My primary goal for taking the MGMAT course was to improve my quant score. I had taken the GMAT before, studying only with the Kaplan purple book, and had scored 700. 700 is an okay score, but my verbal and quant were highly imbalanced (I got 97% on verbal - soooo, my needless to say, my quant was mediocre at best.) I had run out of time on quant on my first try. I attribute my performance on my first GMAT to not having done sufficient practice and not having sufficiently mastered the quant concepts to look at a problem and know the approach.

If there's one thing I'll take away from my MGMAT experience, it's that getting a good score on the GMAT, for most of us, requires a ridiculous amount of work. I studied for at least 15 hours a week for the length of the nine-week course (and took the GMAT the week the course ended), and I spent every minute of that on quant (I replicated the verbal 97% on my practice CAT in the first week of MGMAT so I figured I could count on that.)

I would say that the strength of MGMAT is that it is a comprehensive program. Even if I had the materials, I wouldn’t have been able to put together the weekly lists of practice questions on my own. MGMAT tells you exactly how to fill those 15 hours a week spent studying. I wouldn’t say that the teaching is the strength of the course, and NOT because the teachers aren’t great. They clearly have subject mastery and, more uniquely, are really personable and committed. They are always available and are really dedicated to helping you do well. They have a weird passion and enthusiasm for the GMAT, which is refreshing, if not contagious. However, they are going to be with you for, at most 3.5 hours (class + office hours) each week. In each class, we probably did 5 or so quant problems, and they weren’t the most difficult ones. Class time, at least for quant, was really just review and an opportunity to do the problems timed. There wasn’t a lot of actual teaching of the concepts in class, because there just isn’t enough time.

Long story short, I studied way more than I ever would have without MGMAT. I finished the quant on time, and did better than I had ever done on a practice test (MGMAT CATs are hard!) I felt as confident as is possible given the insidious CAT format. I replicated my verbal score. I think there are probably much easier ways to get a 700, but if there is one weak part of your score that needs strengthening (mine was 600+ level quant and quant timing), MGMAT will help you do that. But, I wouldn’t recommend if you don’t have sufficient time to commit, because you won’t get much out of 3 hours of class plus a few hours of studying a week.

One last thing – MGMAT should win accolades for customer service. I was living in Cambodia when I started the course and they DHL’d the 80 pounds of books to me in a few days. On several occasions, I picked up the phone and spoke with an actual, competent New Yorker in their office. Sure, you pay for it, but rarely have I experienced such excellent customer service. I would HIGHLY recommend MGMAT for anyone looking to prep from overseas, as I am sure the support is ten times better than for a cheaper course.

I enrolled in the Live Online 9-Session Prep Course with Manhattan GMAT from Feb 2010 to April 2010. There were many aspects about this course that are very appealing for those who face very rigorous and time-demanding work schedules such as someone who is a full-time active duty military service member interested in taking the GMAT. First, the time/location flexibility requires only a 3-hour block of time commitment/once a week from the convenience of your own home computer. The web-based instruction is a very effective method of communication and instruction. "Homework" or "Recommended" problem sets can be completed on your own time. Second, the method of instruction focuses on "practicing" key concepts that are tested on the GMAT and learning the most time-efficient tips and tricks to solve these concepts, this is particularly helpful on the Data Sufficiency problems and Sentence Correction problems on the GMAT. Those two types of problems were my primary weaknesses when beginning the GMAT process, but Manhattan GMAT helped me turn those weaknesses into strengths. Through consistent and disciplined practice of these problems, I was able to quickly recognize a concept and immediately decide which method to use in solving that particular problem. Another helpful aspect of Manhattan GMAT is the OG Tracker excel document, this document facilitated all of my GMAT studying while on deployment in Afghanistan as I was easily able to assess my strengths and weaknesses in a very portable and expeditious manner. Manhattan GMAT's instructors are extremely competent and qualified; one of my primary instructors, Emily Sledge, was extremely helpful in answering any questions the class may have had and was able to guide us through any particular concept that was difficult to understand. She would often entertain any questions even after our scheduled time-block was over and was always available over e-mail to answer any questions.
I took the GMAT twice, my first test was 2 months after the course ended and unfortunately I was unable to practice as often I wanted to for the GMAT. However, I did score a 670 on that test. My second test came after a 6-month deployment to Afghanistan, where I was able to study on personal time I had (using the OG Tracker and GMAT books), consistently applying the concepts that I had learned from the 9-week course until Manhattan GMAT's methods became almost instinctual. I scored 50 points higher on this last test (720)!
Overall, Manhattan GMAT is an enabler that will definitely help any MBA prospect set conditions for success on the GMAT. But at the end of the day, rolling up your sleeves and putting some good old fashioned elbow grease into studying the concepts that Manhattan GMAT teaches you is still absolutely necessary to achieve the results that you want, but I would not be satisfied with my GMAT without taking the 9-week Live Online Prep Course.