I heard about GMAT Tutor from a friend, who said that was the best program she's ever used and it was really helpful. After completing my free one-week trial I still wasn't sure if the program is worth the money. Even though I liked it a lot.

I purchased the Complete Prep and at this point I'm quite happy about my choice, though I still have a long way to go before I finish the studies.

So far I can definitely name 3 big advantages of the program that I found the most useful:

1. Time-saving tips
Before purchasing the program I took a 2-month GMAT class where we got through all question types and their solving techniques. However, solving them fast is what actually matters. In GMAT Tutor they give you different time-solving tips which teach you how to identify the question quickly and know which technique to use after looking at the question for 1-2 seconds.
Even in the Verbal section, which I'm quite good at, I found some nice tips regarding Reading Comprehension questions.

2. Detailed explanations
Since math is my weak side, detailed explanations in Quant section have helped me a lot. I used to spend a lot of time solving the problems when studying with the books. Sometimes even answer keys left me clueless about how to solve something. Here I understand things much faster.

3. Mobile format
This iOS App has saved me a lot of time when I was waiting somewhere or was traveling. This is not how you would want to study all the time, but when you need to kill the time with benefits, GMAT Tutor App is the best. And you don't need to carry heavy books around.

As for the disadvantages, I haven't faced any so far. I've read about low-quality Skype sessions (I haven't done mine yet) and low overall level of the program, but for me it has only been about good things so far.

I would definitely recommend this program for those who don't have much time for preparations and like to study online or on the go.

Although the following review can be seen as a result of the economist?s incentive to review its course on this site, I can fully recommend the course.

pros:
+ interactive course layout
+ point forecast
+ essay review
+ 1 on 1 sessions
+ 24/7 availability

cons:
- sometimes answers to questions about the GMAT take more than 24 hours
- permanent internet connectiviy
- not really useful apps

If you're not interested in taking an in-person course, or if it doesn't work for your schedule, The Economist's online GMAT course was an excellent choice. The material is extremely clearly presented and well-explained, and the interactive nature of the modules forces you to stay engaged with the material. Rather than passively presenting information and/or videos, it requires you to continually respond to questions and interact with the course in order to continue through the sessions, which I found very helpful in being an active learner of the material.

One of the nice things about it is that you can indicate how much time you would like to spend studying, and it modifies the length of your session accordingly. Also, it has some great humor embedded throughout the content, which is always a plus.

Highly recommended. I was quite impressed by how well-structured the course was.

The approach is impressive and it focuses on learning by doing. I mean you will learn a small section in sentence correction, for example, and then you will some questions to practice.

Thanks to the economist, I learned how to tackle reading section correctly. At least, I do not have to spend more than 3 minutes to read all a passage anymore. I usually do initial reading of a short passage in 1.5 mins and of long passage in 2 mins. You can apply initial reading method of the economist to LSAT reading too. Now although I read part of a passage, I still find out purpose and expect contend of each paragraph.

I think the CR section is very good because you will have a lot of questions to practice.

However, I find some part of sentence correct course confused since it sometimes contradicts to knowledge I have got from manhattan SC book. I am not sure which course is totally correct but in many case I find manhattan SC book explain more properly.

I decided to buy Economist Prep only three weeks before my exam. I was searching for the course that would help me to revise all the topics and that would be interactive. Economist Prep was exactly that. First, it has this great customer interference that makes the course really easy to use. Second, the course adapts the study content to your needs: for example I had to practice sets so long that I stopped making mistakes. Third, you can use a lot of additional services. For example essay practice was simply great! What I also noticed is that I was never too tired for Economist GMAT tutor - when I came back from job I was often really tired, but I always managed to convince me to do a couple of excercices in Economist course. And when I started, it was hard to stop and go to sleep :). Another think that I would like to mention is that, I found their exams quite representative - I got in practice exams 650 and this was the score that I got in the real test. Although I am not satisfied with the score, I have to admit that I gain 80 points at least because of Economist GMAT tutor. So to sum up: for me buying this course was one of the best decisions I have taken in my GMAT preparation time. Good luck to all ;)

The Economist GMAT is strongly recommended for those who want to have their own schedule.
I would study half an hour before work and one or two more hours after work.
It keeps track of your performance and adapts its system depending on your level.
For example, I had already studied GMAT before using this prep and therefore was able to quickly finish the program.

