facebook

Magoosh GRE Prep Course Review (2024 Update) 

William Cohen
Published by William Cohen
Last Updated On: April 19, 2022

Are you interested in applying to grad school? If so, you’ll need a foolproof plan to ace the GRE. One of the best ways to improve your GRE score is to sign up for a prep course through a test prep company.

After reading so many positive reviews about Magoosh GRE prep, we decided to give it a try and let you know what we think. In this review, we’ll uncover the secrets to the Magoosh GRE test prep success.

What Is the Magoosh GRE Prep Course?

Magoosh

The Magoosh GRE preparatory course is a GRE review class offered completely online, giving students the flexibility to study on their own terms.

Their prep course comes with hours of video lessons, GRE practice exams, study plans, Magoosh practice questions, and video explanations.

Magoosh was started in 2008 by two students attending business school. They had an idea to create better test preparation for students who wish to take any standardized test.

They are now headquartered in Berkeley, California, and offer general test prep services for a wide range of college and graduate exams.

Ranking 1
STARTING PRICE 149$
PRICE OPTIONS & ACCESSIBILITY 1 Month Access $149
6 Month Acesss $179
FREE TRIAL 7-day Free Trial
# PRACTICE QUESTIONS 1,200+
PRACTICE EXAMS 3
SCORE PREDICTOR ACCURACY 99%
ASSIGNED HOMEWORK
GUARANTEE 5-point Score Increase Guarantee, 7 Day Money-Back Guarantee
FORMAT Self-Paced
COURSE BOOKS Online Only
VIDEO INSTRUCTIONS 5 hours of GRE lesson videos
43 hours of explanation videos
YOUTUBE CHANNEL 50+ GRE PRACTICE AND SUPPORT VIDEOS
COURSE DEMO
STUDY PLAN
PROGRESS TRACKING
FLASHCARDS
MOBILE APP
ESSAY GRADING
LIVE TUTORING Premium + classes $179
(Unlimited drop-in classes)
STUDENT SUPPORT Email & live chat support

What Are The Course Highlights?

The course offers students the flexibility to choose how they complete their Magoosh GRE  prep review. Everything is offered online, but they have 2 main online GRE course options. Students can choose to pay for 1 or 6-month premium access to the same course material.

Magoosh GRE prep review offers section specific options for both the quantitative reasoning and verbal reasoning portions of the GRE. Based on our review, the Magoosh GRE study course also offers one of the best money-back guarantees in the business.

Pros
  • GRE practice equestions
  • +5 score improvement guarantee
  • Score predictor algorithm
  • Anytime, anywhere access
Cons
  • No live online options

Magoosh GRE Prep Course: 7 Things You Need To Know

study materials

1. Course Options and Plans

Magoosh GRE review gives students 2 primary options - a last-minute general test review or a comprehensive plan. Students who need last-minute GRE preparation can purchase a 1-month plan access. If you need more time, you can sign up for 6 months of access. Each premium plan comes with the same study material.

With Magoosh’s GRE course, students get comprehensive review lessons for verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing. You will also have access to over 1200 real GRE practice questions, hours of video lessons, 3 full-length practice tests, and multiple study plans.

Whether you choose the 1 or 6 month access pass will depend on how much time you have to study. As per our review, Magoosh provides unlimited email support, a 5 point score increase guarantee, and a score predictor.

2. Math Only

Magoosh GRE test prep course offers a math-only review option best suited for students who want to raise their quant score, which is often the most challenging portion for students to master. The GRE math only option comes with 6 months of access, and a 2-point score increase promise.

3. Verbal and Analytical Writing Only

If you happen to be a master at math but struggle with the GRE verbal section, then you can check out Magoosh’s verbal and analytical writing GRE course. It focuses on helping many students develop effective strategies for tackling every verbal GRE question and practice exam.

This GRE tutor option also comes with a 6-month plan access pass and a 2-point score guarantee.

4. Free Trial

Like many GRE prep companies, Magoosh has a free 7-day trial period. The free trial period gives you access to over 20 real practice questions and video explanations. This might be a great way for many students to see if it is right for them.

5. Pricing

One of the features that make the Magoosh GRE review course so well known and appealing is its affordability. As per research, they offer a bunch of free resources for GRE preparation at a fraction of other providers' costs.

