Magoosh GRE Review

If you’re looking to brush up your skills before taking the GRE, there are tons of prep courses out there to try. One of the most popular choices is the Magoosh GRE prep course. If you’re interested in Magoosh, this review will break down what you can expect from the course—both the good and the bad.

Magoosh’s flexible, budget-friendly GRE prep course is completely online and offers both a desktop version and a mobile app. The course is self-paced and features a personalized dashboard that’s easy to use. While there are some downsides to the course, such as a lack of in-person classes and fewer practice tests than other courses, it’s overall good value for your money.

Magoosh is an online, self-paced course that’s perfect for busy professionals who want to study for the GRE on their own schedule. Their video explanations are great for visual learners, and they have an app that allows you to study on-the-go.

One of our favorite things about Magoosh is their personalized dashboard and all the features on it, including the review section, score predictor, and video explanations. We also like the supplemental materials available on the website and Magoosh’s mobile app. Plus, we love how responsive Magoosh is to questions and their guaranteed 5-point score increase.

One of the main negatives of Magoosh’s course is their lack of physical materials, such as workbooks or textbooks. The self-guided nature of the course can also be a bit difficult for some learners. Magoosh also offers fewer practice questions and tests than many competitors, and they don’t offer essay grading. Plus, since you have to learn all the concepts on your own through videos, Magoosh can be a big time commitment.

Magoosh offers two plans: a one-month premium plan and a six-month premium plan. The one-month plan costs $149, and the six-month plan costs $179. Both plans feature comprehensive coverage of the Math, Verbal, and Analytical Writing sections. They also both have video lessons, over 1,200 practice questions, three practice tests, and study schedules. The only difference between the two plans is the length of time you’re able to access them.

You can also get just Math or just Verbal and Analytical Writing for $149 for six months. These plans feature a two-point score increase guarantee. If your score on these sections doesn’t go up by two points, you’ll get your money back.

Magoosh accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, and PayPal, and all of their payments are processed through PayPal.

If you’re unsure about Magoosh, they have a seven-day free trial with over 20 questions and lessons. Or, if you start the course and find it isn’t right for you, they also have a seven-day, no questions asked money back guarantee.

Magoosh’s prices are far below the majority of other courses on the market. They also don’t skimp on online course materials, making this course a good value overall.

Magoosh’s usability is one of its biggest assets. Their dashboard is clean and easy to navigate. Everything you need is right in front of you when you login. Within just a few minutes of starting the course, you’ll be able to navigate the dashboard.

Magoosh’s mobile app also works well, although it doesn’t have near the amount of material as the desktop version. One negative is that you have to download three apps to get all the features: one for videos, one for vocabulary flashcards, and one for math flashcards. The vocabulary app is particularly useful—you can easily flip through the virtual flashcards and study while you’re out and about. The math flashcard app is a bit trickier to use since it can be difficult to work math problems on a small smartphone screen. While the mobile app isn’t a substitute for the desktop version, it works as a supplement to it.

One of the main negatives of Magoosh’s course is that there are no physical workbooks, flashcards, or textbooks. But as long as you’re okay with working entirely online, you’ll find Magoosh’s course easy to use.

Students are generally happy with the Magoosh prep course and report that the course helped raise their GRE scores. Many students praised the flexibility of the course, and they said the questions were similar to what they encountered on the ETS tests. Students also liked that Magoosh provided study plans and schedules.

There are some negative reviews, though, in regard to the lack of structure of the course. Some students wished there were live tutors or classes available. Other students weren’t happy with the fact that Magoosh had fewer tests than other prep courses.

Overall, there are far more positive reviews than negative ones, with many students saying that Magoosh’s course helped them feel more prepared on test day.

Overall, Magoosh’s GRE course does what it claims to do. The video lessons are easy to follow and thoroughly explain the problems. The practice questions match up to what you’ll see on the actual GRE. The personalized dashboard has a ton of data that can help you zero-in on where to focus your studying. The supplemental material also builds up your skills, and the study schedules focus your studying.

While the lack of guidance can be tricky at first, as long as you create a schedule for yourself and make use of all the features on your personalized dashboard, Magoosh’s course will help you feel prepared for test day.

Personalized Dashboard

One of Magoosh’s best features is their personalized dashboard. The interface is clean and simple to use. It’s also easy to navigate. Right when you login, you’ll see a “Quick Practice” button you can use to jump straight into lessons. You’ll also see a list of suggested lessons. As you work your way through the practice questions, your dashboard will show your progress. You’ll see pie charts that show the percentage of questions you’ve gotten correct and your pace compared to your peers. This data can help you decide where to focus your studies as you move forward.

Magoosh also has customizable practice sessions that you can access straight from your dashboard. You can choose to work through the Verbal or Math sections, and you can pick the types of problems and the number of problems. You can also change the difficulty level of the questions—you could start on the easier mode and raise the difficulty as you gain more confidence in the material. If you’d like to see explanations as you go through the problems, enter ‘practice mode.’ Or, choose ‘quiz mode’ to get a feel for what test day will be like.

