Updated June 11, 2024
RATING:
Magoosh GRE Prep is a great option for students hoping to ace the GRE. Their subscriptions are ranked highly for first-rate study materials, stellar customer support, and affordability. All their plan options are entirely online and accessible from any computer, tablet, or smartphone.
Any GRE questions you might have are easy to submit from within Magoosh’s dashboard and will quickly receive an answer from their top course tutors. This streamlined dashboard and other user-friendly features, along with a low cost, make this product stand out from the competition.
Please note Magoosh GRE Prep is one of our affiliate brands, and as such we receive a small commission at no cost to you if you choose to purchase this prep course. Only use our links if you find this review helpful.
Pros:
1. Flexibility
Each Magoosh plan is 100% online. There are no class meetings, no textbooks, no DVDs, and no strict class timeline. All you need is your computer, tablet or smartphone and the ability to focus on getting the job done.
Magoosh’s personalized student dashboard is a breeze to navigate—it suggests video lessons based on your progress and compares your results with other students so you can evaluate your abilities and focus on the areas that you need to improve, all on your terms. You can take on whatever content you like, wherever it’s most convenient.
2. Broad Range of Study Schedules
One great feature Magoosh provides is a series of study plans that range from 1 week to 6 months, so you can adapt your study schedule depending on how much time you have before the GRE. Best of all, these plans are available to everyone for free on their website and GRE Blog, even if you don’t buy the course.
These study plans include instructions for the Premium Magoosh GRE course material (which you have to purchase), but they also encourage the use of free resources, such as Magoosh’s GRE flashcards and the Magoosh GRE blog. They also suggest various articles from major journals and newspapers that can boost your vocabulary.
3. Price
You can get a 6 Month Premium subscription to Magoosh for only $179 () which covers all sections of the GRE. It’s hard to find such good materials and a well-designed site at that price, so you should take advantage of this deal while it lasts!
This coupon will also get you their 30-day plan for just $149, which is the exact same as the Premium course, except your course access is limited to 30 days instead of 6 months.
Money Back Guarantee & Risk-free Trial:
Magoosh also offers a free trial for their GRE test prep that gives you access to over 20 practice questions and 20 video lessons; that way, you’ll find out whether you like the course before you buy anything. If you purchase the Magoosh GRE course, it comes with a 7 day risk-free trial period that allows you to cancel and receive a refund within 7 days if you’re not satisfied with the program. In addition to this trial and guarantee, there’s also the free Magoosh GRE blog, which contains extra practice questions, tips and strategies to score higher on the GRE, and useful advice about the grad school application process.
On top of all that, their Premium GRE program comes with a score improvement guarantee. This guarantee means that if you don’t see a 5 point increase over an old GRE score after you’ve completed the course, you get your money back. It’s that simple. These types of guarantees do have some limitations, though, so see their website for details to make sure you meet all the requirements.
SEE ALL MAGOOSH GRE COURSE OPTIONS
4. iPhone/iPad/Android Access
That’s right, your Magoosh subscription is fully accessible from your computer, tablet, and smartphone (both iOS and Android). You can access all your GRE lessons from anywhere with Magoosh’s apps—including a flashcard app—but you can also use your mobile browser to get full access to the site. Study whenever and wherever it’s convenient for you!
5. Authentic Materials
The practice questions in the Magoosh GRE course are very close to those on the actual GRE. As an added measure of reliability, Magoosh’s Score Predictor gives you a predicted range for your performance on the GRE. Magoosh does this by comparing your performance in the program with data from other Magoosh students, such as their official GRE scores and their performance in the prep program.
6. User-Friendly
The Magoosh GRE review site is incredibly user-friendly and geared towards customized learning and flexibility. As I used their site, there was never a time when I wasn’t sure where to navigate. Each section is clearly displayed in your Dashboard:
From the Dashboard, you’re able to easily navigate to wherever you need to go, like practice tests and questions, suggested lessons, your notes, and your personalized Review section. Magoosh has made navigating and using the apps and site easy, so you can focus on studying.
