Use our reviews of the best GMAT prep courses to find an option that fits your needs.
Our team went into these GMAT prep courses and provided you with an actual look at what you will find inside each course. We provided screenshots of our findings to help give you a better idea of what to expect.
We took factors like price, content, practice exams, and course guarantees into consideration when providing these reviews.
Best GMAT Prep Courses
| GMAT Prep | Magoosh | Princeton Review | Kaplan | Prep Scholar | Varsity Tutors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 91 | 91 | 81 | 76 | 68 |
| Best For | Value | In-Depth Learning | Classroom Learning | – | – |
| One of Our Picks | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Pricing (Self-Paced Option) | $349 | $799 | $850 | $259 | $599 |
| Subscription Length | 1 Year | 1 Year | 6 Months | 4 Months | 1 Year |
| Free Trial | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Guarantee | +70 | Score Higher | Score Higher | +60 | None |
| Practice Questions | 800+ | 4,480+ | 1,500+ | 1,00+ | 5,000+ |
| Practice Exams | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 12 |
| Delivery Options | Online (Self-Paced) | Online (Self-Paced), Online (Live), In-Person | Online (Self-Paced), Online (Live), In-Person | Online (Self-Paced) | Online (Small Group) |
| Videos | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Study Plan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Essay Feedback | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Score Predictor | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Summary | Our Review | Our Review | Our Review | Our Review | Our Review |
| Official Site | Visit Site | Visit Site | Visit Site | Visit Site | Visit Site |
Magoosh: Best Value
BPC Recommended
Best For
- Someone looking to study on a budget
- Someone who likes learning from shorter videos
- Someone looking for a "set" score increase guarantee
Not Recommended For
- Someone looking to learn from non-video lessons
Key Decision Making Factors
Price
Best value. One of the cheapest courses we reviewed and get access for 1 year.
Guarantee
Guaranteed to raise your score by +70 points.
Content
Study schedules, score predictors and 200+ video lessons.
Questions
Over 800 practice questions. 2 practice exams.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Price – best value on market
- Unique score predictor
- Bite-sized videos
Cons
- Video lessons are main form of learning
What to Expect – Hands on Walkthrough
Magoosh offers a couple of different plans for students looking for GMAT prep. There are 3 online courses offered by Magoosh for the official GMAT:
- Premium (6 Months): Self-paced prep course with access for 6 months.
- Premium (12 Months): Self-paced prep course with access for 12 months.
- Premium + Admissions: Self paced course with access for 12 months and admissions help.
Our team took an in-depth look at the “premium” prep course. You can review our findings below:
The course contains review materials on all sections tested on the GMAT. There are more than 200 video lessons, 800+ practice questions, and at least 2 practice exams (can take more). Students will have access to the course for 1 year and are guaranteed a +70 score improvement.
The first thing students will see when they login to their course is their student dashboard. This is “homebase” for the student. Students will be able to easily navigate everywhere they need to go from the dashboard.
There is a results summary section on the dashboard that quickly breaks down your results as your progress through the course. You will see things like number of questions answered, your average pace, and others’ average pace. You will also see an estimated score if you were to take the GMAT today – this estimated score is always changing as your progress through the course.
The “lessons” tab is where you will be spending a majority of your time. This is where all of the video lessons are housed. The lessons are organized nicely and have a nice flow.
Magoosh does a nice job of keeping the video lessons on the shorter side. These shorter video lessons help keep a student’s attention and retain more information. The lessons consist of the instructor speaking over slides – this can get boring but at least the instructor makes notes and marks in real-time so there is a bit of an interactive element.
The “practice” tab is another useful part of this prep course. Students can create custom practice sessions and work on specific portions of the GMAT. Students can filter questions by section, subject, and difficulty. A time limit can also be added.
The “practice” tab is also where students will find their full-length practice exams. These are a great way to prepare for the actual exam and get a baseline for how your studies are progressing.
The “review” tab is where you can review questions you have already answered. You can filter these questions by various things like result (if you got it correct or incorrect), section, subject, and pace.
In this portion of the course you will see the percent of questions you got correct, your average pace, and others’ average pace. You can even click on a question and get a very detailed answer explanation of why it was correct or incorrect – most answer explanations even include a video explaining the question.
