My GMAT journey started almost a year ago. I self-studied using Target Test Prep and exhausted almost all Official Guide materials and all the 6 practice tests. On all my practice tests, I scored between 720-780. In my first GMAT attempt at the test center, I scored a 660 (Q:49, V:31), which was a huge disappointment considering my practice test scores. I decided to re-take a month later, and was disappointed again with an even lower score of 640 (Q:49, V:23).

Given my decent Quant score, I knew I needed to focus more on my Verbal skills and decided to reach out to Charles, who I discovered through his famous Youtube videos and GMATClub posts. After sharing my history and practice test scores, he suggested the variance in my performance might be driven by test anxiety. While he couldn't guarantee a timeline for improvement, he recommended I work with Dana Stepleton to fine-tune my process to manage my test anxiety.

I cannot say enough positive things about my experience working with Dana (especially if you have test anxiety!). She's patient, empathetic, honest, and she knew how exactly to address my concerns in a productive manner as it related to test anxiety. More specifically, in order to address the anxiety, we trained on harder LSAT material, and cranked up the pressure by setting time constraints on practice sets to simulate a pressured test environment as best as possible. She also coached me through my thought process, especially when I started to feel the anxiety creep up on me, and trained me on strategies to refocus my attention on the problem at hand.

Lastly, the level of professionalism and commitment at GMATNinja is commendable - from my very first email to my post-exam debrief outside of our tutoring sessions, Dana and Charles have been incredibly responsive and invested in helping me get to my goal score.

Read More

I took a lesson with Dave Goldstein after I studied for a month and got a 720 on the official exam. My main issue was verbal and I had a non-native background with very limited proper English grammar education and I never read fiction books (though I picked up the professional usage of English on the job over ~4 years). I initially just used the MGMAT book, but after a month, I can feel that my progress was slowing down, the mere increase of familirty with question types no longer helps. That's where David came in, the most helpful thing in retrospect is that he instilled the correct way of practicing and pace of solving problems upon me. On the CR and RC sections, the sequence of reading articles, noting down key themes and answering questions, as well as practicing using more than a dozen LSAT test really helped me to be more comfortable on the exam. As we monitor the correct rate on the LSAT, the number just goes up over the course of a month. I think practicing is necessary, but to have someone where to pointing out exactly what you are doing wrong is incredibly efficient and allowed me to finish the whole GMAT workstream within two month (including one month with David), and save time for other improvements in my Bschool application. I highly recommend working with Dave if you are ready to follow his procedure and doing a lot of practice questions. In the end, you will gain a very systematic approach to verbal questions and confidence steamed from seeing your improvements week over week.

Read More

Dana was simply fantastic. Patient, systematic, methodological and tough - all the things that I needed to push my score from a none too exciting 640 to a reasonably respectable 710.

For quant Dana taught me key concepts but equally importantly, how to approach a problem and what was being tested. She also got me to stop randomly solving a problem before I had even thought about what I was going to do. The homework assignments really helped me get the basics down and practice so that the challenging problems became much easier. My quant went for a paltry 36 to a very healthy 48.

For verbal, Dana was instrumental in getting me to slow down again and learn how to properly eliminate answers. The SC section, where I struggled, was a lot easier after I went over the main grammar concepts with Dana. My Verbal score went from an OK-ish 38 to a pretty good 41.

I highly recommend taking lessons with Dana. A score of 710 was nowhere on the cards for me - but with Dana's help, I got there in a few months.

Read More

Harry and I mainly worked over CR and SC over the course of four sessions. Aside from being an absolute gem of a human being, Harry is also one of the most meticulous, passionate, and dedicated teachers I've had. I think it's safe to say that if he didn't press or force me to think harder each time I was sloppy, my CR would've been a disaster. I've literally seen myself become a better and more logical thinker over the course of the month or so that we worked together.

While our focus during the tutoring sessions was mostly CR and SC, Harry made sure I wasn't slipping up on quant and RC either - working with him made me realize just how many silly mistakes I tend to make, and what I should do to avoid them (which was instrumental in scoring a Q50). Harry was also super supportive throughout the entire process and helped me retain my sanity in the final week or so leading up to the test. Suffice to say, then, I highly recommend Harry to anyone who needs help on the verbal or quant side of things.

Read More

Working with Harry was the best decision I made during my GMAT preparation. During our time together, Harry instilled in me a systematic, gimmick-free process to attacking the GMAT that gave me the best odds at reaching my target score. More impressively, he tailored the sessions based on my weaknesses and delivered the sessions in a cordial manner. Lastly, when I had to travel halfway around the world in the middle of our sessions, Harry gladly accommodated my new schedule with a convenient session time. After two months working with Harry, I walked away with a 750!

P.S. Don’t be afraid to ask Harry for book recommendations!

Read More

The path towards completing the GMAT is indeed well trodden and well documented these days. Whether you are just starting this journey, or find yourself at an impasse like I did, I hope my example can offer you some guidance and encouragement.