7. Personalized Study
You may think that because this is an online study course, there won’t be a lot of personalization. Thankfully, that’s not true: the Magoosh GRE prep course is extremely personalized. You’re able to go at your own speed, rather than according to the set pace of a class. You can rewind and rewatch videos when you need to and skip ahead to other content when you don’t.
Personalized Dashboard:
As you use Magoosh GRE, you’ll be spending a lot of time on your student Dashboard. This page changes as you learn more material, giving you personalized updates on your progress. Here you have access to Suggested Lessons based on the areas that you may need to improve the most, as well as a summary of your course results and an estimated GRE score.
Customizable Practice Sessions:
When putting together your Magoosh GRE study plan and practice sessions, you can choose which practice problems to study based on your own specific needs. Choose your level of difficulty, number of problems, types of problems, and which sections of the GRE you want to study. You can enter ‘practice mode,’ where the explanations are shown as you go through questions, or ‘quiz mode,’ where explanations are not shown.
Notes Section:
One more way in which you can personalize Magoosh’s GRE test prep is through the Notes section. Here you can add anything you’d like to remember about a specific question, and even flag it for later review.
8. Goes Beyond Text Explanations
One of the best features of Magoosh’s GRE test prep is how much explanation you’ll see for GRE test concepts, which goes well beyond typical text explanations. If a question is particularly challenging, Magoosh does just about everything they can to help you understand it.
Video Explanation:
Magoosh GRE test prep offers both text explanations and video explanations; this feature alone may make the Magoosh GRE test prep app the best one for its price. Their 1-3 minute video explanations go a little further in depth with each question than you’d get with a text explanation, both dissecting the answer conceptually and demonstrating how to solve it at the same time. The videos take the time to explain the full complexity of the problem, which can be hard to do in a paragraph of text (especially with the GRE’s math section). Videos are one of the best ways to show ‘why’ something works, which helps you solidify the skill and apply it to other problems. They remind you of the basics, rules, and equations behind the problems, while text explanations, on the other hand, just can’t pack in as much information.
The videos also offer much more than the text explanation. They often answer “why” something works, which helps to solidify the skill, and to apply the explanation to others like it, rather than just repeating the success on that singular problem. They remind you of the basics, rules, and equations behind the problems.
Beyond the videos, Magoosh GRE prep offers shortcuts to common problems, helping you speed up your time when the full mathematical solution is unnecessary.
Alternative Solutions
Often, there is a mathematical solution and a logical solution for each GRE problem, and usually the logical solution is less complex and time-consuming. Unlike other programs that just show you the mathematical solution, Magoosh’s GRE test prep will show you a logical solution as well, when possible. This offers you a quicker and easier way to solve what could be an otherwise difficult and lengthy question.
References to other explanations:
In the Text Explanation section, Magoosh GRE test prep often provides links to one or two blog posts that explain niche concepts in detail—Magoosh provides you with plenty of great explanations in their curriculum, but the bonus material in these blog posts is free and can be very helpful when working through more complex problems.
Frequently Asked Questions:
With many of their practice questions, Magoosh GRE answers commonly asked questions that students have had about the problem. If you’ve looked through their explanations but are still feeling stuck on something, this is the first place you should go, as others have probably had the same question before!
Related Lessons
If you still have questions after you’ve completed a problem and looked through its explanations and FAQs, you can always check out Magoosh’s Related Lessons suggestions, which save you the trouble of going to menus and hunting down concepts that may or may not relate to the problem at hand.
9. Tutoring Packages Available
Magoosh understands that everyone has different studying needs, so they offer 4 GRE tutoring packages that provide students with 1-on-1 instruction from a GRE expert.
Each package is priced with an hourly rate, but the more hours you buy, the lower those rates are. Compared to other prep courses out there, Magoosh is much more flexible and cost-effective than other GRE tutoring plans.
Here are Magoosh’s GRE tutoring options:
- Starter: You choose 2-3 areas for the tutor to focus on during a 1-hour tutoring session, which costs $100.
