Forum Home > GMAT > Quantitative > Problem Solving (PS)
All Reviews > Manhattan Prep Reviews |
Improvement 120 Points
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Isaac Puglia
Location San Francisco, CA USA
I had a great GMAT prep experience with Manhattan. The course was very effectively organized, and Isaac was a great instructor. If you stay on top of the assigned weekly work and practice the strategies on your own, you will be on track to dramatically improve your score. I went up by 100 points from my first practice test to the actual exam. I then refined my prep for another 2 weeks and raised my score by an additional 20 points. The Manhattan method is very effective if you subscribe to it and put in the time. And I can't say enough good things about Isaac as an instructor. He is very thoughtful and clear in explaining concepts -- extremely willing to help.
Improvement N/A
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Avi Gutman
Location Toronto, Canada
While the cost of Manhattan's prep course is is among the highest, it was exactly what I was looking for. Beyond providing an organized structure to study for the GMAT, the course provides multiple strategies to tackle problems to accommodate personal strengths and weaknesses, analytics to assess areas of improvement, and holistic guidance on how to study, manage time, and approach exam day. It's a complete package.
Avi's approach to instructing is engaging and reflective of the class' needs. There isn't a session that goes by where he doesn't ask for feedback and updates on students' individual progress. While he's efficient in covering content, he is also willing to slow down and tailor his delivery for students when asked. He's friendly, patient, and responsive to emails if students have questions outside of class. Definitely recommended as an instructor.
The Manhattan GMAT prep set was the only resource I used to study for my GMAT. The discrete guides were a great way to really focus on your weaknesses. In general, you want to avoid spending too much time on things that are already strong on so I truthfully read about half the books in depth and skimmed the other half.
Additionally, the practice pad was instrumental in getting my score squarely above 700. I would attribute a good 20 points to proper pad management - setting it up ahead of time and using it to help manage time.
Additionally, the teaching content of the guides were great - the GMAT is a game and the MGMAT materials treats it as such - it gives you the strategies and trains you to know how to play the game. You don't need to genuinely understand or know the content intimately to ace the GMAT - you need to know how to play the game.
Improvement 100 Points
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT Private Tutoring
Instructor Chris Gentry
Location Atlanta (South), GA USA
I got a 680 on my first GMAT exam in October, then proceeded to study as hard as I could in hopes of breaking the 700 barrier. After 4-5 straight practice exams getting a 680/690, I decided I needed professional. Chris was recommended to me buy a good friend (he helped her get a 730) and he did wonders in just a couple short sessions. He recognized SC as the quickest way to bump my score. We spent the majority of the time focusing on breaking down challenging SC questions that I struggled with during past practice exams and problem sets. At the very end, we touched on some CR strategy. Overall, I couldn't be happier with my score and the impact that he was able to make in such a short time. I will certainly be recommending him to anyone I know trying to increase their score ASAP.
Improvement 60 Points
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Gilad Edelman
Location New York (Manhattan), NY USA
Overall, the 9 week course with Manhattan Prep was great. The in person classes are a great way to stay focused and force yourself to stay on some sort of schedule. The teacher was really knowledgeable and super helpful.
The verbal section is great. I really liked that the teacher stressed that native English speakers shouldn't just rely on a gut feeling if SC questions sound right. He definitely stressed how to break down a question and find what's wrong. The CAT questions were a pretty good approximation of what was on the actual GMAT. The math section was good, but seemed to have more probability questions than I saw on the test. I really liked how the course taught you how to approach quant questions, including guessing and their "smart numbers" technique to get to the answer without setting up a lot of algebra.
The IR was much harder than what's on the real test. The instructor was clear about that in class so I felt a little better when I took the practice exams and kept getting low scores on IR. I didn't need to do super well on IR but I didn't want a super low score either.
The practice tests seemed harder overall than what I got on the real test and the official GMAT practice tests. I scored higher on the real thing in the end though so maybe it's better to have the practice tests be a little harder (though it does kind of hurt your morale). I really liked the explanations for practice test questions and all the score reports at the end. They were really helpful for pointing me to what I was doing wrong and where I should direct my studying.
There's a LOT of homework and it's worth it to really invest in it. I fell behind after week 3 and I felt it on the practice tests. I had to put my life on hold for 2-3 weeks and study because I hadn't been great about keeping up with the homework. If you can't do all of it, it's better to get the gist from the fundamentals book and then over index on the strategy guides.
Overall, I definitely recommend checking out the free Class 1 at the very least. The course is pretty pricey but it seemed worthwhile to invest. There are some discount codes out there so do some googling.
