The Economist GMAT course is excellent. As others have said the course does seem like a bit of a game and I have enjoyed it.

While I havent yet finished the course, my practice tests have gone from 620 to 740. I put this solidly down to the fact that you arent slogging through huge textbooks and the course gives you the information in a clear and concise manner.

All up, I couldnt imagine a gmat course to be much better. The tutors reply promptly to questions with tailored responses and are very helpful. The adaptive nature of the course is great too as it forces you to work on areas in which you need more practice.

I've taken GMAT prep courses in the past (wont mention because I do not want to focus on the negative) but GMAT Tutor was truly the course for me. Not only were the staff amazing, they were also very quick to reply to any doubts that I had about specific subjects whether is was Verbal or Quant.

As I went on with my prep, I did the amount of work I could do with my busy work schedule. I would sometimes even do 10 minute sessions just to keep my prep going consistently. The effective style/teaching methods taught in this course really did help me look at the GMAT in a way never before. I was seriously in shock how SC questions really worked.

All in all, I would HIGHHHHLLLYYYYY recommend this course to anyone thinking about taking the GMAT. I would suggest taking this course and fully completing it before jumping to the OG material. Your accuracy an timing will be better if you do this in my opinion.

Thank you GMAT Tutor team!

I would stronly recommend the GMAT Tutor from the Economist. I didn't have a lot of time to study and the fact that I could study at home whenever I could helped a lot. The first time I took a practice gmat test before I studied for it I got a 560 and after a couple of months with this programme I managed to score a 700 on the actual test. The programme is interactive and focuses on your weaknesses, with plenty of exercises and a full explanation on why each of the answers is wrong or correct. You get to learn many time-saving tips and techniques, especially on the maths section. I also liked how you could choose how long the studying sessions were and what they would be on (maths or verbal). All in all, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to study for the GMAT.

I haven't taken the GMAT yet and I thought I'd write one after taking it in June. But Economist is offering a 25$ giftcard to write one before May 15, so here goes.

I graduated college in 2011 and took a course with Manhattan GMAT - free through work - that fall. But I decided that I was not yet ready to think about or apply to business school and postponed indefinitely. However, I became vaguely familiar with the GMAT and the logic behind the exam.

Fast forward to February 2013, I decided to take the GMAT in May/June. I had all the books from Manhattan, so I started using them. But due to work schedule, and lack of motivation on my end, it became really difficult to concentrate on studying using books. Enter Economist GMAT.

Seemed like a fair deal after the 1 week trial and purchased it (thankfully, subsidized by work again). And I started plugging away.

Pros-
1. Easy to cover material. You're working on a computer and doing lessons at your own pace. This is really important. I have a fairly decent verbal background, so I was able to run through a lot of the verbal lessons while taking time on the Quant portion. This is also a definite weakness in actual in-class programs like Manhattan - they have to spend time on everything depending on the class. I was in class with a bunch of engineers who breezed through the quant and we spent more time on verbal. But then again, you had an instructor who could help you if you were stuck etc

2. Tracking system is good. It tracks your strong lessons and your weak lessons, which is good to know.

3. I think the Practice GMATs are decent. No expert here though. I scored 710, 650 (hungover), 690 (missed 5 quant questions at the end) in the three exams. There are 2 more left for me to do.

4. One of one tutor sessions on Skype. I had one - wasn't really useful. I didn't really have a lot to discuss, hence it wasn't really useful. I think it'll be useful if you have specific topics you need help with.

5. Value for money at 400$ something.

Cons-

1. Some sections are not that great. For CR, I bought Powerscore CR Bible as recommended on BTG and it's incredible. Same for SCs with Manhattan Strategy Guide. Again, this is really for bumping your verbal scores from ~41 to mid-40s

2. Can't comment on Quant. I'm using questions on BTG, GMat Club, OG and I need all the help I can get. My performance is inconsistent and I'm aiming for ~48+

3. No question banks. Really useful feature of Manhattan GMAT.

4. No way to reset GMAT exams like in Manhattan.

5. Reading comprehension passages are limited and constantly reappear in lessons/exams etc to the point where you become really familiar with some of the passages.


