A little background of where I was coming from before I met Mark: A year prior, I had gone through…read morenumerous classes (in-class, online), drained hours of studying, and learned other people's methods, giving me a good grasp of concepts however, I was plateauing, specifically in verbal. ( V35, V36, V34, V30, V35....) My math has always been strong (47-49) but something subtle behind the way I was approaching verbal was setting me back. Mark taught me how to look at verbal like math by "decoding the matrix" and after taking 10 hours with him, I suddenly clicked. I feel that Mark's approach to teaching not only helped me look at the GMAT in a different light, but also helped by relating it to my everyday life, making it not as dull and monotonous to study. Mark is very energetic and very personable. He really dug in deep with my weaknesses and accessed how I approached the problems. Some things that he taught me are even applicable outside the GMAT. As mentioned, after I tried many resources and tutors, Mark was the one that finally unlocked my testing to V40. Highly recommend Mark Alan Robinson for private tutoring! Tutor: Mark Alan Robinson Company: Veritas Prep Type: Private tutoring Location: Houston Area Time: January-February 2018

I've taken the course twice thanks to Veritas and their no hassle attitude for taking the course…read moreagain for any reason within 1 calendar year. I took the course both times with Mark Alan Robinson. Initially I was steadfast with my engineering "must-solve" mentality and didn't get out of the course as much as I potentially could have 1st time around. The second time was completely different, I took to Marks "unorthodox" approach to viewing problems and solutions to not only make the GMAT more fun, but also taught me the values that CEO's carry with them at all times, but most interestingly, these values were simple enough for a 6 year old to understand. He is very knowledgeable and is very easily accessible outside of class, especially for such a busy individual. His examples usually revolve around people or instances and these tend to stick a lot better than conventional teaching methods (for me personally at least). I highly recommend anybody looking for help with the GMAT to look out for his class. The only thing I'd say is you need to patient and buy into his methods, they may frustrate you initially, but in the longer run, are very valuable information and practices.

I learned about Advantage Testing from my friend at work. I asked her for some tips to prepare for…read moregraduate school, and she recommended me to get a tutor at Advantage Testing for a kick-butt GRE score. The tutor that we both ended up having was Mark. He was really nice, smart, and had a knack of breaking down the information and making it easy to understand. Added plus, my scores and brain power are on the up-and-up in such a short amount of time! In addition, the office staff was very nice and courteous too! They put me at ease with all of the offered services and made sure everything will work out with my schedule. Note: Be prepared to budget $$$$ and give yourself plenty of time to take your final test and all of the practice tests. If I remember correctly, the tutoring company recommends 3-6 months of preparation with at least 10 (ten) scheduled practice tests. I did it in 6-weeks with 2 (two) practice tests. I don't know where they found these tutors, but they are geniuses. Super geniuses. Thanks for reading! P.S. My other friend said that he paid much more for his GMAT classes. So, in the end, I had a good deal with the 1-on-1 help.

Be very afraid of a company that starts your realtionship with your credit card number on file…read more First they will make you sign a onesided contract and even if you don't sign it they will forge your name once they have your credit card. The tutors do NOT care about the success of your child or their scores. They care only about one thing and that is charging your card double or triple for the time agreed, and if that's not enough they charge you for services that did not occur. Their first and only priority is how much they cn squeeze out of you. They are unethical. Stay away/ The friend of the director was the only 5 star review they had, not a real client. If you are interested in real tutoring with real results there are plenty of other legitimate tutors. Don't beleive it? Ask to see their contract.

My wife was disappointed. Paid an initial consult fee but ended up getting no more information than…read moreI would get with 5 minutes of searching online and a discussion with my realtor on high school choices in Houston. My wife felt like she could not get Dr. Hayden Shumsky channeled into a specific answers but a lot of general discussion - maybe you need to visit multiple times but our questions were quite simple. They could possibly be better at Career and College choice help. Our questions were more around public / private school choice in the Houston ISD area. Nothing too complicated.

