Jeff Vollmer Reviews

If you are considering taking the GMAT, look no further than Manhattan Prep. The coursework is clear and thorough and the instructors are helpful and generous with their time. I also greatly appreciated how they focused on test-taking strategy, including how to set up your answer sheet. As the instructor, Jeff expertly walked through complex concepts and clarified points of confusion. Even though it was a multi-person class it at points felt extremely personal and tailored to our group's needs. Plus Jeff was super accessible outside of class hours. So glad I chose Jeff and Manhattan Prep for my GMAT course.

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Jeff was my instructor for the 9-session online course and coaching sessions. I highly recommend Jeff as an instructor!

He was engaging and thorough. He's great at pushing you to use multiple methods to arrive at quant solutions and helping you identify key clues in SC and CR problems. Several times after getting problems wrong, I had "aha" moments as he explained what the questions were really asking.

I started the course having done no prior preparation and with no review of any quant concepts since I graduated 5 years ago. I scored a 550 on my first practice test but was confident that I could make big improvements based on methods presented in the first few classes and making shifts in the way I thought about problems.

The course really facilitated this by providing a structure to my studies and integrating nicely with the course materials. Jeff was also great at providing encouragement when I was getting discouraged after plateau-ing at 650-620. He was very helpful in analyzing my practice CATs and identifying subjects and areas to focus on. Jeff also helped me devise a practice CAT schedule with specific goals for each CAT in the weeks leading up to my exam that I was able to use to guide my studying.

I am extremely pleased with this course and with Jeff's tutoring. Would highly recommend!

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I found this course to be a worthwhile investment. I signed up primarily for accountability, but I also found the content and strategies very helpful. Jeff is a very good instructor - from a teaching perspective, as strong as any college professor I have experienced. To learn the test and stay motivated/accountable, this course is worth the cost and time commitment.

My quant did not improve significantly throughout the course but I owe this to a lack of studying on my part. Jeff provided us with intuitive explanations of tough math problems, but I did not invest the time on my own to master them. I think a bit more time could have been devoted in the course to reviewing the signals/triggers for certain patterns/tells in quant problems, but there is a certain point where you just need to teach yourself the content if it's been a while since you have memorized basic math.

The focus on timing and strategic approach to taking the test was very valuable. The "Yellow Pad" timing method is extremely helpful and I used it religiously during my exam. This course taught me that getting a handle on timing and the related nuances of an adaptive model is half the battle.

Overall, very pleased. Would recommend to a friend - particularly someone who is very committed to attending business school.

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After about 5 years away from school and looking for a career shift, I chose to take the Manhattan Prep 9-class in person course in preparation for the GMAT. After graduating from school in 2014 I took the GMAT as a baseline with the anticipation that I may want to go to business school in the future: I scored a 630. For the next five years I spent zero time thinking about the GMAT, although I did work in a field that is fairly quant heavy. That should give a fair amount of background on where I stood going into the MP course. I chose to take the in person course based on the consideration that a set curriculum and a sense of accountability to show up to class each week would help me study more. I think this was the right choice for me.

The course itself was presented in a manner that made it comprehensible for anyone with even a minimal mathematics background. The structure of the course is such that it builds on itself week by week and homework is meant to introduce concepts that would be expounded upon in the next class. I found the course to be critical to my performance on the exam in such that all concepts for answering questions, strategies, and problem type were discussed at nearly all levels of difficulty in class. The course follows a basic outline: present a concept, work through an easy version of the problem as a class, work on a harder version alone, mix in that concept with others in a problem set. I found this manner of learning to be helpful and allowed time for recalling mathematical processes learned years ago.

As for the homework/workload, it is paced at a fair clip but not breakneck speed. I spent about 10 hours a week on homework and performed one 4 hour practice test every 2-4 weeks. The course uses a MP website to direct tasks, readings, problem sets, etc. This clearly set out study plan helped keep me on track and direct my studying. I found this program to be most useful in that it set foundations and built upon concepts learned earlier in the course. One final product that MP offers is interactice videos that explain different concepts/strategies. This was particularly helpful to review as a refresher after finishing the course and just before sitting for the exam.

Finally, my instructor, Jeff, was phenomenal for a variety of reasons. Principally, his presentation of concepts was articulate and easily understood by all members of the class. It was clear based on the variety of backgrounds of my classmates that we were not all starting at the same level. Jeff understood this and was skilled in presenting the material and answering questions in a manner everyone understood. Jeff was always available to help after class or through email. Many times I emailed Jeff with a problem or concept I was struggling on and would have a video back from him talking through the problem within 24 hours. I would recommend him to anyone.

I ended up taking the exam once and scored a 720 (48Q, 41V). I took this improvement from a 630 years ago in large part to be due to the MP curriculum and the instruction and availability of Jeff.