They can keep their pricing low by only offering online course material versus in-person sessions. One of the good things  is that they provide frequent promo codes and sales to lower the price of the GRE study course. All in all, it is significantly cheaper than other companies.

6. Score Guarantee

Magoosh has one of the most ambitious GRE score guarantees in the business. They offer a money-back guarantee if you don’t have at least a 5-point score improvement.

This money-back guarantee is contingent upon the fact that a student must complete all practice sessions, GRE questions, and practice exams before test day. It provides peace of mind knowing that you can get your money back if you don’t improve your score.

7. Other Resources

We liked how Magoosh provided extra resources at no cost to the student. You get access to a study plan, a vocabulary building tool, GRE vocabulary flashcards, math flashcards, and a GRE blog to help with any questions you might have.

All of these free GRE resources are included in the premium plan. Honestly, flashcards are one of the most helpful tools for us, so we found this feature extremely useful.

What’s The Curriculum?

studying Magoosh GRE

The Magoosh GRE course offers impressive course material at a fraction of other GRE courses' costs. Magoosh GRE offers their coursework in a library format, whereas other GRE prep courses build upon each lesson.

Within each module, there is a topic video lesson followed by practice questions. This makes it easy for students to pick and choose what they want to study.

Video Explanation

We thought the video lessons were informative and great for most people, especially visual learners. The GRE videos are set up like a digital whiteboard to provide explanations and examples. There is a set of practice problems after each video that helps you reinforce what you just learned. After each video, there are text explanations.

Customizable Practice Test

Magoosh GRE also has a function for students to customize practice problem sets, which we thought was one of their GRE course's best features. You can add proactive problems and work on them in quiz mode or practice mode.

Magoosh GRE offers 3 practice exams that mimic the actual GRE. The GRE practice tests are taken on the computer with an adaptive algorithm that provides students with more difficult questions as they progress through the test. While 3 practice tests are not as many as other GRE prep courses, we thought it was enough for most cases.

Review Function

We also liked the review function that Magoosh offers. You can quickly and easily monitor your progress by clicking on the review screen. You can see a percentage of GRE questions that you missed, which helps you pinpoint exactly where your weak areas are. It also allows you to monitor your pacing.

Study Plan

While Magoosh may have its pros and cons, one of the most helpful features is the study plans. More than 10 different study schedules provide students with a checklist of activities to complete in a specific time frame. This is immensely helpful for self-study courses. Each study schedule can be adapted to suit student’s needs and availability.

The Magoosh study schedules are tailored to fit the needs of each student. They offer checklists for one week, one month, and even 6 months, depending on how much time you have to prepare. Every study plan provides a day to day guide for studying for the revised GRE exam.

You can check items off the list as your progress through them. Most students enjoy having a specific schedule to help keep them on track and ensure they are studying for an adequate amount of time. In case you wish to learn more about GRE preparation time, you should read this guide.

Who Should Use Magoosh GRE Prep?

self learning

When it comes to the GRE, Magoosh knows their stuff. We think this program is best for students that are self-starters.

Since you have to work through the materials on your own without guidance, you should be motivated to stick to your study schedule.

The Magoosh GRE course is ideal for students who want a flexible platform for learning whenever and wherever they want. You might want to look at another GRE course if you prefer in-person lessons for any graduate program.

Potential Downsides

To be honest, it was difficult for us to find many shortfalls with the Magoosh GRE class. If we had to choose one, we could say that you might want to select another option if you are looking for an in-person course. They also don’t have any tutoring options for the Graduate Record Examination.

Also Read: Are GRE Prep Courses Worth It?

Real Student Results from Taking the Magoosh GRE Course

We wanted to find out whether students who took the course saw a real improvement in their GRE test scores.

Accordingly, we had students take a GRE prep test before and after taking the course. We obtained each student’s Quantitative Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning results from each test and compared them to determine a percentage improvement.

Students saw a significant improvement in test scores as a result of using the course. For example, one student achieved a 21.6% improvement in score, while another achieved a 13.2% gain.

