I have an unusual work schedule, so I needed an online course. I have always naturally performed well on standardized tests, but I needed to absolutely kill the GMAT. I spent substantial time researching various options, initially focused on big-name prep companies. I even briefly considered paying $$$ for a private tutor.

I landed on EmpowerGMAT for three reasons:

1.) They advertised producing the most 700+ scores. I read in some forums that the big-name prep companies were geared to bringing an average test taker (550- 600) up to a respectable score (660 - 680). That wasn't going to cut it for me.

2.) Number one rated review program by GMATClub. I try to take ratings with a grain of salt, but in this case it lent a little credibility to the claim stated above.

3.) I liked the idea of pay-as-you-go for $99 /mo., compared to the lump-sum for ~$1200 that other companies charge. I figured, "What's the risk?" I didn't like I could cancel and hire Manhattan Prep or some such name-brand. $99 was a very reasonable wager compared to >$1000.

I completed the full program over ~3.5 months, totaling <$400 in costs for the prep course. I think results speak for them-self (1st time taking the actual GMAT):

770 (99%) / Q50 (88%) / V47 (99%) / IR 8 (82%) / AWA 5.5 (81%)

The course strategies work if you dedicate the time. I really liked some of the podcast lessons, which include some quirky little tid-bits that are not covered in other programs (i.e. strategically planning your breaks, studying with gum, etc.). I used all of it. Some of it seemed a tad bit corny, but I went with it anyway, and all I can say is I am very satisfied with the overall outcome.

Nonetheless, I do have a few minor recommendations to consider in addition, for anyone really aiming for a monster score.

Overall --

I'm not sure if Empower is still recommending purchasing the Manhattan Prep Practice CATs (... at the time I signed up, GMAC had not released CAT Pack 2), but don't waste your time with them. Stick to the Official GMAC Practice CATs. If it's not an official question, it's NOT an official question.

Quant --

If you're particularly strong in math, definitely consult the Official Guide solutions in addition to the Empower Video Solution. Particularly for some DS questions, algebraically combining the two facts can be faster than using Test It (i.e. when Test It values are not obvious). Other times Test It dominates -- it depends. At the end of the day, seeing multiple perspectives provides more options, so diversify.

Verbal --

1.) I can't over-emphasize the value I obtained from Empower Strategies on RC & CR -- most notably, approaching reading passages with genuine interest & slowing my reading pace. Slowing down was completely contradictory to other guides, but it works! Another guide I read even recommended taking a speed-reading course!

2.) While I definitely found a lot of value in the Empower SC tactic, I did find the grammar review in the SC error type break-down to be a little high-level for my particular style of learning. It was a reasonable summary, but I found it to be more based on on heuristics than hard & fast grammar rules. I'm more of a concepts person than a memorization person, so I didn't personally take to this section naturally. I found value in reviewing the GMAT Club Grammar Book that was provided as optional review. The Grammar Book was recommended primarily for non-English speakers, but I found value even as a native English speaker. Doing so, I managed a perfect score on SC, which definitely contributed to my high Verbal score.

3.) The AWA section is near the end of the Empower program. I'd recommend jumping ahead & completing this one module in the course. It doesn't build on previous knowledge, so it can be taken at any point. And the sooner you take it, the more opportunity you'll have to practice the Empower AWA strategy on Practice CATS.

That's about it, otherwise, I just used the Empower Tactics & worked all the practice problems in the course, and took all 6 Official GMAC CATs.

This was the first time I was appearing for my GMAT, and by some good luck I was able to sandwich my date between the process of switching jobs. I always knew I would be able to ace the Quant section of GMAT, partly because of my engineering background, and partly because I love doing analytical mathematics. But being a non-native speaker, the Verbal section was always an uphill task for me. Despite joining local coaching classes, and sitting for numerous practise tests, my verbal score stagnated at 36-37 and the overall score at 720. With a month to go for my exam, I knew I had to take some urgent measures if I have to go beyond 750. ‍

I tried out the freebies given by all the online prep websites, and chose EMPOWERgmat over the others, primarily because of the style of teaching in the lectures. The lectures are clear, crisp and very involving. The clarity provided about different methods to tackle the questions in GMAT, the analytics of responses and the thought behind the exam as a whole were pivotal in improving my score.

