Princeton Review GMAT Course Review

Princeton Review GMAT Prep is an affordable and effective GMAT course option. Find out if Princeton Review is right for you using my overview of the course, list of course features, discussion of the course pros and pricing plans, and my recommendation.

Overview of Princeton Review GMAT Prep

As an established test prep company with 30 years of experience, the Princeton Review offers its students numerous training services. These include live online classrooms, on-demand courses, private tutoring, and admissions counseling. Students at any level can use the Princeton Review’s courses and study material.

A recognized leader in test preparation services, the Princeton Review offers a number of standard as well as exclusive features. These include an adaptive DrillBuilder, instructional explanation sessions, 10 computer adaptive tests, and more.

Features of Princeton Review GMAT Courses

10 Practice Tests

Yes, we start with the number of practice tests that the Princeton Review gives you access to! All students are given access to 10 computer-adaptive practice tests. This feature comes with all self-paced as well as live course offerings.

The DrillBuilder

What the DrillBuilder does is assess your strengths and weaknesses based on your performance on practice tests. It then puts together a list of questions that are customized for you and are intended to maximize your practice in areas that you find difficult.

With the DrillBuilder, you can either let the builder choose questions and develop a study and testing session for you, or you can build practice tests of your own. You can choose to receive feedback or not (in order to more accurately mimic real-life testing conditions) and you can even customize the allotted time and difficulty levels of individual questions.

Video Lessons

The Princeton Review provides responses and explanations to all of the answer options within a given lesson, along with video lessons that react to your responses. These videos are helpful because they show you why you answered a particular question correctly or incorrectly. This helps in learning from mistakes as they are made. They also help in learning testing tricks and patterns common in GMAT questions.

Coaching Sessions with Self-Study Plans

Every student enrolled in a self-study course can schedule an hour-long, personal tutoring session with a professionally-trained GMAT coach. Live online plans usually restrict access to such coaches. However, this option gives self-study students the same benefit without the higher price of a live package.

Access to a live instructor, even if for only an hour, can help students get advice on how to devise a study plan, review a specific area that they find particularly difficult, or ask for general tips and insider insights on how to go about study or preparation.

Question Explanation Sessions

The Princeton Review offers explanation sessions in the form of online lectures that are scheduled a few times every week. Led by a trained GMAT instructor, each session covers a new subject area, and these sessions are free for all Princeton Review GMAT subscribers.

In lieu of using your single hour of in-person instruction on something you find difficult, you can instead opt to watch an explanation session on your chosen topic. The best part is that the sessions repeat every now and again. This means you will have the chance to sit in on another session if you need some additional instructor time to learn something, or if you simply couldn’t make it to an earlier session.

Pros of Princeton Review Courses

Princeton Review students get the interactive online training they need to ace the exam with 180 hours of online study time. They receive an interactive score report that highlights their strengths and weaknesses as well. This feature helps them focus their preparation on areas of weakness. A tool called Drill Smart also analyzes the student’s level. It then presents appropriate questions to help students pace their learning slowly over time.

Princeton Review courses have well-structured layouts that are easy to follow. Open access to 10 practice tests also means students are able to practice and improve their scores at their own pace. Live classes are an added bonus, too. They allow students to ask questions during online lessons for personal attention and customized feedback.

Princeton Review GMAT Course Options and Pricing

The Princeton Review offers different packages, ranging from self-study to online to live classes ranging between about $300 and $1,300.

Specifically, the self-study package that provides video lessons, 10 practice tests, access to an online pool of practice questions, answer explanations, and the latest Princeton Review GMAT book costs $299. The LiveOnline package costs about $1,000 and comes with 27 hours’ worth of live instruction and all of the other features that come with the self-study plan. Finally, students can purchase additional tutoring for up to $3,000. The number of hours purchased determines the final price you pay.

Score Guarantee

The Princeton Review’s GMAT courses come with a score improvement guarantee that promises a full refund if your GMAT score does not increase using a Princeton Review study plan. You can repeat your program if you were not satisfied with it the first time around. Repeating the program only costs $50 in testing material replacement costs.

My Recommendation for Princeton Review GMAT Prep

In terms of price, Princeton Review’s GMAT Prep is hard to beat. This is true for self-study, live instruction, and private tutoring options. The DrillBuilder tool will help you improve the efficiency of your study time. Furthermore, access to the GMAT explanation sessions will allow you to view the lectures you want to. You can watch them whenever and wherever you need to.

The credentials of Princeton Review instructors are not open for public scrutiny. Kaplan instructors, on the other hand, are all guaranteed to have scored on the 90^th percentile or higher in the GMAT. However, the Princeton Review is a well-established test prep company with 30 years’ experience in training and preparation. If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly option for test prep services, the Princeton Review is a great option to go for. It will give you access to deep, relevant, and easy-to-access training materials: just what you need to ace the GMAT.