Self-study can only take you so far—
Our experienced GRE tutors can help you find and fix the weaknesses costing you points on the GRE.
Work with us to break into the 90th percentile, put your application ahead of the class average, and submit a score that passes every check in the admissions process.
Like it or not, there’s no denying this simple truth about competitive graduation admissions:
After all, there’s a reason that any honest response to the question “what are my chances?” starts with another question:
When people respond this way, they’re not being cavalier. They’re being realistic.
Consider the facts:
While other components of your profile will matter—GPA, academic & career achievements, and personal essays—there’s a more immediate problem.
That is, admissions officers are buried in paper, and they need an efficient way to assess the mountain of applications on their desks.
A stellar GRE score can significantly boost your chances of clearing this screening round so that the rest of your application can shine.
Of course, top scores can also open doors to scholarships and funding opportunities, which are reserved for standout candidates.
“Okay, okay,” you say, “I know what the GRE can do for my application.”
But do you know how to achieve top-percentile performance?
Not exactly, but it’s understandable why you might think this way.
If you’re like most of the students we work with, then:
Combined with the sheer volume of GRE material and online resources available, you could get pretty far by putting your head down and working through what’s out there, completely on your own.
This approach might be good for the first 300 points or so. But it’s the last 20, 25, and 30+ points that are so elusive.
That’s how it was for Camilla, who had plenty of GRE study material:
I was using everything that I could find. I went through Princeton Review. I had the official GRE books. I had Kaplan. I had Magoosh. I was just doing a bunch of practice exams. I would say the best way to describe it was kind of a ‘spray and pray’ strategy.
—Camilla
And for Sidney, who had an advanced degree:
I have an engineering degree from Stanford. I’ve done a ton of math—math knowledge is not the problem. But I found that when I was doing the practice tests, I was not finishing in time. And my score would tank.
—Sidney
And for Skyler, who had put in plenty of work:
I had studied for about eight to ten weeks, hard. And I did about 250 hours that I had logged. And when I took the GRE, I scored… well, let’s say it wasn’t the score that I needed.
—Skyler
So what’s the problem here? Why did all these smart and capable students struggle to translate their knowledge, dedication, and effort into high scores?
The problem is:
Consider Kamran’s story:
I was logging my errors, but I didn’t have the best analysis of them. I didn’t know how to determine exactly what question types I was messing up. Basically, I wasn’t able to find weaknesses that I didn’t even realize I had.
—Kamran
These comments are instructive, and they reveal the limitations of self-study:
Ironically, this is even more pronounced for test takers who are already excellent students.
Test-takers who lack content knowledge can self-diagnose their problems fairly quickly: they don’t read or write at a high enough level, they don’t know the math, or they don’t have the vocabulary.
For these students, it really is a matter of memorizing and drilling: the more questions they do, the more books they read, the more hours they study, the better.
But for Camilla, Sidney, Skyler, and Kamran—for students like you—there’s a limit to what you can accomplish without the external guidance of a GRE tutor.
You need Menlo Coaching.
Work with one of Menlo Coaching’s expert GRE tutors to achieve your admissions goals.
At Menlo Coaching, we’ve seen hundreds of tutoring students in your position.
The underlying skills and knowledge are there. But you’re not performing at your full potential, and the stakes are too high to settle for anything less than your best.
For some students, it’s a problem with time management. On the GRE, time is a resource, and the test writers want you to think carefully about how you are spending every minute. For others, it’s related to ineffective GRE prep, like an over-emphasis on content while neglecting strategy.
Still for others, it’s a matter of fine-tuning: micro-adjustments are needed across every section or knowledge gaps need to be filled on a single question type. Whatever the problem is, we can find it, and we can help.
When you start working with one of Menlo Coaching’s GRE tutors, you’ll go through a brief diagnostic evaluation to understand exactly what’s holding back your performance.
Using POWERPREP practice tests, official score reports, and other tools, your expert GRE tutor will quickly identify the topics you need to master and the weaknesses you need to overcome.
This phase happens fast—usually just one session—and from here, you’ll move on to targeted assignments from
our GRE curriculum.
Where other test prep companies create their own questions and drills that seem difficult, they usually fail to mirror the challenge of real GRE material.
Developed and curated by veteran instructors Chris Kane and Hailey Cusimano, Menlo Coaching’s curriculum takes a different approach:
This phase happens in lock step with your instructor and can evolve as you progress through your GRE Coaching Sessions
There are plenty of GRE tutors out there who think their high scores, as measured by GRE percentile rankings, qualify them to teach the GRE. But just because you’ve earned a high score—even a perfect score—doesn’t mean you’re capable of helping others.
For that reason, we only hire GRE tutors with a proven track record of success with students. This teaching experience makes all the difference in your sessions.
That’s because you won’t just be reviewing content—instead, you’ll learn to develop effective strategies for the question types you struggle with the most.
You’ll learn time management best-practices, ensuring you are completing the exam as efficiently as possible.
And you’ll cultivate the right mindset for the test, learning to approach every problem as a test-writer (one of the most challenging aspects of top-level GRE study).
Probably the number one thing whenever I encounter someone and they’re they’re going into the process, staying open and flexible and not committing to a test before you’ve figured out which one is gonna ...
Probably the number one thing whenever I encounter someone and they’re they’re going into the process, staying open and flexible and not committing to a test before you’ve figured out which one is gonna give you the best shot and the and the highest admission odds is great. And, Menlo certainly was supportive of that. They can help you wherever you need to go.