I realised, you can't be smart enough to know everything; you got to improvise and think like the test-maker (or at least try to)! I still have a long way to go before I get into an MBA program, but aiming for the top is now a possibility, all thanks to EMPOWERgmat. I'll be more than happy to help out other folks in any way I can, and answer any questions you might have! Cheers.

I used the Manhattan Prep books before my first two GMAT attempts (720 then 710). Those books were great but I was all over the place in verbal and wanted to take one more shot at the test. I needed to slightly improve Quant and get much more consistent on Verbal. I was hoping for a verbal 44. I started Empower at the urging of a friend.

Empower was incredible. I was trying to be efficient and I was able to pick and choose the modules I reviewed and the documents I added into my study routine. Stacy and Rich both reached out and gave me tailored advice on where they would focus. My time in the sentence correction modules reaped incredible rewards! I became ridiculously consistent and was able to get a V47 (only 2 verbal problems wrong). I got the 760 and called it a day. I highly recommend Empower for all of their resources but particularly found it to shine for Verbal SC and Quant tactics. A lot of time saving strategies in their curriculum!

I knew I had very very limited time to prepare for the GMAT, so I looked not for a prep course that covered as much as possible, but one that is as effective as possible. I have not used other courses, so I cannot compare, but I feel EMPOWERgmat is just what I was looking for and enabled me to score 760 (Q51, V41) on my first try in well under 100 hours of preparation.

I must say that it’s always about the fit (same as choosing which MBA program to apply for). I have always been good at basic math and my English is quite good for a non-native speaker, so I didn’t need something that spent too much time covering those. EMPOWER did taught me that basic math is all I needed for the GMAT and that you don’t need to know every word in the passage. The course gave me all the tools I needed to answer all CR and RC questions correctly in my final two practice CATs (I only took 3 in total).

On a side note, their service is great, their people always upbeat. This won’t increase your GMAT score, but to me it’s an indicator of a good business and a good product.

Five years ago, I took the exam twice because I had some down time right after college, but could only achieve mediocre scores - 640 & 680. Having utilized some of the mainstream GMAT courses out there big on theory and lengthy explanations for answers, I wanted to choose a straightforward course this time around: a tactic based course that would allow me the flexibility to study at my own pace. There are several vital tactics that EMPOWER taught me that I had originally taken for granted, but proved KEY to my success on test day. On test day, I did everything exactly according to the plan that Rich and Max helped me set up and I could even hear their voices in my head saying: “what is the main point of this?” and “TRIAGE!" Also, from when I first purchased the course to my test day, the course advisor helped me out with my pain points and reminded me of the importance of the EMPOWER tactics. Thank you EMPOWERgmat. YOU ROCK!!!

When I first started reviewing the GMAT material (official GMAC guide), I didn't know where to begin. I did some diagnostic tests and was disheartened - rusty maths and couldn't get the verbal section right. I thought "maybe the GMAT isn't for me". I looked at the various material - manhattan, kaplan, khan academy, anything I could get my hands on - and felt daunted by the sheer amount of resources available. There's so much material you don't know where and how to begin.

I came across empowerGMAT and made a calculated decision to follow their modules and recommended sequence. Don't doubt, don't second-guess, just go through the material as per suggested. Important point - I made sure I had committed enough time to give myself a shot (80-100 hours) and went through the course, trusting the system.

As the hours racked up and I did practice CATs, I found my score steadily increasing... I think I did about 15 hours and 1 week between each CAT.

