| Comparison Factor |
GMATPro121 Tutors | Typical Tutor from "Big Brand" Classroom Course |
Overall Quality Assurance
| High overall quality assurance. Because our hand-picked one-on-one tutoring specialists deliver a pay-as-you-go service that only profits when students return for more sessions. See our testimonials, and our independently verified 4.9 out of 5 stars rating on Google Checkout! | Questionable because:
1) One-on-one tutoring is not a classroom provider’s main business or revenue source (so there is little “penalty” to them for not getting their tutoring service right), and
2) Assigned tutor may not actually be a tutoring specialist, and
3) Large up-front financial commitment shifts the risk of a poor quality tutor away from the provider to the student |
Guaranteed Expert One-on-One Tutoring Specialist? | Yes. All we do is one-on-one tutoring, and we hand-pick the strongest tutors we can find, based on:
1. Superb 750+ minimum score
2. Significant one-on-one tutoring experience
3. Consistently excellent student feedback. | Doubtful, because no one-on-one tutoring-specific experience typically required. Unfortunately, classroom teachers are frequently “drafted in” as one-on-one tutors, as if the skill set of a classroom teacher were interchangeable with that of a one-on-one specialist (it isn’t -- a top quality one-on-one tutor has an additional skill set that makes them far rarer than a solid classroom instructor). |
| 750+ Minimum Score Required? | Yes, 99th %ile / 750+, matching the highest standard in the industry. | Maybe: ranges from 90-99th %ile / 680-750+. Only a 750+ score assures genuine mastery of the exam! |
| Proof of Tutor Score Provided? | Yes. We always send a high-resolution scan of your tutor's score report before we ask for any money. | No!
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| Speak with Tutor Before Starting? | Yes, always! | No (you will get whichever tutor is available regardless of how good they are). |
Quality of Materials Used | We suggest the best of all available 3rd party materials — tailored to student strengths and weaknesses for maximum effectiveness — and supplement where appropriate with our own. The best materials are not always well-known — but they are not expensive. Our proprietary "ActiveTracker" online companion tool to the Official Guide automatically tracks and diagnoses strengths and weakness by topic area. | Largely limited to proprietary, one-size-fits-all classroom course materials regardless of quality (and usually including non-representative practice questions). No one provider has a monopoly on all the best study resources, yet they all push their own (often inefficient) materials as if they do! |
Total Cost to Reach Score Goal | Unknown! Yet the most important cost-related question you can ask about different GMAT prep options. See our "Results" comparison at the bottom of the table.
The great thing about the GMATPro121 service is our pay-as-you-go payment model, where you are always in control of your spend, and our tutors have to earn the privilege of serving you every session! We never require a large up-front payment commitment.
Unfortunately, the best GMAT prep decision cannot be made based on a comparison of over-simple marketing headlines of cost-per-hour or course cost — because assistance that does not get you to your goal is not cheap (no matter what the fees!). | Unknown! Most test-takers take false comfort from thinking that their total GMAT prep cost will simply be whichever tutoring package they've paid for. But total cost can be much higher if that package isn't enough. |
Fees | $140 per hour, much less (about 25-50%) than one-on-one tutoring fees from classroom providers (the nearest comparable service). Total fees will naturally vary, but GMATPro121’s students are always in control of their spend with pay-as-you-go. Typically students spend about as much with us as they would have on a course, but with far better results due to the expert individualized attention, and total control always over their spend (no big up-front commitments ever required). | High: $180 – $250 per hour |
| Minimum Cost Commitment | 2 hours only (one session) | High: Varies from 5-10 hours, or $750 – $2500 |
Student Results | Very strong: often +100 points or +20 %ile points vs. previous real GMAT test with 7-8 sessions of 2 hours spread over a reasonable time period. Many report higher score increases; see our testimonials and independent student reviews leading to our amazing 4.9 out of 5 stars rating on Google Checkout! Revealingly, over half of our students are "graduates" of other prep providers that failed to help them reach their goal. | Mixed: Providers always claim strong results, but such claims should be taken with a grain of salt because testimonials are often cherry-picked, and providers are often partly in control of the comparison by using their own diagnostic test for new students. A *genuine* comparison can only be made between two REAL GMAT tests, but classroom providers are rarely ever honest about this.
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Convenience | Highest possible convenience because our tutors visit you in your home, office or other mutually agreed location, always working around your schedule. | High as tutors are often able to meet your home, office or other mutually agreed location and work around your schedule. |
Overall Value | High | Low-to-medium, because:
1) Certainty of high cost and up-front commitment, yet
2) Uncertainty around quality |