There’s also a notes section on your personalized dashboard. Here, you’ll be able to write anything you’d like to remember about the questions, and you can access the notes later from your dashboard.

Video Explanations

Magoosh offers both text and video explanations with their practice questions. These videos are about one to three minutes long, and they off in-depth looks at how to solve answers. In each video, you’re shown a digital whiteboard where an instructor works through the problem in a voiceover. While the production value is simple, the videos are chock-full of information that helps you solve a wide variety of problems.

Underneath each video is a full transcript of the video with highlights that follow what the instructor is saying. This makes it easy to double-check anything you might have missed. There’s also a space to jot down notes about the video.

Alternate Solutions

You can solve many GRE math problems by using a logical solution rather than a mathematical solution. This can save you time on test day. When possible, Magoosh will show you the logical solution alongside the mathematical solution. This will give you a quicker and easier way to solve what could be a tough problem.

Frequently Asked Questions

Magoosh also shows questions students commonly ask alongside many of their practice problems. These are useful if you still have any questions after watching the video and reading through the text explanation—there’s a good chance another student has had the same question as you in the past.

Review Section

One of the most helpful parts of your personalized dashboard is the ‘Review’ section. Here, you can review all the questions you’ve answered and use filters to decide which questions you want to look at again. You can filter everything from the questions you got correct to the different subjects you’ve studied. You’ll also be able to see your pace and get a sense of if you need to move faster on test day.

Score Predictor

Magoosh’s score predictor is another useful feature on your personalized dashboard. The score predictor’s algorithm uses real scores from former students to calculate your estimated GRE score. Once you’ve answered about 50 practice questions, you’ll start seeing changes in your score range. The more questions you answer, the more accurate your score will be. Many Magoosh alumni have said that their predicted score was within five to 10 points of their actual GRE score.

Three Full Practice Tests

Magoosh has three full GRE practice tests to try. These tests take about four hours each. Many students say that the Magoosh practice test questions were similar to what they saw on the actual GRE.

Supplemental Material and Mobile App

In addition to their practice questions and tests, Magoosh also has supplemental materials on their website. This includes a vocabulary builder tool and a blog with studying tips and tricks. They also have study plans and schedules based on how long you have before your test—ranging from one week up to six months.

You’ll also find a good amount of supplemental material on Magoosh’s mobile app. This app has video lessons on the GRE’s Math, Reading, and Writing sections. It also has 1,000 vocabulary and 1,000 math flashcards.

While this app doesn’t feature as much material as Magoosh’s desktop version, it’s a good companion. The app is also free, so it’s a great way to test Magoosh out before buying a plan.

Guaranteed 5-Point Score Increase

Another one of Magoosh’s unique selling points is their guaranteed five-point score increase. If your score doesn’t increase by five points after doing the Magoosh prep course, they’ll give you a full refund. The one catch is you have to have taken the GRE at least once before doing the Magoosh prep course.

To make use of this feature, email your “Before” score report to help@magoosh.com when you sign up. Then, if you take the GRE after using Magoosh and your score doesn’t go up, email them your “After” score report. You’ll be given a 100% refund. This guaranteed five-point score increase shows how confident Magoosh is in their product.

24/7 Email Response

If you have any questions about Magoosh’s lessons, use their 24/7 email response. Email them with your question, and a GRE expert will typically get back to you with a detailed response within a few hours.

No Physical Books or Study Materials

To keep their costs low, Magoosh doesn’t provide any physical books or practice materials—everything is online. This could be difficult if you’re someone who learns better writing in a workbook or flipping through flashcards.

No In-Person Classes or One-on-One Tutoring

Another downside is Magoosh doesn’t offer in-person classes or one-on-one tutoring. Everything is self-guided and done on your own time. If you like a more directed approach, this could be tricky for you.

Still, even though Magoosh doesn’t provide in-person classes, you won’t be entirely on your own doing the course. If you have any questions, Magoosh’s 24/7 email support is always there for you. Also, make use of Magoosh’s study schedules to guide your studying.

Fewer Practice Tests and Practice Problems

Magoosh also has fewer practice questions available than many of their competitors. Magoosh has 1,200 practice questions while other competitors like Manhattan Prep offer about 100,000.

They also have fewer practice tests too. While Princeton Review, for example, has eight practice tests, Magoosh only provides three. If you do feel like you could use another practice test, you can find some more free ones online.

Time Commitment

Since you’re learning everything on your own through videos, it can sometimes take some time to learn the concepts Magoosh is teaching. You may have to watch the videos a few times to nail down the concepts. Because of that, Magoosh’s course can be a big time commitment.

No Essay Grading

While Magoosh has lessons on the GRE’s writing section, they don’t offer essay grading. Instead, they provide a rubric you can use to score your essay on your own. While this PDF will give you an idea of your score, it isn’t foolproof, and other companies like Kaplan do include grading from GRE teachers.

Magoosh’s GRE prep course is a great online course that won’t break the bank. From the personalized dashboard to the mobile app, Magoosh’s course has tons of practice questions and useful features that will help you feel ready on test day. As long as you’re okay with working online and being mostly self-directed, Magoosh is a good GRE pep course choice.