I especially liked its program on the SC. Most of my time was dedicated to SC, perhaps because it was my weakest point (yes, I needed to improve on SC) and my SC became the strongest section when I wrote my last GMAT.

I would recommend this to anyone, especially if you are struggling with SC.

I used the GMAT Tutor Complete Package to prepare for the GMAT and found it to be very good preparation for the test. My results on the real GMAT were 49 quant, 45 verbal and 8 IR. Here are the three things that were strengths of this online course.

First, it was excellent preparation for the format and timing of the real exam. The course is computer-based and adaptive, just like the GMAT, so it?s much better practice than studying using books or a non-adaptive website. When I took the live GMAT, my timing and pacing were just right thanks to the way the program forced me to hone my time management skills. I was able to work through the real exam calmly and methodically because I had had so much realistic practice. The real exam was automatic for me.

Second, the quant part of the course was very effective for me. I studied engineering, but it had been years since I?d taken a course or test and the course presented all of the math topics for me to revise. After working through the explanations of, for example, rate problems, I then had the chance to work exam-type problems increasing in difficulty as I proved I could do the easier ones. I never had to spend much time doing easy problems and was able to quickly move onto doing lots of practice at the right level for me. The quant problems were very similar to the level and type of problems I got on the real GMAT.
Finally, I thought the progress chart and score forecaster were very motivating. I enjoyed seeing my progress line increase week on week. The score forecaster was introduced later in the course for me (perhaps they just rolled it out). The score forecaster was very accurate for me. It predicted my GMAT score as 750-760 and I got 760 on the live GMAT.

I don?t think the Reading Comprehension was as good as the other components. In the program, you read a passage and then answer a single question, unlike the real exam, which presents a passage followed by about 4 questions. I mentioned this to the customer service and they were not defensive at all ? they said they knew about this and were going to change the RC I believe. Also, the Skype tutoring sessions are a good idea, but the instructors weren?t well prepared for my sessions. I relied mostly on the self-study aspect of the course, which was enough for me.

I was definitely impressed by the course, especially the adaptive nature of it and the way it zeroed in on problems at the right level of difficulty for me at each point of the course. It?s easily the best online study tool I?ve come across.

Let me begin by saying that I first studied for the GMAT under the impression that I could do it on my own. I started off with the review books from Manhattan GMAT, which are good overall but you must be disciplined with yourself if you take the self-study route. After being out of college for a bit, it was a challenge to balance work and re-learning the basics to math concepts. I thought my verbal skills were good enough. I thought I had the material down and took the first test. I got a 540 and was not happy with my score. I looked into prep courses that you attended physically and just was not going to happen with work. The Economist provided the convenience of studying on my own time when I could and adjusting to my weaknesses. I highly recommend the trial period and see if you like it. The course, in my opinion, is excellent for verbal. You get drilled over and over and over on sentence correction and really pick up the grammar rules when you finish. I spent much more time on the quantitative sections (my weakness and the course adjusted as such). The course gets you to look at quant from a different perspective(plugging in / avoiding long algebra / turn the problem into a story and not everything being a math equation). I was always looking for the algebra route. I think a combination of the Economist quant section and other book materials could be very helpful. The course, I thought, would spend significant time on areas which I thought were not the "bulk" of the test, such as geometry. Then again, if you don't do well, you keep going over and over the material. Overall, I think this course is great for those who are time constrained with a busy work schedule or life style. You can pick from 5 min to 60 min intervals. There are no excuses for not being able to put in the time. I put in a little over 100 hours. My final score was 630. Not the greatest of scores to say and realize it in the competitiveness of GMAT scores, but certainly away from the 500s. Verbal got a significant boost and a slight improvement in quant. I have generally been the one to say courses for these exams are a waste of money (that's why I initially studied on my own), but if you are serious about this exam and perform better under outside instruction, I recommend the course.

After using a number of other software programs and books, i must say, the Economist GMAT tutor is by far the best method for online/ self study. the adaptive algorithm really focuses on your weak areas and builds u up with useful test taking strategies that focus on logic, efficiency and are built for success!