To my absolute joy, the best score I recorded was during the actual GMAT test itself. I hit my target score and am now awaiting the results from a couple of the best B-schools.

If you put in the required hours and trust the EmpowerGMAT system, I assure you that your score WILL improve dramatically - trust the system.

I highly recommend EmpowerGMAT.

I studied with Empowergmat for 3 months and was able to accomplish something that I never thought was possible. I’ve never been a great tester, but with Rich’s and Max’s guidance I went from a 490 to a 770. On my official GMAT, I felt like Neo in The Matrix. I was ready for everything, used my training and even dumped 4 questions on purpose. There are so many little secrets that you’ll learn with this course that you really just have to stay calm, follow the lessons and do enough practice. Empower has literally changed my life. I’m looking at scholarships and getting really excited to apply this fall. If I can do it, anyone can do it!

I want to start off by saying I like to do things my way. I’ve never needed help and I’ve never asked for it. I self-studied on the SAT and scored 2270, I also self-studied on the ACT and scored 34, and I was convinced that I could self-study to a high score on the GMAT. Totally wrong. I had to paint myself into a corner (which was really embarrassing at the time) and eventually suck it up and ask for help to hit my goals.

Back at the end of February, I started off with Official downloadable material, the Manhattan books, the Kaplan Premiere book (and the CATs that came with those books) and the 2015 Official Guide.

After a month of light study and two months of consistent study, I was scoring okay – low 600s on all my CATs, but I had a pacing problem in every section (except for the essay) and I just couldn’t get past 640.

After looking through all the major company offerings and trying out the freebies, I chose Empowergmat. I like the way their guys teach everything – they make it all seem really easy and they exposed me to a lot subtle strategies and insider tips that I hadn’t realized on my own.

I chose the Total Score Booster Plan but gave myself 2 months to work on it since I knew I wanted to do some extra work on sentence corrections and reading comp to raise my verbal score. I picked up 50 points in the first 3 weeks and consistently scored above 700, including on both the Exam Pack CATs.

After following the course plan, the official GMAT felt like a formality – I knew what to expect, so when I took the test I just did what I was trained to do. The whole test felt ‘good’ and none of the problems that had plagued me in my earlier CATs happened. When the score came up, I wanted to scream with excitement, but I kept my cool, said goodbye to the lady, and quietly walked out with the best GMAT score I’d ever earned ON THE REAL THING! I owe it to Empowergmat. I’m recommending it to everyone.

My advice for anyone who feels like they’re just not improving: Books can be great to get exposure to the GMAT and practice questions, but they are limited in what they can offer. Empower made the difference.

When I decided to study for the GMAT, I knew that I needed personalized instruction at an affordable cost. I wanted to supplement my book study with an online, on-demand resource which would provide me some of the techniques and answers that could not be gleaned from self-study. I started my study with a 670 diagnostic test, and I scored a 720 just four weeks later. EMPOWERgmat proved to be the perfect resource.

EMPOWERgmat is an incredibly affordable option which personalizes your study by providing multiple bite-sized chunks in the topics that you want to learn. It requires you to be an active participant in your learning. This style is not for everyone, but after studying for other standardized test, I believe that active studying is the key to test prep mastery. For me, I could optimize my busy schedule with mini-lessons in the topics that confused me. I could ignore or skim the lessons that I had mastered. EMPOWERgmat gives you the perfect tricks and techniques, taught by master teachers in mini-videos, after you attempt real practice problems. EMPOWERgmat relies on the Official Guide questions, which allows you to re-visit some of these questions for a second or third time, but under a different focus. Here, EMPOWERgmat teachers will teach you the most efficient, more effective way to answer these questions. Mastering their techniques will allow you to replicate this success on test day.

My main criticism of this program was the last of Computer Adaptive Tests ("CATs") included in the program. Purchasing these CATs separately increased the price, but only marginally, and the overall cost for this study method was still much cheaper than many competing options. The next step is for EMPOWERgmat to include CATs in its program; I would gladly pay extra with this additional perk.

