Students dread the idea of studying because it seems to involve a monotonous cycle of reading books, answering sample problems, and memorizing. And, for necessary examinations like the GRE, you have to review a lot. Good thing there are review courses like the Manhattan GRE Strategy Guide that have engaging strategies to keep you going.
The real question is, will it work for you?
What is the Manhattan GRE Strategy Guide?
The Manhattan GRE Strategy Guide is a collection of review materials that include books, flashcards, practice tests, and test-taking tips to help you prepare for the exam.
Below is a general overview of what to expect when you get the Manhattan Prep GRE Strategy Guide:
- Receive a total of 12 books that contain practice tests, summary discussions, strategies, and flashcards.
- These books cover the entire GRE coverage and are comprehensive enough for self-study.
- Manhattan Prep’s instructors write them except for the Official Guide to the GRE book (also in the set).
- You get all the different comprehensive GRE prep books in a bundle that helps you save money with a single purchase rather than buying separately (which you can also do). [1]
“Study hard, for the well is deep, and our brains are shallow.”
- Richard Baxter, English Puritan Church Leader
The Strategy Guide Inclusions
The decision to invest in GRE review courses, no matter the form, lies with you. After all, you are the one who will take the GRE. And you should know yourself enough to gauge whether these particular review strategies are practical for you or not.
The one crucial thing that our team wants to emphasize, though, is the importance of studying hard for this examination, as hard work compensates well the limitations of our human brains.
1. Flashcards
Our team found it interesting how Manhattan Prep uses flashcards for GRE Math practice.
It brought us back to childhood memories of studying in preschool and learning how to add and subtract numbers for the first time.
You get about 500 test questions covering the math topics that might come out in the GRE.
The flashcards are a good refresher for those who are starting from zero with their Math skills, and the material is user-friendly and easy to carry.
It may help pinpoint which areas you have to focus on but may not have GRE-level exam questions. Also, keep in mind that flashcards may not be a useful tool for everyone.
- User-friendly and engaging
- It covers the whole GRE topic.
- Highlights strengths and weaknesses
- Not GRE-level difficult
- Not effective for everyone
2. Practice Tests
Now math is not the only subject coverage by the GRE. And as mentioned previously, the flashcards are not GRE-level in terms of difficulty.
There is still a need for practice tests that can help you master the skills necessary for answering the GRE.
Also, practicing can help you manage your time when answering, and you can create your strategies when encountering problems that you may not have experienced during the review.
Hence, the Manhattan Strategy Guide also provides full-length, GRE-level practice tests and a higher number available than other reviews.
These tests cover the whole GRE topics, and Manhattan Prep's team of experts authored them. If you wish to learn which GRE practice tests we recommend you should read this review.
But, some of their past customers have pointed out that these practice tests places too much emphasis on making the quantitative portion difficult while compromising the quality of its verbal reasoning questions. You need good scores in both subtests to pass, so you might want to consider this setback.
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- More tests than other reviews
- It covers the whole GRE topic.
- About actual GRE-level difficulty
- Too difficult Quan portion
- Lacking Verbal portion
3. Books
If you think you need more discussion content rather than just practicing solving problems, then the Manhattan Prep books can help you.
You can choose which books to use in your review, as the company sells a book for each particular subtest in the GRE.
These are helpful tools for those who like going a bit more in-depth when studying topics and can help include more content not easily covered by just practice tests.
The discussions in these books are short but comprehensive, according to the company's past clients.
They cover the entirety of the GRE coverage, and they found that t was only a matter of recalling the information during the exam.
Although the books come with their corresponding online practice tests, the investment can get pricey. And, you might run out of luck and receive those copies that have factory defects, but you can readily report such problems to your seller.
We've also analyzed other GRE prep books, and you can find our complete review here.
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- Short but comprehensive discussions
- Complete coverage
- Comes with online practice tests
- May get pricey
- Reports of factory defects
4. Set of 8 Guide
Lastly, Manhattan Prep caps its self-study tool guide with its set of 8 guide collection.
Like the review books, these guides have topic discussions as well but offer more helpful tips than in-depth discussion.
According to students who have used these books, the recommendations are most beneficial when they took the GRE.
As these gave them the necessary skills and techniques to tackle problems they may not have studied during the review.
All discussions were easily understandable, but getting the set can get expensive, and you might end up with copies containing factory defects.
- Helpful tips
- Cover all important topics
- Easily digestible content
- Can get expensive
- Reports of factory printing defects
How Accurate Is The Manhattan Prep Compared To The Real Thing?
To check the accuracy of the Manhattan test, we took both the real GRE and the prep to see how well the scores held up.
Here are our results:
- Manhattan Prep: 161 Quant, 163 Verbal
- Actual GRE: 166 Quant, 167 Verbal
The predicted results of the Manhattan test are pretty accurate, however, the questions seem to be a little harder than the actual GRE. So, the GRE scores may be a little higher than the prep test.
Conclusion
The Manhattan Prep has commendable results, but our team finds that printed reviews can only go so far. You can still learn more when you have live discussions with an instructor than studying on your own.
Hence, the team still recommends enrolling in the Magoosh GRE prep course compared to studying on your own with the Manhattan Study Prep guide. Magoosh not only has practice tests and proven tips, but it also has live classes and a helpful study tracker.
You can adjust your review speed while having the opportunity to ask your questions instead of printed review material.
References:
- https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/prep/complete-course/?amp=1
Our #1 Recommendation
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- The dashboard is easy to use with recommendations for study focus points
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- Structured with clear and flexible lesson plans
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