After struggling with the GMAT for a year and not moving past the mid-600s, I decided to sign up for a Manhattan GMAT live class. Some people I know who previously took the class spoke very highly of the course. Ceilidh Erickson was the instructor and she was amazing.

She not only did a great job of teaching the basic skills and formulas but also taught us how to think and attack each question logically. During class, she addressed everyone’s needs and she was great at reading how people were absorbing the material. She showed different logical techniques which helped save time, eliminate answers, and guess and move on. These techniques are what she uses on the test such as spending the first few seconds with the pen down on quant and crossing off extreme answers on the RC section. These techniques are KEY when solving the tougher questions because the test is adaptive. When we did practice questions, she showed us multiple ways to solve a problem and this helped add to the arsenal of methods to use during the actual test so you don’t get stuck.

After the course, I wanted to work on a few specific areas and set some hours for tutoring with Ceilidh to make sure I would surpass the 700 level. I debated on spending the money but decided to go for it because in the end, it’s a small investment for the future. We spent about 3 hours going through my weaknesses to sure those up and she showed me some new techniques and ways to think about solving problems before I actually put pen to paper. After another month of studying, I was testing above the 700 level and booked the test.

I highly recommend taking either the class or tutoring with Ceilidh. I honestly don’t think I would have achieved the score I got without her. It’s and no regrets decision and well worth the money, time, and energy. Even after the class and tutoring, when I was studying on my own, she was always available to answer questions.

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Instructed by Kim Cabot.

She was truly excellent. I think the Manhattan Prep materials are pretty good, but Kim was great, because where they weren't, she would provide alternative strategies. A good example here would be the Critical Reasoning questions. Kim taught us a more efficient method than Manhattan Prep had in its materials. This saved me at least 20 seconds per question, which could then be used elsewhere.

The online Manhattan Prep materials were great. I really appreciated there answer explanations to official questions, because the answers in the official book tend to be poor.

My only critique with Manhattan Prep is I feel like their materials are not set up for you to get a great score in quant. For the max difficulty questions, you have to have a bunch of tricks and alternative techniques on hand. I had to find these on message boards.

Would recommend, Kim especially.

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In my opinion, the MGmat guides set is definitely worth the money but I can't say the same for the in-person classes. The video 'interact' option that you get with the in-person class package was great because I could watch and re-watch the lessons until I was confident about certain topics.
Although I had a very smart instructor (insane GMAT/ LSAT Score), I feel that in the in-person classes, we didn't really go to in-depth when we studied concepts, the classes were mostly about 'tips and tricks' one uses when answering multiple choice questions (how to eliminate/ how to choose etc) and discussing solutions to a few questions. If you need content, read the MGmat guides cover to cover (I can't stress this enough).
For me, I would have probably learned the same if I had opted for the online course instead of the in-person one. So in my opinion, I would still choose to learn via the MGmat course (that's how I learn best) but I would instead opt for the online option (not the in-person classroom experience).
One more thing, this was also a recommendation of MGmat, make sure to schedule your test at least a month after your last class. Practicing on your own is KEY to a good score and that month (or more if you have time) will really help you drill down concepts learned from the guides and from the videos/ in class. PS: English is my first language.

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Compared to all other prep programs, Manhattan GMAT by far had the best content for me. It simplified complex problems and made every problem type approachable. That said ... I wasted a lot of money. Now as a grad student, I regret this. I need money!

Before picking what you pay for, I would truly evaluate what your needs are.

First of all, don't go buy all the books first. Paying for the course gets you all the books. So if you end up doing the course, you've wasted money getting the same books twice.

Second, I would look through the books at a bookstore and evaluate: Can I learn this myself, or do I need their full course? I would also look into what online webinars you can get access to by getting the books instead of the full class. You may find there's enough webinar content to ensure you can get all the material you need.

NOTE: If you are not someone who can keep yourself accountable for ensuring you study, the course can help ensure you do.

Third, evaluate if you'll perform well in a classroom or 1:1. Attend a class before you pay to shadow.

I say all this because I paid to take the course. It was good, but I realized later I got MUCH greater benefit from 1:1 tutoring. The tutors could watch me go through problems (online or in-person) and give me personalized recommendations. I wish I did this in conjunction with free webinars and books. That would have been money spent much better for me.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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