Overall, EMPOWERgmat is right for you if you like to customize your studying, learn tricks from the masters of the GMAT, and save money for your celebratory champagne. Thanks, EMPOWERgmat, for helping me into the 700+ Club.

EMPOWERgmat changed everything for me. I used to be terrified of the quantitative section. I'd look at a question and be absolutely stumped and wonder if I was ever going to get a score that would get me into one of my target business schools. I was looking at UCLA, USC and Berkeley, and at one point I even thought about giving up altogether.

Initially, I took another course, and I don't want to be mean so I want to say the name, but I felt like it did nothing for me other than drain my bank account by $1000.

Somebody at work told me that they use EMPOWERgmat and said I was a fool for not using it. I finally gave it a shot, and as funny as it is to say the EMPOWERgmat literally changed my life.

Rich Cohen is a larger-than-life personality. And that personality comes through in the recordings in the EMPOWERgmat course. The course is broken down into 5 stages and by the time I was done with stage 1 I already I knew that things were entirely different. Stage 1 teaches you the tactics tested and test the answers in triage, that alone laid a foundation that started to change my score immediately.

I have to say the hardest thing was actually getting in the habit of not being so boneheaded about the questions and actually putting the tactics to work. Changing habits is a lot easier said than done so that's where I spend a lot of my time but it made such a difference. My quantitative score went from 39 to 49, and keep in mind I'm not an engineer or financial analyst. I'm still in shock that I was able to make it happen. EMPOWERgmat I can't thank you enough!!!

I'm a 100% convert, and am talking just like my buddy at work. DON'T BE A FOOL! Take EMPOWERgmat!

If you're considering taking a course for the GMAT, take EMPOWERgmat. I had a chance to feel around with the other courses, and EMPOWERgmat is AWESOME!

I underestimated the test at first. I ordered the GMAT Official Guide, and downloaded the official tests, and was foolhardy about how the GMAT was going to play out. I can tell you exactly why I felt that way too. I tried a few questions here and there and I got most of them right, so I naturally tried to extrapolate "I got this!". No, I didn't. I ate it, and wasted about 2 or 3 weeks doing unstructured practice questions out of the Official Guide, and my 2nd practice test score was almost exactly the same (490 and 500). It was so deflating.

I needed more structure. I signed up for the EMPOWERgmat and now I want to tell the whole world about it. AWESOME! If you're serious about beating the GMAT then you need to add that program to your arsenal now. My confidence grew right from the start. From the intro all the way up to the last lesson, you feel you've had a team of GMAT ninjas with you the whole way.

Final Score: 740 Q47 V45 IR6

General Things That Helped Me Improve On Quant
Quant was by far my biggest concern. I did okay in financial accounting in college, but that's about it for me for the last 5 years. I started out in the low 30s, so I needed a serious upgrade on quant. I followed the EMPOWERgmat program systematically, so I built up my math background and strategy concurrently. I also spent a lot of time investigating my mistakes and watching the explanation videos religiously. I shed stupid old habits like getting caught up on a question for 7 minutes, and was instead saved by triage. I learned that in many questions, algebra is for suckers and that the test it tactic is so much faster.