For my preparation, I'm currently using:
Economist GMAT.
OG 13
OG Quant
Powerscore CR Bible
Manhattan GMAT SC, RC, Number properties
Veritas Combinatorics and Probability Guide.
BTG Flashcards
BTG daily Questions
GMAT Club - Bunuel Quant sets.

That's all from me. I'll edit this after my GMAT.

The GMAT is tested on a computer, so preparing with a computer instead of a lecture format is key.

Simply the fact that it is electronic rather than a book allows for instant feedback on answer choices.

You learn in blurbs and have to actively hit continue. Then you're quized unexpectedly. It beats pushing yourself to read a text book.

It's perfect for the generations to follow.

Disclaimer: I did not use the real human trainer resource. The online materials and practice tests were enough for me. I spent about 80% of my time on math questions because that was where I perceived I could make the greatest gains. The training materials were really outstanding. The strategies were very effective and easy to master and remember during the exam. I did not try any other training materials other than free ones, so I cannot compare this course to other paid courses. I chose this course because of the price and because I'm an avid Economist reader and knew that they would not put their name on an inferior product!

I used the course materials for only about 6 weeks and I only got through about 50% of the math material before I took the exam. I am positive I could have gotten a higher score if I continued to study, but this score helped me to get into a top 10 program!

Great resource to teach you the fundamentals of each topic. Highly recommend buying an Official Guide after you complete this course. The OG does a terrible job explaining why each answer choice is right or wrong. The GMAT Tutor fills this void by helping you understand the fundamentals. I have no regrets about signing up for this course.

Pros:
- the tool works if you have time to devote to acing the GMAT.
- Very thorough with all of the material.
- Tool adapts to your strengths and weaknesses. If you are an all-star in one section, the tool will push you to your limits by giving you tough questions to continuously challenge you in that one section. However, completing a series of difficult questions will make you mentally exhausted, so you'll need study breaks. Similarly, if you are struggling in one section, the tool will spend more time helping you to understand the fundamentals and the reasoning behind why the answers that you select are incorrect.
- I received a one-year subscription to The Economist magazine. I enjoy reading this on my iPad on the weekends. This magazine is more internationally focused than most US newspapers/magazines.

Cons:
- Course is not short. Takes several months worth of commitment to complete the course. Be sure that you have the time to reach your goals.
- Question types are slightly different that the official GMAT questions. So it is essential to use the Official Guide after completing the course. You will still score well if you don't use the official guide, but I added 40 points to my score by going through the Official Guide after taking this course.
- Tutoring sessions are with tutors from Poland, Israel, Taiwan, so the tutoring times are at odd hours for students in North America (i.e. 10PM - 8AM CST).
- The support for the Integrated Reasoning section is very weak. Use the Official Guide to study for IR; the OG is a much better resource.
- The AWA section is weak. GMAT Tutor provides overview of "how" to write an essay, but doesn't give you a list of sample essay topics and doesn't force you to write practice essays. Use the OG for a list of sample essay topics.
- The tool's advice on Reading comprehension did not work well for me. I tried to follow the tool's advice to first do an initial reading by "skimming" through the passage and jotting down notes, and then digging for details later; however, I found that I scored much higher and I spent much less time by reading the entire passage thoroughly the first time. Going back and fourth between the passage and the questions just took way too much time for me. The skimming method may work for you, but if it doesn't, don't let the GMAT Tutor's suggested RC method hurt your GMAT score.
- The tool's advice on "ball-parking" was, in many cases, more time consuming than solving the problem by shorthand arithmetic. If you're terrible at math, then this "ball-parking" (or guessing) method is an ok approach. Again, you really have to determine which method is the most efficient for you. I suggest following the tool's advice at first, but if the tool's advice isn't working for you after you're 75% complete with the course, then use the method that is most effective for you.
- There were only a few Reading comprehension passages and each passage was repeated too often. It would have been more beneficial if there were more passages.

