guidance on courses and

[dpmehta]

I just gave my gmat today and did horribly bad.. I got 23 on Analitical and 37 on Quants for a total of 550. I had prepared for about 5 weeks and i guess was not enough

I am confused whether to take classes or just keep pracitsing on my own. can someone recommend what to do? Which class to take I was thinking of taking the manhattan class but it is not offered in my area and I dont know how good of an idea is to do an online class?? if you'll recommend taking classes which one should i take.. kaplan, veritas or manhattan online

Also, how much time do you guys think I would need to pull up my score above 650-700+ before I give me test again.. do u guys think that mid october is too optimistic??? since I plan to apply for next year.. so it would get really hectic considering all the applications , gmat studies plus work..

thank you so much in advance for any tips and suggestions.

[beny]

Manhattan online courses are 9 weeks, so you wouldn't be able to finish the class by mid-October.

[fsar45]

I would highly recommend getting the review book Cracking the GMAT. It has great strategies that can help you break out of the 550s. I would try a bit more serious prep before deciding on a prep course, and then if it's not happening, go for it.

[Stacey Koprince]

Most courses run at least 2 months. In fact, even when prepping on their own, people usually prep for 2-4 months - so, yes, 5 weeks was probably not enough time.

You'll have to factor in your timing when deciding whether to continue studying on your own or taking a course, but if you are applying this fall for next year, you might not have time to first try studying on your own and then take a course.

FYI: for our online classes, we ask students (in a survey at the end of the course) whether they found the online format more effective, as effective, or less effective than an in-person course. It's rare that anyone says it's less effective. In fact, I just finished a course recently, and about 1/3 of the people said it was more effective than an in-person class; the other 2/3 said it was as effective. Nobody said it was less effective.

One reason students actually like it more: every online class has two instructors simultaneously. While one teaches, the other answers questions in the direct messaging window, so students don't have to interrupt class to ask questions. That means more gets taught and students get to ask more questions than they would in an in-person classroom.