Around two months ago, I started looking into GMAT prep schools, and didn't expect to find much. My past experiences with test prep were complete misses. (I took Becker's CFA - which was really just insanely crowded and a one way lecture. The other was princeton review's SAT, which i didn't enjoy, but to be fair, that was a decade ago)
When I happend upon MBA House through Google, I became curious. First they were new, but they had experience from Brazil. Very little info beyond that, but they were also based out of Soho. My rational is that they must have done well enough in Brazil to take a gamble in an expensive part of the big apple, or they were confident they were good. I know it sounds crazy to evaluate this way, but it made sense to me to weight that fact in.
The other, was that they offered unlimited private tutoring at a fixed price. I was considering getting a private tutor instead of taking a prep school . .. and well, I figured worst case I would get access to some private tutoring.
Fast forward, I signed up after some due diligence even after vowing not to do a prep school. Here are the big pros and some cons so far:
pros
1) Instructors are top notch AND generous with their time. Adam, who only teaches verbal, you can tell, knows his verbal darn well and can articulate and teach to boot. Kevin, who does math, was the guy that really did like math as a kid. He also makes complex questions simple. . . this can be annoying at times if you've been stumped=)
2) The BIG plus for me is you can take their classes live, live over internet, or recorded. I was skeptical over the live vs offline, but it works really well. I travelled for a week to LA for work, and was able to attend live classes or play pre-recorded, and was surprised and how effective and clear the material was.
3) Time - I have 6 months to get this done. I can use them without limit. I can go on vacation. I can go to momofuku. I can study my ass off. I can go on my own time. (With that said, falling off on your studies can also mean decay and more time spent in re-reviewing . . . so don't go nuts here)
cons
1) If you're looking for a short-cut, this place isn't it. Unless your at the happy end of the bell curve of genetic "super", you do have to study. Sometimes, you have to study hard. They make it easy, structured, and give you all the tools. You still have to build. Why is this a con? Well . . .if you were expecting a silver bullet, the magic pill . . . if so, did I mention I can also sell you a unicorn? Call me . . . the horn grows in a year.
2) They will know your name. They will know if you're not studying. Guilt may get you to focus. Guilt is also guilt.
Anyway, I am around 5 weeks all in and if you can't tell, things are going really well. I'll post again once I take the actual GMAT, and feel free to message me. read more