Finally, under the “resources” tab, students will find helpful things like study plans, flashcards, and additional study materials. There are numerous study plans that are broken down by amount of time you wish to study (1-month, 2-month, 3-month, etc…).
Screenshots
BPC Recommended
Score: 91
Why Choose Magoosh
- Bite-sized video lessons
- Fantastic value
- Great score increase guarantee
Princeton Review: Best for In-Depth Learning
BPC Recommended
Best For
- Students looking for something comprehensive
- Students looking to study efficiently
- Students looking for tons of practice exams and questions
Not Recommended For
- Students shopping on a budget
Key Decision Making Factors
Price
Super cheap when looking at everything offered in the course.
Guarantee
Students can repeat the course for free if unhappy with score received.
Content
Quick lesson reviews, adaptive drills and videos, and innovative tools like DrillBuilder.
Questions
Over 4,480 practice questions and 4 practice exams.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Amount of content you get
- DrillBuilder tool
- Adaptive videos and drills
Cons
- On the more expensive side
What to Expect – Hands on Walkthrough
Princeton Review has 4 different options for students looking to prepare for the official GMAT. We have listed the options below:
- Self-Paced Course: Self-paced prep course where students can study at their own pace.
- Core Concepts Course: Includes everything in the self-paced course as well as 18 hours of live classroom time.
- GMAT 645+ Course: Includes everything in the self-paced course and fundamentals course as well as 30+ hours of classroom time.
- Private Tutoring: The most personalized approach that Princeton Review offers.
Since the content and features of the self-paced course are included in all of the above courses, we took an in-depth look inside that course. You can review our findings below:
The “coursework” tab is where you will be spending the majority of your time. The lessons are split up into 4 main categories:
- Strategies
- Integrated Reasoning
- Quantitative
- Verbal
Each of these categories is further split into specific topics. This organizational structure makes it possible to learn in an efficient manner. Each topic consists of lessons that are followed by a drill.
The videos in this course are adaptive. This means that you will watch a video and answer some questions – if you get it right, you will move on. If you get it wrong, you will be guided to more content on that specific topic. This is one of our teams favorite features as it really helps you study more efficiently.
The drills are adaptive and give you questions based on how you did in your lesson. You can choose to complete the drill in practice or learn mode – practice mode waits until the end to show you your results while learn shows you your results after each question. Every question contains an answer explanation to help you better understand the concept.
The “practice tests” tab is where you will find all of your full-length practice exams. There are 10 included in the course. The exams are timed and do a great job of simulating the actual exam. After you submit your exam, you will receive a detailed score report.
The score report will give you a score for each section of the GMAT and provide an in-depth breakdown of each section. You will be able to see how you answered specific questions, the amount of time you spent on each question, and answer explanations for every question.
If you want additional practice, you can go to the “DrillBuilder” tab. You will see different options for putting together practice sessions. You can choose between letting the algorithm customize your prep or customizing the prep yourself. If you choose to customize the session yourself, you can choose between the subject, the topic, difficulty, duration, and more.
Finally, you can visit the “schedule” tab to see different office hours sessions. These sessions are included in the course free of charge and allow you to listen to an expert review important concepts. If you cannot make the live session, you can watch the recording of the session.
Screenshots
BPC Recommended
Score: 91
Why Choose Princeton Review
- Very comprehensive
- Adaptive drills and videos
- Combination of practice exams and questions
Kaplan: Best for Classroom Learning
BPC Recommended
Best For
- Someone looking for classroom learning
- Someone who may be studying on their phone (app)
Not Recommended For
- Someone who has trouble sitting though long lectures
- Someone looking to study for cheap
Key Decision Making Factors
Price
On the higher end in terms of pricing when compared to others.
Guarantee
Score higher or repeat course for free/get money back.
Content
25 interactice lessons, eBooks, guides, and more.
Questions
1,500+ practice questions and 6 GMAT practice exams.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Classroom learning hours
- Great app
- Different course offerings provide
Cons
- Expensive
- Long videos
What to Expect – Hands on Walkthrough
Kaplan has recently improved their GMAT course by acquiring Manhattan Prep. Kaplan has a couple of different options available to students but their most popular option is the on-demand self-paced course. You will find the following in that course:
- 6 complete computer adaptive tests for practice.
- A GMAT adaptive Qbank, plus 1000+ practice questions.