Definitely recommend over other courses (especially online ones) such as GMAT pill etc which i have tried before but just dont focus on the core teaching requirements.

The Economist GMAT Tutor is a must-have tool for anyone who plans to write GMAT and perform at his optimum. I kept postponing taking the GMAT till I tried the economist GMAT tutor's trial version, that when I knew this was the right time to beat the GMAT. This prep make learning fun and easy to combine with a busy work schedule.
In just about a month of using this prep, I have been reassured that a top score is within my reach. The clarity and understanding I have obtained from this prep is overwhelming. The prep is so interactive and clear that studying doesn't feel as stressful as we know studies to be but boosts your morale to go on and on.
In my brief use of this prep, my drive and focus with obtaining a good score has been increased because with every passing day my belief a passing with flying colours soars.
I recommend this prep for anyone to just try the trial version and I assure you, you will not regret one bit.

I indeed recommend the Economist GMAT Tutor for the test preparation, because of its very exceptional features:
Well-paced structure and adoptive approach to learning, that is very useful, like if you have your personal coach.
Unnecessarily wording free. Too many details are the very problem of all the "comprehensive" paper editions
Avaliable online at all the popular platforms. For me, I commonly use the IPhone version even more often the via web.
Result is tracked, an it is a really motivating factor for ongoing learning.

1 month in, 30% complete. Proceeding at a leisurely pace.

Focused and adaptive, this is the most efficient test prep I have ever done. The tone is conversational/instructional, and the pacing is energetic, but not hasty. It really feels like being with a highly skilled tutor, and has the plus of giving feedback on an objective basis. It does have the limit of forcing you through everything (although you can quickly pass a section if you perform perfectly, you must spend time with it, even if just 20-30 minutes.) Questions scale in difficulty, with there almost always being a focus on strategy. Bad answers will result in clues or advice, and right answers may prompt a further explanation, but there is an assumption that first you try. The adaptive system makes smooth transitions from focus to focus, different skills and topics, and at the same time chooses questions that are targeted for your learning level. Really, perfect presentation 95% of the time, making it better than any human or single book. The test grading is EXTREMELY informative, all of it, quant, verb, and essay, almost worth the costs, as you could vastly improve your score with that information alone. The live tutors have not proven useful to me, but I know some people who love hearing from a human. There is a long delay as of when I started (about 24-36hrs) and I find the automated system combined with the occasional online search regarding something quant to be perfect and expedient. I think live chat room tutors would be needed to really perfect the system, but I can imagine that would be prohibitively expensive for the company (the tutors are supposed to be tops in the skill they answer for.)

Very interesting concept based on Artificial Intelligence. If you do not solve a problem correctly, it will continue to drill you with more problems until you get it right a number of times. On the left hand side of the tool bar, you see all of the topics that you will eventually cover. It's similar to one large test bank with AI/CAT mentality. The student also has the option of asking a number of questions to a tutor, with fast response time, take a couple of practice exams, submit essays for review, and schedule live tutor sessions. You also get a free one week trial.

The Cons, you cannot specifically choose a topic to cover on your own, it feeds you what it assumes you should learn. You have the option to choose Verbal, Quant, or both, with a time limit up to one hour a session. You also have the option to choose a lesson plan yourself, but I noticed this was limited to not cover every topic.
If you do not have your foundations MASTERED, you are flat out of luck. It will take off without you, giving the impression of course filled with trick concepts to memorize and "ballpark" strategies.

After 30 + hours, Data Sufficiency was not even covered. Another draw back is not having a table of contents, a syllabus, or textbook resources. Everybody should have the foundations mastered(eventually), and I don't believe the Economist assumes you are completely fresh on the topics, but this course does not offer a review of the material at all.

This was the first of it's kind, revolutionary in a sense, but I don't think it was well thought out. Not having a specific strategy, a table of contents, or additional resources can get very frustrating for a student with exam deadline pressure. To improve the course I would suggest The Economist GMAT add a syllabus and additional resources in the form of textbooks and questions that relate directly back to the test itself.

