The first practice test I took, before I started classes at Manhattan Review, I got a 430. I went to a good university for undergrad and I've always done pretty well in school. So it wasn't the best feeling when I scored that low, especially since my goal was to get at least a 700.

The classes and the books from Manhattan were priceless. My instructor, Ryan Starr (who teaches in Orange County), was exceptional. He's exceptionally patient and very knowledgeable about the content he teaches and about the course itself. Also, the set of Manhattan books became my bible(s) for a couple months - I lived and breathed those books for a couple months.

Needless to say, I received a 710 on my first try. I wouldn't have been able to get that score with out the help of Manhattan Review.

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I ended up taking the Manhattan GMAT course twice -- the first time online and second time in person with Pedro in DC. When I originally signed up, I was okay with the fact that Manhattan wasn't one of the companies that reimbursed you if your score went up. After all, they're not the ones taking the test and the books are probably more important than the work.

The online course was alright, but not my preferred method of instruction. One of the teachers (Stacy Koprince) was really good and the other was just alright, but I wasn't as serious about the GMAT I needed to be and I'm not sure how much the online course helped. The problem-based course format got me some practice but I didn't leave lessons feeling like I learned strategies for problems I hadn't seen before. They demonstrated how to answer the questions in front of us, but there was little discussion of how to translate that to new problems in the times required by the GMAT.

My score stayed even with my diagnostic of 640 (.

The in-person course was a different experience. I really liked Pedro who was engaging and sarcastic, which fits with my learning style. He was excellent at answering questions from the class and there was more discussion about the mindset for tackling new problems in the time allotted by the GMAT. Just as importantly, the talent level of the class was high and I learned from them as well! The class was still problem-focused, but more engaging and helpful overall.

In the end, I got a 710 (40Q, 47V) with 5.5 on AWA and 7/8 on IR.

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I could not be happier that I signed up for the Manhattan GMAT course with Gregg Lachow. I took the GMAT with just self-study before the IR section was introduced and received a 700. My goal was to increase my score from one that I felt was good, to a score that was great.

Gregg is a very effective teacher. Without his help, I would not have reached my goal. He does a terrific job of breaking down problems, and can help students to develop the skills needed for the most difficult quant and verbal questions. He even goes out of his way to share insights on the whole MBA application process.

When I took the test, I felt well prepared and confident. I kept Gregg's lessons in mind, and received a 750.

I highly recommend Manhattan GMAT and Gregg. Take his course if you want a great score.

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I had spent several months studying the GMAT and also took the Veritas online course, but decided to sign up for the MGMAT Live Course since it was paid by my employer. Because of this, the classes were a waste of time for me since we went over very basic materials. The books were excellent and the online forum was very helpful, but the CATs were very frustrating. I think the CATs are more difficult than the actual exam and my scores were all over the place. The thing I liked most is the OG Archer. I used it on every OG question and it helped identify my weaknesses. I would recommend just purchasing the books and utilizing the OG archer instead of spending over a thousand on the live course.

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I thought the course was awesome. The books were great, even if you don't remember anything from high school. The roadmap book also gives a ton of great general advice for the whole prep process. The web site had a ton of great tools besides just practice tests and anytime I had a question about a specific resource, I called the office, and it seemed like there was always someone there to help.

I think it's definitely important to do a lot of the recommended readings if you want to get the most out of the class. I found that the people I spoke to who didn't do the homework were more likely to seem a bit lost or confused. But, if you walk in prepared, you know what your weaknesses are and how you want to improve, you can ask better questions.

I must say that our teacher, Jonathan Schneider, was the best. He always explained everything very clearly and made it all easy to understand. He was even extremely helpful and patient outside of the classroom. Obviously you can't expect the teachers to be able to go over specific questions in their free time, but I must have emailed him at least 15 different general study questions and he always answered in a friendly manner within about 24 hours. I kept thinking, "How am I not annoying him yet?"

I took the test about a month after the class and didn't do as well as I'd like to have. I felt like I had an off day and definitely could've prepared better considering I'd been pretty busy at work. I signed up to take the test again in another month and emailed my teacher for a few more tips along the way. He really advised me through the whole process. On attempt 2, I did 50 points better than the first time and 10 points better than my best practice test. All in all I was very happy with my 730 and glad I didn't have to study any more. so yeah, I thought the course was worth it.

