Manhattan Prep vs Kaplan GRE
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When comparing the best GRE courses, it’s easy to get taken in by the popular brands without looking through all the details. There are so many GRE prep courses available from different providers, so our articles are here to help you to choose the best GRE prep course for you by comparing two similar platforms.
Manhattan Prep and Kaplan are both large companies that offer fairly simular and comprehensive courses for GRE prep, and we’ve compared their key elements, similarities, and differences for you to review.
Manhattan Prep has been providing test prep courses for 20 years and has so far helped over 1 million students with their test prep courses, which cover the GMAT, GRE, SAT, and ACT. These days, Manhattan Prep pride themselves on only hiring the best and top percentile GRE scorers that also have experience as teachers.
This ensures that their students have expert lessons and experienced support staff to lean on. In addition, Manhattan Prep offers admissions consulting for students hoping to get into the best colleges and business or graduate school.
Kaplan is an international company that has a great reputation for its online learning for standardized tests, including the GRE, GMAT, and SAT exams. Over the years, they have helped thousands of students around the world to get great scores and be accepted into the college or graduate school they desire. Kaplan has a huge pool of resources, including practice questions, full-length tests, and live or on-demand video lessons.
Key Differences
Both Manhattan Prep and Kaplan offer a similar suite of courses for test prep for the GRE, with many of the same key features and resources. There are a few stand out differences, however, that set their GRE prep courses apart.
In-Person Sessions – Manhattan Prep offers In-Person sessions run by teachers in a classroom. These are hosted in venues across the US. They provide students with the classroom-style learning that so many students benefit from. Kaplan does not offer in-person sessions.
Mobile App – Manhattan Prep offers a mobile app, which is an expectation of many students these days. The app enables you to study on the go, complete practice wherever you are, and keep track of your prep progress. Kaplan does not offer a mobile app.
Price – Choosing a course may depend on your budget, and you may be limited with your choices. Kaplan and Manhattan Prep are similar in price, but that extra $100 can make a difference. Kaplan has courses with options ranging from $449 to $999. Manhattan Prep has courses that range from $339 to $1199, so it’s about $100 either side of the bracket.
Official Test Day Experience – Kaplan is unique in its offering of a Test Day Experience at a testing center in the US and is a brilliant opportunity for students to calm anxiety and nerves before the exam. Manhattan Prep does not offer this experience.
Teaching Quality – Based on their reputation and rigorous hiring process, Manhattan Prep generally has the better tutors and teachers and is on a level with teachers at The Princeton Review.
Course Options
Instructor-led
The Manhattan Prep instructor-led course prep for GRE is the GRE Complete Course, which contains study resources for all aspects of the test, including GRE Math and Verbal sections. This course is taught through regular sessions that are either delivered online or through in-person sessions.
The course cost starts at $1199 and has eight sessions of live video stream online classes, or in-person classes at GRE centers, covering 24 hours of learning. When you enroll, choose a timetable that you can easily fit into your schedule. Manhattan Prep are one of the only courses to offer in-person sessions.
Kaplan’s instructor-led course is also a series of live online lectures that take you through a scheduled GRE test prep course plan. This GRE prep course is available for $999 and includes scheduled lessons hosted online by experts teaching you and a group of classmates.
These sessions are 3 hours long, totaling 21 hours of live instruction sessions. These types of courses require a time commitment from students, so make sure you’ve got the capacity for GRE practice and scheduled sessions.
Self Paced
Both Kaplan and Manhattan Prep offer online GRE prep programs that are self-led or self-paced. This means that you’ll have access to all the online GRE resources for a set length of time (usually six months), and you work your way through the program at your own speed.
You’ll have a study plan that you can follow. You’ll be able to access the video lessons, practice problems, practice tests, and everything you need for GRE preparation. Read on to see the resources included in each online course.
Price
Manhattan Prep and Kaplan’s GRE prep courses are broadly within a similar price range, with some differences coming in when you add in-person sessions or private tutoring.
Kaplan’s cheapest course is self-guided and runs for six months with a cost of $449. This is slightly more expensive than the similar Manhattan Prep course and with a few extra features, including an Official Test Day experience.
Kaplan’s Live Online course is a series of live lectures that take you through a scheduled GRE test prep course plan. This GRE prep course is available for $999 and has a total of 21 hours of live instruction, as well as all the materials included in the self-guided course.