- Verbal: Verbal lessons and 4 hours of tutoring for $350 ($87.50 an hour).
- Math: Quantitative/Math lessons and 4 hours of tutoring for $350 ($87.50 an hour).
- Premium: Covers both the Verbal and Quantitative sections PLUS essay grading and review. This option costs $600 for 8 hours of tutoring ($75 an hour).
SEE ALL MAGOOSH GRE COURSE OPTIONS
Cons:
1. Fewer Practice Tests
When you use Magoosh GRE, you have the ability to generate practice tests from your pool of unanswered practice questions, but Magoosh recommends creating no more than 3 practice tests so you can save the rest for general practice. Most competitors offer 6-8 practice tests, so Magoosh’s advised number isn’t the best we’ve seen. Still, 3 whole practice tests is plenty when it comes to getting a feel for the length and overall experience of taking the GRE, making this drawback hardly a dealbreaker.
2. Lacks Guidance
Magoosh GRE test prep is entirely self-guided, so if you need a more directed approach, this may not be the prep course for you. However, Magoosh’s GRE prep still includes plenty of study schedule options that can give you a bit of structure if you need it, and you also have access to instructors who can answer any GRE questions you may have. While there aren’t strict deadlines or dedicated hours with instructors through their standard GRE program, you’re never entirely on your own.
Ideal User
As a strictly online, on-demand subscription plan, Magoosh’s GRE prep courses work best for disciplined students who want to study at their own pace. Every single practice question (1,000+) has a video explanation, which is fantastic for those who like to follow along with demonstrations of how to solve and understand problems.
The usual advantages of on-demand courses apply: students and professionals juggling hectic schedules will appreciate not having to commute to a traditional classroom or attend scheduled online sessions. The ability to practice questions and watch video lessons from wherever you are and whenever you want – on your computer, tablet, or smartphone – has a definite appeal.
Students who appreciate a streamlined interface will love the Magoosh course dashboard, which is easy to navigate and includes lots of great features. You can customize your study experience by subject and difficulty, choose to time your quizzes or not, and view a summary of your past answers filtered by question type and difficulty.
Those who want to take charge of their learning and don’t need a more structured program to keep them on task will love the freedom and flexibility of Magoosh’s course.
Summary of Course Features
- 200+ video lessons
- 1,000+ practice questions
- 3 practice exams
- Timed quizzes
- Study schedules for a variety of timelines
- Score predictor
- Performance analysis
- Apps for Android and iOS
- Choose from 30-day or 6-month access to the Premium course
- +5 score increase guarantee
- Money-back guarantee
- 7-day free trial
- AWA tips and guidance
- Email and messaging assistance from tutors
Conclusion
Magoosh gets rave reviews from students, many of whom have improved their GRE score with this flexible and affordable on-demand subscription plan. Their several money-back guarantees demonstrate how confident Magoosh is in their product, as they should be.
If your score doesn’t improve by 5 points, you’ll get a full refund—that’s a great deal. If you are serious about scoring high on the GRE and getting accepted into the graduate school of your choice, Magoosh is definitely our first pick. But, if you’re still not convinced, sign up for their 7-Day free trial and see for yourself—there’s no risk, and we don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Magoosh GRE prep is a great option for most students, but if you feel like their online prep course isn’t the best choice for you, there are plenty of other options. Take a look at our list of the major GRE prep courses out there today, where you’re sure to find a course that has what you’re looking for.
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FAQs
Is Magoosh good for the GRE?
Magoosh GRE is our top pick of any GRE prep course, and we’ve based that decision not only on the content and features they provide, but also on the price they provide them for. If you choose Magoosh GRE prep, you’ll work through accurate, progressively challenging content at your own pace (though you can also follow specific study schedules they provide). As you do, you’ll be using a high-quality student interface that you can access through almost any device with an internet connection. With Magoosh, you also receive impressive guarantees, valuable instructor feedback, and tons of instructional material for the lowest price of any major GRE prep course out there; all these features and more make Magoosh one of the best all-around choices for today’s students studying for the GRE.
