The Economist, primarily known as an international weekly newspaper publisher, has tipped its toes in the world of GRE prep. It is a budding GRE prep company compared to some of the more established players in the market, such as Magoosh and Manhattan, etc.; however, their claims are anything but ordinary.
On paper, they look like any other test prep company with bold claims of score improvements and money-back guarantees; however, to get a clearer picture, we would have to dive into the nitty-gritty of their online GRE course and see what, if anything, sets them apart from the competition.
In this Article
What is The Economist GRE Tutor?
The Economist GRE tutor is an interactive online GRE prep course that offers video lessons, practice questions, full-length practice tests, quizzes, 1-on-1 tutor support, and various other tools to help you prepare for the GRE.
If you have ever used any other online GRE prep course, you will already be familiar with the core idea. You start by making a free account that grants you a 7-day free trial, and if you want to continue using the service, you choose one of three plans and get to studying.
As with any online course, you get a personalized dashboard that tracks your progress and displays the lessons you have to take on any particular day. It is an adaptive course, which means that it will display questions based on your individual skill level.
At the very beginning, you are asked to type in your GRE test data. Depending on how many days you have in-between, the Course will pace itself accordingly.
This whole system is AI-based, and so the more you use it, the better it gets at understanding your weakness and strengths and, in-turn modifies itself to better suit your needs.
What are the available plans?
Right off the bat, I have to say that this program is by no means cheap or affordable. They offer three plans for you to choose from. You can check those plans here.
Even the most basic plan costs a lot and has significantly fewer practice tests and essay reviews. Not to mention the 1-on-1 tutoring sessions and expert assessments, which are straight-out nonexistent on the Express and Premium plan.
The “Genius” or the most advanced plan costs twice as much as the cheapest plan, which quickly puts it out of many students’ reach. I can only think of one other Course that is nearly as expensive, i.e., Kaplan.
It does seem that you get quite a lot for your money, especially if you get either the Genius plan or the Premium Plan.
How does it work?
The UI of the program, in my opinion, is quite neat and intuitive. When you first log in to your profile, you are asked how long you have until the test day. Once you put that information in, you are taken to the dashboard to see different topics arranged by the AI.
You simply click a topic you want to learn, and it will take you to the video lessons, which are followed by practice questions.
If you want additional help from an actual tutor, you can schedule a live video call depending on your chosen plan.
You also have the option to get your AWA essay checked by an expert and get an expert assessment regarding your performance. However, these two features are only available in the more expensive plans.
As you make your way through the Course, you will be able to see your progress and different statistics related to your success rate, etc., and that is pretty much it.
How well does the adaptive AI technology work?
I think one of the most useful features that set The Economist’s GRE Tutor apart from other similar services is their implementation of AI in predicting your skill level. In my experience, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the system adapted to my skill level.
Moreover, I also noticed that the more questions I answered, and the further I progressed in the Course, the better it got at suggesting topics and the difficulty level of the practice questions. Hence, I believe that the adaptive AI technology works as you would expect it to.
Are the full-length GRE practice tests section adaptive like actual GRE?
The GRE is section-adaptive, which means that succeeding sections’ difficulty depends on how good or bad you performed in the previous section. Many test prep companies try to replicate the ETS algorithm, but few get it right.
However, in my experience, Economist’s GRE Tutor works brilliantly when it comes to the full-length practice tests’ adaptability factor. Moreover, the test questions, both at the end of each lesson and the ones in full-length practice tests, are high quality. They aren’t identical to the real thing, but they come very close, rare in many online courses.
Can I access GRE tutor on my phone?
Similar to many other test prep services, GRE Tutor too is mobile compatible. You can download their mobile companion app for both Android and Apple. Mobile apps give you ultimate freedom no matter where you are. You cannot always take your desktop or even laptop computer to different places with you, but your mobile phone always stays with you. Waiting for a doctor’s appointment? You can easily catch up on your GRE prep using the mobile app. The mobile app offers almost all the functionality of the web program.
Economist GRE Tutor PROS
Money-Back Guarantee
You can be confident that a company stands behind their product if they are willing to refund your money should you not find their product satisfactory. The Economist promises precisely that, however, only for “Premium” and “Genius” plans.
The Economist claims that upon successful completion of their program, you will improve your GRE score by 5-7 points over your previous score. If you fail to do so, they will refund you every penny you spent on their program. In case you have not taken the test before, the program will consider your first practice test score as your baseline. The eligibility requirements for the refund are:
- You must have completed at least 90% of the program before taking the exam.
- You must have participated for at least 10 weeks before your GRE.
- You must have used at least 3 of the one-to-one tutor sessions.
7-day Free Trial
One great thing about this Course is how easily you can start studying using the 7-day free trial. You will not be asked for any credit card information. You will only need to insert your name, password, email address, and contact number. That’s it. You don’t even have to confirm any email authentication.
