Review of Knewton GMAT Prep Course Online

Adaptive, flexible GMAT Prep course - highly recommend!

I followed a self-study strategy for my first GMAT attempt. I was not fully satisfied with my 700 score due to a huge disparity between my Verbal and Quant score, so I decided to retake the GMAT with the help of a formal GMAT course.

Since I travel frequently, I was looking for a GMAT course that was easily accessible at any time and any place. Knewton fit the bill due to its online-only program and courses on the weekdays and weekends. Knewton has an ongoing schedule of set courses that are available live and online for students. I started the Saturday/Sunday courses, a Verbal and a Quant section for each course. During the online courses, you see the instructor and can chat / ask anything (there is a moderator that views all comments prior to posting for all students to view). The online chat feature is especially handy if you usually do not ask questions during class. My favorite instructor was Bridgette - she taught Quant and was extremely patient with the students. Another benefit is that all classes are archived so you can view any class at any time - especially convenient for me since I missed a few classes.

In addition to the online classes, Knewton also holds office hours where the instructors solve questions that students submitted beforehand. These office hours, which are also archived for future viewing, are led by instructors and provide another avenue to learn concepts/strategies.

Besides the online classes, you will have homework to complete prior to the class. You do not need to complete the homework but doing so will definitely help you understand the concept during the session. Moreover, Knewton tracks your entire progress from the online practice tests to the weekly homework. This feature allows you to identify your strengths and more importantly, your weaknesses. Knewton also provides short explanations (text and some video) about almost every key Verbal and Quant concept.

Another reason why I decided to start this program was the Money-Back Guarantee. Since I started with a 700, I was skeptical about a 50-point increase. In the end, my score only increased by 10 points but the disparity between my Verbal and Quant scores was far less, which was my ultimate goal. Also, Knewton does honor this guarantee (and quite quickly which surprised me) as I received a full refund after providing the necessary evidence.

Knewton could improve on the following: better integration between my progress stats (i.e. present specific problems to solve to test my weaknesses) and the number of questions available for students. I supplemented the problems with the Official Guide questions (which everyone should probably do anyways) but I would have liked more problems from Knewton ideally targeted at my weakness areas.

I know that I did not receive a 50-point increase as the website guarantees but the program is solid and the website is easy to use and intuitive. The classes are set up so that any student can participate. The instructors are also easy to work with and usually good at going over the material and the practice questions. Overall, I would highly recommend Knewton.

Knewton-The best GMAT PREP In the world-Knewton!!!!!!

Hiya ,

I am iNDIAN student employed with government of india services .I am yet to give my gmat ,but what started of as a scary journey now seems so much easier .....thanks to the most wonderful teachers at knewton...before making a investment ,i was like "should i try this one as well ...coz i had tried so many other gmat preps"but believe me just in 2 weeks i feel i have recovered my money ....Normally indian students are good in maths ,its just the verbal that makes us grind ....But theres where knewton is so good ,not only is their matsh team exceptionnel but their verbal profs are simply mind boogling ....they teach it like a science ....u get to know real time how to eliminate wrong answers ....rules of english become your friends, thanks to their fun ways of teaching ..learning could never be so much fun

The Knewton teachers are fun ,they dance ,they sing ,they make education a fun journey ....allison farrow(Knewton proffesor) does oovu oovu song ,jen rugeni (Knewton prof)breaks out into dance of joys if her students do well ,dave(knewton prof ) has a vodka glass(just kidding)has the the most amazing knowledge of english and maths one can ever encounter .....these are all howard educated professors ....to back up with videos wherein you can see whatever concepts you need to strhetghen as many times as you want ,Knewton is way ahead of its competition.

