Your GRE score will determine your future — what college you’ll get in and if you’ll get a scholarship.
But preparing for the GRE is a lot of work, especially if you do it on your own. A good option is to take one of the GRE prep courses. One such course is The Economist GRE prep.
The Economist recently partnered with examPAL, and they completely rehauled their test prep courses.
I tried their GRE prep course for myself, and I checked what others say about the courses to bring you The Economist GRE review. Let’s start.
What is The Economist GRE?
The Economist GRE is a tutoring platform developed by the company behind The Economist magazine.
They wanted to help students get into their dream schools.
They named their GRE prep The Economist GRE Tutor.
The Economist magazine is an international weekly publication, available both in print and digitally.
They focus on politics, technology, and international business.
Recently, they paired up with examPAL, which had their own GRE and GMAT courses.
After the partnership, they used their resources to create one comprehensive GRE test prep.
The Economist and examPAL GRE prep boast access to a library of online lessons, practice tests, help from experienced tutors, and an adaptive platform.
The Economist GRE Highlights
The Economist GRE Tutor offers three different courses. Here are their biggest benefits.
1. GRE Tutor Help
The company claims all of their GRE test prep includes tutor help. I found this to be true.
Many other GRE prep courses charge a lot of money for this feature, and The Economist offers it for free.
One of my favorite features of the GRE Tutor was Ask-a-Tutor.
This option is displayed on the dashboard, and students can ask tutors questions about concepts they are struggling with and get answers.
Although it sounds like a direct message or a chatroom, it’s actually not. Students send a question, and they have to wait for a response.
If a student prefers to talk to a tutor, The Economist GRE Tutor prepared this option as well.
Students can schedule live one-on-one sessions with GRE tutors by redeeming their course credits.
If you can prepare for the GRE without ever having any questions, hats off to you.
Most students will need additional explanations from time to time, so this is a valuable option.
Even if you opt for a self-study program with The Economist GRE Tutor, you can be sure you’ll get help when you need it.
One more thing that I thought was useful was that there’s tech support.
I tested this option and found they were very quick to assist and solve the issue.
2. Adaptive PALgorithm
Together with examPAL, The Economist GRE Tutor developed an adaptive algorithm.
This artificial intelligence system learns about students' study patterns, habits, and learning needs.
Then, the algorithm tailors the course material to each student individually, so it suits their learning style.
Special emphasis is put on the student’s weak areas, so they know what to work on during their GRE test prep.
I liked that the algorithm considers the student's progress — it analyzes how the student answers questions and gives them problems custom-made to their preferred problem-solving approach.
These custom-made problems also target students' weak spots.
Many other GRE prep courses also have adaptive algorithms, but The Economist is the best one I’ve tried so far.
Not only it works based on a student's performance, but it also considers a student as a whole — everything from learning styles to study habits.
This level of detail can be invaluable when preparing for the GRE.
3. The Dashboard
I also found the dashboard easy to use. Once you first log in, you’ll be asked to put in your GRE test date, if you know it.
The program puts together a lesson plan depending on the test date and the student’s weak areas.
You don’t have to think about what to study next. Simply click “next” to see the following question.
The estimated GRE test score is shown on the dashboard.
I tracked my progress throughout this GRE test prep and saw how well I did in each test section.
It also came in handy for knowing what I should improve.
4. Course Materials
The Economist GRE Tutor says their platform has 5,000 practice questions. I checked, and it’s true.
This is more than enough practice questions to cover all areas on the GRE. They are well-worded, and I liked that each question has accompanying solutions which were detailed enough.
The GRE prep course also comes with ETS practice exams, and The Economist has five of these tests, which are worded similarly to the actual GRE exam.
I found them to be helpful in reaching my target GRE score.
However, my favorite out of all the study materials is the videos.
The videos are very well-made and engaging. They use an interactive format that explains concepts through animations and diagrams, making it easy to digest complex information and helping with information retention.
You can download videos and study on the go, using mobile devices.
The videos are the core part of The Economist course content, so if you’re a visual learner and like studying this way, you’ll love this.
Finally, The Economist prep program comes with a free three-month-long digital subscription to the magazine, which helps strengthen the vocabulary and keep up on current affairs.
This can help your overall GRE score and help you beat the competition in your college admissions.
Read More: The Economist GRE App Review
The Economist GRE Pros
The biggest pros are:
- Score improvement guarantee
- 7 days a week ask-a-tutor support
- Personalized learning platform
- 5 full-length practice exams
The Economist GRE Shortfalls
Here are the biggest shortfalls:
1. Course Credits
Each Economist course comes with a set number of course credits. These credits are used to access the practice questions, ask-a-tutor feature, more essay reviews, and one-on-one tutoring [1].
I found this mostly limiting when it comes to the practice question bank.
Yes, there are 5,000 questions, but you’ll need to use course credit to access them.
This limits how many practice questions you can access, especially if you have to use course credits on other features.
