Keith was a great - and entertaining - teacher during the in-person course. Even after the 9-week course ended, he answered several emails and gave me feedback on specific areas to improve.

In addition, MPrep has a solid online student portal, which has 6 CATs. I'd also highly recommend watching the achieved videos of Thursdays w/ Ron.

My only piece of feedback/advise for future students is to focus on quality vs. quantity when reviewing questions. My initial approach was to do as many questions as possible. While this helped increase my score a little bit, I only saw massive improvements once I slowed down and spent more time solving fewer problems via multiple ways (i.e. algebra, plug-in own #s, back-solving).
CAT 1 - 570
CAT 2 - 590
CAT 3 - 610
CAT 4 - 600
CAT 5 - 650
CAT 6 - 680
GMAT - 710

Read More

Took the in-person Manhattan Prep course with Keith Blume in Chicago at the beginning of this year and highly recommend! The curriculum offers ample material to not only learn the core content necessary for the exam but also efficient test-taking strategies. Keith was very helpful in pinpointing ways to reduce mistakes and see things I had not previously seen before, and he also created a customized post-course study plan based on my previous practice tests and goals. My first practice test at the beginning of the course was a 600 and I managed to increase that score 100+ with a first attempt on the actual GMAT. Highly recommend Keith and the Manhattan Prep course!

Read More

As painful as going to a class for three hours every Sunday was, Keith made it worth it. He gets to know you and eases all of your stresses around not only the GMAT but also the business school application process in general. He challenges you to tell how you are reasoning through problems so that he can see where you need to adapt your thinking to align more with the test. He teaches strategies for the exam that you actually remember during practice CATs and on the exam itself. I went from very low early CATs to beating my target score on my first GMAT exam thanks to Keith. I would highly recommend!

Read More

I took the Manhattan Prep 9 session course with Keith Blume in Chicago. I was very pleased with what I got out of it. Keith is a natural teacher, and his course sets out the path for what you need to do each week. If you commit to the course and put in the work, you will definitely end up better off. After completing this course, I walked into take the test feeling very confident and was able to beat my goal by over 20 points! Up 100 points from my very first practice test.

Anyone who is serious about doing well on the GMAT should look into this course!

Read More

Dear GMATClub community!

I am so excited to share my GMAT experience with you all. I've read countless testimonials (looking for insights or tips) over the past 4 months, anything to help break the 700 point barrier.

If you are searching for a quick fix, or a silver bullet, stop reading right now - I am not that guy. My 730 score came from a lot of smart studying (see below), the Manhattan Prep course, guidance from my instructor Keith Blume (he rocks!) and support from my friends and family. I can give you all some tips that I wish I had taken advantage of much sooner.

First and foremost, if you are in the Chicago area, I highly recommend taking advantage of the 9 week Manhattan Prep course with Keith Blume.

I took my first practice exam and then realized that I needed professional help. I didn't not know the answers to most quant problems, but even more concerning was that I had no clue what was being asked (divisibility, prime factors, evenly-spaced sets - get out here!). To make matters worse, I not only bombed the questions I gave my best efforts, but also ran out of time. I had to hit the pause button many times just to see the remaining questions (btw - hitting the pause button during practice exams is a horrible practice - DON'T DO IT - you'll only cheat yourself from improving your test day strategy).

Manhattan Prep - Hands down, the best thing I can say about the program is that you will not be surprised in any way during your exam. Like most people (even those with 700+ scores), I got close to 50% of the questions wrong, but Manhattan Prep helped with 2 key components.

1. Identify the concepts being tested (the study guides are really well-organized for this)
2. QUICKLY determine a strategy (Work Backwards, Smart Numbers, Algebra approach - Keith was very instrumental in this aspect). Percent change or rate/distance problems, for example, would sometimes take me 4 minutes to solve, until I learned that there were multiple different ways to solve the problems or to eliminate 2 or 3 options.