Sure, the free trial lacks many of the premium features, but it is more than adequate to give you an accurate feel of the layout, video lessons, practice questions, and topics.
5000 High-Quality Practice Questions
You can study all you want, but if you don’t put in the time to practice, then scoring above that 90th percentile range would be almost impossible. Good practice requires variety and, perhaps even more importantly, quality.
One of the most significant issues I face with GRE prep stuff, be it books or online courses, is the lack of high-quality practice questions and full-length tests that resemble the actual GRE.
If you waste all your time practicing questions that are either too easy or needlessly difficult, you won’t be able to get familiar with what an actual GRE question looks like and will find yourself scratching your head on test day.
As far as Economist’s GRE Tutor is concerned, I can say that both the quantity and quality of the questions is exceptionally high. Sure, they are not as good as the official ones you will find on ETS’s prep books, but they are very close.
Consult Live GRE Tutors
There are very few online GRE courses that offer live 1-on-1 tutor sessions. Sure, you can find cheaper options elsewhere but what is shared amongst all those more affordable courses is that no one will talk to you live if you have a query or have trouble with a concept or a question. Sometimes the only real way around a problem is to speak to an actual human, which fortunately you can do here.
Adaptive AI tailors the course to your abilities
I was impressed by how well the AI predicted my skill level and how it knew which difficulty level of practice questions I would tackle. It keeps track of your every move and continually updates itself so that you keep on receiving the most optimal learning experience possible.
Moreover, the program will automatically determine the course’s pace by working out the days you have between your first day on the Course and your GRE test day. This gives you the peace of mind that only the most relevant and crucial topics will be covered if you are short on time.
Essay Reviews
One of the most common issues students face when self-learning for the GRE is that they have no way to evaluate their essays for the AWA section. A prep book can only give you the general guidelines on what to do and what not to do, but at the end of the day, you have no real way of knowing how the people at ETS will mark your essay.
Thanks to the “Essay Review” feature of GRE Tutor, you can easily send your essays to an actual GRE expert, and they will review them and point out any mistakes or room for improvement. This is a beneficial feature as self-evaluation of the AWA section is unpractical and inaccurate in the majority of instances.
Economist GRE Tutor CONS
The basic plan lacks many features
I have to say I was a bit disappointed when I saw that the basic plan, which by no means is cheap, has fewer essay reviews and full-length practice tests. On top of that, you can’t have even one live call with an expert, nor can you get an assessment of your performance. This seems a bit greedy considering not every student will be able to shell out so much money for the more expensive plans.
No Live Classes
It is not to be confused with Live 1-on-1 classes, which are very limited and only available with the more expensive plans. There are some way cheaper options out there that offer at least 3 live classes a week where students interact live with the instructor and ask questions as you would in an actual class. This does not exist in this program; instead, all the lessons are pre-recorded, and you only get 3 live classes with the most expensive plan.
Even GREGMAT, a $5 per month GRE course, has three live classes a week on top of hundreds of pre-recorded video lessons.
Requires At least 10 Week-Long Commitment
The problem with this Course is that it is designed for those who are willing to spend 10 weeks on studying. For the program to work as intended, you cannot use it to do any last-minute study.
Sure, this may not be a problem for most people, but not everyone has the same schedule, and hence it would have been nice to see a more concise and fast-paced system for those who are short on time.
Needlessly Costlier
Lastly, I have to point out again that this Course, in my opinion, is needlessly expensive. I admit that the Course Is high-quality, but that much expense for a GRE prep course seems excessive. The cost might have been justified if added features like daily online classes.
Bottom Line
The Economist’s GRE Tutor is an ambitious online course that offers many useful features, albeit at a needlessly excessive price. If you can afford the hefty fee, then, by all means, get enrolled for the Course. However, if you are a struggling student without much money, then there are a lot cheaper options like Magoosh or GREGMAT that will suit you best. The latter of these is an excellent value if you are a last-minute student and want to know the bare essentials. You will only need to pay $5 per month, and you will have access to a wealth of GRE content.
I would recommend GRE Tutor to those who don’t mind spending upwards of $500 on a GRE course and have at least 3 months to study before the exam. If you are going to spend so much, then you might as well have the time required to take full advantage of it; otherwise, you’d be flushing money down the drain.
The practice questions and the full-length practice tests are some of the highest quality I have personally seen, and the layout of the program is easy-to-use and intuitive. The video lessons are comprehensive and will cover every topic that is tested on the GRE.
The Adaptive AI works flawlessly and can aid you in learning by a significant margin. Most of all, if you fall short of your baseline GRE score, that is, either your previous GRE score or your GRE Tutor practice test score, if you haven’t taken the GRE before, you are eligible for a full refund.