Advice for students:
- Bring a pen/pencil and a pad of paper to each GMAT Tutor session.
- Do not take this course when tired or distracted. At first it is hard to build up an endurance to study for at least an hour straight, so start off with shorter study sessions. Take breaks between study sessions.
- At the end of the course, attempt longer study sessions to build up endurance.
- Try to understand why you answered questions correctly / incorrectly. Just because you guessed and answered a question correctly doesn't mean that you will do the same on a later date with a similar question.
- Read the fine print on the money back guarantee. Not doing so could cost you $700!!
- Buy the OG for use at the end of the course (especially for the verbal section). The OG is a great resource to help build up your stamina/endurance right before you take the test. I studied with the OG for the 3-4 weeks prior to the real exam. Try to answer each OG question in less than 90 seconds to build your endurance.
- Take tutoring sessions towards the end of the course; bring questions to the tutoring sessions. Tutors are willing help you with questions from the OG or other studying resources. I found tutoring sessions were most helpful when I came to the tutoring session with a list of OG questions that were difficult for me.
- Take the mba.com practice tests right before you take the real GMAT.
- Complete at least 90% of the course before you take the test; I still learned new things at 85% progress. How can you expect to "ace" the GMAT without knowing/understanding all subjects tested?
- Take the real GMAT before taking this course. Taking the real GMAT before taking this course will establish a "baseline" for your 70 point score increase guarantee. Study for this initial GMAT test to maximize your baseline score. If you are not familiar with the GMAT prior to taking this course, you are bound to score poorly on your "baseline" examination.

Good luck!! Wishing you the best of success on your GMAT endeavor!!

My combined score went from a 660 to 690 - nothing to write home about - but I only studied for Quant and boosted that score from a 36 to a 45. This software works. After a couple of hours with the trial I was hooked. I enjoyed studying; it was fun, and I was learning a lot. I've always felt fairly solid on math topics given enough time, but time is the crux of the test, and GMAT tutor taught me how to work the test and solve efficiently.

I spent the summer of 2012 studying with no service or course, but studying smart and with discipline. I worked through a number of books (Official Guide, Kaplan workbooks) cover to cover, taking full timed practice tests every weekend, and simulating test conditions during every practice. I liked the books, and the official software predicted a 710 up from a 630 at the beginning of the summer. I felt good going into my early Sept test, but was very disappointed with my 660 (Q36, V44). I was excited about the Verbal, but I thought I really knew the Quant, and I think I did, but I didn't know how to solve 37 quantitative problems in 75 minutes on the GMAT.

GMAT Tutor changed that. I bought it three weeks before my retake in March 2013, and put in 31 hours during that time. I studied Quant exclusively and was impressed by how it built a base in the most important math fundamentals while working on test taking techniques. I could feel myself getting better at taking the test. A number of challenging problem types began to look much less daunting - I can solve sets better than FGCU can alley-oop on established teams. I only made it through just under half of the quant studying, and even ignoring some critical advice (I catch that thread of how to solve the problem and don't like to let it go) come test day, I managed to boost my scaled score from a 36 to a 45.

GMAT Tutor was the only study tool I used this time around. During my time studying I had four questions for the GMAT Tutor Team, and they replied promptly and with clear explanations. Overall I was very happy with the service, the quality of the instruction, and the algorithmic software that adapted to how I was performing. I highly recommend it for people who need a flexible study schedule and want to squeeze study into any free time with an Internet connection. It worked for me in Internet-hobbled Central Africa.

I was taking GMAT in a rush and having failed in my first attempt, I considered the Economist.

Pros:
- the course is quite exhaustive and tracks your progress
- acts like a task master, so you know when you are slacking
- strong content; though there could be more organisation
- prepares to watch the test since its online/screen based tutorial
- sessions with instructors can be helpful

Cons:
- you need to spend time to finish the course; a lot of time
- the mock tests are not GMAT like as far as the scores are concerned

I greatly appreciated the flexibility and adaptive nature of the course. I knew I had time constraints that would limit my ability to focus consistently on a GMAT course. So, I
needed something that would give me some progression in working on skills
(not just doing problem sets), but would also not be so rigid that it would
require months of practice. The Economist GMAT Tutor provided that nice
middle ground.

