Economist has stopper offering test prep service. You can check our top pick for SAT prep courses here.
There are many GRE prep courses out there which offer self-paced or live classroom instruction. However, some students need a little one-on-one help to really bring out the best in them and polish up their study methods. Fortunately, there are also many prep courses with a tutoring component.
The Economist GRE Tutor program guarantees a 5+ or 7+ point improvement score on the GRE. The GRE Tutor program is designed to be accessed from any device, anywhere in the world so that you can study when it’s most convenient for you. One of the more unique features of this tutoring program is that as you move through the practice questions and modules, the program becomes more customized to your needs. It will give you more questions to strengthen your weak areas, while your strengths will remain in a section to review any time you want.
In-app tutoring and messaging help give students additional support as they’re working through the modules, allowing students to enhance their learning experience with one-on-one advice from GRE experts.
What we will cover?
Economist GRE Prep Courses
With the Economist plans, you get several options at reasonable prices. As you pay more, you get more—a lot more. All the options allow you access to more than 5,000 practice questions, along with live 1-on-1 sessions with a tutor. The plans are comprehensive as well, instead of focusing on just a single area of the GRE.
Summary of Course Features
Basic Subscription Plan
The Basic Subscription plan does not include a score guarantee; however, it does provide full access to all online course materials. It includes 3 practice exams and live one-on-one sessions with a GRE tutor. You can also ask-a-tutor 25 questions, and you’ll receive 3 essay markings. You’ll have access to over 5,000 practice questions, and you can do it all from any mobile device of your choosing. The Basic Subscription plan prepares you for all 3 areas of the test.
The Basic Subscription Plan runs for one month and is reasonably priced at $299.
Premium Prep Plan
The Premium Prep Plan has a 5+ score improvement guarantee. It provides full course access to all online materials, 5 practice exams, and 5 one-on-one sessions. You may ask-a-tutor 100 questions throughout the modules, and you will receive 6 essay markings. Like the Basic Subscription plan, you’ll have access to over 5,000 practice questions that assess all 3 areas of the test, and it’s completely compatible with any mobile device.
The Premium Prep Plan runs for 3 months and is priced at $349.
Ultimate Prep Plan
The Ultimate Prep Plan comes with a 7+ score improvement guarantee. It includes full online course access, six practice exams, unlimited ask-a-tutor questions, and 6 live one-on-one sessions. You’ll receive 7 essay markings, access to over 5,000 practice questions, and you can do it all from any mobile device. The Ultimate Prep plan also prepares students for all 3 areas of the test.
The Ultimate Prep Plan is a bit more expensive, but still an overall reasonable price for all that it comes with, especially the unlimited ask-a-tutor question feature. The Ultimate Prep Plan subscription runs for 6 months and is priced at $529.
Find out if the Economist Tutor program works for your GRE preparation by checking out its advantages and drawbacks.
PROs
Here are some of the advantages you will enjoy with the Economist GRE Prep Courses:
You Can Use Your Mobile
It’s always better if you can hunker down at home for a serious GRE study using your desktop PC or laptop. However, mobile access is terrific when you want to supplement those periods with extra review time when you have a few free moments in your busy schedule.
With the Economist GRE prep courses, you can use your mobile device any time you want to review. It’s a handy feature for those who like to review in small sections, even on breaks. It’s much better to squeeze in a few practice questions when you’re having lunch or are on a coffee break, rather than wasting that time on Facebook or YouTube.
5,000 Questions
The Economist offers a lot more practice questions than most of the other GRE test prep brands, with 5,000 questions available. Now that’s a lot of practice questions to work with!
These questions are essential for GRE review, as they give you a practical feel for what kind of questions you’ll face on the real GRE. These questions are also teaching tools, even if you get them wrong. You’ll then find out how to obtain the correct answer properly, and you’re able to check out the explanation of the proper answer.
With this many questions, you’re unlikely to run out of fresh questions to work with.
Live 1-on-1 Sessions
This feature is available with even the most affordable plan, which is quite a rarity in the industry. Often, obtaining the services of a tutor comes with a prohibitive price. Some GRE test prep brands offer these tutoring services for $300 an hour.
With the tutors, you get a friendly guide who can answer your questions and explain certain GRE concepts more clearly. You’re not left entirely on your own, and you get immediate help during these sessions.
Reasonable Prices
It may seem steep, at first, to pay $299 for a single month of access for the most basic plan. But then again, this basic plan offers features that you don’t normally see in other basic packages offered by other GRE prep brands. Aside from essay markings, 3 practice exams, and plenty of questions, you also get 3 live 1-on-1 tutoring sessions.
Those tutoring sessions alone make the basic plan a real bargain. Tutoring services through other companies can cost $200 an hour if you’re lucky.
Pay a little bit more, and you get a lot more. The Ultimate plan gives you 6 practice exams, 6 live 1-on-1 tutoring sessions, 7 essay markings, and no limits on the number of questions you can pose for the “ask-a -tutor” feature. It’s a real bargain at $529, since the 6 tutoring sessions alone could cost you over $1,200 from another company. You get 6 months of access for this plan.