Working with David was really helpful in the GRE prep because he gave me a very structured way of approaching the GRE type of questions. And then in the one-on-one sessions, we could really focus on t...
Working with David was really helpful in the GRE prep because he gave me a very structured way of approaching the GRE type of questions. And then in the one-on-one sessions, we could really focus on the stuff that I had problems with. We would, like, dissect problems until I really understood how they worked and then I could apply it to more problems that seemed similar.
When you buy the pack, you then have a a call which isn’t included in the hours. And that would kind of help to forge a personal connection with David, which was really important because, you know, you...
When you buy the pack, you then have a a call which isn’t included in the hours. And that would kind of help to forge a personal connection with David, which was really important because, you know, you’re spending a lot of, like, intense time working together, and so having a personal connection is really important. Before we started the actual lessons, we did a sort of strategy meeting where we basically planned out where my weaknesses were. He reviewed my old test scores, and I spoke in-depth about the areas that I was having problems with.
Not only was I looking for a tutor, but I was also looking for someone who also believed in me. And Craig did, and Menlo did, and I kind of fed off of his energy of like, we’re gonna do this. That’s all...
David gave me a lot of structure. Like, this week, you’re gonna do this. You’re gonna learn this, and you’re gonna do this as homework. And I just follow what he said. And that structure gave me what I n...
David gave me a lot of structure. Like, this week, you’re gonna do this. You’re gonna learn this, and you’re gonna do this as homework. And I just follow what he said. And that structure gave me what I needed in order to get the score that I that I wanted. I am good with numbers. Every time I did a mock exam, I did great.
So kind of really working through some of those considerations in terms of how can you quickly answer questions and move on and what are some kind of tactics and strategies to move through the math se...
So kind of really working through some of those considerations in terms of how can you quickly answer questions and move on and what are some kind of tactics and strategies to move through the math section quickly, I think was was really helpful with David Baird. I thought David Baird was really great. He’s very logical, and I think I am too. And so just to hear his thought process and how he thinks about answering questions was also super helpful.
So for me, the the test scores were always gonna be a challenging aspect for me, and which is why I’m I’m so grateful for for David’s help over those few months that I spent studying for the GRE because ...
So for me, the the test scores were always gonna be a challenging aspect for me, and which is why I’m I’m so grateful for for David’s help over those few months that I spent studying for the GRE because it it really was a a dramatic increase. I think it was, like, a twenty one point increase. So really a a phenomenal result, which I couldn’t be happier with.
One day, I just kind of sat down on a weekend and decided, let me just give the GRE, a try. And I got a pretty strong score, so I ended up, reaching out to Menlo, to kinda give me some guidance in ter...
One day, I just kind of sat down on a weekend and decided, let me just give the GRE, a try. And I got a pretty strong score, so I ended up, reaching out to Menlo, to kinda give me some guidance in terms of which exam I should pursue. And, Menlo basically told me that, I think the GRE is more suited to you, and I think that was a really big help because it saved me, a pretty pretty good amount of time.
And then over time, thanks to, Hailey’s coaching, I was able to find that I had a better fit in GRE and then eventually transitioned. I realized that it’s hard to make improvements by self paced study. ...
And then over time, thanks to, Hailey’s coaching, I was able to find that I had a better fit in GRE and then eventually transitioned. I realized that it’s hard to make improvements by self paced study. And I think the complexity is really coming from the fact that, you’re working full time. And if you’re working at a challenging or time consuming job, like myself, it’s really hard to, first of all, design and then maintain a solid schedule, in in order for you to get the test results.
I worked with Mike Butville for GRE prep. Got a 328 v158 q170, with just around 1 month of GRE prep. Menlos materials especially for quant and the vocab list is excellent and truly second to none. the...
I worked with Mike Butville for GRE prep. Got a 328 v158 q170, with just around 1 month of GRE prep. Menlos materials especially for quant and the vocab list is excellent and truly second to none. they have that real ets question feel. Additionally Mike was incredibly caring and it really felt like he wanted me to succeed every step of the way. very worth the cost.
Sometimes it was a grind to, you know, go from five, six months of GMAT Prep right into a month of GRE Prep, but David, I felt did a great job of breaking things down into bite sized pieces and really...
Sometimes it was a grind to, you know, go from five, six months of GMAT Prep right into a month of GRE Prep, but David, I felt did a great job of breaking things down into bite sized pieces and really help explain things. And that was definitely the the best part of the GRE prep. I was just getting to work with him, and really taking my GRE prep and scores to the next level.
I had exhausted all the resources I could think of besides hiring for a tutor that could really help get me to that next level that I was hoping to after doing some lightweight research, I just I quic...
I had exhausted all the resources I could think of besides hiring for a tutor that could really help get me to that next level that I was hoping to after doing some lightweight research, I just I quickly knew that Menlo was gonna be the right choice for me, and I do not regret it one bit. It was a fantastic experience. Working with Menlo, it was much more of a targeted plan. David knew the process.
We offer private GRE tutoring services in three packages.
10 Hours
Laser-focused on addressing your weaknesses and optimizing your strengths
14 Hours
Broad coverage for multiple exam sections, plus test-taking strategy and time management
20 Hours
Build a strong foundation for every question type, with extended 1:1 practice and support
Although every student is unique, in general we recommend at least ten hours of tutoring.
For a customized recommendation tailored to your specific needs and goals, we encourage you to schedule a consultation with our Head of Tutoring, who can provide expert guidance on the optimal number of GRE tutoring hours, based on your study history.
*no commitment required