My journey was long and at times a struggle. When I decided to take the GMAT, I knew that it was going to be tough, but I never anticipated how tough. The last time I had grappled with maths was at the age of 15 when I finished my GCSE's. Some 12 years later, with a language degree and brand consultancy career behind me, I set about learning Maths again from scratch. After 2 months I had studied the Manhattan Foundations Quant book from cover to cover and buoyed with confidence, sat my first mock....which was a disaster. 350. At this point I realised that if the GMAT was my Everest, I had yet to arrive even at basecamp.

Undeterred, I set about another month's study, concentrating my energies on the higher-level Quant questions, however further mocks showed only modest improvements. By this stage, deadlines for business schools were fast approaching and I realised I needed to reach out for help.

It was about early December 2016 that I was introduced to Michael Maietta, (@GMATNinjaTwo) via Charles Biblios, aka GMAT Ninja. Mike came highly recommended by Charles. As I was studying from the UK, I questioned whether working with a teacher based in the USA was a sensible plan. However, Mike quickly found a schedule that worked for me and we set to work via Skype.

From the moment we started, I knew that working with Mike was going to be a rewarding experience. He is both hugely talented, professional and insightful while at the same time bringing a level of fun and energy into the classroom that kept me looking forward to the next lesson (something I didn't know was possible with Maths!). He very quickly got the measure of me and created a plan that would build upon my foundation level and enable me to advance towards the harder questions.

Having achieved a top GMAT score himself, he was able to not only give me a secure grasp of the core Quant and Verbal topics, but also teach me those crucial time saving tricks that I wasn't able to learn from pouring over books or watching online videos (I had watched a lot of self-help videos to little avail!). As Maths was not a natural discipline for me, it was even more impressive that he was able to translate these concepts, at times very complex, into a language I could understand and use.

I also would not have prevailed were it not for Mike's remarkable ability to motivate and push me forwards. Given the size of the task ahead, it was easy on occasion to lose focus/spirit and whenever this happened, he would find a way to get me fired up again. His level of dedication to my cause was exemplary and far exceeded what I expected. This is a real string to his bow and again another reason why going down the tutor route paid dividends.

One final credit I would like to bestow upon Mike was his insight into the tactics of taking the test. Mike helped work towards my deadlines and had a solid strategy for using the precious Mock tests/ practice material. As the test date neared, he adjusted the intensity to ensure I was exam fit and was always conscientious of the external factors that would also play an important role in optimising my test day performance, such as sleep, exercise and diet. I trusted in his guidance and when the big day came, I felt as ready as I ever could be.

When I left the exam centre, I not only had a 280 point improvement over my previous scores (I'll let you be the judge of the scale of this improvement), but also a score that got me into IESE Business School, one of the top 3 business schools outside of the USA. So, if you're reading this and are thinking tuition might be something for you or you've hit an impasse and don't know how to move forward, I really can't recommend getting tutor support more. You can check both Mike and Charles' profiles on their GMAT Ninja web-page (google search). Thanks to Mike, the GMAT didn't stand in the way of my career aspirations. I am forever grateful.

Read More

GMAT Ninja is the best value GMAT tutoring service on the Internet. After studying for 4+ months (through OG, Manhattan Prep, Target Test Prep, you name it) and peaking at a 700 multiple times on the real exam, I knew that I had it in me to do better, but was completely burned out and lost as to how to achieve the results I wanted. Extensive research led me to GMAT Ninja. If their plethora of excellent free GMAT resources/videos on GMAT Club doesn't convince you they know what they're talking about, their firm support, tailored approach, and honest feedback will.

I worked with Mike Maietta. Mike was super funny, unflinchingly honest, and absolutely committed to helping me achieve my goal. After a certain point of mastery, the last frontier to acing the GMAT is really about mastering your own psychology. In my two months of tutoring with Mike, he pretty much busted every myth I had internalized in my previous study/Internet-ing/forum browsing. I thought I was "bad at math" and needed to work more on concepts (wrong). I thought I should try not to get more than X questions wrong in order to get a great quant score (wrong). Or that getting the first 10 questions right was critical for a high score (also wrong). With every myth and more, Mike patiently delivered examples from past students to dispel the idea that I needed to "game" the test, but rather focus on consistent execution and approach every time. I also appreciated that the GMAT Ninja folks recognize that tutoring can be an expensive investment, so they are thoughtful about how long they recommend you stay in tutoring once they feel like you’re ready (up to your own discretion).

Anyway, months later, armed with a 740, I ended up with admits to an HSW and multiple T10 schools with full rides. I’m confident my GMAT was a key contributing factor to those results. Thanks, GMAT Ninja, for being part of my journey – I recommend them wholeheartedly.

P.S. Charles, GMAT Ninja’s founder, is awesome and a spicy food fiend with great Thai recs, which was a fun surprise to chat about during my intake process!

