Crushing the GMAT Focus is the first step in going to business school, but maybe you’ve done a little research and were shocked to see what some prep companies charge. With price tags north of $1,000 for a prep course, it’s no wonder that people turn to value courses like Magoosh and PrepScholar. In this comparison, we stack these two prep programs up head-to-head to see who wins.
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Though a lot of people have a tendency to view Magoosh’s GMAT course as a shoestring budget package because of the price, nothing could be further from the truth.
With Magoosh, you get a library of 200+ on-demand video lessons, around 800 practice problems in their Qbank, a couple full-length practice tests, and a 70+ point score increase guarantee.
Among these features, I think the main highlight is the Qbank. Not only does Magoosh have some nice advanced filtering features which allow you to create highly targeted practice sets, but the answer solutions that they give you with every problem are very good.
For every practice problem in the program, you get an answer explanation in text and video format. For visual learners, I think the video explanations are particularly helpful. This is something a lot of GMAT prep companies don’t provide (PrepScholar only offers this for some questions), and is a nice value add.
Now, if there is one knock on Magoosh’s videos though, it would be that the format can be a little dry. They are a little old school in their delivery with a PowerPoint-style slideshow and instructor voiceover, but I would say that they are saved by their short length and quick-hit nature. That keeps them engaging.
Now, I wish Magoosh offered live classes like Princeton Review or Kaplan, but at this price point, you can’t expect everything. With that said, the company does offer admissions support after you take the exam, which is definitely nice. This is something other GMAT prep companies don’t offer.
No matter how you cut it, Magoosh is a quality GMAT prep company with value-driven self-paced and live course packages.
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PrepScholar has a handful of highlights, but more than anything, I think this course’s most valuable asset is its proprietary algorithm, which customizes each student’s study plan to their particular needs.
If you’re pressed for time to study because of work, school or kids (or maybe all three), PrepScholar could be a really good option. Their program essentially uses an algorithm to analyze your progress throughout the program, and then changes your study plan on a daily basis for ultimate efficiency.
It will literally shift around your assigned work and lessons to optimize your learning path and ensure you’re getting the most lift with the least effort. It works surprisingly well, and I like this feature for busy professionals who only have time to study for 20-30 minutes per day.
Beyond the adaptive tech, PrepScholar also has some pretty good lessons, which are delivered in a text and video-based format. While these lessons are heavy on the text-side (a drawback for visual learners), they are extremely detail-oriented and I particularly liked the test taking hacks and strategies they offer.
In terms of quantity of practice work, PrepScholar is more or less in line with Magoosh. They give students 1,000 practice problems (to Magoosh’s 800) and four full-length practice exams (to Magoosh’s two). While these figures are on the lower side in terms of volume from an industry perspective (Kaplan provides much more practice material), I still found them to be realistic and useful.
Lastly, I need to mention PrepScholar’s 60+ point score increase guarantee. Here’s how it works: complete all the lessons in the program, work all your practice questions and tests, and score at least 60 points better on the GMAT Focus, or your money back. Pretty simple.
Now, to be fair, Magoosh does offer up to a 70-point score increase guarantee, so we’re sorting of splitting hairs.
👉 Read Our Full PrepScholar GMAT Prep Review
Though both of these GMAT prep courses have a lot to offer, given the nature of the central lesson work (video vs text), I have to go with Magoosh here.
I found their lessons to be more engaging (especially as a visual learner), and their practice work is superior. The problems are more realistic of real GMAT Focus problems, and you get solutions for every question with a video breakdown.
Overall, I just think Magoosh provides more bang for your buck and will be more effective.
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After having used and reviewed both courses, we actually think Magoosh outranks PrepScholar when it comes to their GMAT courses. Though PrepScholar has a few things going for it (like more practice tests and adaptive tech), Magoosh delivers better lessons, problems explanations and overall digital platform.
The Magoosh GMAT course retails for around $350, while the PrepScholar GMAT course goes for a little under $260. They are both affordable and value-driven prep packages.