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The first time that I took the MPrep GMAT course, I made significant progress during the course but was unable to find the time to study after the course ends (it is recommended that you self-study for 2-6 weeks after the course concludes). I took the Manhattan Prep class again roughly a year later and saw even greater benefit from the course given a starting knowledge base. I found there to be great benefit to the in-person course (particularly with my instructor, Jeff Volmer) to pick up small tips and tricks that added small bumps to my score (accumulating 10 points here and there adds up). Jeff was helpful during class, outside of class, and even after the course concluded. The quality of the Manhattan Prep resources was instrumental to helping me achieve my goal GMAT score.

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Had Jeff Vollmer as my instructor for an in-person Manhattan Prep GMAT class one day a week from 6-9 PM in Arlington, VA.

It was a great experience and I highly recommend having Jeff as an instructor. He was able to keep our post-work, 3 hours long classes interesting and exciting. He was very skilled at breaking down the different methods that could be used to solve each problem, and when each method was applicable. I also enjoyed how Jeff would put myself and other students in pressure situations that helped prepare us for the stress of the actual exam.

For background - I tried to study on my own for some time, but could never quite keep the consistency I needed, and really lacked the understanding of the strategy required for the test (v important!). This class really helped with both of these aspects and led to me gaining a score that I was very satisfied with.

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Jeff was incredibly knowledgeable on all things GMAT. While Manhattan Prep has a set curriculum, they also encourage you to determine and correct your weaknesses. Jeff helped me to delve further into topics that went beyond the level of the course material. As a result, I had the confidence I needed entering test day and got a great score (730). Jeff's responsiveness and clear and concise answers to my questions helped me to make my study time more efficient. Further, he helped me to simplify methods and develop test taking strategies that proved integral on test day. If you want a good GMAT score just remember the wise old peanut butter company motto "Choosy moms choose Jeff."

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I took the 9-week Manhattan Prep course with Jeffrey Volmer (in the D.C./Northern VA area) in winter 2018 and was very pleased with the experience. Jeff is an excellent and patient teacher who always made himself available outside of class hours to answer questions.

The Manhattan coursework and classroom format encouraged self-study. For someone who may not be motivated to study alone and profits from the pressure of having to keep pace with peers, this is a great option. In addition to reintroducing the grammar and math concepts that one will need to ace the test, the Manhattan curriculum emphasizes the strategies a test-taker must use to optimize his or her score under the time constraint and how to recognize and approach recurring “tricks” that the test throws at you. Jeff did a great job of giving equal currency to the test content and strategies.

I started studying for the GMAT without having taken a math course since high school (eight years prior). Given the intensity of the quant, this was my greatest weakness. But the Manhattan textbooks (especially Foundations of Math) provide an overview of the basics and ample drill exercises to help improve on that portion of the test.

I did not take the test for business school so I wasn’t trying my damnedest to break 700 (I didn’t). The programs I applied to also accepted the highest score in each category (Quant/Verbal/IR/Essay) from any test sitting, so I had different incentives from someone applying to an MBA program. If you struggle in one category, I would recommend supplementing the Manhattan coursework with a tutor as you get closer to test date. If you are in the D.C. area, I’m fairly certain Jeff offers tutoring and would make an excellent one-on-one teacher.

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Jeff was wonderful. This was my second run at taking the GMAT — the first time I never actually took the test after my studying got derailed by my job, which has crazy hours and a lot of travel. Jeff was very patient with my schedule and non-judgmental when I would drop off the grid for weeks on end, even though that obviously didn't make me the dream student. He helped me hone in on the specific things I needed to improve and gave me concrete homework assignments and study methods to address it, which helped me fit in studying on days when I didn't have a lot of time. Timing on the test was a big issue for me, and he was really helpful with strategies to address that.

Most importantly, he was a really reassuring presence to be around as I studied for this — from the beginning he expressed confidence that we could get my score to where it needed to be, and he never wavered in that, even when I was pretty down in the dumps of how it would go. I ended up doing even better than I'd been aiming for.

I would recommend Jeff as a tutor to anyone.

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I could not recommend Manhattan Prep more. I did a 9-week online course, some solo studying, and then two private tutoring sessions with Jeff Vollmer before my exam.

1) The 9-week online course: Highly reccomend. This course got me on the right track in terms of studying and strategy, freshened up my rusty quant and verbal skills (haven't studies this content since high school aka 10+ years), and the teachers (Stacey Koprice and Liz Moliski) were great teachers. This course includes all study materials (about 9 books) which were super digestible and helpful throughout and after the course. Course also comes with a ton of online resources. Worth every penny.

2) Private tutoring: very helpful. After taking the course, I felt as though I was floating out in space alone. Jeff helped me identify some areas I needed to touch up on within the last two weeks before my exam which helped me gain a better understanding of important topics and improved my performance. Very grateful to him and would definitely reccomend.

Overall, I wouldn't do it any differently. Manhattan Prep instructors are enthusiastic teachers and you can tell they really care about their students' performance.

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