The Shumsky Center helped my son tremendously. So far he was offered three different college…read morescholarships which I think was directly attributable to their help! This was time and money well spent Hayden knew which colleges were strong in the area of interest to my son. He guided him through the process. He supervised the selection, application, essays. I only wish I had started my son on the ACT/SAT tutoring earlier. I highly recommend

I was initially a little skeptical about taking a test prep course simply due to the cost--I wasn't…read moresure that it would be worth my time and money. However, Manhattan GMAT far exceeded my expectations. The rigorous homework load helped me structure my studies and immerse me in GMAT preparation. The Socratic teaching method turned the classroom into an active learning environment. The material was excellent; it was far better than the Princeton Review book I had been using. Finally, Joey, my instructor, was excellent. He had a passion for the material and was genuinely interested in the students performance. The course is very fast-paced, and to get the most out of it, you must do all the homework. You need at least ten hours per week to dedicate to the course outside of class to maximize the benefit of the course. Simply sitting in class will not be very rewarding. Manhattan GMAT allows you to sit in on the first session for free, which I would recommend. The classrooms at this location are very nice. There is also a kitchen with a microwave, so you can heat up your dinner.

GMAT score improved from 650 to 740!…read more I've never been very good at standardized tests. For me, the GMAT was the most intimidating part of the business school application process, and it almost kept me from even applying. My biggest takeaway from this experience: don't give up hope if you get one bad score! Fully explore your options - if the regular class/online sessions aren't enough for you, consider working with a tutor for several sessions (it really does help you go from knowing a subject well to complete mastery of that subject!). For me, it was definitely worth the investment. As I was starting out, several colleagues recommended that I try Manhattan Prep based on their positive experiences with the program. Being someone who wanted to do a self-study program vs. a classroom program (just my personal preference), I decided to purchase the Interact package. Overall, I thought the Interact package was very well done - it's engaging, covers a lot of ground, and really teaches you the fundamentals of how to approach each type of problem. Over the course of the program, I got to the point where I was scoring pretty consistently in the 680-710 range on the MPrep and GMAC practice tests, and since my goal was to score 700, I felt like I was in a good position to take the actual test. I ended up getting a 650 on my first actual test. It was pretty demoralizing. I decided to take MPrep up on their offer for the Post Exam Assessment (with Jamie Nelson) and had really good results so booked two more sessions (I was matched with Eric Garthoffner). Jamie Nelson: I had a wonderful experience with Jamie on my post-exam assessment. She did a ton of homework beforehand, and closely went through each of my practice tests (and my enhanced score report) to really get a sense of the areas in which I was struggling. She picked up on errors I was making on a consistent basis that I never would have realized on my own. We then dissected each of these problem types and she provided customized problem sets to work on these weak areas. I saw improvements in my next practice test and decided to invest in several more sessions. Eric Garthoffner: I spent around 4 hours with Eric over two sessions. He really transformed my approach to studying for the quant section. We spent a lot of time on strategy (both test prep and actual test day strategies), and on pattern recognition / short-cut application. Like Jamie, Eric was very good at identifying areas where I was struggling and created a customized study plan to help me improve in my weak areas. I gained a ton of confidence on the quant and significantly improved my timing. Overall, I had a great experience with both Jamie and Eric. The sessions were very complementary to the other MPrep materials and helped me power through that last mile. Importantly, both Jamie and Eric were great motivators and taught me how to approach and study for problems in a more effective way. Based on my experience, the extra tutoring is well worth the investment if you don't quite get your target score initially. I ended up getting into two top-five business schools in round one, and could not have done that without the help of MPrep (or Jamie and Eric).

Did not score higher on the SAT. They take forever to refund your money. My daughter got her…read moreresults in October and we submitted the paperwork for a refund. We are midway through November and we still have not received a refund.

