Our Instructors >> Brian Birdwell
Brian Birdwell
Like his amazing Manhattan GMAT colleagues, Brian Birdwell has a long list of interests and wears many hats: philosopher, poet, filmmaker, musician, leisure enthusiast, teacher, and student. When not teaching, he's probably singing, laughing, traveling, reading books of ancient Chinese wisdom, or all of the above.
Brian was born and raised on a small ranch in Percilla, Texas (population 30 or so). After high school Brian attended Trinity University, spending his study-time making documentary films, speaking Spanish, and writing Art History papers. When he graduated he moved to Austin, where he spent the next 7 years honing his chops as a singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist in the "live music capital of the world." He has helped a blind man become a filmmaker and once sold a million dollars worth of watermelons in 6 weeks.
His love of travel and talent for making friends has lead him on many memorable adventures. He rode halfway across the Mexican state of Chiapas standing on the back bumper of a pickup truck, hanging on to the pipe rack and discovering the curious effects of breathing exhaust for extended periods of time. It's a long story, but it turns out "El Ray" is not the name of a bus -- "el Ride" is Mexican slang for "hitchike." He has traveled by VW Vanagon to all three coasts of the US (the Texas Gulf is the third!) in the past year and now resides in Noam Chomsky's former office in Cambridge, MA.
Brian's passion for engaging with people and his talent for taking tests led him to begin teaching test-preparation about 8 years ago, and he has taught the SAT, GRE, LSAT, and GMAT. He is very excited to be part of Manhattan GMAT, as he believes they have the best product and the very best people in the industry. (And for the curious - he scored a 770 on the GMAT.)
Feedback From Brian’s Recent Students
“Brian was very enthusiastic about the subjects he taught. He is very knowledgeable and he adds a fun factor (if that's possible) to the GMAT learning experience.”
“Brian does a good job putting himself in the student's position. I like that he approaches the questions as we would and walks us through his thought process.”