Manhattan GMAT has long been regarded one of the best GMAT prep programs out there. The Interact product was a great way to get structured instruction and practice without spending the cash for the full classroom course.
I utilized the self study guides to practice the GMAT but hit a wall and was not able to improve my GMAT verbal score. The Interact product gave me the structured instruction along with guided practice that I needed to really grasp the materials. I completed the Interact verbal material within a week and noticed a 50 - 60 point improvement in my GMAT score. Although results may vary, I strongly believe that the Interact program can help students who are struggling on the self-study route.
Improvement 40 Points
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Isaac Puglia
Location San Francisco, CA USA
I would highly recommend Isaac's class at Manhattan Prep. He has a methodical way about teaching the class that resulted in me reaching my highest potential in an efficient manner.
I subscribed to Isaac's process and scored above the goal I had set for myself. He was responsive whenever I had questions outside of class and provided helpful feedback when I was struggling in certain areas.
Isaac was patient with each person in the class yet gave personal attention to everyone inside and outside of class. He provided study materials and additional practice tests when necessary. He also spent time with me reviewing my past exams and areas of improvement.
Improvement 90 Points
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Isaac Puglia
Location San Francisco, CA USA
Isaac was a great teacher and the course materials from Manhattan Prep were very informative and useful. During the class session, Isaac was able to clearly identify and describe several strategies needed to tackle 700 level questions. He was accommodating to people of all skill levels, and had the best teaching attitude I have seen to date. Whether it was Verbal, Quant, IR or AWA, Isaac was able to help every student out according to his or her own abilities. I would recommend that anyone in Northern California take Isaac's class. If you are not in Northern California I would still definitely recommend Manhattan Prep for all your GMAT prep needs.
Improvement 170 Points
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Laurel Hanson
Location New York (Lower Manhattan), NY USA
I wanted a way to study that would help me plan and manage my time around a busy work schedule. Manhattan GMAT was perfect because they included everything in the class package. The books were great references to keep me on track with review and the online tracking was incredibly helpful when I went back to review before the exam.
It was also great to have the classroom setting as part of the course. It held me accountable for progress and allowed me to better understand more difficult content.
Laurel is an amazing instructor, she used the class time well to emphasize more complicated concepts and consistently re-emphasized past content that was likely to come up. It was incredibly helpful to have her as a teacher (and cheerleader) in my exam prep.
Improvement 200 Points
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Mark Sullivan
Location Seattle, WA USA
I first heard about this course from a friend who had taken it a few years back; he had raved about it, and he's a guy who rarely raved about anything. So, from the get-go, I was inclined to give preference to Manhattan Prep over any other companies. Still, at $2,000, I wanted to get a "taste" before fully committing.
One of the things I loved about this course was that I was allowed to come to the first session -- for free, no strings attached -- and check out the instructor and the overall vibe before plunking down the dinero. And about halfway through that first class, I knew I'd be handing over a bunch of Benjamins, but that I'd be doing it enthusiastically.
Our instructor was extremely bright, geeky about the material and the various ways to think about approaching problems, not at all pedantic (which is my biggest pet peeve with instructors/coaches of any kind), and he seemed to keep everyone in the room engaged. He was organized but not a stickler. There was room for questions. People were smiling and listening and stumped at times, and it was exactly what I thought this sort of class should feel like.
Over the course of the 10-week program, we had a clear syllabus outlining homework problems as well as topics to be covered in each class. As with most things in life, students got out of the program what they put into it, and in my case, I'll be honest and say that I didn't stick to the homework schedule...at all. Still, it was nice to have it -- as well as the accompanying boatload of books with practice problems -- for that inevitable time down the road where I actually decided to buckle down, SIGN UP for an actual GMAT test, and go back and do the homework the way I was supposed to have done it months earlier. Even though I didn't stick to the syllabus, the fact that I had one to refer to definitely helped was I finally got my act together.
The practice GMAT tests online and the analytics that go along with it are also super helpful. Manhattan Prep gives its students a granular look at their performance sliced and diced across all the different problem types. Super helpful for efficiently & strategically improving your game.
The whole company is also just good people. At least the four individuals I interacted with - either in person, on the phone, or over email. Not trying to nickel and dime you. Better customer service than your bank. Friendly and understanding people. And somehow they seem genuinely concerned with you getting the most out of the experience. A+ overall.
What else is there to say? These guys know their stuff, and they're here to help you hit your goals. I got a 720 on the real test two days after getting a 700 on my final practice one through Manhattan.
thanks for the review.