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I took the full MGMAT course but was working 80 hour weeks and couldn't really keep up with the homework. Once I changed jobs, I studied/reviewed what I had done before on my own and then decided to get a tutor for the math section. I needed to solidify content and figure out a timing strategy that worked for me- something I tried to do on my own but it wasn't really working. I didn't want to waste any more time and sought help.
Tate was amazing! He developed a study plan that worked for me and focused not only on the material but also on the mental strength. I also had a time constraint so I worked intensively with him over a rather short time period - he saw that I took it very seriously and pushed me just the right amount. In the end I got a 700! I couldn't have done it without him!
Improvement 80 Points
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Jonathan Schneider
Location New York (Lower Manhattan), NY USA
I decided to enroll in Manhattan GMAT after reading positive online reviews when I was doing course research, and I'm so glad I did. The instructors are dynamic, approachable, and somehow manage to make GMAT material interesting. You can tell that they have a real passion for the subject matter, which helps to inspire enthusiasm among the students even when they're fighting feelings of stress and discouragement.
I also appreciate how easy the process of taking make-up classes was, because it's very unlikely that someone can attend the same 3-hour class 9 weeks in a row without having some sort of conflict.
I definitely recommend MGMAT to anyone willing to put in the time and effort to stay on top of the material.
I took the GMAT for the first time in July after studying on my own with materials I purchased online. I got a 620 and was unhappy. Though my verbal was quite strong, my math score was way below where I thought it could be. I decided to sign up for individual tutoring sessions at Manhattan GMAT in NYC.
I met with a tutor on a one-on-one basis approximately every week for about 2 months. We reviewed the fundamental aspects of the quantitative portion of the test, established a plan for studying and practicing on my own using the Manhattan GMAT materials and website, and developed a test-taking strategy to ensure I completed all the questions on test day and wasn't rushed. Ultimately my math score improved considerably and I was able to reach my overall score goal of 700.
Highly recommend this package. MGMAT self study plus was very useful for me since it let me pace my gmat preparation in my own way as it provides the previously recorded sessions.
Each one is unique. I chose this product as I can pace my own prep schedule. I rushed through the 9-session course in a month or so(about 5 weeks) and spent another 5 weeks on focussed preparation and then gave my gmat. I was good in quants and really went for this prep course to focus on my verbal skills.
I was consistently getting 640-680 score in MGMAT practicve test. I was hoping to cross atleast 700. Luckily, I got 730 on the real gmat and i'm excited about it. I took gmat for the first time about 8 months ago and had scored 640.
I started the Manhattan GMAT online course in the last week of August and scheduled my test for the last weekend in October. This gave me exactly 9 weeks to finish the class and take the exam following the Manhattan course syllabus.
My first test score was a 610. My second test score the next weekend was a 590. I had a lot of work to do.
The Manhattan course intuitively presented the course material and challenge problems in an effective and efficient manner. Over the course of the next 8 weeks I devoted over 200 hours to class and study time. Most of this time was doing problems on Manhattan's OG Archer software and watching their video solutions.
I used the Manhattan course books to refresh math concepts and learn strategies to tackle verbal problems. I then followed the OG / GMAC books on a subject by subject basis. This was my instructor Avi's suggestion. He suggested that I identify a weakness and strengthen it by doing large sets of just that concept or subject. I liked this strategy a lot and started to see big improvements. I took another test at the halfway point and scored a 670.
During the last two weeks of prep I scored 700, 710, 710 and 710 on practice exams so felt ready for test day.
I felt good on test day and scored a 730. I felt I could have done even better but got flustered during the math section by a problem that completely stumped me.
I would highly recommend the Manhattan program to anyone who is looking for study material for the GMAT. I also bought the Kaplan online program and did not find it as helpful. Kaplan's tests were quality but I didn't find their recorded classes to be effective. Make sure to ask for Avi and Liz. They are the real deal.
Improvement 80 Points
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Eric Caballero
Location New York (Midtown Manhattan), NY USA
By far, hands down, the best GMAT prep course around. Interestingly, I heard about the course from a friend in Korea. My friend in KOREA had heard about Manhattan GMAT! So I tried the course and rocked the GMAT.
I took the 9-class course in the summer and studied with the Manhattan GMAT prep books. About a month after the class, I took the exam. The course is demanding, requiring solid 5 to 10 hours of studying a week, but it is definitely worth it. (Though, frankly, the course is made so that you can still keep up with the class if you hadn't done much outside studying... You will just feel really stupid in class).
Great teachers, great books and great on-site test simulation center.
The self-study course helped me improve my GMAT score by more than 100 points. The coursework and syllabus provide a very structured approach to learning the necessary material. I appreciated that the coursework is very easily adapted to best meet individual needs. Specifically Manhattan GMAT has created a problem tracking tool, OG Archer, that provides students with a very qualitative overview of performance over time, broken down by subject matter, difficulty, etc. In addition, the detailed problem explanations, labs, question banks, and CAT exams were all helpful.
If you are planning to use the self-directed program, I STRONGLY recommend that you get the package that includes access to recorded lectures. The lectures provide invaluable insights about how to use study time effectively, approach challenging problems, deal with test day stresses, and much more. My recorded lectures were led by Emily Sledge and Stephanie Moyerman, both of which were fantastic.