Plenty of Practice Exams
These exams can give you a good idea of what’s in store for you when you take the GRE for the first time.
But their real value is diagnostic. The practice exams highlight the sections and concepts in the GRE that you’re having trouble with, and you can then adjust your focus to improve your weak spots.
You Get Score Guarantees
This is only available for the Premium and Ultimate Plan, and you do need to spend time and effort to maximize your use of the resources. But at least you have some assurance that you’re not wasting your money if you work hard enough.
Essay Markings
With this feature, you’re bound to improve the way you write your essays. The markings can indicate the areas that you can work on to create essays that will garner more points.
Keep in mind that there’s also a human who grades the GRE essays, along with the software grader. With the essay markings, you can find out what these graders are looking for in an essay.
There’s a Free Trial
A free trial is available for 7 days, which should give you enough time to see if you feel comfortable with the features and the interface to invest. This is absolutely free.
Cons
The prep courses are great, but you should be aware of possible issues:
Only 1 Month of Access for the Basic Subscription Plan
This may make sense if you have an extra month to review for the GRE, after finishing a GRE test prep course with another brand. But with so many materials to go through, one month doesn’t seem enough.
It is this 1-month limit that makes the basic subscription plan the least attractive option. The other plans offer more reasonable access period lengths.
No Live Classes
Some people prefer live online classes due to greater engagement and participation. It’s a comfortable format for students who excel in school, for obvious reasons. While not everyone can fit these classes into their schedule, it would have been nice to have them as an option.
Additional Features
Economist Magazine Subscription
The Economist GRE also gives students a digital subscription to The Economist magazine to help expand their verbal reasoning skills, including vocabulary enhancement and comprehension. The subscription lasts for the length of the plan the student chooses.
Score Guarantee
Depending on the plan you choose, The Economist GRE Tutor offers a 5+ or 7+ score increase guarantee. To qualify, you need to have taken the GRE at least once within the last two years, and you’ll need to submit a PDF of your scores to The Economist GRE. For those who haven’t taken the GRE yet, you can take a practice score through the GRE Tutor, and that score will serve as your baseline.
You’ll need to complete 90% of the course content, use 3 live instructor sessions, complete every practice exam, and begin at least 10 weeks before your next GRE test to qualify for this guarantee. If you’re subscribing weekly, you’ll need to be a subscriber for 10 consecutive weeks to qualify.
The moneyback guarantee is a great way to find out if this style of GRE preparation works for you or not. If not, you can save your money for a different program. The Economist GRE Tutor is confident your score will increase using their Premium or Ultimate Prep programs.
Additional Info about the GRE
The GRE General Test is a comprehensive exam that assesses the preparedness of students for entering graduate programs. Business schools, law schools, Masters programs, and Doctoral programs all utilize the GRE to make sure the students entering their classes are ready for critical thinking and discourse, quantitative prowess, and analytical writing. Students who do well on the GRE may be eligible for scholarships and have a competitive edge over other applicants.
The GRE General Test
The GRE General test assesses your competencies in 3 areas:
- Verbal reasoning
- Quantitative reasoning
- Analytical writing (2 essays)
Verbal reasoning assesses a student’s knowledge of vocabulary and word meanings, word comprehension, and ability to draw critical conclusions from reading comprehension. This section of the test is scored between 130 and 170 points. If taken on a computer, the unofficial results can be viewed immediately at the end of the test.
Quantitative reasoning assesses a student’s knowledge and skills with mathematics, including algebra, mathematical models, and geometry. This section of the test is also scored between 130-170 points and can also be viewed at the end of the test if taken on a computer.
The analytical writing section is composed of two essays: issue and argument. In both cases, writers must analyze an issue or an argument and respond to it using critical thinking and reasoning skills in a structured format. While grammar, spelling, and mechanics do not count against you, if mistakes interfere with your meaning, your score may be lowered.
Your essay scores, if taken on a computer, are assessed by two entities: the ETS e-rater and a human scorer. If both scores are similar, they will be averaged and rounded to the nearest half-point. If scores disagree, the e-rater score will be scrapped, and a second human scorer will assess your essays. Essays are evaluated on a 0-6 holistic grading scale.
Conclusion
Compared with many other online programs, The Economist GRE Tutor offers much in the way of online support. The customization of their test features in the app help students focus on the areas they need to study the most, while still allowing them to review their strengths to stay sharp before the test. The ability to ask-a-tutor and have several one-on-one live sessions is also a great feature and one that isn’t necessarily always available for such a reasonable price elsewhere.
While some students may prefer the option to access support in person in local classes, for students who enjoy the freedom of online test prep, the score increase guarantee from the GRE Tutor is a great reason to try this program.
The Economist brand may not be as well known as some of the other iconic brands in the test prep industry, but they’re relatively new. Their inclusion of tutoring sessions and the handy ask-a-tutor feature in all their plans make their plans a much more attractive option, especially at their prices. It’s a good bet that because of the tutoring service available for all the plans, the Economist GRE prep courses will become much more popular.
The Economist GRE’s Official Website