How much does Magoosh GRE cost?
Magoosh’s cheapest GRE course costs $149 and provides 1 month of access to thousands of questions, multiple practice tests, video lessons, and full coverage of every section on the GRE. Their 6 month option costs $179 and is their most popular plan, giving you 6 months of access to the same GRE study material for only $30 more than their 1 month plan. The next cheapest course we’ve reviewed is nearly double that price at $350, and provides only 3 months of access to your course materials. As we see it, Magoosh offers the most cost-effective prep option for today’s GRE students, and it does so through state-of-the-art instruction and top-of-the-line features. As long as you’re a self-starter who’s able to keep up a good pace and learn material through their self-paced curriculum, Magoosh is well-worth its cost. Here’s a simplified breakdown of your Magoosh GRE pricing options:
Magoosh GRE Premium Course (1 Month)
Price: $149
Includes: Math, Verbal and AWA preparation, more than 200 video lessons, more than 1,000 practice questions, up to 3 practice exams, study schedules, access for 1 months, guarantee that your total score will rise by at least 5 points or your money back, score predictor, and messaging assistance.
Magoosh GRE Premium Course (6 Month)
Price: $179
Includes: Math, Verbal and AWA preparation, more than 200 video lessons, more than 1,000 practice questions, up to 3 practice exams, study schedules, access for 6 months, guarantee that your total score will rise by at least 5 points or your money back, score predictor, and messaging assistance.
Is Magoosh harder than the actual GRE?
The answer is pretty simple: not by much! Looking around online, you may find that some users have claimed their Magoosh Quant prep was a bit more difficult than the actual Quant section they took on the GRE. However, for the most part, Magoosh creates practice GRE questions that accurately mimic the GRE’s difficulty level. As you progress through your Magoosh GRE materials, you’ll start off with easier questions before moving on to harder ones, but Magoosh’s most difficult questions are very similar to those you’ll find on test day. In fact, plenty of students have claimed that Magoosh’s GRE questions were the hardest out of the multiple GRE prep courses they tried. If you’re looking for questions that will best prepare you for the test’s difficulty, Magoosh will probably be the best option for you.
Which is better, Magoosh or Kaplan?
During your GRE prep research, you’ve probably stumbled upon these two names: Kaplan and Magoosh. As we’ve stated before, we think that Magoosh offers the best bang-for-your-buck of any GRE prep course out there today, but that doesn’t mean Kaplan’s GRE prep options won’t be a better fit for you. Magoosh and Kaplan are very different companies: one is older and more traditional, one is younger and more innovative, one offers cheaper services while the other has more ‘premium’ products—the list goes on. We can’t go into all the differences or the pros and cons of each course here, but we’ve evaluated these two companies in a detailed course comparison article that should help you decide which will provide you with the best GRE prep experience possible.
How accurate is Magoosh score predictor GRE?
Magoosh has been collecting actual GRE scores from their students since 2009 for use in their GRE score predictor algorithm; we’d say that makes it very accurate. Many of their GRE alumni have claimed that their Magoosh predicted score was within 5 or 10 points of their actual GRE score; some even received a spot on GRE prediction. If you’re taking Magoosh’s GRE course, you can rest assured that the questions—and score predictions—you receive will be very similar to the content and results you’ll get on the GRE itself.
Have you taken Magoosh GRE prep course? Let us know what you think!
Magoosh GRE Review Course Information
| Magoosh GRE Review |
Strengths |
| 1. | 67% Off Discount Code |
| 2. | Flexibility |
| 3. | Broad Range Study Schedules |
| 4. | iPhone/iPad/Android Access |
| 5. | Authentic Materials |
| 6. | Money Back Guarantee |
Bryce Welker is an active speaker, blogger, and regular contributor to Forbes, Inc.com, and Business.com where he shares his knowledge to help others boost their careers. Bryce is the founder of more than 20 test prep websites that help students and professionals pass their certification exams.
