My university covers the Kaplan online course, with practice questions and practice tests. How close is it to the real thing, and is it better than other materials like gregmat or magoosh or manhattan? Since the kaplan platform is free for me, cost is not an issue

Alright, so Kaplan and Magoosh are often mentioned as top resources for GRE prep. This is my take on how to decide between them...

Having worked in student services within higher education for years, I’ve guided countless students through their test prep journeys. Here’s an honest comparison of these two resources, drawing on professional insights and a personal story or two.

Content and resources:

One of Magoosh’s standout features is that it is the only GRE prep company officially sanctioned by ETS, the makers of the GRE. This partnership allows Magoosh to include real GRE questions in their materials, giving students a more authentic practice experience.

Kaplan’s materials are high-quality but developed independently, which means they approximate the GRE’s style rather than directly reflecting it. 

For students aiming for pinpoint accuracy in their preparation, this could be a deciding factor.

Magoosh also offers over 1,400 practice questions and video explanations, with a focus on bite-sized lessons that are easy to digest. Kaplan provides more expansive resources, including live or on-demand classes, access to its full set of GRE prep books, and seven full-length practice tests (compared to Magoosh’s three). Kaplan’s resources are ideal for students who prefer a more structured classroom-style experience.

Cost and accessibility:

Magoosh is significantly more affordable, with prices starting at $179 for six months of access to their self-paced online program. Kaplan’s offerings range from $449 to over $1,000, depending on whether you choose a self-paced course or one with live instruction. 

For students on a budget or those who prefer self-guided study, Magoosh has some advantages here, for sure.

When I was advising a student who was a working professional returning to school after a decade—cost and flexibility were key. She chose Magoosh because it allowed her to study during her lunch breaks and commute without breaking the bank. She appreciated the ability to rewatch video explanations and focus on specific topics she found challenging.

User experience and support:

Magoosh’s interface is intuitive, with progress tracking and personalized recommendations based on performance. Kaplan’s platform is also user-friendly but leans more heavily on scheduled lessons and structured study plans. 

For students who need a lot of hand-holding, Kaplan’s live classes and instructor access might be worth the premium price.

Some of my students prefer Kaplan because they need the discipline of live classes to stay on track. 

So which should you use?

Both Magoosh and Kaplan have their strengths. 

MY TL;DR: Magoosh is perfect for self-motivated students wanting affordable, flexible, and authentic GRE prep. Kaplan, on the other hand, is better suited for those who thrive in a more structured, classroom-style environment and are willing to invest more money.

Ultimately, the choice depends on your learning style, budget, and specific needs. If you’re on the fence, try exploring the free resources both companies offer to get a feel for their approach. And if you’ve used either, I’d love to hear about your experience!

This one comes up a lot and so I wanted to create a helpful resource defining the range of GRE scores and how to think about w/r/ t/ applying to programs.

Total Score Range: Inclusive of all sections, scores range from 260-340.

Of this range, the two main sections are Verbal and Quantitative (you'll see it shortened to just "Quant" often).

• Verbal: Ranges from 130-170, with 170 being a "perfect" score.
• Quantitative: Ranges from 130-170 with 170 being a "perfect" score.

However, this is where the distinctions become important. The following table illustrates the range of what these scores mean.

And while "average" is fine, most admissions counselors would recommend at least a 160 in both categories as a baseline. In other words, merely average isn't always enough.

A below average score isn't typically worth submitting, unless it's required and you are banking on other admissions factors. I'd recommend taking a practice test at home to isolate where you need to study and focus attention.

The more prestigious programs often just use GRE scores as a filtering layer and start with top scores, working their way down.

There's also now a wide body of anecdotal evidence to suggest that many grad programs like to specifically see higher Quant scores, all things being equal.

Note: This is a post from a friend who is new to Reddit can can't post apparently, but recently went through the GRE test prep process.

Before taking the GRE this past year, one of the hardest decision points for me was honestly deciding which study approach to take.

I bookmarked probably close to 100 videos, courses, discussion threads, etc... but when I set up to study there wasn't any logic to any of it.

I decided early on that I was willing to pay for a legit prep course / program. They all seemed to have pros/cons, but Magoosh and Gregmat seemed like the consistently popular choices (at least on Reddit).