From a competitive standpoint, TPR sucks. I enrolled with them during Spring 2013. I signed a…read morecontract that stated I would only pay 200 for an extension to utilize my online resources. Now, since their policy has changed - they will not adhere to the contract that I signed a year ago. Instead, I've been informed to pay $500 to open up the online contents again. Ridiculous. Kaplan is so much better. They extend it for you at NO CHARGE. Plus, they're relatively cheaper and they offer refreshers so you're able to purchase certain portions if you're not wiling to spend $1000 to practice again. Customer service is WORSE. They're rude to you on the phone and it's obvious from their tone of voice and attitude. Worst test service ever. My friends and I (6 in total) stopped attending class and began to self study because some of the instructors were incompetent and could not meet up during appointed times. Save your money!

CCLS is a great place to learn a new language! I've learned so much! The teachers are experienced…read moreand also keep the classes fun.

The best Spanish classes in town I really like it easy to understand and the teacher are amazingread more

I called one afternoon totally flustered not knowing what to do. I talked to Audra and she calmed…read moreme and said everything would be OK. Literally within hours Bethany was standing at my front door. Thank you Rice Tutors but especially Thank you to Bethany Hammons for taking my daughter under your wing. Not only have you changed her perspective on math but you have lifted her confidence and made her realize she is capable of anything she puts her all into. Bethany helped her double her test scores in just weeks. She is patient,nurturing and a great listener. I LOVE Rice Tutors and Bethany Hammons. We wouldn't go anywhere else!

I got SAT tutoring from them and it unquestionably helped me. I would say that it boosted my SAT…read morescore by 50-100 points.

So, disclaimer: I've only taken the MCAT once. And I used Kaplan for my test preparation. Since I…read morealmost got my target score (yay!) I never had to retake it or use another prep service. However, a friend of mine used Princeton Review so we've compared often, and I've used their books sometimes. Kaplan is good for people who need experience in test-taking environments, but for the MCAT I don't think they shine in content or even the quality of their materials. Multiple books, the online system, etc. had typos, wrong answers, missing information. So I'll try to focus this review on the teachers and facilities. One teacher dropped our class after 3 visits because she was too busy. Another teacher told us he wishes he hadn't gone into medicine (he wanted to make money). Facilities- this center (next to Bally's) SUCKS. It's old, decrepit, and frankly for all the money we pay Kaplan they could at least move to a better office building. The elevators creak and groan so half the time you anticipate a sudden free fall whilst you review your chemistry flash cards. The temperature- ARCTIC COLD. Even when it was 30 degrees outside it was still freeeeezing inside. Upon complaining, the front desk said that they couldn't control the temperature, it was set for the whole building. The building would also randomly shake- perhaps people at Bally's were dropping the free weights? The bathrooms- always dirty, always out of toilet paper and paper towels. WTF?? Since the building is open until at least 10 pm the janitors should be there that long as well. But noooo, they only service during business hours (8-5 pm), but again that isn't Kaplan's business hours! Parking can be difficult from 4-6 because of the peak Bally's time. Props for it's close proximity to Antone's, mmm I'm craving a poboy right now...

I have taken 2 courses with Kaplan. One for the GRE and the other for the GMAT (I'm very indecisive…read moreand couldn't choose which school to do graduate work at, hence the multiple tests). I took the GRE course in a different city, but I did attend the GMAT course at this location. First impression: the building. It's in a good spot and connected to a garage so parking is not an issue. For now. They are building a 24 hour fitness next-door which I imagine will cause serious parking difficulties in the future. The ground floor consists of one room, sometimes graced with the presence of the security guard on duty, sometimes just their jacket. The only place to go from here is up to the 5th or 6th floor where all the classrooms are. The elevator is super old and creaky/creepy/horror movie-esk. I have been worried more than once that I wasn't going to make it out of there alive. *Enter elevator crash scenario playing in my mind* The classrooms are what you would expect a classroom to be. They do provide free coffee which is always nice. What really counts: I learned what I needed to be successful on the exam. My professor spoke English!! Halleluiah! Even so, he did have a tendency to be long winded and run over our allotted time period. (More for my money?) Overall he was very helpful and personable. He stayed after class with me on more than one occasion explaining any questions I had from the homework problems. I haven't taken my exam yet, but I feel they prepared me very well and I plan on joining the 700 club! *fingers crossed*