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I highly recommend Manhattan GMAT, and it helped me get to my target score. The professor was awesome, and it's certainly the best product out there.

A few areas I think it could improve:

1) Advanced courses - The one frustrating thing about the course is that you are with people at all different levels of quant and verbal proficiency. Therefore, even if you are ready to move on, the instructor would be stuck explaining concepts for a long time to someone else. It would be great if they added advanced courses (perhaps requiring 650 or so on a CAT to sign-up), that went at a faster pace and spent more time on 700+ questions.

2) Area of Focus. For whatever reason, I was naturally very good at Verbal, and wanted to focus on Math. The classes in general seemed to be tilted slightly towards Verbal. It would've been cool if I could've had a class that tilted a little more towards Math. I feel like, for the upper level math questions, I had to learn a lot of the tricks on my own through their advanced quant guide.

Overall the course was great though. I got a 680 when I took it 4 years ago, so I'm pretty happy with a 70-point jump (especially since my math skills had degraded since then). I guess it's really hard to tell how much the course helped on its merits, versus how much it just forced me to study a lot - but who cares, I got the score I wanted, and I probably would've studied less if not forced to do HW and Classes.

Definitely recommend taking Eric Caballero. He is really funny, smart, and explains concepts very well.

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I took the MGMAT 9-week course with Daniel Lerman and boosted by score from a 610 to a 700. You could certainly take the self-guided study approach, but I found that being part of a community of other students helped keep me on track and motivated. The classes flew. Daniel Lerham has the unique ability to explain concepts, consider outside-the-box problem solving suggestions from the class, and correct errors all while having a great sense of humor and without being condescending. My classmates generally came prepared and asked questions that benefited the group. I recommend keeping up with homework so that you can spend the class mastering the core subjects and spend your post-class study time on strengthening weaknesses and learning trickier problem types.

After studying on my own for a few weeks after the class, I opted to have a private tutoring session to go over tough concepts. I was paired remotely with Jamie Nelson, who was incredible. Beyond helping me out in our scheduled one-on-one session, she went above and beyond by responding to questions over e-mail in the final days before my test. Between the positive experience I had with my two MGMAT instructors, I cannot recommend MGMAT enough.

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Going in, I knew very little about the GMAT and what to expect. This course did a great job of calibrating my expectations and showing me what I needed to focus on. This course also gave me the necessary books to study on my own adequately.

However, I must say that the course's tools are only helpful to the extent that you are willing to work hard. I attribute part of my score increase to Manhattan GMAT classes, part of it to the books I was given, and a large part to the fact that I studied 20 hours per week for 3 months.

Therefore, if you are willing to work hard, I definitely recommend Manhattan GMAT.

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The path to success on the GMAT is time and preparation; and the Manhattan GMAT course sets up its students to do just that. The syllabus is one of the best tools they provide, to guide and focus studying early on when it would be easy to slack off. The value of time in the classroom varies on the teacher, but working through each question timed is crucial.

Timing was my main problem, and in my post course assessment review, I had the most helpful workshop with a woman who had analyzed all my practice tests to date and we came up with a strategy based on that for test day to conquer the timing issue.

Maybe this was not the intention of MGMAT and I'm giving them too much credit, but for whatever reason, my practice tests through their site (and GMAC as well), didn't yield as near a high a score as I got on test day.

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Preparing for the GMAT obviously goes without saying. But many are understandably apprehensive about paying $1000+ for an in-person course on top of $250 per GMAT session, etc. I certainly was one of those people. But think of it this way: a bump in your GMAT score, which is probably inevitable with a good course/instructor, can mean the difference between so many things: a safety school vs. a dream school; paying sticker vs. receiving a scholarship; confidence going into the app season vs. apprehension about candidacy; etc. So the money should easily be rationalized given the huge importance of your GMAT score.

But which to take?? I spent a lot of time researching programs and it was clear that Manhattan GMAT had an edge, first and foremost because of its superior print materials. Not to say that other programs don't put out good stuff -- they do -- but MGMAT really seemed to have an edge. Full disclosure, I previously had taken an LSAT course with Angela, so I was confident in her ability to teach. So I chose MGMAT and was extremely pleased. Certainly you could use the MGMAT print materials alone, but augmenting those w/ a strict lesson plan and interactive weekly classes meant the difference between an active/engaged and a passive/solitary style of preparation. I am biased, obviously, but I really believe the former is worth its weight in gold, and MGMAT is the way to go.

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