Experiences with GMAT Prep Course?

My two cents on this is that you can get most of the benefit you would get from a course by buying a prep book and working through the book. probably a lot cheaper. This is what I did and it worked fine

+1

It comes down to motivation. If you're easily self disciplined/motivated, buy the book. If you tend to focus more in a structured setting, do the class.

This.

You're not going to learn much from a course that can't learn from a book. The value is in the practice and endless drilling. If you're the sort of person who benefits from some external pressure and structure to get you to practice, then courses are worth every penny. If you don't need that structure, then courses are vastly overpriced versus a good prep book.

The bottom line is that practice is everything with the GMAT. Especially if you've been away from 9th grade math or SAT-style reading comp for a long time and need to bone up on it again. (Most people do).

+1. I scored 770 on my first attempt without a prep course. I used a single book, called Official Guide. I doubt I could have gotten a 780, 790, or 800 with a prep course. Save your $1200.00

I like Manhattan books. They have specific topic books as well.

Truth! I actually teach grad courses for one of the big national test prep companies (shall remain nameless, not trying to sell you anything). I see plenty of students that fit into both categories. I've had plenty of students that I am fairly confident would have received scores just as high as they did after attending my classes as if they would have studied on their own. On the flip side, I see plenty of kids that would have just given up after a week either due to frustration or lack of motivation. Another problem with just having books is that when you don't understand something in the book, you may find yourself S.O.L. If you are dedicated then do the books, just dont slack or you WILL regret it. B-school admissions are out of control right now, and students that just 2 years ago would have been getting into HBS, Kellogg, Wharton, Booth, etc are now finding themselves receiving the dreaded "After careful consideration, we regret to inform you" letters from even much less prestigious schools If you find you are struggling on one particular section, that $1200 would go a lot further by paying for private tutoring (much more expensive per hour, usually in the range of $100-$150 for most of the graduate programs regardless of company, but tutoring packages usually include all of the books and access to additional materials not found in the books found at your local B&N). You may end up paying the same amount of $$ in tutoring that you would for a classroom course, but the focused attention makes it much more effective/ efficient. Only you can truly make an honest assessment of what kind of student you are, and which option would be best for you. Oh, one last piece of advice. START YOUR PREP EARLY!! This is one test that you don't want to cram for.

These are both fantastic pieces of advice that deserve quoting for posterity. They correspond to two common traps to which otherwise-intelligent applicants often fall prey. The first trap is overconfidence in one's learning style. You might tell yourself that you're a self-starter, and that you don't need the structure of a course. Others might tell you the same. But be honest with yourself. Pride is not as important as your final test score. The second trap is underestimation of the test's difficulty. For a lot of people, what makes the test so difficult isn't that the concepts are mind-bendingly complex. It's that they've been away from the subject matter for a decade or two. Just because you aced the SAT many years ago does not mean your success on the GMAT is assured, even though the two tests have a lot in common. Remember how hard you prepped for the SAT? You will want to bring a similar level of dedication to bear. The GMAT is not the sort of test that can be crammed for a few weeks in advance. Finally, a third trap worth mentioning is the tendency to practice to one's strengths. If you're really good at the reading comprehension parts, but rusty on the math, focus your prep on the math. Don't spend more time than you need on your strongest parts. Also, don't spend too much time prepping for the short essays. They are all but worthless, they do not factor into your test score, and they are almost never even skimmed by anyone on the admissions committee. It's worth reading a little bit about how the essays are graded by the computer algorithm, so you can tailor your writing style accordingly. But don't waste too much time prepping for this piece.

If critical reasoning is the only section giving you real problems, I suggest you pick up some LSAT books as the LSAT focuses quite heavily on critical reasoning. I think the LSAT books will go into more depth explaining critical reasoning and have many more practice questions.

Yes and no, though. The LSAT problems are structured in a very idiosyncratic way, such that preparing for them really does little good preparing for anything else (other than maybe the occasional newspaper brainteaser). Critical reasoning on the GMAT is a very different beast, and arguably a much easier one. But I question whether prepping for one does any good with the other.

^^^ Hmmm. I took both and critical reasoning on GMAT was simple after having studied for the LSAT. I wasnt suggesting he study the entire LSAT course, just the CR section precisely because it is much more difficult than the GMAT equivalent. The LSAT book will have many more CR practice problems and go into much greater depth explaining the methods. It is worth a try before plunking down a big chunk of money on a course.

Fair enough. My concern isn't so much that it's totally non-applicable, but that it's indirect, and thus might involve some degree of wasted effort. But there is certainly truth to the idea that, if you can master the LSAT's CR, you can master the GMAT's CR. LSAT is infinitely harder.