Jamboree vs The Princeton Review vs Kaplan

Topic We Cover: Jamboree vs The Princeton Review vs Kaplan

1. GMAT or CAT: Which is a better indicator of proficiency
2. GMAT and GRE coaching
3. Jamboree
4. The Princeton Review
5. Manhattan Prep
6. Kaplan Prep
7. Pythagurus
8. CrackVerbal
9. Veritas Prep
10. BYJU's
11. The Comparison

Studying abroad has become a raging trend in India. While the quality of educational institutions in India has improved significantly from what it was in the previous century.

You have to pass the exam, but that is not the end of the story. There are LORs, SOPs and essays students need to prepare. Then there is also an interview round.

When asked whether Indian institutions must also incorporate such a selection criteria, Roman was indifferent to the idea. ‘I don’t know if it would do any good. The top foreign universities need to have such an intensive selection process because they receive application from around the world. They need a highly streamlined process. In India, we already have GD & PI rounds to assess the candidates on a more holistic level’

One interesting point Roman made was our fascination with exams. Take GMAT and GRE for instance. While the scores themselves carry far less weightage in the overall scheme of things, most students tend to believe otherwise. Their main focus is on getting a high score in these objective exams rather than trying to build a wholesome profile.

For this very reason, GMAT and GRE coaching have become a key part of India’s coaching classes industry. While domestic MBA entrance exam coaching centres also provide training for GMAT and GRE, there are a few institutes which specialize in training students for entrance exams to foreign universities.

GMAT or CAT: Which is a better indicator of proficiency?

Indian academicians have often raised hue and cry about the reason behind IIMs not accepting GMAT scores and instead conducting their own entrance exam.

GMAT is a world-renowned test accepted by practically every top B-school in the world. The question is, who do the IIMs have a problem with it?

Kumar Anand, an educationist and former faculty at a top B-school in Bangalore, explains some of the reservations about GMAT. ‘The problem with GMAT, more than anything else is logistics. Right now, you have the CAT exam. Students pass CAT exam and are subsequently invited to the PI round. Its simple and easy to handle. CAT is held only once every year, so it gives admission offices at various IIMs time to set their office straight.’

‘GMAT on the other hand is held across the year. If the IIMs start accepting GMAT scores for regular PGDM admissions, the institutions will have to spend a chunk of their money on admissions alone. It will be a logistical hazard’

Another aspect Kumar feels pegs GMAT lower is the emphasis on writing. ‘India is a multilingual country. Some people have e very sharp brain, but lack the linguistic skills to attempt the writing section successfully. Just because a candidate cannot write an essay does not mean he is devoid of any managerial talent. The CAT exam has a section testing language skills as well, but it is divided fairly with other quantitative questions’

Does this mean the GMAT exam is a bad idea to start with? If so, why do so many B-schools around the world accept GMAT scores as a parameter for offering admissions? We asked Kumar the same question, who broke into a smile.

‘Now-now, let’s not create a mountain out of a mole-hill. India is a unique country with unique requirements. The US is not a multilingual country. If you want to go and study there, the university has every right to know whether you’ll be able to understand the language. This is why they prefer GMAT. It suits their case, and the CAT exam suits ours’

We also asked Kumar his opinion about the improvements which can be made in the CAT exam. ‘Of course improvements can be made. I personally feel engineering students find it comparatively easier to deal with a major portion of the syllabus. The CAT conveners should find a way to neutralize this advantage. Many humanities students have great aptitude in management, but they miss out due to the vigorous attention to problem solving abilities. Right now, the number of engineers who make it to B-schools is astonishing. If anything, the selection procedure can be balanced out a bit more’

‘This is where CAT can learn from GMAT. The ratio of engineers coming through B-schools is far less outside India. I’m not suggesting ground-breaking changes, but something needs to be done’

The counter question is quite obvious: does the problem lie with the questioning pattern or the quality of education in non-engineering backgrounds? Kumar refuses to be pulled into an argument over the quality of education.

‘I can’t make such an assumption. I can say for sure that the CAT exam conveners can bring some changes. About the quality of education provided, you will have to ask someone else. I would concede that the style of teaching at top engineering colleges suits CAT preparation. Engineering students are much more adaptable than say, a B.Com graduate who has spent three years ploughing through core commerce textbooks. The ability to improvise is crucial for exams like CAT and this is where engineers take the cake’

GMAT and GRE coaching

There are several coaching institutes around India offering GMAT and GRE coaching to students looking to pursue studies abroad. Besides the old players such as Jamboree and The Princeton Review, there has been a notable emergence of a number of other coaching alternatives such as BYJU’s and Pythagurus. 

For any student looking to choose the right coaching centre, there is no pliable means or methods to judge how one coaching institute compares to the other which is strange considering the amount of money involved in paying for these classes.

We attempt to solve this problem students face and compare some of the well known GMAT coaching institutes.

Jamboree

One of the most famous names in GMAT and GRE preparation, Jamboree has morphed into an edu-prep powerhouse over the recent years with the increasing dependency of students on coaching centres.

With centres across major cities in India and a few abroad, Jamboree has become a name synonymous with study prep for foreign universities.