I also think the practice was telling. Not only did I improve 100 points
over the first time I took a practice test with the software, but I found
the Integrated Reasoning, which I had not practiced, to be incredibly
challenging (and I did NOT do as well on it). It made me definitely appreciate the confidence I had gained from recognizing and being comfortable with the material in the math and verbal sections.

I would definitely recommend this course. The adaptive approach of the program really helped me navigate the enormous amount of material. I thought the verbal questions were perhaps a little simple, but the quant questions were great. I only took one obligatory math course in college, so I wanted to focus primarily on the quant section while studying. I appreciated that you had the option of choosing both the length of your study sessions and whether to work on verbal, quant, or both. The tutors (there is a team of them) were also very helpful. I actually never took one of the diagnostic tests through the program - I only took the official sample test put out by the GMAC - but I definitely improved my score by close to 100 points. In conjunction with the official GMAT book, I would recommend this course to anyone.

I highly recommend Economist Tutor (MasterGMAT). I took my first GMAT about one month into the material (still under 50% complete for quant and verbal). Result was 600. I met with a tutor shortly after and plotted my gameplan to 700+. I got through the remainder of the material as quickly as possible, while not sacrificing thoroughness.

After another two months of studying, it all paid off when i scored 730 (Q 46/71% ; V 45/99%). Here's my assessment:

Pros:
- The algorithm works. You end up drilling your weaker subjects and quickly advancing in the ones you grasp well.
- Better results than classroom experience, at least for me. Studying for GMAT with other people who come with their own strengths and weaknesses was sub-optimal for me. You inevitably waste tons of time reviewing concepts you already understand, and breezing over areas where you have gaps in your knowledge. If you need a teacher to push you to actually study and go through problems you probably aren't motivated enough to begin with.
- Lots of quant strategies that save time and reduce errors (e.g. plugging-in where numerous variables are required, ballparking convoluted geometry problems, algebraic rules, etc). I raised my quant score 35 percentiles between first and last exam.
- Explanations that 99% of the time put you down the path of least resistance to the correct answer.
- Verbal content, approach, and test-taking strategies that are second to none. I've used Veritas and sat in on a couple Manhattan classes. Can't speak for quant, but for verbal I thought they were inferior. I scored 99 percentile on verbal by studying solely the Economist and GMAC OG.

Cons:
- Over-reliance on the prescribed methodology for certain quant problems. GMAT seems to benefit flexible thinking. It's not always in your interest to approach a type of problem with identical methods (e.g. "I see this problem, therefore i construct a table and do x, y, and z"). I found gmatquantum and khanacademy useful in seeing alternative ways to think through problems.
- Not the friendliest UI. The summary screen makes it incredibly painful to review concepts previously covered. You can only drag a tiny scroll bar through rows and rows of data jammed into a small box. God i hope they've updated this...for your sake. Also, the "ask a tutor" system seemed pointless and duplicative. I'd imagine these things are being improved upon now.

My two cents:
- If you go with Economist, use it to understand strategies and core concepts, and get your timing down with practice problems and tests. Then supplement with lots of GMAC OG problems and explanations from forums. GMAT forums were invaluable in filling knowledge gaps and refining strategies for attacking problems.
- Get in the right state of mind. For me this meant committing the hours and concluding that I would not leave this earth without a 700+. Even if i had to take the test 20 times I would get there.

The on-line course is amazing. It literally drives you through a thorough preparation, both on quant and verbal. You don't have to bother with planning your study and can focus on what really matters, that is the real gmat test. The course is adaptive and you have access to a 24/7 tutor service via e-mail which is incredibly responsive and prepared.
The course gives you more than just questions and answers, it gives you real hints in order to tackle almost every kind of GMAT question. Just trust it and go through it til the end, and can say goodbay to other preparation material, of any sort!

I truly recommend it. No doubt.