General Things That Helped Me Crush Verbal
Here are the things that I worked on methodically to crush GMAT Verbal:
- Not skimming. I've read about some people who advocate reading certain sections of a passage, or getting too hung up on keywords. I think that's dumb. There are way too many questions you just couldn't answer if you skim. I paid crazy attention to everything I read. I pretended that the clock wasn't even running when I read, even during the real test. The surprising thing is that although it felt like I was moving slower, my pacing was actually a little bit better because I was able to cut out a lot of re-reading. Most importantly, the amount of interest that I put into the prompts and passages felt really good. There's a certain sense of comprehension that I know if I can get, I'm going to nail the question and the more I’m interested, the more I feel like I can grasp the material.
- I also think it's important to use all of your time, and resist the urge to try to finish early, and invest it in the right places.
- With RC and CR I had a bit of an odd situation because I prepped a little for the LSAT when I was in college. Since I still had those books, they gave me some extra practice, but LSAT CR and RC are noticeably harder than GMAT CR and RC and there were a lot of things I saw in the LSAT materials that never showed up in my GMAT practice (and not on the GMAT either). I went from 31 to consistently 42 or better consistently on my practice CATs, and even as high as 45 on Exam Pack 1. I’d say that was really due to using the right tactics tough. The CR box, and RC ladder helped to make CR and RC really easy to manage.
- You want to get to a point where you know exactly what each type of CR and RC question wants you to do, and that you know the patterns of the wrong answers. At first it might seem like a blur, but you want to get to a point that you just know what kind of information you're looking for.
- You have to know your SC errors cold and you know how to identify each one from the answers and the original sentence itself.

If you take EMPOWER, you'll crush the GMAT too. You'd have to try not to. I can't say enough good things.

EMPOWERgmat blew away my expectations. The lessons were upbeat, and well empowering. I dug the teaching style so much that I'd easily say that Max and Rich are among the best instructors I've experienced including in college.

What's so cool about the course is that they were successful in bottling their confidence building personalities in the lesson videos so you catch on to their way of thinking about the test. I could hear Rich in my head saying, "You need to Triage this question.", or Max saying "What errors do you see in the 5 second scan?"

I can't thank you enough. You've given me a score that makes me a competitor at my top 3 schools.

You guys are rockstars! Also, Brian, thanks for the excellent support throughout.

EMPOWERgmat is crazy powerful. I was languishing in the low 600s for about 4 months and was starting to get really discouraged. Two of my friends at work recommended EMPOWERgmat and I signed up. The reason they recommended the course is because it emphasizes the things that lead to points. For example, yes the course covers all of the rules you need for SCs, but it shows you how to attack the questions in a way that make it so cut and dry. I especially loved the tactics on the verbal side of the course, which is exactly where I needed help. I was able to go from a V33 to a V44 in about 6 weeks, which if I had known were possible I would have signed up for EMPOWERgmat from the start.

If you are shopping for courses TAKE EMPOWERGMAT! You'll learn how to beat the GMAT and be a trained tactician.

I decided I wanted to take the GMAT earlier this year and did a TON of research of self-study guides. I borrowed some books from friends, had some Manhattan prep stuff and tried to teach myself the content and familiarize myself with some math I hadn't done in YEARS. I took multiple practice CAT's and scored nothing higher than 700. With an average of around 680. I went into the real GMAT not very confident of hitting my 730 target score. I walked out with a 680 and very discouraged. I knew that to get different results I had to change how I studied. I looked over Magoosh, e-gmat, and EmpowerGMAT. After browsing forums and looking at the course overview I signed up for Empower. It was the best decision I made in my GMAT studies. I knew I wanted to take the GMAT again in around 30 days. I went through the entire Empower course in that time. There 1 month plan was a great help and I was able to pace myself through all of the modules. I had to put a lot of time in, but I was fully prepared to do so!

I begin to learn some of Empower's exclusive tactics, Rich and Max explained things clearly and concisely, and gave me such confidence. They have some great insights in how to BEAT the GMAT. And by that I don't mean get all the questions right, I mean information on how questions are composed and how the scoring works which allowed me to understand where I should be focusing. Their Quant is OUTSTANDING. Although I only scored a 44Q on test day, my 2 practice CAT's leading up to my real exam I scored 48Q on both. I didn't have a good performance on the day with Q, but that was down to me. Rich had given me the tools. Verbal was an area I knew I could improve. I felt VERY strong at RC, but SC was an area I knew I could improve a lot. Empower's SC is underrated. I read very few people telling me Empower's SC was good when I was doing my research. But it just clicked for me! I NAILED the verbal on test day and got a 47 (99th percentile) to score 730 Overall (96th percentile). I could not have done it with Empower. If you put the time in, they will give you the tools to ROCK the GMAT.