To add further credit ,their response to my doubt questions have been excellent ......i can't thank lara (knewton professor)for responding to my doubts in a such detailed manner i have ever seen before .....truly its simply amazing ,with performance monitoring stuff and thousands of practise question ,knewton is too kewl "

Their office hours (Session wherein they share tough questions )twice a week is equally amazing ,best part is i can do their class despite my hectic work schedule and can kep up with deadlines ,i just love it ,

Summarising ,videos for each mini concept ,well organised 12 sessions ,which you can see time and again focussing on your areas of weakness ,3000+practise questions ,more than anyone else offers ,best teachers (this can't be refuted one bit ),the best support staff ,and at a price half of Manhattan ,kaplan or princeton their courses remain unmatched .And if someone doesnt believe me ,their 50 point back guarantee is no joke ,noone else offers that ...i thought initially what a crazy scheme ,but after studying at knewton ,i now relaise why they are so confident about their prep programme .....Still those who don't belive me ,yourl can attend a free test drive for a week ,attend live classes and figure it out yourself how super duber kewl it is......i also took a initial free test drive and after i got confidence ,i decided to go for it !!!!!Even there i found great friends like IRa ,Rebecca and Nina!!!!!!

Anyone want to know in further depth my experience can mail me at amlandutta007@rediffmail.com

Lastly ,this is the least i could do for them as a student ....i have tried many gmat preps before ,but really noother prep comes close .....I love ya ,Knewton!!!!

Humble Regards ,

Amlan Dutta

Great value, good class, needs CAT improvements

I took a Princeton Review course in April 2010 and then took the exam June 2010 with a score of 570, which was well below what I was expecting. A little confused, I did some research and decided that Knewton would be a good way for me to go, especially with its flexibility in watching lectures and moving ahead if you want.

Math-
My teacher was Bridigette and she was great. As an engineer, I have a strong quant foundation and I was less concerned about this section. However, Bridigette taught some unique approaches to certain problems that really helped me with my timing. Highly recommend her. And the course I think definitely helped me improve my math score especially with timing, which allowed me speed through easier problems and spend more time on the difficult ones.

As for the math content, it is pretty good, but could be better. I feel like Knewton either would copy OG problems and change the numbers or would make the calculations much more difficult. The actual GMAT rarely makes you do difficult calculations.

My other beef with Knewton Math is with their CATs. The first three were fine, but the last two were all over the place. One of the exams I only missed 4 out of 37 and only scored 47. On the GMATPrep, I missed 7 and scored 50. On my last CAT, I missed 9 problems, several of which were very difficult and scored 40 on the Math. They claim their algorithm is fine, but it really is not.

It really doesn't matter that much though, and so I don't want to deter others from taking this course. Just because the CATs are poor doesn't mean the course is. Just be sure that you are understanding the content, are improving your timing and are getting better.

Verbal-
My instructor was Allison. She was pretty good, but not great. She would often make mistakes when teaching, and would select the wrong answers. Not a huge deal, everyone is a little dyslexic sometimes. However, I felt like she wasn't the best teacher. She didn't have that teaching skill to make concepts stick. I had a one hour private session with Chris Wu and the differences between the two was apparent. Chris was great.

As for content, I felt like it was very good. I definitely learned 1000% more from Knewton than I did from Princeton Review (which is awful btw). They teach all the basics, and some nifty tricks come test time. However, they definitely lack in the more difficult verbal problems. When I took the GMAT this weekend, I definitely felt that on the whole, the problems were more difficult than what Knewton teaches, especially CR. I did very well in my prep in CR, both with Knewton and the OGs, but found the actual GMAT CRs to be more difficult.

The CATs seem to be pretty good on the Verbal Side

Overall-
-For being probably the cheapest test prep company, it's definitely worth the money. My score definitely went up because of Knewton. To what extent, I don't know.
-Don't trust the CATs, just trust whether you are understanding the content
-Teachers are really good on Knewton
-Flexibility is awesome, especially working full time
-Lots of good information and problems to choose from
-Don't go with Princeton Review!!!!

Also, just remember to do problems outside of the class. This class alone won't drastically improve your score. You need to supplement with OG problems and put in extra time with your weaknesses.

Good luck!

Very knowledgeable and friendly professors

I enjoyed the instructors very much. The were very knowledgeable and provided great structure on how to tackle GMAT problems. The best feature of Knewton is that classes can be taken over and over again. Kewton's smart software system enables its users to track progress which is a great motivator for the students

My Experience with Knewton

I have had great experience with Knewton course. Eventhough, my score didn't improve considerably, I found their course to be very effective and provided me well round experience. One can finish the preparation with in 3 to 4 weeks and best part is the recorded sessions. You can view them at your own convenience which is fantastic to improve week areas.

I recommend them for others.