Took the whole online master GMAT. The result was awful.The course is about tricks and ways to fool the GMAT, instead of real content. I would recommend this course only for those who expect to get no more than 600, because that's the most you can get from its content. For me, it was waste of time.

After getting a horrible 530, I studied by myself, essentially with OG and Manhattan GMAT material, and got my 700.

To begin with, thank you Master GMAT. I came across this site only 2 weeks before my exam, and so took just the trial. I found it very helpful. The structured and methodical approach and the small tips on how to attempt questions made me realise what I was doing wrong.

I had a whopping 60 point leap,and I would give half the credit to Master GMAT. The classes are flexible, and ideal for working people.

I have recommended this to several people and will continue to do so.

First off, this review is for MASTER GMAT.

That being said, Master GMAT attracted me because of their flexible study approach (online) and having an interactive course compared to just using books. I would say it was more engaging than using books, and easier to access since you really don't need anything more than a computer. However, it also had some serious draw backs.

1. Customer Service
Master gmat opperates out of Isreal, so getting someone on the phone if you have any kind of question and live in North America is nearly impossible. This would not be such a big issue if their website was designed better. For example, the other day my course ended, and I was locked out. I tried to sign up again on a weekly basis, but the only way you can sign up is if you "upgrade" online to something more expensive than your original purchase. Therefore, I had to WAIT to purchase the weekly option until someone from Isreal was able to contact me. When you have a busy schedule, little things like this are incredibly frustrating.

2. Knowledge Base of Tutors
I can't really speak to the verbal tutor, as I think I only used that tutor once, but the quant tutor was not very helpful. You have the option of asking a question online, and each time I would ask a question she would simply copy and paste the answer that was already in front of me as her response. How in the world is that helpful? Also, I had a tutoring session with her via skype. She was 15 minutes late, and then proceeded to get questions wrong that we did through the course.

My recommendations--take the course, but I would not waste my money on having access to the tutors (either through a session or online) as they were not helpful at all!!!

I usually hate writing reviews but I have had such a great experience with MasterGMAT (now called GMAT Tutor from The Economist) that I feel obligated to put in some good words for them (yeah that's how good they were).

I took a Veritas practice test before I bought the Solo package and got a 640. Pretty solid place to start, I thought - plus MasterGMAT was offering a $151 discount, so even better (I paid $299 total).

I loved the adaptive learning model. It caters to what you need to learn to succeed - it goes faster if you already know the topic, and slower if you are having trouble with it. I will say that they repeat questions towards the end of the course, but who doesn't? I will also say that some of the Verbal questions are not super hard, so if you are aiming for 99% percentile I would suggest using supplemental materials. Otherwise, bottom line is if you can get to completing 80% of the course you will be in really good shape.

It also allows you to set the session duration. Most of us have day jobs, and sometimes I really don't feel like studying for a full 2-3 hours after a long day. MasterGMAT allows you to set the session duration to as low as 5 min. That gives me motivation to put in some time to study every single day. Who doesn't have 5 min? And they also have this little chart where you can see your progress, which I absolutely loved.

I also enjoyed having the opportunity to talk with a real tutor over Skype. I didn't need too much explanation regarding the contents themselves, as the website was already doing a great job, but I thoroughly enjoyed getting advice in exam strategy and time management. It gave me confidence that I will do well, which is very important to me. Of course, if you need help with the contents themselves I am sure that they will do a great job as well.

All in all, I really enjoyed the course, and it prepped me well. I never finished the course as I ran out of time to study, but I did finish 80% of it and also did 3 practice tests (crucial - DO NOT SKIP THEM) before taking the GMAT. I was lucky to have gotten a 740 (Q50, V41) in my first try, but I also know that I would not have gotten the score I wanted if it weren't for MasterGMAT.

Thank you MasterGMAT and its team for everything!

This course is highly recommended

Here is my story.

I started prepping in March 2012 and took the exam first time in July, but of course the net study time was much less, maybe 60 days. I studied mainly from

1) Manhattan GMAT study guides (8 of them, close to 2000 pages) and I literally finished over 90% of the material, very diligent studying, and I revised most the material again from Manhattan.

