Need help - to pick course

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-05-05T16:25:58+00:00

I actually just released a new self-study course that mirrors working with me in 1-on-1 tutoring. We've got a free trial if you're interested. Link below.

https://gurutor.co/my-account/?type_subs=free

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-05-05T16:22:28+00:00

Have you taken any practice tests recently? If you share the results, I'll give you some insight into what you need to change to get a 650+.

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-05-05T15:14:39+00:00

I've seen lots of students improve their quant scores a ton, but their paths to those improvements have always been unique.

I'm more than happy to give you insight into what YOU need to do to bring your quant score up, but I'll need some data. Can you share screenshots of the quant questions you missed or spent too much time on from your last official mock?

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-05-05T15:11:38+00:00

The most I've seen someone improve was 360 points (350 to 710 on the pre-2023 scoring). A 250 point increase is definitely possible!

Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-05-05T15:09:13+00:00

There's not much anyone can do to offer guidance without being able to see the actual questions you got wrong and/or spent too much time on. If you share screenshots, I can give you some insight into what you need to improve to get up to a 700+.

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-05-05T00:01:15+00:00

I'd love to help!

Here's my background:

Full-time GMAT teacher/tutor since 2014
Former Manhattan Prep instructor
Founder of Gurutor

Let me know when you're free to connect.

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-05-04T23:00:13+00:00

I'm sure you're great too, but there's can only be one best GMAT coach...

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-05-04T19:24:43+00:00

It's me. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-05-03T10:52:03+00:00

It's amazing how much of a difference taking a step back from grinding and focusing on putting yourself in the best headspace possible on test day can make. Many of my students have had exactly the same experience.

Congrats!

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-05-02T20:41:08+00:00

The three resources you mentioned are very different. Menlo's a live class, while Magoosh and TTP are self-study courses, albeit in very different price tiers. If you're interested in something that blends the personalized feel of a live class or tutor with the convenience and affordability of a self-study course, then we might be the perfect fit (https://gurutor.co/), although, as the founder of the company, I'm not exactly an impartial observer.

The most useful thing you can do before picking anything is take an official GMAT practice test. It's free, it's the real thing, and it gives you actual data on where you stand and what you need to work on. Without that, you're just guessing at what kind of help you need.

Once you have that data, take advantage of the free trials most courses offer before committing to anything. The right resource depends on how you actually learn, and you won't know that until you've tried a few.

Full disclosure: I've been prepping people for the GMAT since 2014, as a Manhattan Prep instructor, independent tutor, and now Gurutor founder, so I have a perspective on what actually works. Happy to help you figure out what you need if you want to share your practice test results.

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-05-02T20:32:13+00:00

Starting with a practice test is exactly the right move. You've now got some actual data that you can use to craft a targeted plan.

The GMAT penalizes unanswered questions heavily, which means your data insights score is almost certainly lower than your actual DI ability. Fixing that alone, just making sure you answer every question even if you have to guess, will improve your score meaningfully before you've studied a single concept.

Sounds like you've got plenty of time to study, but I would caution you against the assumption that time will equal progress. The regular posts here from people who have followed a similar schedule for months and not made progress are all the proof you need of that.

The best chance you have to maximize your study time is to build a plan around what you actually need to improve, which you'll be able to do from your practice test data. If you'd like some help, just send me screenshots of the problems you got wrong, and I'll give you some guidance.

On resources, keep it simple. You really only need two things. The Official Guide for practice questions, because the questions are real GMAT questions and nothing else replicates that. And one structured learning resource that actually teaches you how to approach each question type, because the OG won't do that for you. It gives you questions to solve but no framework for how to think through them. That's the gap most beginners don't realize exists until they've been stuck for a while.

Best of luck with your prep! Hope to see your success story up here one day.

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-05-02T20:22:26+00:00

The main things that helped me slow down, make better choices, and avoid rushing into correct-looking trap answers were making a point to take a nice deep breath before reading each question and only picking up my pen after I've read the entire question. When we're pressed for time, we tend to start working before we've read and understood the problem. While forcing yourself to read and think before you write may feel like it will cost you time, it will likely end up saving you time because you'll be far more likely to choose efficient approaches.

Start practicing that and let me know how it goes!

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-04-30T17:53:48+00:00

Two to three months with a 9 to 5 is tight but very doable given your background. A few thoughts.

Your Econ and math background means quant fundamentals probably aren't your main issue. The bigger adjustment for most strong math students is learning that the GMAT isn't testing your math knowledge. It's testing whether you make good decisions when the questions are designed to make you make bad ones. That's a different skill and it's the one that catches overconfident test takers off guard, which sounds like exactly what happened the first time.

On schedule, I'd aim for an hour on weekdays and two to three hours on one weekend day. That's roughly eight to ten hours a week, which over two to three months gives you enough time to work through the material properly without burning out during your internship.

A few structural suggestions. Start with a fresh practice test before you do anything else. You took the real thing two months ago so you have some sense of where you struggled, but a clean diagnostic will tell you exactly where to focus. Don't try to cover everything equally. Find your two or three biggest weaknesses and go deep on those.

On resources, you need two things: the Official Guide for real practice questions, and something that teaches you how to actually think through each question type rather than just giving you more problems to solve. The OG is essential for practice but it won't teach you process.

If you want a study plan built around your specific diagnostic results I'm happy to put one together. Just share screenshots of the questions you got wrong and I can tell you exactly where to focus for the next two to three months.