The Princeton Review

With a popular Ivy-League school lending weight to its name, The Princeton Review is one of the biggest test prep companies in the world. Its influence on the GMAT and GRE coaching scene is very significant, considering the Princeton brand name coming with its own reputation and backing.

Manhattan Prep

Based in New York, Manhattan Prep is a globally known test prep organisation. Offering courses for GMAT, GRE, LSAT, ACT and TOEFL, Manhattan Prep doesn’t have ground-presence in India, but its online courses remain a lucrative option for a number of students.

Manhattan Prep is a US-based test prep giant referred by many GMAT aspirants every year

The online courses comprise of high quality instructors teaching a small batch of students online. The curriculum and teaching is designed based upon umpteen amount of research done by analysts.

In India, Manhattan Prep only offers live online courses as GMAT and GRE training. These courses are structured to be held once a week over three months. Each class is three hours long covering each aspect of GMAT and GRE preparation.

The fee details of the course have been explained below:

Kaplan Prep

However, its main focus on pull remains GMAT and GRE training. Besides regular online training exams, Kaplan also offers private tutoring to students who feel they need the extra help. The fee details of the courses offered are in the table below.

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Pythagurus

Pythagurus is a Gurgaon-based education company providing admission counselling for foreign university admissions and GMAT training to MBA aspirants.

A start-up launched by a team of MBA graduates from some of the best B-schools in the US, Pythagurus’s USP lies in its well entrenched faculty who have a hands-on experience on how to crack exams such as GMAT and GRE.

Their GMAT training course is an 11-week long exercise to acclimatize students to the nuances and challenges posed by the exam. Besides exam preparation, the course also helps students prepare for the test after GMAT, successfully applying for the college. This includes refining and reengineering a student’s standard resume into a business school standard resume. 

The price of the GMAT course is Rs. 34,000/-

Besides GMAT training, Pythagurus is extremely popular for admission counselling and essay preparation to be very precise. Due to the presence of some experienced professionals at their behest, Pythagurus has the potential to become a major player in the GMAT prep industry.

CrackVerbal

With a name colloquial with the general population of GMAT and GRE aspirants, CrackVerbal is a Bangalore-based GMAT and GRE coaching institute.

CrackVerbal started back in 2006 as an attempt to prepare Indian students for GMAT and GRE in a manner which isn’t influenced by the American style of learning, but rather accommodative of Indian educative tendencies. 

CrackVerbal is a Indian GMAT & GRE training institute based in Bangalore where it has found great success

The classroom preparation program is offered only in the Bangalore centre of the institute. CrackVerbal does offer online courses to students for GMAT and GRE preparation as well. A key part of CrackVerbal’s success lies in a single minded approach to develop and refine teaching resources to aid students in their preparation efforts.

The course details are explained in the table below.

Veritas Prep

A name synonymous with test preparation in the States is Veritas Prep. Started back in 2002 by a group of Yale graduates, Veritas has become a major player in the test prep sector having secured top-draw results in the past few years.

The USP of Veritas which is found lacking in some of their competitors is their ability to gauge on-ground realities. GMAT and GRE preparation requires constant development and refinement of teaching resources which can otherwise become redundant. Veritas trumps its competition in this regard by constantly striving to improve the quality of the courses it offers.

Veritas is a well known name in the GMAT & GRE prep sector

Besides GMAT and GRE, Veritas also offers test prep programs for SAT and ACT.

The fees of the programs offered at Veritas Prep are given below:

Besides test prep, Veritas also offers post-exam support to students in the form of admission counselling for students in the US and abroad. 

BYJU's

While BYJU’s is more famous for domestic competitive exams such as JEE and CAT, it also offers GMAT preparation modules through its much acclaimed tablet format.

Though the course contents are very comprehensive and detailed, BYJU’s still has significant ground to cover to match the brand reliability in the field of GMAT and GRE training.

The GMAT and GRE course are priced at around Rs. 25,000 which is still more than acclaimed online competitive exams where it has gained a sizable footprint; GMAT prep remains an area where it can improve.

The Comparison

Having discussed some of the popular GMAT and GRE coaching institutes, we will now move on to comparing them on a common pedestal.

To complete any worthwhile comparison, it is important to establish certain factors which decide the supposed merit of a coaching institute. These factors are:

1. Affordability

Many candidates often find highly expensive GMAT & GRE programs off-putting as the courses aren’t as long and simply do not warrant too much financial investment. If you’re already going to spend a pile of money on an MBA degree, it makes little sense in spending an extremely high sum on test prep separately.

2. Course length

Shorter courses are usually better, but this factor is purely subjective to different students. One thing to be sure is that a course shouldn’t be too long. GMAT doesn’t requisite ten months of separated preparation, but 3-4 months of rigorous studies. A shorter course is usually the better choice.

3. Presence of classroom program

There is a reason why classroom teaching is still assumed to be the best mode of teaching. The presence of a faculty in a classroom setting coupled with competing peers breathing down a student’s neck contribute heavily to the learning curve of a student.

4. Perception

For the success of any public enterprise, perception plays a huge role. When we are talking about coaching institutes, perception plays an even more important role as no student will join a training program offered by a dubious organization