Disclaimer: Before I write my review, I'd like to say that I am in no way affiliated with Manhattan GMAT Prep.

In the fall of 2011, I signed up for the 9-week, live online MGMAT course after several recommendations from friends who had previously taken the course and used the MGMAT materials. Although I had scored pretty well on the SATs back in high school, I knew that the GMATs were a completely different beast. Thus, I knew it was crucial for me to commit to rigorous preparation for the GMAT exam - and Manhattan GMAT prep provided just that.

In my opinion, MGMAT is truly the best GMAT prep source out there. I was incredibly pleased with how comprehensive the course is and how great the test prep materials are. I was particularly impressed by the following:

1) The strategy guides: these are super helpful, especially Sentence Correction (treat this guide as your bible - memorize it from cover to cover), Word Translations and Number Properties. The best thing about these guides is that they really drill GMAT concepts into your head, so that your understanding of such topics as prime numbers and permutations is rock solid. For example, I went into my preparation thinking, "I know my perfect squares!" but MGMAT materials really teach you how to tackle various problems in a very systematic and strategic way (i.e. perfect squares have an odd number of factors, whereas other integers have an even number of factors).

2) Official Guide Tracker - the OG tracker tracks all of the different problems one has completed in the Official Guide and categorizes the problems based on problem type, correct/incorrect and the amount of time one has spent on each respective problem. This is especially useful to gauge one's strengths and weaknesses. Using this application, I was really able to hone in on my problem areas and work at them so that I could succeed on the exam.

3) MGMAT CAT exams - I cannot emphasize how important these CAT exams are. One of the biggest challenges of the GMAT is staying physically and mentally alert throughout the entire ~4 hour marathon (during my first two CAT exams, I started to zone out around 30 minutes into the Quant section). These CAT exams are not only incredibly similar to the actual thing, but are also great for building up one's stamina for dealing with the long battle known as the GMAT. My only issue with these exams is that they tend to focus pretty heavily on combinatorics and probability-type questions; however, on the real thing (I took the GMAT twice) I have -at most- encountered 1 to 2 combinatorics/probability type questions. So don't stress out if you're bad at these aforementioned problem types!

4) General strategies/study methods taught in class - one of the best parts about the MGMAT course is the strategy taught by the (super helpful!) instructors in class. For example, I was advised to go through all of my practice problems -both the ones that I did correctly and the ones I did incorrectly- so that I could really grasp concepts and figure out quicker ways to do the problems I had already done correctly.

After my dismal diagnostic score of 590, I was almost convinced that I was never going to score above a 700. However, after going through tons and tons of timed practice problems, reviewing the MGMAT strategy guides from cover to cover (multiple times!), and stimulating real test-day conditions with the MGMAT CAT exams, I was shocked to find a score that was 180 points above my diagnostic (you do the math). I think that MGMAT was crucial to my GMAT success; however, one must also devote a good amount of time to really study the MGMAT material in order to succeed on the GMAT.

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As a R1 applicant gunning for some of the top schools, Margaret + the Stacy Blackman team were absolutely crucial throughout my entire application process.

Margaret helped me prioritize early on in the spring, so that I could knock out things like short-answer/fill-in-the-blank questions and polish up my resume before schools officially released their essay questions. When it came to essay writing, Margaret helped me bring out the best in my essay without ever losing my distinct voice. I was amazed when I compared my first drafts with my final versions - she truly has a sharp eye for how to polish any essay and bring out your unique voice on paper. Margaret was also super responsive throughout the entire process, responding at all hours of the day on weekdays and weekends.

After I received an interview with HBS, Margaret set me up with Paul (another Stacy Blackman consultant whom I would highly recommend) - I truly believe he made the difference in my interview with HBS. He provided invaluable advice on how to differentiate myself and effectively convey what I could offer to the school during my interview. For those skeptical, he has decades of interview experience for top schools like Stanford GSB.

I ended up getting into HBS and Wharton (with scholarship), and would highly recommend SBC!

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Prior to applying to business school, I spoke with a number of my friends who are currently students at some of the top business schools (HBS, GSB and Wharton) for advice. More than half of them used admissions consultants and spoke highly of the benefits. Although I was initially skeptical, I can say with absolute certainty now that working with an admissions consultant was invaluable throughout my b-school application process and ultimately helped me get into my top choice b-school.

After "shopping" around for admissions consultants, I decided to work with Eric (HBS alum) on an hourly basis, focusing primarily on my essays. Eric is amazing - he would challenge me and really push my writing to the next level. For example, instead of just laundry listing resources that a school had in my essay, he pushed me to dig deeper and connect the dots as to why those resources are important to me and my goals. He helped me bring out the best in my essays without rewriting anything and still keeping my authentic voice.

Eric was also great at getting revisions back to me at lightning speed. This was crucial when it came close to deadlines. Even though we worked together on an hourly basis, Eric was super helpful in answering all sorts of questions via e-mail without ever "deducting" from my hourly time, which I really appreciated.

Result: accepted to my dream school, HBS! Highly recommend Eric.

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