For those of you interested in the numbers:
I scored a 760 on test day, a 100 point improvement from my initial CAT (660)
Cat 1 - 42Q / 38V - 660 (7/14/12)
Cat 2 - 45Q / 45V - 730 (8/26/12)
GMAT Prep - 47Q / 38V - 690 (9/15/12)
GMAT Prep - 45Q / 45V - 730 (9/18/12)
Cat 3 - 45Q / 45V - 730 (10/10/12)
Test Day - 48Q / 47V - 760 (10/11/12)
Improvement 130 Points
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Chris Brusznicki
Location Chicago-N. LaSalle, IL USA
Manhattan GMAT was an excellent course and I highly recommend it to everyone. Their instructors are very strong in teaching both Verbal and Quant. Chris Brusznicki in particular was excellent. I was able to increase my score from 620 to 750 with their help.
Their materials are also by far the best I've found out of all the other GMAT prep companies. In addition, their online tools such as their companion to the Official Guide were extremely helpful in my preparation. I really think the course is definitely worth the money, and I think it is the best you can find out there.
Improvement 50 Points
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Steven Jupiter
Location New York (Midtown Manhattan), NY USA
I took this class in the spring at their flagship location. My goal with taking the course was to structure my studying and break it up into manageable parts rather than going it alone and not having a sense of what I needed to cover and stagnating.
My effort in studying for the GMAT consisted of two parts. The first, where I attended all 9 sessions and completed all basic and advanced homework. And the second, the end of the course and month afterwards before the exam, where I did additional studying using the Official Guide and Manhattan GMAT practice exams.
In the first segment, I think the course was really key for me in the way I mentioned above - it provided the structure to get me through all the material and broke my studying down into pieces.
Specifically:
-The 9 live classes: For me, this was necessary to move myself along the process.
The instruction was helpful - Steven taught both Manhattan GMAT methods as well as personal tips and insights. The instruction on Quant was very helpful. On Verbal, I found the MGMAT methodologies less useful and I think Steven did as well because he didn't strongly recommend that we use them and his deviation from some of the materials was actually very helpful. I appreciated this flexibility. All in all, I felt, throughout the whole process, that my instructor was an expert and knew the material backwards and forwards.
The materials provided - the subject area books are great - they provide both depth and breadth and achieve the right level of detail and complexity. They served really well as the place to 'learn' the material. Later, when practicing and reinforcing, I primarily used the Official Guide, coming back to the subject area books as needed.
In the second part of my studying, towards the end of the classes and afterwards, I really focused on practicing problems and taking exams. For this, I found the Manhattan GMAT practice exams and the ability to go to their center to take them, especially crucial. For several weeks, I would go to the center every Saturday and take a full exam. Not only are MGMAT's exams very good quality, simulating the actual test day experience is key and was one of the main value adds of the course to me.
If I have any criticisms of the course, I would say that for me personally, I probably could have use a more custom experience. Although historically a stronger quantitative test taker, for the GMAT I found that I put 95% of my effort into Quant and that Verbal came easier. As a result, I probably would have benefited from a Quant focused course. I think that a lot of native/fluent English speakers find themselves in this situation and as such, I think Manhattan GMAT would do well by creating this kind of class. I also found the Quant section on their practice exams to be a little bit too difficult, and not in a way that was beneficial. The practice exams you get from the actual GMAC are more representative.
Overall, however, I am extremely satisfied with my experience and would definitely a. do it the same way if i had to do it again and b. recommend Manhattan GMAT to others. I have not taken any other company's courses but based on what I've heard, I feel comfortable saying this is one of, if not the, best prep companies out there.
Improvement 130 Points
Course Manhattan Prep Manhattan GMAT 9-Session In-Person Prep Course
Instructor Jonathan Schneider
Location New York (Lower Manhattan), NY USA
I took my diagnostic in June and scored a 600. I was ambitious about a good score, and I had to do it in about 2 months amidst a very heavy workload. I needed a good coach and that's when I enrolled in the Manhattan GMAT 9 session course.
First of all, this is a very detailed and demanding course. From the first look at its curriculum it was pretty clear to me that this company knew the art and science of turning a novice into a master on this exam. The material is exhaustive and intuitive - it really captures the naunces of the varied thought processes that different people follow while solving a problem, and then tells you how to hone your unique way of thinking. I found that particularly helpful as most people have a particular style of doing things, and some approaches resonate with that style while some don’t.
The classroom course does not take the traditional theory-to-questions approach. Mind it that you would be expected to do the formal studying yourself. The classroom sessions explore the theoretical aspects of the course mainly through carefully chosen questions that well-exemplify the concepts involved.
Personally, I liked this approach as concepts are presented and learned un-detached from the contexts and situations where they'll be applied to, and are thus easier to remember.
The course is ultimately about honing your intuitions to razor-sharpness and set you up with a viable plan on how you're going to attempt your exam. The best thing - there's always a plenty of help available around for whatever you might need it.
My instructor was not only a master of the subject but also very involved with my success. He gave me some very good advice with some unique problems that was keeping my score low in the exam while I was coming out with flying colours while attempting practice problems. I finally took the exam on 8th of September and scored a 730.
I would highly recommended score for anyone seeking to score a 700+. And lastly, there's a lot of free stuff that'll come along with the any course - classroom or self study. They conduct a lot of free sessions, not just on GMAT but the whole application process. It's expensive, but totally worth the money!