice a couple of essays on the e-grader which will provide half the score for your essays.

All said and done, MGMAT helped increase my verbal score significantly. The quality of instructors, and quality of teaching material definitely helped up my game.

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I think the Manhattan GMAT course was extremely helpful in preparing me for the test. The instructor calls on everyone in the class to be sure no one person takes over the course and others don't fall behind.

I think the course structure was logically organized. I found the online content to be extremely helpful in terms of studying independently, improving your weak areas, or catching up on a missed class. I just wish I knew about all the resources earlier!

You should definitely use the office hours each week. While sometimes they can be challenging to schedule, they are very helpful to get the most out of your homework as the classes are already packed with content. Additionally, you can save the work from the office hours and review it later. You can also send the questions you want to go over in order to get the most out of the office hours and fit more in.

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I shopped around before selecting my GMAT course and I am glad I finally selected Manhattan GMAT. If you are disciplined, fairly smart and capable of putting into practice what these guys teach you then you will get a great score. Attending the course doesn't circumvent any of the hard work you must put in (in your own time) but it does mean the work you do will the efficient. The books they provide are great, but attending the course in tandem really helps the key concepts anchor in you mind.
Not cheap, but if you are serious about scoring highly then it's worth it.

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MGMAT is fantastic. The material is taught in a very intuitive way. There are clear steps in this course. It is very structured to take you from the lowest levels up to the highest rung. It gives you a clear plan to get you where you need to go (as long as you are fully willing to put in the work.) The practice questions are very similar to the actual GMAT questions. One of the cooler parts of this course is the "OG Archer" which is an online tool you use to record and analyze your strengths and weaknesses. It charts your progress and shows you where you need to focus.

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Manhattan GMAT's content is spot on if you want a top score, and its instructors share the material effectively.

Manhattan GMAT offers all of the standard content-based materials (e.g., numbers properties, algebra, etc), which is very helpful. However, the company specializes in frameworks for solving questions. Some of these are tips and tricks; others are actual constructs; still others are logical positioning. Further, my instructor provided his own method for approaching questions if he found one that worked better for him than the Manhattan approach. Visualizing multiple strategies helped me see what actually clicked for me.

Finally, the coursework is rigorous. I mean this in two ways: volume and difficulty. To keep up in class (and receive the benefit of your dollar!), you've got to put in time. The course structures your time for you to optimize how you're spending it. Secondly, the course is actually more difficult than the GMAT itself; as a result, you're prepared to ace the challenging ones quickly.

Recommend this to everyone. Cannot say enough good things.

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When I first took my diagnostic test, I scored a 600. After attending all 9 sections, and relearning all the math I forgot in high school, I was able to raise my score 100+ points. Not only did my instructor explain the content in an easy to understand manner, he provided key insights into the test itself based on his personal experience. I would say the greatest score boosters came in the form of analyzing critical reasoning questions on verbal and learning how to effectively structure word translation problems on the math.

Even though I exceeded my target score of 700+, I plan on taking the test again in May to see if I can crack 750. It's an ambitious goal, I know, but if I can boost my quant score to the level of my verbal score, I think that will do it.

Jonathan is a brilliant mind and talented educator. Great course. Highly recommended!

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Overall, I was very pleased with the quality of the MGMAT material, instructor, and class environment. I highly recommend the system and methodology of MGMAT as I found the review material and study guides to be very helpful.

I would like to focus on the couple areas of constructive criticism I would have for the program-- only because I think MGMAT did a great job. There honestly isn't much I would change, but if I had to, I'd make the following 2 recommendations:

1. Test Readiness: I felt amply prepared for all portions of the test. The few areas where I wish the class spent more time were on the FDPs, Number Properties, and Probabilities sections. I found these to be the problems most represented on the exam. I would have appreciated having some more refresher material for me to review closer to the date of the exam with key FDP and NP concepts. I realize that part of this criticism is my own inability to go out and find representative problems.

2. Online vs. live class: I've always considered myself to be an in-person learner. While I still think this is true, and this is the reason I chose to participate in the in-person class, I would recommend that everyone that this class online. In the classroom, it is much easier to get off-track and distracted. I've heard that online classroom experiences minimize the amount of time spent entertaining individual's questions (when they may not be particularly helpful for the group), and in turn, maximizes the material covered.

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I took the Manhattan 9 week course w/ Ron. Great teacher. I front loaded all of the reading so didn't have to do much homework during the class. I'd highly recommend doing that - it really improves your ability to process and participate in class. The class is not separated by advanced vs non so you may find that it lags you if you are already testing well after your first diagnostic. However, the strategy I learned in the class was critical to my test taking abilities and was 110% worth it. 9 weeks was a good amount of time to let the material sink in since I was working full time and unable to focus much during the week. I thought the 8 course books provided great material - better than I've seen elsewhere. However, I did check out some add'l problem sets from other programs just to give myself more exposure.

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