Ok so a little bit amount the progress during my 4.5 months of prep

GMAT ONLINE PRACTICE EXAM - 580 - Jun 20
M-CAT 1 - 580 40q 30v - Aug 31
M-CAT 2 - 630 45q 32v - Sep 21
M-CAT 3 - 640 44q 34v - Oct 5
M-CAT 4 - 600 43q 31v - Nov 1
M-CAT 5 - 640 40q 37v - Nov 21
GMAT - 730 48q 41v - Nov 27

Biggest takeaways I wish I had started using earlier

I know it's been said before, but it's worth repeating - simply plowing through countless problems won't help improve your understanding of the concepts. Doing a 1000 problems a month is a waste of time. It is much more efficient if you fully understand the problems you face. Understand not only how to get the correct answer, but also understand why the other options were incorrect (especially useful for verbal).

Time yourself - You should become a master at the difference between 90 seconds, 120 seconds and lastly 180 seconds (bail!!!) Keith showed me through assessment reports where my score was negatively impacted by poor time management. The more I learned, the more questions I could correctly answer. The paradox was that my scores were dropping, Keith made it very clear that I should treat every question as if it were an investment. Good investment - ok, put some more time into it. Bad investment - Get out as soon as possible!!!

Error Log (spreadsheet) - During the first week of the course you come across a file to download to keep track of work. I completely dismissed this file (big mistake). I would say it's a waste of valuable time to keep track of every problem you face. Once I start to keep track of the problems that I got wrong or those I took longer than 2.5 minutes (you should time every single problem initially and then maybe blocks of problems later), I felt my confidence go up. The tricky part of the preparation is that you go through each subject individually, but unlike the study guide, the exam changes subjects from question to question. I would catalog the questions I got wrong or took too long to solve and then use the Manhattan Navigator solutions guide to learn how to solve the problem. Then after 2-3 weeks I would have roughly 30 quant and 30 verbal questions. I would try to solve these 60 questions for a second time. Many times, I would still get half of these questions wrong (or over 2.5 minutes). Typically, after 3 or 4 attempts I was able to correctly solve all the questions. Using the error log and writing out, in my own words, the mistakes I was making and also writing down, in my own words, which steps I should take to solve the problem was very helpful. I didn't do the most problems, but every single problem I did, I eventually mastered.

The Manhattan course also has many interactive videos (which are awesome and as entertaining as instructional videos can be). Several videos test your ability to identify concepts / question stems / strategies to be used - I highly recommend getting this down pat

It terms of work-load - I covered all the Manhattan study guides (sentence correction I had to re-read) and the OG (just the problem sets). I did all the problems; the Manhattan navigator tool was great to track which problems were still "new" after I had completed the 9-week course.

My CR scores were lagging and eventually I purchased the CR Bible by Power score. I think it is worth while ($25). The CR Bible strategy is different than the Manhattan strategy and for me it made a big difference. Manhattan teaches to read the question stem, before reading the stimulus - I found that reading the question first biased my approached to the problem. I also think the CR bible helped me learn to more quickly identify the subject being tested. An additional resource to improve sentence correction is a free 4 part Youtube series by Veritas Prep - But I recommend watching the videos only after you've completed the sentence correction study guide. The videos are great complimentary resources, but they are not to be used as your foundation in your preparation. I watched these videos twice, once after my 9 week course and then once again 3 days before my exam.

I didn't spend much time on IR (much easier on real exam than Manhattan Prep) or AWA (google chineseburned and do 3 practice essays)

I'm so happy!!! I threw away all my flash cards; now its time to start working on the rest of my applications.


Good luck to you all - If I could get a 700+, so can you

Read More

The Manhattan Prep tutoring program was a great experience and I highly recommend it if you are looking to drastically improve your score on the GMAT. My instructor, Keith Blume, identified my key strengths and weaknesses and developed a study plan that fit my needs.

My tailored learning experience was heavily focused on the quantitative sections of the test since I felt comfortable with my verbal skills. Keith taught me how to quickly break-down each type of problem solving and data sufficiency question to realize what it was asking for and therefore identify the strategy I would use to solve it. Studying with Keith helped me see the quantitative section as more of a logic test rather than just a math test. After enough practice, I became comfortable with pattern recognition, estimation, number properties, and other test skills I was not able to sharpen without Keith’s help.

