GMAT Prep Classes

Firstly, let us explore why you want to do a prep class in the first place ? Not just for GMAT but for anything else in life ?

There are 2 reasons methinks:

(a) "I-don't-know-what-I-don't-know". This is the area where most candidates get lost. You don't want to touch that book if you are going to waste 1 week getting no where. You don't want to focus 3 weeks wasting your precious time on a testing area when you could rather be spending that time watching TV or playing with your dog. And worst of all, you do not want to be "surprised" on the test day and have a wish-I-knew-that-before feeling about your prep *after* the test. 12,000 bucks is a lot of money at the end of the day.

(b) "Don't boil the ocean". I keep saying this all the time. In my job. At home. And this is the single guiding principle in my life. Never do more than what you are supposed to do to get the job done. Yes, you can read all the stuff on the net. Yes, you can finish off Kaplan Verbal Workbook, Kaplan Quant Workbook, Kaplan 800, Kaplan Higher Score, Princeton Review's Cracking the GMAT, OG 10, OG 11, OG Math workbook, OG Quant workbook, Spidey's notes, Saahil's notes, 1000 SC, 1000 RC, 100 CRs .......... phew AND go through pagalguy.com, sentencecorrection.com, scoretop.com, gmatclub.com, 800score.com ........... you can go ahead and crack a great score. Heck, if you have time to spend doing all this AND 6months without a job then go ahead. You do not need a prep class.

What a prep class does for you is simple. It keeps you on the "straight and narrow". It tells you exactly what you need to do and how you go about doing that. It tells you what are the best stuff out there you need to hit. It gives you a personal plan followed by a backup for resolving your queries. It gives you faculties who know the game inside out - who have been there & done that.

But do the prep companies in India right now do that ? Can you ask your faculties questions and be confident that you will have the answers you are looking for ? Do you think they are giving the best of the material or just trying to push their own course material ? Worse - do you think some of the techniques they use might not be useful and you want to pick up something else but are constrainted by propreitary issues ? Do you think they have turned a blind eye towards the effect of the Internet on GMAT over the last 2-3 years ?

As someone who knows the game (a 700-score is just a part of it - people who know me on online forums know that I talk sense - be it CAT or GMAT), I am apalled at the fundamental flaws in these test prep institutes across India. The only reason I think is that the GMAT pie (a few thousands across India) is far too less than the CAT pie (potentially 2.25 lakhs students each year and growing) for them to invest in this. The way it looks they are never going to get to GMAT *ever*. Money matters. Not the content/delivery.

So lets look at the issues:

(a) Excessive stress on tips and tricks and not on actual content:

Any guy with a decent GMAT score will vouch that the questions you see in the 700+ range cannot be tackled by using just POE and some "strategy". One needs to be a lot more discipline and *has* to know the underlying theory and approach.

Food for thought 1: How about a prep class which gives you all the know-how about each subject area that you want ? How about the institute equipping you with all the tools required and a personal plan to chart out your path to that 700+ score ?

(b) Focus on the frills:

Out of 14-16 classes typically for GMAT prep, typically 2 will be wasted on AWA (which methinks can be done in less than fifteen mins plus practice at home). Another 4 will be on Quant. Ask yourself, do you really need to attend classes for quant ? I feel, on a bad day, most Indian would get a 47/48. Its just pushing your score closer to 50/51. And in anycase coaching classes never get above covering basic concepts. The tough P&C and inequalities are just skirted through for 15mins. Rest of the time is spent learning concepts like odd X odd = odd etc.

Food for thought 2: How about having just classes for Verbal ? No AWA. No Quant. Going for just what you need. No excess flab. Just lean meat.

(c) Copyright issues:

There are hardly any sessions on the more advanced topics. Thirdly, all classes have a huge constraint thanks to the copyright issues. So a PR/Kaplan can never give you the best approach for say SC, though some of its technique might be the best for CR. Manhattan might offer you the solace for SC. But will coaching classes tell you that ?

Food for thought 3: How about a institute which tells you "Look this is best way to solve this kind of a problem" - across all the stuff available out there ? An institute which does not shirk away from naming the big brands if it feels it will help *you* the candidate.

(d) Ignoring the Internet:

What has happened over the last few years is that there are a plethora of resources out there on the net Spidey's/Saahil's/Panchi's notes etc. No one ever tells you which one is good and least of all says how to plan out your prep with these in mind. The fact is since the faculties themselves have never taken GMAT they themselves don't know what is good.

Food for thought 4: How about getting links and notes from the internet (no copyright violation) ? An institute which does not fear using the internet as a resource to gleam the best practises across testing areas ?

(e) Faculties:

Walk into the Kaplan and Princeton Review offices and ask the faculties if they have taken the GMAT themselves. I have been a part of Princeton Review and Kaplan at some point and I know for a fact the quality of teaching of the other staff. You will have faculties walking into the SC class with a Wren & Martin in hand !! That is for high-school not GMAT.

Food for thought 5: How about faculties with an average score in excess of 700, with indepth knowledge of the testing process ? How about those who are passionate for education and teaching and are not in it just for the money ?

(f) Time:

Though it might not look that way but sacrificing every weekend for the next one and a half to two months and commuting to the classroom is something one needs to consider seriously. Do you really want to do that ? Leaving you with barely any time to spend with those books. Leaving you with absolutely no time to take the full-length tests which you *must*. Why can't they wrap it up fast ? How about 1 weekend of prep which teaches you everything you need to know about the content and equips you with all the tools to crack the test.

Food for thought 6: How about a prepping institute which says "look this is all there is to know, let me not waste more time and charge bigger bucks for this. Good bye" An institute which requires you to commit just 12hours spread over 2 days ? An institute which will help chart your personalized plan so you no longer have to change your priorities in life.

(f) Cost:

Finally, the most important point is, all this is fine if it were to come cheap. But for 20,000 bucks for a prolonged 2month weekend course, its freaking expensive. You are paying for what ? Free online tests when you already have over a dozen free tests ? For some dumb books which you probably dont want in the first place ? For some fancy infrastructure like PCs when you can always download the software to your machine and take it from the comfort of your home ? For fancy classrooms and fancy faculties who are unproven themselves ? 2 months of weekend for what can be covered a lot sooner ? What would be a price you would pay for a very structured and unique class-room delivery mechanism ? What would you expect from a proven expert on GMAT test taking (and MBA apping) faculty ? What time can you cover the entire Verbal portion of GMAT in coaching ? What would you be needing to equip yourself to tackle the test ? Think about it and let me know what you want (this is open to all) and let me reply to that.

Food for thought 7: An institute which says if you want to pay 20,000+ (the market rate) then go ahead and take the GMAT twice rather than paying for prep. An institute which brings in an Air Deccan no-frills model into test prepration. Gives you all of the above for the cost of a 2-meal drinks & dinner at Koshy's ?

So why the heck am I writing this blog ? Because I want to fix this problem. I am committed to changing the way people view GMAT test prep.

I getting in GMAT test prep in a way that has never been done before - in India or in the world. And I am sure that this is going to "revolutionize" the way GMAT prep is seen in India.

Watch this space for my plan.