Read More

My GMAT experience has been a steep journey with a lot of hurdles. At one point, the GMAT had successfully broken me down and left me feeling unconfident. I had never taken a standardized test growing up, and so when I scored 580 (Q42, V27) on my initial GMAT exam, I was highly disappointed and almost gave up. I had already tried another test prep company, and I wasn’t sure if I had reached my ceiling. I took a break from GMAT for several months. However, during that time, I casually searched online for help, and that’s when I stumbled upon GMAT Ninja. They immediately stood out to me in comparison to other test prep companies. The GMAT Ninja reviews from all the students were inspiring; their one-on-one tutoring structure was well-served for my needs; their Youtube videos had unique teaching methods that made it easy for me to understand each topic. And so, I finally decided to reach out to Charles from GMAT Ninja, and he paired me with Alex Cotton.

Alex was excellent from Day one. Before our first session, he asked me for my enhanced score report to evaluate my profile. In our first two hours weekly session, we aligned on our target score of 720 and created a road map. Alex was super organized. He would cover a quant and verbal topic in each session and then assign me 15 hours of homework covering those topics. He also shared a homework tracker to capture each set's time taken and questions missed. He would review the tracker before our weekly meeting and then spend time at the start of each session to cover key missed questions to address potential learning gaps. Lastly, Alex would always emphasize practicing each set with exam-like intensity and focus, which I found extremely helpful on the actual exam day.

Alex and I both realized that I had a steep hill to climb as my target score was V41 (vs. V27 base score). As such, we allocated ~60% of our time to it. For Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning, Alex significantly improved my efficiency and accuracy by teaching me to read with purpose and identify the heart of each passage. For Sentence Correction, he taught me all the major grammar rules tested, how to determine the errors in each sentence, and how to look for meaning.

Regarding Quant, Alex quickly identified which topics I needed to spend more time on and had countless GMAT Ninja study materials and sets for me to go through every week. I loved Alex’s approach as he taught me how to tackle each question efficiently and accurately by planning a path/approach before attempting to solve it. He also knew when to increase the difficulty level of all the sets based on my weekly progression. After working on several sets and reviewing them with him, I was surprised at the improvement in my Quant score on the practice exam. Alex’s teaching method gave me the confidence to score well on Quant.

I wrote my actual GMAT exam after ~4 months of tutoring and ended up with 680 (Q48, V35). I improved my score by 100 points, but that wasn’t enough for Alex and me. We wanted to achieve our goal of 720. Once again, Alex was quick to identify that my skills and content knowledge were already strong. He recommended that I get help from Jen Schumacher on test and performance anxiety in parallel to our tutoring sessions. Jen and I met four times before my final GMAT attempt, and I believe that it was the best decision I made. She taught me mindfulness, breathing techniques, mantras, and visualization to practice during study sessions and on exam day. Not only did I find them practical for GMAT, but they also helped me in my everyday life.

~2 months after my 680 GMAT attempt, I wrote another exam and ended up scoring 720 (Q49, V41).

Overall, the GMAT Ninja team is fantastic. They take the time to understand you as a person and test-taker. They cater to your individual needs, support you throughout the process, and make you feel like family. The team applies a holistic approach by focusing on content knowledge and skills, studying and test-taking habits, and mental performance. Lastly, when things get tough (which they will), and you start to lose confidence, they are there to lift you and make you realize your true potential.

To anyone who feels discouraged and defeated by GMAT, remember, if I can do it, then so can you. Don’t lose hope, and don’t let GMAT define you. Create a plan, stay consistent, and keep fighting until you win. If you choose to get help from GMAT Ninja in your journey, then I am certain that you will get your dream score. Good Luck!!!

Read More

I immensely enjoyed working with the GMAT Ninja team right from the first email message. Even before I became a paying customer, I received a level of attention which I did not encounter with other GMAT tutors. Charles and Dana demonstrated a very high level of professionalism and maintained it for the whole journey. Dana was focused on understanding what prevents me from getting my target score and helping me to bridge the gap. There were many HW assignments and Dana paid attention to my performance of those, giving me actionable recommendations on how to improve each time. More importantly, Dana was very attentive and empathetic to my moods and feelings. The tutoring is a bit pricey, but GMAT Ninja is simply the best and the price is worth it! Even if you can only take 1-2 sessions, the team will be able to help you. Highly recommended!

Read More

If you are looking for easy, stress-free course and ready to spend 2 years for GMAT, this school is not your choice. If you are determined and need to get the score as soon as possible, it is.

I started my course with Harry after training GMAT with other school for 1 year. I hit 670 in half a year but was struggling to improve further as everyone was.

Harry gave me many homework, fundamental skills, motivation and my target score in 5 months.

GMAT training is never easy. There is no magic and you need to go through hard and time consuming training, doing a lot of problem sets. GMAT Ninja will give you the best and shortest endurance as long as you are ready to overcome.

It's not easy. It's really stressful. However, it's worth.

Read More