 

Magoosh

TEST SCORE PREDICTOR (QUANTITATIVE + REASONING)
Baseline (Before taking the course)
After studying the course
Improvement
 
Student 1
272
308
13.2%
Student 2
304
328
7.9%
Student 3
294
312
6.1%
Smallest Improvement
Student 4
288
310
7.6%
Student 5
268
326
21.6%
Largest Improvement

GRE Logo

Magoosh GRE Prep Estimates VS. Real Test Scores

The important part of the preparation for the GRE is a simulation of a test.

If it is accurate, it should answer the question: “Will I pass the real thing, and how will I score?

” Once you are sure you will do good, there will be no stress or fear of failing.

To test the accuracy of the Magoosh GRE test prep, we decided to do a survey of our own.

First, we asked five students to study only using Magoosh GRE Course, including taking their prep test.

After that, we asked them to do the real GRE. Comparing the results gave us the statistics we needed.

Here you can see how they scored:

 

Magoosh

QUANTITATIVE REASONING
Before
(Test score
predictor)
Real
GRE Test
Score 
%Accuracy   
Student 1
154
158
97% 
Student 2
164
166
99% 
Student 3
156
158
99% 
Student 4
155
158
98% 
Student 5
163
163
100%  
99%  
VERBAL REASONING
  Before
(Test score
predictor)
Real
GRE Test
Score 
%Accuracy   
153
157
97%
159
152
96%
153
157
97%
157
165
95%
157
158
99%
97%  

GRE Logo

Considering the table of results, we can say: Yes, you probably will pass GRE if you pass Magoosh GRE Prep, and we are 97-99% sure of that.

Questions in the Magoosh are a little harder than the actual GRE, so there may be a slight underscoring in the prep exam.

However, we can conclude that it is pretty accurate, especially for the Quant part of the exam.

What Do Other People Say?

You’ve heard it from us, but what do Magoosh students say about the course? Magoosh seems to have rave reviews from students. On TrustPilot, Magoosh earned an “excellent” rating of 4.7 stars [1].

Magoosh helped keep me on track, at a much lower price point than other test prep systems. I followed the one-month plan, and was happy to do small pieces of prep each day.

- Verified Magoosh student and GRE test taker [2]

Read More:

FAQs

What are the payment options?

You can make a one-time payment with any major credit card for these test prep courses. You can also use your PayPal account.

Does Magoosh grade the essay portion?

No, they do not grade your analytical writing essay. They offer guidance and strategies for succeeding, but they don’t provide you with a score.

How does Magoosh’s refund policy work?

If you are not satisfied, within 7 days after your purchase, you can email Magoosh, and they will give you your money back with no questions asked.

Do I need to buy any additional books or study materials?

Nope. Based on our research, most people claim that everything you need is provided by Magoosh using their online platform. However, if you want to use your old GRE prep book as an additional study material, you may do so.

Will I have access to Magoosh's GRE prep?

Yes, the Magoosh premium plan gives students 3 practice tests. Each online test is designed to be like the real GRE.

Is Magoosh GRE test material available on iPhone and Android?

Yes, all of the premium plan material is available on iPhone, iPad, and Android.

What are the requirements for the score guarantee?

If your score doesn’t increase by 5 points, you will get your money back. To qualify for the guarantee, you must have taken the GRE less than 5 years ago. You must have completed all of the GRE videos, answered all of the questions, and watched the lessons for each practice question that you answered incorrectly. While this may seem time-consuming, it is the best way to succeed with your GRE exam.

How does the score predictor work?

Magoosh test prep company takes your performance on all aspects of their course work, other students' percentages, and GRE test percentages to calculate an approximate score for when you take the GRE on test day.

Is Magoosh GRE Prep Worth It?

Based on our careful and comprehensive review, we recommend Magoosh as our top GRE prep course among other GRE test prep companies.

After weighing the pros and cons, we liked the Magoosh GRE course because they offer one-month and six-month premium access to an online course that is flexible and comes at a bargain. We are impressed with the checklist studying plan, informative video, thousands of questions, and free GRE exam resources.

The money-back guarantee is also quite impressive.

Magoosh

Our #1 Recommendation

Magoosh GRE

  • The dashboard is easy to use with recommendations for study focus points
  • Easy to follow written and video instruction
  • Offers a score predictor to help you assess your progress
  • Good for both comprehensive and last-minute study
  • Structured with clear and flexible lesson plans
  • Get the BEST PRICE until the end of September
Click For Best Price
payment icons

About the author

2 Comments

Click here to post a comment