Hi all --

I am a recent (december) graduate of an engineering undergraduate program and have some down time before starting a job in consulting in late June. I am reasonably certain that I will be attending business school within the next 5 years, and am considering spending some time now preparing for the GMAT rather than trying to cram it in my busy schedule later down the road.

Here's the dilemma -- I have a deposit down on a Kaplan classroom course that begins next week, and meets twice weekly for 9 sessions. This would give me about 5 weeks to prepare for the GMAT (fairly intensive) and take the exam to get it done with by mid-May.

I have recently learned about the self-paced Manhattan GMAT virtual course, and think this may be a more convenient option. However, I haven't spoken to anyone personally who has taken this course. If I am looking to spend the majority of my weekday time preparing for this exam, and getting it done with before the end of May, would you recommend Kaplan or Manhattan? Any advice would be much appreciate...

Thanks!

I'm guessing you may not get a lot of response from Kaplan people simply because this is a ManhattanGMAT website. :) You may also want to ask your question at www.beatthegmat.com, which is a test-prep-neutral GMAT community.

In terms of how to prepare, what worked best for you in school? Do you do better when you study on your own or when you're working with a teacher and a classroom full of fellow students? I agree that the self-paced option is more convenient, but it also requires discipline and commitment, so you have to be sure that you will stick to your deadline.

One thing: take a practice test ASAP and see what your current score is. Think about what schools you might want to attend and see what their incoming GMAT scores are. Get a sense of how much improvement you need.

I'm suggesting this because 5 weeks is a highly NON-ideal amount of time to take; you describe it as "fairly intensive" but this is VERY intensive. Most people study for 3-4 months. (And I'm not saying this just because you're signed up for a Kaplan 5-week course. We also offer a double-time / 5-week Accelerated course occasionally and I recommend people avoid it if at all possible - it's just too much work for most people.)

Now, your situation is a bit different in that you won't have a day job during that time, so maybe you can make that work. The other big factor is how much improvement you want - if you only need 50-70 points, 5 weeks might be fine. If you need 100 or 150 points, you may need more time. (And think about how you've done on standardized tests in the past. Do you tend to do well on them or do you tend to get nervous and underperform? Factor that into the length of your study as well.)

Good luck!