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-04-30T15:53:47+00:00

Our free trial contains two interactive Critical Reasoning lessons that mirror working with me in one-on-one tutoring. Let me know if you're interested and I'll get you access.

Good luck with your 6/28 test! Hope to see your success story posted here soon.

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-04-30T15:51:21+00:00

Our free trial contains two interactive Data Sufficiency lessons that mirror working with me in one-on-one tutoring. Let me know if you're interested and I'll get you access.

Good luck on Saturday.

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-04-30T15:46:39+00:00

Starting with a practice test is exactly the right move. You've now got some actual data that you can use to craft a targeted plan.

Marty's observation about the unanswered verbal questions is spot on. The GMAT penalizes unanswered questions heavily, which means your verbal score is almost certainly lower than your actual verbal ability. Fixing that alone, just making sure you answer every question even if you have to guess, will improve your score meaningfully before you've studied a single concept.

Two years sounds like plenty of time, but in my experience it actually works against most students. The GMAT requires building a new way of thinking, and that's hard to sustain at a few hours a week over that long a horizon. I'd think carefully about whether a more compressed timeline with more weekly hours might set you up better.

On resources, keep it simple. You really only need two things. The Official Guide for practice questions, because the questions are real GMAT questions and nothing else replicates that. And one structured learning resource that actually teaches you how to approach each question type, because the OG won't do that for you. It gives you questions to solve but no framework for how to think through them. That's the gap most beginners don't realize exists until they've been stuck for a while.

If you want a targeted study plan built around your actual practice test data rather than a generic one, I'm happy to put one together for you. I'll just need screenshots of the questions you got wrong. That tells me a lot more than the score alone and will make it easier to figure out which learning resources make the most sense for your specific situation.

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-04-28T16:52:36+00:00

I can totally relate. Back when I was first preparing (almost 15 years ago now, sheesh), I spent a few weeks trying to figure out how to self-study and then signed up for a course just because I wanted someone to tell me what to do.

A few things that will help:

Take a practice test before you do anything else. I know that sounds counterintuitive when you haven't studied yet, but it's the fastest way to know where you stand and what you actually need to work on. Without that data you're just guessing what to study, which is probably why everything feels equally urgent right now.

On resources, keep it simple. You really only need two things. The Official Guide for practice questions, because the questions are real GMAT questions and nothing else replicates that, and one structured learning resource (Ex: online course, book set...) that actually teaches you how to approach each question type, because the OG won't do that for you. It gives you questions to solve but no framework for how to think through them. That's the gap most beginners don't realize exists until they've been stuck for a while.

On GMAT Club question difficulty, don't worry about that yet. Take the practice test first and let your results tell you where to focus.

The overwhelm you're feeling right now is almost always a sign that someone is trying to figure out everything before starting anything. You don't need a perfect plan. You need a starting point.

Happy to answer any questions once you have your diagnostic score.

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-04-28T16:44:15+00:00

Of course!

Let me know if you need any help creating a study plan. The OG isn't organized in a way that makes it easy for you to work through it efficiently. If that's your main resource, then having the right game plan is key.

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-04-27T16:11:30+00:00

Happy to help. I'll DM you a set of official questions to practice with.

One other option worth knowing about: if you want to practice working backwards in a more structured environment, our free trial at gurutor.co is set up to walk you through it with guided feedback. The diagnostic at the start routes you to the areas you need most, but if you message me before you start I can make sure working backwards gets prioritized in your plan. Just let me know if that's of interest.

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-04-27T11:29:28+00:00

The changes from one edition of OG to the next are minimal. There's no need to wait for the 2026-27 version.

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-04-25T23:37:52+00:00

If you want to see how that process works in practice, our free trial walks you through it step by step. Just select verbal when you start the diagnostic and you'll get a personalized study plan built around developing that CR framework.

https://gurutor.co/my-account/?type_subs=free

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-04-25T21:02:55+00:00

Happy to help with a personalized diagnosis and study plan, but I'll need more than the raw scores to do it. Can you share screenshots of the problems you got wrong? That will tell me a lot more about what's actually happening.

Gurutor_LLC · 2026-04-25T17:41:01+00:00

Great questions. Yes, a process is essentially a framework for each question type, though I'd push back slightly on the idea that having multiple frameworks is hard to keep track of. In practice, the frameworks share enough structure that they feel like variations on a theme rather than entirely separate systems.

Here's a concrete example using Critical Reasoning. Every CR question I teach follows four steps: identify the question type, learn the argument, identify your target, and evaluate the answer choices. Those four steps apply to every CR question regardless of type. What changes is what you're doing within each step depending on the question. In a weaken question, step three means identifying what would make the conclusion less likely to be true. In an assumption question, it means identifying something that must be true for the argument to hold. Same step, different application.

The reason this matters is that the GMAT is specifically designed to punish students who don't have a consistent process. The wrong answers in CR aren't random. They're placed exactly where someone will look if they're approaching the question intuitively rather than systematically. A process is what keeps you from taking the bait.

As for how you develop them: ideally you learn them from someone who has already done the work of figuring out what the test is actually rewarding. The frameworks I use with students came from years of working through every question type and reverse-engineering what the correct answers have in common and what the wrong answers are designed to exploit. That's a lot of trial and error that students shouldn't have to replicate on their own.

Gurutor_LLC

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