- 25+ interactive video lessons
- Two 5-hour GMAT math workshops
- 6 months of online access.
- eBooks
- Access to mobile app
- Test simulation booklet
The first thing you will notice when you go into the course is that it will feel like a Manhattan Prep course. The Manhattan Prep branding is everywhere – rest assured, you purchased the right course. Kaplan and Manhattan Prep are one company now.
When our team first went into the course, the user interface was a bit confusing. It took us 10-15 minutes to figure out where we should be and where certain things were. After the brief learning period, we were able to figure out how the course flowed.
The course is broken into different “sessions.” You will find that these sessions are broken into different categories. You will find that most of the sessions are broken into the parts you will see on the GMAT:
- General
- Verbal
- Quant
You will different things in each of these categories like lectures, practice questions, and assigned readings. Our team liked the diagnostic math exam we took at the beginning of session 1.
You will find that this course uses longer videos when compares to other GMAT prep providers. This is neither good nor bad, it just depends on how you like to learn.
The videos are somewhat underwhelming but get the job done. You will sit there and watch a teacher talk and annotate over some notes – they could do a better job of making the lectures more engaging.
Kaplan is the winner in terms classroom learning. Their advanced and complete prep course options offer 18 and 27 hours of live online learning.
Another cool feature our team enjoyed was the “Navigator.” This tool allows you to search for questions that appear in the “GMAT Official Guide.” If you are using or plan on using that resource, this tool is really great and will help you save time as well as provide you with additional resources to what that book provides.
When Kaplan acquired Manhattan Prep, this course instantly got better. One big reason is the mobile app. Manhattan Prep has a great mobile app that is now implemented in this course. Students can now easily study on the fly if they need to – this is different from some of the other providers.
Kaplan, like many GMAT test prep companies, offers a Higher Score Money-back guarantee. If a test-taker completes the Kaplan GMAT prep program and takes the official test with a score that does not improve over the student’s recorded baseline score, the test-taker will have two options from which to select.
- A free reactivation (within 60 days of the previous program’s expiration date) for an additional twelve weeks -this does not include live classes, tutoring or coaching).
- Money-Back option.
If a test-taker completes the Kaplan GMAT prep program and takes the official test with a score that improves over the baseline score, but they are unhappy with the score, they can ask for a free reactivation, as noted above.
Screenshots
BPC Recommended
Score: 81
Why Choose Kaplan
- Classroom learning
- Well-known provider with experience in test prep industry
PrepScholar
PrepScholar
Best For
- Someone looking for an affordable option
- Someone looking for a solid guarantee
Not Recommended For
- Someone wanting a lot of practice questions
Key Decision Making Factors
Price
One of the cheaper options we reviewed.
Guarantee
+60-point improvement. Pretty solid guarantee.
Content
100+ hours of content and use of diagnostic tools.
Questions
1,000 practice questions and 4 practice exams.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- +60-point score improvement
- Price point
Cons
- Only have 4 months of access
- Lower number of practice questions offered compared to others
What to Expect – Hands on Walkthrough
PrepScholar is a GMAT preparation course provider staffed by a group of dedicated GMAT experts. PrepScholar offers its GMAT preparation course options with its double guarantee – a five-day risk-free trial and a complete refund if you do not improve your GMAT score by a minimum of 60 points.
PrepScholar encourages you to test-drive the product using its diagnostic assessment tool – while enjoying the five-day risk-free policy. The diagnostic tool reveals your areas in need of study and creates a personalized study plan.
PrepScholar offers these GMAT courses.
Self-Guided Online GMAT Prep: Best for students beginning GMAT prep and want a diagnostic tool and guidance.
- Access Period – 3 months.
- Diagnostic Assessment.
- Practice Questions – 750+
- Answers explained in detail, on videos.
- GMAT Skill Lessons – 30+
- GMAT Strategy Lessons – 5
- Email support.
- Price – $139
Complete GMAT Prep: Best for students wanting a fully customizable experience.
- Access Period – 4 months.
- Diagnostic Assessment.
- 40+ Hours of Content.
- Practice Questions – 1,000+
- Answers explained in detail, on videos
- GMAT Skill Lessons – 30+
- GMAT Strategy Lessons – 10
- Email support.
