After starting my course in Houston and transferring to Cambridge, I can say that Kaplan delivers a consistent and advantageous product: that of instilling confidence in their students through strategies and simulations of the actual test day.

Although the teaching styles that I encountered in both Houston and Cambridge differed, both were able to arm me with strategies and give me a sense of what test day would be like. In Houston, my teacher explained each problem's solution thoroughly, which proved beneficial for initially learning the strategy. In Cambridge, where I spent the majority of my Kaplan course, my instructor created an environment that encouraged learning but more importantly caused me to implement those strategies more efficiently. Eli randomly selected individuals to solve problems in front of the class and utilized the various Kaplan strategies in order to demonstrate their correct uses and the time allotment for each step. My main concern for every test I take is maintaining good time management because I can lose significant points if I don't finish the GMAT. But, with the challenges encountered in class, I am able to feel more confident in myself on test day.

I can't say that I'm the most disciplined person, and after deciding to take the GMAT, I signed up for the Kaplan Advanced course having never seen a single GMAT problem before. Luckily, I barely passed the 600 requirement. After taking this course, I saw a 150 point jump in my score and did very well on the essays.

With this course, and probably with any other GMAT course, you need to be fully committed to following the schedule and homework that is laid out for you. I was first worried that the course was too short to prepare someone for the test, but I soon found out that the main benefit from this course is not the classes, but the vast amount of resources Kaplan provides to support the course. You won't need more resources than Kaplan provides. They will provide you with a course book, advanced workbook, the official GMAT workbook, and a wealth of problems and practice tests. If you do most of these problems, no problem you see on the GMAT will be a surprise.

One of the most valuable experiences this course provided was the ability to take the test at the actual testing center. The ability to get the full test experience and get a feel of the testing environment definitely allowed me to be more mentally prepared for the actual test.

The only caution I would give about the Kaplan course is that I came into this course with a strong math background and ultimately used standard math strategies to solve problems instead of the various strategies Kaplan has. If your weakness is Math, I'm not sure how helpful Kaplan will be. You should probably look into other reviews to find this information.

The other issue that took me a while to figure out and would have been helpful to know in the beginning is that Safari and Chrome not supported browsers. They work, but many features do not. I would suggest that you use Firefox to use Kaplan's online resources.

If you're serious and devoted to do well on the GMAT, the GMAT advanced course will help motivate you to be disciplined to study and prepare for this exam.