You’ll have to be very careful when and how many course credits you use to not run out of them.
While this is unconventional, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Course credits can help you have a more effective practice and prioritize the GRE program features you need the most.
As long as you think carefully about which questions will benefit you, you’ll be good.
Also, even if you do run out of credits in your package, you can always buy more.
2. Course Access Period
The Economist GRE prep course has one of the shortest course access periods out there.
Their Premium plan gives 3 months of access, while the Express plan only gives 6 weeks.
Some students don’t have a lot of free time to dedicate to their GRE prep, so this won’t be enough for them.
While this period isn’t so short that you won’t have enough time to prep, it’s short enough not to allow a lot of flexibility.
3. Express Package Lacks Features
The Express package has many features that aid the learning process, such as a lot of course credits, two essay reviews, several practice exams, and more.
But, what it doesn’t have is the score guarantee and live one-on-one tutoring.
These are available only in more expensive packages [2].
The Express package also doesn’t have the Expert Assessment, which helps you assess your progress and get study guidance from a GRE expert tutor.
The Economist GRE Cons
These are the biggest cons of The Economist GRE course:
- Limited course access
- Most affordable package lacks features such as the score guarantee and one-on-one tutoring
Real Student Results from Taking This Prep Course
I mentioned I talked with other students taking The Economist GRE course.
I wanted to check if the students who took this course saw an increase in their scores.
I asked five students to take a GRE prep test before and after taking this course.
Then I compared their Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning results and calculated the improvement percentage.
I found that there was a significant increase in test scores after students took The Economist GRE.
For example, one student achieved an 18.2% improvement in score, while another student achieved a 14.9% improvement.
The Economist GRE Estimates VS. Real Test Scores
Prep tests are an important part of GRE prep. An accurate practice test will give you an idea of what you’ll score on the real exam.
I wanted to test how accurate The Economist practice tests are, so I did another survey.
I talked with students using only The Economist GRE course, and I asked them to keep track of their Economist prep test and the real GRE. Then I compared the results.
Here’s what I found for quantitative reasoning:
Here’s what I found for verbal reasoning:
As you can see from my findings, The Economist GRE is about 97% to 99% accurate when predicting the real GRE quantitative reasoning score, and 98% to 99% accurate when predicting the score on the verbal reasoning section.
Comparison to Other Test Prep Companies
Here’s how The Economist GRE Tutor program compares to other test prep companies.
I mentioned they have thousands of practice questions. However, you have to spend course credits to access these.
If practice questions are crucial to you, check out Achievable GRE. They have a question generator with unlimited practice opportunities.
The Economist GRE also has a short access period. Both Achievable and Kaplan give much longer access — up to a year.
Even Magoosh GRE prep gives longer access for their more expensive packages.
The Economist gives five practice exams, which is more than Magoosh, which offers only three.
On the other hand, Kaplan GRE preparation course offers 7.
Finally, as for the price, The Economist falls on the higher end. Magoosh is the most affordable, and it costs $149, Achievable is $199, and Kaplan is $449.
The Economist GRE Cost
The Economist GRE is available for purchase on the official website.
There are three comprehensive courses to choose from:
- Express $349
- Premium $489
- Genius $699
All three courses have a 7-day free trial, so you can see if they work for you.
If you don’t like the course, there's a money-back guarantee.
The Express course doesn’t have a score improvement guarantee, while Premium and Genius plans have a 6 and 7 score improvement.
Other Users’ Experience
Here’s Economist GRE review from other users:
Will J. from Texas
Will says The Economist GRE prep helped him get into a competitive Ph.D. program.
He liked the high score improvement guarantee and a ton of practice exams. Because the GRE prep is adaptive, it helped him focus on problem areas.
Michael V. from New York
Michael was happy with the materials and prep tests. He liked that he had all the necessary materials in one place, and the ask-a-tutor option made it convenient to ask for help as needed.
FAQs
Is the Economist Good for GRE?
Yes, the Economist is good for GRE. You’ll have a top-notch GRE tutor and score guarantee if you opt for Premium and Genius courses.
You’ll also have access to the GRE app and one-on-one tutoring sessions.
How Long Should You Study for the GRE?
You should study for the GRE for at least ten weeks. You should do a practice test, then determine how much you should study from the baseline test score.
Should You Try The Economist GRE?
I found the Economist GRE to have enough practice material, and I feel the practice exams reflected my current level of knowledge well and helped improve my score.
However, there are also some drawbacks, such as the price and limited score improvement guarantee.
If you’re looking for a more affordable option that’s still top-notch, check out Magoosh.
You can choose between three different course options, over 1,400 practice questions, 3 practice tests, and hundreds of video lessons.
Finally, Magoosh gives a score guarantee, so even if you do worse than on a previous test (which is highly unlikely), you’ll get your money back.
Check out Magoosh courses and start your GRE journey with a reliable prep company.
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