Great experience with the exception of CAT exams

Overall I had a great experience with Manhattan GMAT. I took a 9-week, online class with Brett Kimball, and actually enjoyed attending class sessions. He did a great job tailoring the class material to our level. I was very nervous about the "online" nature of the class beforehand, because I've never been great at learning off of a computer. However, the software MGMAT uses for the online sessions is truly fantastic, and I had no trouble remaining engaged in the course.

The course materials were incredibly comprehensive. I've heard of other people studying for the GMAT mix and matching materials from a variety of test prep companies, but I felt that I was 100% prepared with the materials that Manhattan GMAT made available.

One of the most worthwhile features of Manhattan GMAT, for me, were all the materials on the website. GMAT Navigator is a great program for answering prep questions, and the tools to analyze results/progress are really helpful. In addition, the online workshops are great for a deeper dive into a concept at your own pace. I especially liked the one for the Integrated Reasoning section. The question banks were also really helpful, as I was able to really ascertain what my mistakes were in regards to specific topics, and I was able to note what to make sure not to do when I saw those types of questions again. Finally, I found the online forum to be really helpful, especially since the instructors are very active in answering questions.

However, I feel that MGMAT could definitely improve its CAT exam experience, specifically with the Quant section. I found MGMAT's CAT exams' Quant section to be much harder than the real thing, and I ended up having a severe confidence issue with the test because of it. I probably ended up studying much harder and for the wrong topics because of the difficulty gap. I also wasn't able to practice timing properly as I was struggling so much with the difficulty level. I would have really appreciated if MGMAT would have been more upfront about the difficulty level of their exams, especially since I have heard of many people feeling the same way about their CAT Exams as I did. Otherwise, if MGMAT does not want to let its students know that its CAT exams aren't fully accurate, then they should fix the types of questions generated to make them more representative of the actual test. As a testament to this difficulty gap, my best score on a MGMAT CAT was a 720, but on the real thing I scored a 770 (which was comparable to my GMATPrep scores).

Overall, I wouldn't have been able to score as well as I did without the class and resources Manhattan GMAT provided. However, I do feel the inaccurate difficulty of Manhattan GMAT's CAT exams did hurt me in some way. Regardless, I do highly recommend Manhattan GMAT, but advise that when doing their CAT exams you keep in mind this point about difficulty.