The cheapest course from Manhattan Prep is six months of access to the Interact platform, with the cost of $339. This gives access to all the online materials, practice questions, and allows you to complete the six practice tests too—a brilliantly comprehensive package for a great price.
The Manhattan Prep GRE Complete Course is a series of lessons taught either in person or online and has 24 hours of lessons in total, split across eight sessions. The course cost starts at $1199 and has additional costs for private tutoring. This course is built on the Interact Platform and has all the resources of the self-guided programs.
Quality of Resources
Manhattan Prep and Kaplan both have a good reputation for course material, both in the detail and range of topics covered, unlike other online companies like Magoosh.
The quality of their resources lies in both the original creation and quality of teaching. Manhattan Prep is known to have a better teaching staff than Kaplan, as they only hire teachers with the top 1% of GRE scores.
Both Manhattan Prep and Kaplan send you physical resources to accompany your online study. Manhattan Prep produces its own textbooks – GRE Math Strategies, GRE Verbal Strategies, and Book of GRE Practice Problems (2,000 questions with explanations). Kaplan provides you with two GRE guides that cover Verbal and Math.
Kaplan has over 180 hours of video lessons available, which can either be accessed online or through scheduled Live Online sessions. Both routes are led by expert teachers that have experience in the GRE prep and supporting students. Manhattan Prep has a series of over 60 practice problems and branching videos that help to build your understanding of the correct answers.
Practice Questions and Tests
Taking practice tests is a great way to get an understanding of what the real GRE exam will be like, and help to calm those exam nerves. Take a practice test early in your course so that you have a baseline for your learning. Some courses will require you to use questions from your bank of practice questions to build a test, but both these platforms understand the importance of repeated testing.
Manhattan Prep offers over 100,000 practice problems and 66 interactive video lessons with detailed written and video explanations. The practice questions cover all aspects of the GRE prep, including sentence equivalence, geometry, and text completion.
A large number of practice questions gives you a comprehensive experience and will ensure that you don’t see the same practice question twice. Manhattan Prep also offers a brilliant 6 GRE practice exams for you to complete with your GRE practice and build on your answering techniques.
Kaplan has created a practice question platform called QBank, which is a quiz platform that hosts practice problems across all sections of the GRE prep, including the math and verbal section. The quizzes total to around 5,000 practice GRE questions and are customizable so that you can choose to work on your weaknesses.
For each question and answer, there’s a detailed explanation that teaches you if the answer was correct or incorrect – and why. Kaplan offers seven full-length practice exams for you to complete, giving you the ultimate test prep.
Teaching Quality
At Manhattan Prep, the teachers hired have all scored in the highest 1% on the GRE and have been part of a rigorous hiring process. These experts have designed the course material, and the tutors have previous experience in teaching and helping students get their best GRE score. Manhattan Prep offers additional private tutoring at a cost and is a great way to boost your score and learning further.
Kaplan provides learning to students across the world, and their teachers are great and have a good track record for students scoring well in the GRE. If you’re looking for additional tutoring to accompany your study, Kaplan has tutor sessions available at an extra cost with their experienced teaching staff, great for getting feedback on your latest GRE test.
Summary
When comparing Manhattan Prep vs. Kaplan GRE courses, there are many similarities, but you need to look at the elements that matter to you and will have the biggest impact on your score. You want to get the best GRE score you can, and by reviewing both Manhattan Prep and Kaplan, you can choose which course is right for you.
Overall, Kaplan offers a brilliant online course with a wide range of resources, including seven full-length practice tests. Compared to an online course like those that Magoosh offers, it is the bee’s knees! And Kaplan offers their courses at an accessible price, starting from $449, which most students can afford.
Remember, an Offical Test Day experience is also included! Kaplan is perfect for students wanting to boost their overall GRE score and have previously gotten a good score in a practice GRE test.
However, if you’re looking for a higher quality of learning that will help you to achieve the top GRE scores, consider a course with Manhattan Prep. Compared to Kaplan, the courses are enhanced in every way, with more questions, textbooks, practice tests, and the best teachers across the US.
It’s the teaching staff that really makes GRE prep better, with feedback on your practice test, guidance through your GRE prep, and support through live sessions. Manhattan Prep is perfect for students wanting to push themselves to get those top GRE scores.
