I have been teaching GMAT for several years and have taught more than two hundred students for several test prep companies. Over the years, I have heard students talking about the "good" in-class porgrams and the "bad" in-class programs.

I would like to hear from the forum members what their experiences have been like. I will share what I have heard as I get more input from you all.

Just a hint: The really good programs are not necessarily the big brand names.

The reason:

1. The big brand programs are geared towards mediocrity (that's where the biggest market is).

2. The brand comes at a premium. Which means less number of hours in the class. Some offer half of the in-class time offerred by better, smaller programs.

3. The wide reach of the big brand programs comes at the cost of the instructor quality. There just aren't enough of high scoring instructors to teach the large number of big brand locations. So they end up hiring less-than-stellar instructors.

I can think of three or four really good programs that are good value for money, have top instructors, and offer curriculum targeted for high scores. But I would rather let others on the forum come up with the names before I bias the conversation.

DISCLAIMER: I have taught for many test prep companies. I current teach for TESTPUNDIT. However, my advice will stay the same even if I did not teach there.

Discussion welcome.