I feel like I could retake the exam and score 750+, but I have the score I need right now and will be evaluating my options for B-School!

I decided to try Empower after one of my friends, who had just started business school, recommended it to me. I was at first a bit skeptical of just having online classes, but they give you a lot of guidance (1-month plan, 3-month plans) to keep you on your feet. I had already spent time studying, so I knew all the rules, but Empower strategies really pushed me to process the questions more efficiently - particularly the confidence to dump hard math questions. I could envision Rich's voice encouraging me to skip a question when I was on the exam, which I had previously never been able to do. The videos were engaging and easy to follow and I really wish I had started with Empower from the beginning of my studies. Great program!

I was initially drawn to Empower GMAT because of a review - the poster had gone from a 490 to a 770 in 3 months. Since I couldn't ignore the effectiveness demonstrated in that story, I decided to see whether this improvement was representative of their other clients. Not only was Empower very positively mentioned on the forums, but it also included 1, 2, and 3 month study plans so they can be used to fit most time frames.

After signing up for the free trial, I was sold. Empower focuses on a fundamental aspect of the GMAT: it is, categorically speaking, predictable. As such, Rich and Max present the course in a way that capitalizes off of that. Although there is no substitute for knowing the GMAT's curriculum, which Rich and Max cover in its entirety, the GMAT's underlying theory is relatively rudimentary, and so tactics and strategy reign supreme. Rich's strategy game is insane. He will tell you which questions to dump, which questions don't count, and which questions your absolutely must get right. He will teach you how to guess properly, how to manage your time, and even how to get over a 700 while only focusing on 75% of the questions you see on test day. By the end of the course, you will experience such an intimate understanding of the GMAT and its underlying structure that come test day, you will go in there knowing exactly what to expect and how to get what you want.

Empower not only emphasizes strategy above all else, but also only focuses on official GMAT questions. A huge pet peeve of mine is when test prep companies try to focus on their own "in-house" made questions rather than just use the most accurate resource available: questions made by GMAC. I can guarantee you that test prep companies who make their own questions do not spend $2000-$3000 per question like GMAC does. You might not see a difference as a beginner, but once you get used to GMAC official questions and then start doing third-party questions, you will notice that they have a different feel to them. With Empower, you focus your efforts where they are most effective: questions made by the test maker.

In terms of customer service, I was always - without fail - taken care of within 2 hours of submitting a ticket or a request. Because Empower is a small company, I tended to deal with the same people and it is just refreshing to not have to constantly explain your situation to whoever your case has been passed on to. With that in mind, I felt that Empower's staff were truly invested in my success and in my experience using their website. In short, if you need anything done, or have a question, you can get a response fairly quickly and it will be from someone who sincerely wants you to succeed.

Finally, looking at the price tag for some of these other courses, Empower's course offers incredible value. The videos are focused, engaging, and entertaining and give you what you need without focusing on adding unnecessary production value that will ultimately come out of your pocket.

Whether you are an experienced test taker or have never taken a standardized test before, Empower will definitely add to your arsenal as you prepare for the GMAT. I would definitely recommend this course!

The EMPOWERgmat video course was incredible and definitely helped me beat the GMAT! I followed the 2 month study plan (after having used another video-based test prep method that I didn't love off and on for a few months), which is extremely organized and gives you a great outline of what to study and when. In addition to the great video lessons, there are also full video answer explanations for every single problem in the GMAT Official Guide. This was SO helpful, especially the week leading up to the test. I took 7 practice tests and ranged in scores from 630 to 700, and I got a 750 on the actual exam. Would recommend this product to anyone, especially auditory learners! It's very reasonably priced too.