On top of being a great teacher, Keith was also very adaptable and able to make time for tutoring sessions that worked well with my professional and personal commitments. Often times, we would meet from 8-11pm or weekend mornings. If I ever had a question that we didn’t get to fully discuss during our tutoring sessions, he would always follow-up via email with additional information and resources to help me better understand the concepts.

Overall, the Manhattan Prep tutoring course is a great program and I highly recommend Keith Blume as a tutor if you are looking to achieve a high score on the GMAT.

Read More

I was advised by a friend who had taken the Manhattan Prep course to take the in-person course if I wanted to best prepare for taking the GMAT. I took one practice GMAT prior to starting the course and was around a 530-540, significantly lower than what I needed. The Manhattan course and my instructor, Keith Blume, gave me the necessary tools to bring that score all the up to a 700 which was where I needed to be for the programs I was applying to. Included in my course fee was a number of guidebooks and practice manuals that gave me the tools necessary to work on my own. In each class session, Keith was able to cover a wealth of material and provide tips that weren't exactly covered in any of the guidebooks. There was a syllabus given out at the beginning of class that I was diligent in keeping up with. Throughout the course, we took practice test which I slowly saw my score rise and plateau at a point lower than where I wanted to be. Due to scheduling conflicts, at the end of the course I had 4 weeks to prepare for my GMAT. Keith prepared a study plan for me that got me ready in the 4-week time frame. The study plan worked! I felt comfortable going into the test and received the score that I wanted. Needless to say, Manhattan Prep and Keith were invaluable in my preparation. I would recommend this course to anyone looking to prepare for the GMAT!

Read More

I was very lucky to have studied with Keith from Chicago. I initially met Keith through the Manhattan GMAT class pack in which he was the instructor, and later took a few private classes with him to improve my understanding.

Overall, Keith is a very efficient and to-the-point instructor. I was quite confident in math but was making unnecessary mistakes so Keith pinpointed it to exactly where it was and provided CUSTOMIZED study plans for me based on my goal and schedule. As for verbal, he was instrumental in teaching me how to read and answer the question.

My first practice test was in the 600, and with the help of Keith and many hours of hard work, I increased a score of 100+. I would highly recommend Keith to any student who would like to learn and achieve a good score.

Manhattan GMAT also offers one of the best online platforms. It syncs up with the book and the explanations really helped me understand why an answer was right, and better yet, why other answers were wrong. In addition, you can use the report feature to see your overall performance and area of improvement. I would recommend taking a GMAT course with Keith through Manhattan. Thank you Keith!

Read More

Keith was an awesome instructor and did a great job at catering to the needs of a bunch of different people who were at various skill levels in a bunch of different categories. I improved immensely over the course and I think it helped me think analytically in other areas of my life as well. There are very few courses that I have taken at any level of education that I felt made such a dramatic and instant impact as this. After the course was over, Keith went out of his way to continue to help me with questions and really went above and beyond.

Read More

Despite a lot of serious studying on my own, my previous attempt to crack 700 was unsuccessful, but I couldn't pinpoint why. I had a few visits with Keith, each of which were excellent in two different ways:

First, Keith had no issue narrowing in on my areas of weakness, and he provided highly focused and specific tips on how I could improve. The advice he provided was actionable both while studying and while taking the test.

Second, Keith's calm attitude and demeanor allowed me to believe that the test was not as daunting and intimidating as I'd made it out to be in my own head. He had a highly effective way of boosting my confidence so that when I went into the test, I felt that, as long as I trusted my studying and remembered the advice Keith had provided, I would do well.

Ultimately, with Keith's help, my score increased from a 690 to a 730 - a score I was absolutely thrilled to include on my business school applications. I should also note that Keith is very friendly, very accommodating and communicative, but still ensures that meetings are efficient so that all relevant material can be covered within the allotted time.

Read More