No one can teach you all the best strategies as GMAT Tutor does, because there?s no such a great teacher for all subjects and strategies!! I took Veritas before and there?s no comparison?Veritas? books still use ?old-fashioned? GMAT questions?DO NOT WASTE TIME & MONEY!!
This course dissected Math & Verbal sections and will not teach you unnecessary stuffs?
Pros:
? Strategy oriented
? Learn by practicing (a lot!)
? Know your weaknesses (and the course will give u lots of questions to fix them)
? Teachers are usually great in only 1 subject, but this virtual tutor is amazing for both
? Created for those who want a really high score?plenty of hard questions
? Questions are really in the same way GMAC does, and updated, which most of the materials in the market (including Official Guide) is not that much
? You don?t need to plan studies, the tutor makes everything for you ?

Cons:
? There?s no additional discount as promised for this site
? You CANNOT review what you?ve done, so save screen shots with questions that it will be interesting to review later?nobody memorizes so many stuffs learned at once and it?s not true you?ll see similar questions later!!

I have completed around 40% of my course and it has been really good so far. The course is very intuitive and presents simple explanations for math and verbal problems. It also helps you with getting your timing right. What I really like about the course is that you just set the time you want to study and the course will do the rest for you. It will arrange the questions according to your level and increase the difficulty as you make progress. I highly reccomend this course to anybody. The score guarantee makes the course risk free. For me it was money well spent.

I started studying with the Economist GMAT Tutor about 2 months ago and have been very happy. I know how hard it can be to learn things online and so far this has been a great experience. Before problems there is always a tutorial that explains how to go about solving the problem. Even when you click on the right answer it still gives a very detailed explanation of how to get to that answer choice. When you answer a question wrong it gives a detailed explanation of why the answer you choose was wrong and help with choosing the answer choice next the right time. It gives you the ability to Skype with an actual person and get one on one help which is very nice as well. Overall this a very nice program I would highly recommend people that are going to take the GMAT to buy this course. It is well worth the money spent and the results will really show!

I looked at many other online courses before deciding on The Economist GMAT Tutor. I tried it for a week and decide it was both affordable and put together very well. I haven't taken the test yet but have applied for a test in January. I feel that these months of studying with the Economist tutor will have prepared me for the test so I can achieve a score that will allow me to get into the school of my choice. This is great course that is very thorough and keeps you interested throughout the course. I looked into many classroom prep courses but felt that being at home to study and not in a classroom with other people would be best for me since I am from another country.

GMAT tutor economist is a great way to learn for the GMAT! both the verbal part and the quant part are really well done and explained.

The great thing about this program is that whenever you get something wrong, some kind of exercise, it keeps on giving you that kind of exercise until it checks that you got it and you can do it!
Also the fact that if you get questions wrong it provides you promptly with the explanation of why you answered that way and how to answer correctly, contrary to gmat classes where you have to wait for the weekly lesson to know the right answer or contrary to gmat books, where you just get demotivated if you get the question wrong.

I still havent taken another official test to test if and how much i actually improved, but i definitely think i did therefore I highly suggest it to anyone out there!

I am writing to post a positive review of the GMAT tutor from the Economist. I am currently about halfway through the program.. dedicated about 49 hours. The program is adaptive and takes you through the important concepts in the GMAT in a particular sequence to efficiently navigate through question types. The program is utilized via iPad, which makes it more lively than working through endless paper books. Part of the program includes use of online tutors via Skype. Though helpful, I believe the online tutoring sessions are not as useful as going through the adaptive Q&A. Tutoring sessions are 45 minutes long, and usually go through 5 or so questions.

Customer service is excellent. Inquiries are usually resolved within 24 hours. I have not had any issues with bugs or problems with the program's function.

So far, my score has improved about 40 points, from 530 (diagnostic) to 570. I hope to dramatically improve my score after completing the second half of the program.

I was reading the news in www.economist.com, when suddenly an ad of the tutor appear, it called my attention and I clicked on it, it was the GMAT Tutor, so I decided to know more about it.
I started to use it and I was surprised when after 7 days, I knew more about some topics that I had studied a few weeks ago, specially in the Verbal section, where I got a deep view not only in some of CR techniques but also in RC.
I am going to take the GMAT in October, and I think I will be ready for that date with the help the tutor.