- Price – $259
PrepScholar
Score: 76
Varisty Tutors
Varsity Tutors
Best For
- Someone looking for small group learning
- Someone who likes practice questions
Not Recommended For
- Someone wanting to study on their own schedule
Key Decision Making Factors
Price
Good price for small group learning.
Guarantee
No guarantee for students when taking this course.
Content
20 hours of online small group learning paired with additional resources.
Questions
5,000+ practice questions and 12 practice exams offered to students.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Large number of practice questions
- Small group sessions
Cons
- No self-paced option
- No study plan or essay feedback
What to Expect – Hands on Walkthrough
Varsity Tutors offers small group classes for $599. These small group classes consist of 6-9 students and an instructor. Varsity Tutors notes on its website that the average increase in the GMAT score of students who have taken its prep course is 140 points.
The small group classes last for 5 weeks and have various start dates – there should be an option that works for everyone. The class consists of 20 hours of live instruction that takes place in a small group setting.
Students will get personalized help and attention from their instructor as well as the added benefit of learning with other like-minded individuals.
In addition to these 20 hours of online instruction, students will also have self-study resources they can utilize to supplement their live learning. Some of those resources include practice tests, practice questions, strategy guides, and flashcards.
Varsity Tutors also offers free first lessons for students as a test-drive – with no strings attached. These freebie classes are available at a variety of times during the week and on the weekends as well.
Varisty Tutors
Score: 68
Why Choose Varisty Tutors
- Good number of practice questions
- Small group sessions
Criteria Used to Rate GMAT Courses
We used the following 4 criteria when ranking the above courses:
1. Price
Many individuals take price into consideration when purchasing GMAT prep. As most students will not have an unlimited budget, we decided to factor price into our rankings.
With that being said, price should not be the only factor to consider. Many courses are around the same price point, so it is important to consider other things as well.
2. Content
This is how many courses differentiate themselves from each other. Content is how you will end up learning almost all the material you need.
It is important to review and compare the content between GMAT courses when making a purchase. You can match a course with your specific type of learning style, because not everyone learns the same way.
3. Questions
Questions are a fantastic way to prepare for your GMAT. We used questions as a ranking factor in our reviews.
Some things that fall under this umbrella could include practice exams, question banks, stand-alone questions, stand-alone quizzes, answer explanations, and more.
Many providers put their own spin on questions, so it is important to review and compare them.
4. Guarantee
Purchasing a GMAT prep course is not cheap. Many providers offer some form of course guarantee, so we could not overlook this when ranking the best GMAT prep courses.
The guarantees do vary from provider to provider. Some courses will include a money-back guarantee, while others will include a score increase guarantee.
Overview of Our Review Process
We follow a standard review process when reviewing all prep courses. Included in our process is:
- Researching Providers: We make a list of all providers offering a product that fits the needs of the review we are making.
- Narrowing Down of Providers: We conduct some in-depth research on these providers and narrow down our list to the ones we really want to dive into.
- Taking the Course: We go into these courses and complete portions of the course, just like an actual user.
- Giving Out a Score Based on Findings: We give out a proprietary score based on the different criteria we looked at.
- Crafting the Review: We begin the editorial process in this step. We present the information we found, our take, pros, cons, and more.
- Updating the Reviews: We are constantly updating our reviews in an attempt to reflect the ever-changing GMAT prep industry.
You can read more about our review process.
Do You Need a GMAT Prep Course?
GMAT prep may not be for everyone. A GMAT prep course can be very expensive with some options costing more than $1,000.
Some students may prefer to learn in an in-person setting, if this is the case, you may not excel with an online GMAT prep course.
Some students may just not have the time and resources to commit to a GMAT prep course, which is 100% fine.
FAQs About GMAT Prep
Which GMAT prep courses are the best?
We looked at numerous different courses. After comparing the courses and going into the actual courses, our favorites were:
- Best Value: Magoosh
- Best for In-Depth Learning: Princeton Review
- Best for Classroom Learning: Kaplan
Is a GMAT prep course worth it?
GMAT prep courses are a great way to learn new material and refresh yourself on old material.
Purchasing a prep course should be looked at as an investment in your future. You will reap the benefits of using a prep course and scoring well on the GMAT.
How much are GMAT prep courses?
GMAT prep courses have a wide range when it comes to price. The low end of courses is right around $250 while the high end can be $1,000+.
Magoosh was our choice for best value coming in at $349.