2) I solved all PS questions from Kaplan Advanced with a very high accuracy

2) I solved all of the OG problem solving but little on the OG verbal

3) I studied CR from CR Bible Power Score

I sat for the exam in July and my score was a miserable 580. This was a shock

Here are the mistakes/conclusions I made:

A) Biggest mistake: I did not practice with timing at all. I used to get all the questions in Manhattan and Kaplan correct but without timing, so some questions took like 5 minutes or 7 minutes and I assumed the most important is understanding the concept so when I see it again on the exam I will solve it fast and correct. On the exam I ran out of the time and left the last 5 questions blank on the Quant and 1 question in the verbal.

B) Manhattan is very long and too detailed. So by the time I reached the third strategy guide I forgot a lot of what's in the first one. However, this does not mean that I did not get any benefit from Manhattan, it certainly gave me a good foundation

C) Studying from books is boring especially for someone who has a busy life (work, family...etc).


After the disappointing score, someone recommended Knewton online and Master GMAT and I went with Master GMAT, mainly as I saw all their reviews were five stars and for their Artificial Intelligence system that tracks your weak points and consistently gives you questions in such areas till you improve

I took a free trial and I decided to subscribe.

I started on Master GMAT July 15 till August 1st. Stopped for 12 days as my wife was in delivery and then resumed slowly till August 27, then had a family trip and resumed slowly on Sept 10, but studied 1 day and 3 off, and took the test on Sept 25. So net study time was about 35 days, average 2.5 hours a day, for a total of approx 90 hours of study time. (60 Quant and 30 verbal)

And although I almost stopped studying for the last 3 weeks before the test, I still scored 710 (48 Q, 40 V) having finiahed only 60% of the Master GMAT course. If I had mote time to study I feel I would have easily got the 740 to 760 as I could have gained a point or 2 on Quant and 2 to 4 points on verbal.

Here are the key advantages about Master GMAT:

1) From day one, it boosts your appetite as it teaches you the tricks that make you solve every question type in a record time, such as process of elimination and ball parking. You will be amazed at how fast you can reach the answer. Hence, you get thousands of "AHA" moments to questions you previously would have lost interest in solving with the traditional book study method

2) It provides you with summary notes that get posted automatically in your account after each study session is completed. these are very very important for your final review

3) Flexibility to choose the length of the study session from 5 minutes up to hours. and when you finish each session you can start a new session of the length that suits your schedule

4) Performance measurement: it classifies the topics you studied under 3 buttons: weak, medium and strong, based on your performance in each topic.

5) Progress measurement: A graph that tells you what percent you finished so far in Quant and what % in verbal

6) Most Importantly, the intelligent system that detects your weak areas, and analyzes patterns and automatically drives you through the course by giving you the appropriate topic.

Great Course, Highly recommended.

I think MasterGMAT course has a rich content of quant and verbal but occasionally the verbal questions are much easier than the real exam (especially SC ones)

The topics in the course are well covered. You are able to cover all of the topics on the exam, at your own pace, all from the comfort of you own home. Sounds great on paper.

Though the course covers all the topics, the exams they use are clearly not accurate. During my first exam I was scoring in the 50th percentile in math, and in verbal. As the I continued to take their practice exams, my test scores were shooting through the roof. At first I was happy to see where my score was, (I was scoring in the high 700's). After completing all of the exams from the course, I paid for exams from Manhattan. The first test I scored in the mid 600's. Thought it was a fluke. Took another, again mid to low 600's. I was puzzled to why I was doing so poorly.

And then it all came to me. On the Master GMAT practice exams I was scoring in the 95th percentile in verbal. But still scoring fairly low in the quant section. I was scoring so well in the verbal section because ALL of the Reading Comprehension passages were the exact same passages they provide you while studying. I was already familiar with the passages, and didn't really have to read them in order to answer the questions. Thus giving me a big leg up.

Considering this fact, I'd be very careful as to how much you are willing to trust this course.