Manhattan Prep GMAT Review
Intro
Manhattan prep was founded in 2000, started off as a boutique tutoring outfit and evolved into a well-established brand, serving now about 152 countries. The company offers its students an online course, Live course- online or in-person, private tutoring and GMAT Boot Camp. The Manhattan prep philosophy is that students learn better from better teachers. So, the company assembled a team of highly qualified teachers, supposedly recruiting only from the top 1% of scores and having substantial teaching experience.
While researching the ins and outs of the standardized exams, we found -- when it comes to selecting test prep courses - most students have three criteria: 1. Higher Scores in minimal Learning Time 2. Price 3. Enjoyable Process. Our reviews will examine each prep course in accordance to how well it delivers on these three criteria.
How does Manhattan prep meet the criteria?
Higher score in less time-
When it comes to the most popular Manhattan prep course “Live course” (online or In-person), it’s hard to talk about “Less Time”, since most of the learning is set to specific dates. The “Live course” plans include nine lessons of three hours each, stretched over two months. The 27 hours don’t include the student’s practice time at home. Also, there isn’t any personalized technology that can shorten the students learning curve. Additionally, in the online course, we have come across a serious drawback– a slow streaming system which caused delays and sub-optimal user experience.
However, for students who treasure the classic “Lecturer-student” way of study, Manhattan Prep will be a good option. At first, Manhattan Prep’s Instructors are from the 99th percentile scores and have at least two years of teaching experience. They also need to have more than 100 hours of training, so that Manhattan Prep ensure Instructors’ knowledge and skill in helping students succeed on the GMAT exam. The instructor’s explanations in the “self-study” system are extensive and clear.
For students who don’t have the time, Manhattan Prep created the “Boot Camp Course”, a highly focused and intense GMAT prep course, includes 35 hours of instruction (In-person or online) in only two weeks. Also, With every Manhattan Prep’s program, students get a set of GMAT books to complement the learning process.
Price & Plans-
Manhattan Prep is priced in the range of $599-$2699. It offers four prep course programs:
Interact GMAT course (Self-study/Online course), costs $999, includes 35+ interactive video lessons on demand, Complete set of ten Strategy Guides & Official Guide with real GMAT problems, six full-length GMAT practice tests, GMAT Navigator™ online practice tracker, Manhattan Prep’s GMAT mobile app and Delivered through Atlas™ and a interactive syllabus. The advanced Interact + Coaching Sessions program costs $1,399, includes an additional three hours of one on one tutoring. This allows customized coaching, detailed analysis and an expert advice from a 99th percentile GMAT instructor. Students can also purchase the Quant only or Verbal only courses, costs $599. The second program is Live GMAT course, costs $1,599-$1,699 (depends on the student’s location), includes 27 hours of classroom instruction over nine sessions, Custom one on one with an instructor, Unlimited advice from GMAT Instructors through online forums, Complete Strategy Guide Set, The Official Guide for GMAT, GMAT Supplemental Resources, the On-Demand GMAT Lessons, six full-length computer adaptive practice tests, Manhattan Prep’s GMAT mobile app, Interactive online syllabus, GMAT Navigator™ online practice tracker, question bank and Essay-grading software, eBook downloads, and more. If there isn’t any classroom nearby the student’s physical location, they can participate in a live online class from their own computer (costs $1,299). The third option is the Private Tutoring, costs $510-$5,625 (depends on the package’s hours), includes one on one instruction with one of Manhattan Prep’s GMAT instructors, available both in-person and online. The last option is the GMAT Boot Camp, costs $2,699-$2,999 (depends on the student’s location), includes two weeks of intensive in-class work paired with hours of one-on-one coaching.
All Manhattan Prep courses come with books & supplements, six practice tests + assessment reports and a full Access to Online Resources.
An enjoyable learning process-
The Manhattan online course keeps the students engaged during the learning process due to gamification and fun elements in its system. The “fun” elements are perfectly timed and not overdone throughout the course. The online course has a user-friendly dashboard, which displays for students their strengths and weaknesses.
Another thing worth mentioning is the Manhattan Prep practice question tool (Navigator). This tool allows students to tag and mark questions, so they know these questions are a guess or questions that need to return to.
Extras
- GMAT books and guides with every purchase
- Free trial for every option of prep course
- Free events to help students learn more about the GMAT exam
- Workshops- “mini” course which deals exclusively with one specific section of the GMAT exam
- A students blog
- 99th percentile scores Instructors
- Good combination of digital and hard copy materials
- A free full-length test
- No personalized technology
- No score improvement guarantees
- Compared to the rest, Manhattan Prep’s hourly tutoring are relatively expensive