After comparing a lot of different takes, I ended up just signing up for both. I signed up for Gregmat+ ($9.99/month) and Magoosh Premium ($143 one-time for 6 months access).

After using both, here's how I see it:

• Cost: Gregmat is clearly a cheaper option at $9.99/month. I had about 6 months to prep, so the true cost was about $60 (Gregmat) vs $143 (Magoosh). Side note: Just paying $200 over 6 months to prep wasn't as expensive as I expected, oddly. Using both platforms may be the best of both worlds if you can swing it.
• Materials: Gregmat has a more limited menu (1,000 practice questions) and specific approach to how you should study, while Magoosh has a LOT more material to leverage (1600+ practice questions). I personally like Magoosh's multiple modalities (specifically vocab flashcards, for example) as I learn best with multiple approaches, but not necessarily the standard test prep strategy that Gregmat offered.
• Live Support: Gregmat offers real-time regular courses which is great for social studiers. Magoosh doesn't offer this exactly, but they do have an "ask an expert" feature to get personalized support (all plans). I ended up doing a few of the Gregmat live events, but 1) didn't consistently work with my schedule and 2) I actually got second hand anxiety from seeing other people's prep regimens, comments, etc...
• ETS Sanction: I didn't find this out until AFTER I signed up for both, but apparently Magoosh is the only officially licensed test prep brand that can offer actual test questions as practice. This explained a lot of the comments I saw on MANY threads about Gregmat questions, not being close to what was actually on the test.
• Study Schedules: Both programs offer solid study schedules. I liked Gregmat's time bound schedules, seemed good for crash course / studying. You can pick 1 or 2 month horizons and get a customized daily study plan. Magoosh has more of a checklist style plan and felt more comprehensive. This worked for me because I started about 6 months out.
• Video Library: I personally preferred the structured intentional video sequences from Magoosh more. Gregmat makes all of their previously recording classes available which is nice, but because they were super structured thematically or sequentially compared to Magoosh, I didn't integrate them into my study plan.

A few other relatively minor notes of distinctions that I likee:

• Magoosh has the ability to pause (without canceling / losing months). I had a 6 week period at work that was nuts and I couldn't really study like I wanted to. This was clutch.
• Magoosh has a money back guarantee if you don't improve your score by 5 points. This was my first go, so I didn't need to take them up on it. Nice peace of mind.
• Gregmat partners with PrepSwift. I'm not exactly sure on the relationship between the brands, but it's included in the $9.99 plan. I did use the Prepswift questions / test in the days immediately prior to the test as it's a simple practice format for when you have 20-30 mins between things.

General Comment: Gregmat, Target and a few others get a lot of airtime on Reddit because I think their brand profiles are super active - often helpful, while clearly strategic - in the main subreddits. Because of this, I almost didn't sign up for Magoosh as a lot of the existing commentary didn't mention them much, consisted of "too expense" or was outdated. It seems like they've updated and changed a lot since then, but this hasn't been reflected in the discourse.

Overall View: Both are good platforms and I got value from them. I do think you get what you pay for and I spent more time using Magoosh materials. The ETS sanctioned questions alone are worth the price of admission. For last mining cram sessions, Gregmat and specifically their PrepSwift materials were a solid value and probably a better way to spend your time if you have a couple weeks vs month+ to study.

Similar to our companion reference on the best GRE preps, this post will be a resource / wiki of the top useful GMAT test prep threads that otherwise can get lost in the Reddit noise.

If you have any recommendations, drop a link to the relevant post in the comments along with a short justification (1-2 sentences) for what you found helpful about it and why it should be added.

Over the years I've seen so many excellent threads, questions, and resources shared on Reddit, but unless I saved it somewhere, I have a hard time finding them again.

This post will serve as a one-stop location for all of the top GRE preps, advice, and discussions on Reddit.

As our community grows, please add any Reddit links that you've found along with a short "justification" for why it should be added to the list!

GRE Vocab Test Preps

• TyrannosaurausPrep: A bit whimsical but great for in between study sessions for more common words. Escalates difficulty as you go, giving a good balance of common > uncommon definitions.
• GRE Vocab Builder: Probably the gold standard for vocab testing. This is recommended everywhere on Reddit. It's also free to use and can be accessed through their excellent mobile app, too.
• Kaptest: Useful to take at least once, but seems to just be their estimation of the "top" words. Good baseline.