Magoosh Review - Does It Really Work? Is It Worth It?

This Magoosh review will evaluate the educational platform for upcoming college students, high school graduates, and professionals migrating from non-English-speaking countries.

I’ll go into details on the courses, programs, and training Magoosh provides, as well as its price plans. I’ll also shed some light on the advantages and disadvantages of enrolling in their offerings.

Contents

• Magoosh Bio and History
• Magoosh Products
• Usability
• Plans and Pricing
• Help and Support`User Reviews and Testimonials
• Alternatives
• Pros and Cons
• Summary
• FAQ

Magoosh Bio and History

Magoosh is an online prep test provider and counseling company for students abroad. It’s based in Berkeley, California, US.

It’s a highly effective, educational, yet affordable platform.

Magoosh was started in 2009 by four business students: Hansoo Lee, Bhavin Parikh, Pejman Pour-Moezzi, and Vikram Shenoy. In June of that year, they released their first product – GMAT practice questions. A few months later, they got their first paying customers.

Awards and Recognitions

The list of awards and recognitions points to Magoosh’s superb achievements over the years. Here’s just a few of them:

• TINYpulse named it Happiest Company in Education in 2015, 2017, and 2018
• San Francisco Business Times named the company No. 5 Fastest-Growing Private Company in the Bay Area and No. 2 Fastest Growing Company in the East Bay in 2015
• Entrepreneur 360 listed Magoosh as No.111 Best Entrepreneurial Company in the US in 2016

As we can see the platform has quite a few awards. But I focused on these three for one simple reason. They give us more insights than what appears on the surface:

• Happiest company in education (three times): as you probably know—A HAPPY employee is a productive employee.
• Among fastest-growing private companies: this points to the founders’ dedication to bringing their A+ game.
• Among the best entrepreneurial companies in the US: Entrepreneur 360 looks at several factors when compiling their ranking. Magoosh is on the list thanks to its impact, leadership, and innovation, among other things.

What Does Magoosh Do?

Basically, this website educates students via video-recorded lessons, practice test support, and online email support.
Their focus is on making the test preparation more effective, affordable, and understandable.

What Services/Courses/Training Does Magoosh Offer?

Magoosh provides test prep material and counseling for the most competitive exams worldwide, such as:

• GMAT
• TOEFL
• SAT
• ACT
• GRE
• LSAT
• MCAT
• IELTS
• Praxis

The platform also offers English fluency courses for non-native speakers to help them master the language.

Platform Key Details

Who Benefits from Magoosh and Its Services?

The biggest beneficiaries of this platform are, of course, the students!

As mentioned, the goal is to provide productive yet, less time-consuming education in the students’ natural surroundings.

Magoosh Products

The Magoosh platform offers many affordable plans, as well as some premium packages.
Besides preparation for tests such as SAT, TOEFL, and GRE, they also offer several Verified Magoosh Courses available to students from 185 countries.

Let’s explore their programs in a bit more detail.

Magoosh GRE

The platform asserts that it can help you reach a score improvement of at least 5 points.

How do they do it?

Magoosh GRE test preps are indispensable for students who want to do their best on this test. The course includes:

• Video lessons
• 1,200 questions with full-length tests
• Email support team

One of the best things Magoosh offers is practice tests that are similar to the original GRE exam. The platform can recreate the official test experience.

What’s more, you get to study from continuously upgraded materials based on the answers of millions of students.

The platform also allows you to:

• Take notes
• Create bookmarks
• Read transcripts
• Post feedback

ALL THIS is possible for around one-fourth of the price offered by competitors in the test prep market. Plus, you can take advantage of a seven-day money-back guarantee if you don’t improve your score by at least five points.

Magoosh GMAT

The Magoosh GMAT prep program promises an improvement of 50 points.

How do they do it?

As with the GRE preparation course, the platform gives you access to the following resources to help you improve your GMAT scores:

• Detailed video tutorials
• Comprehensive explanations
• Text-based materials

Best of all, the materials used for the practice tests are up to date to ensure you get as close to the real thing as possible.

GMAT takers that participate in the Magoosh GMAT tutorials score on average 90 points higher.

Magoosh TOEFL

The TOEFL test is meant for non-native speakers that migrate to English-speaking countries to pursue work or education-related opportunities. It’s one of the most in-demand tests.

Magoosh guarantees that your score will improve by 4 points.

How is this achievable?

Here are the services and materials the platform offers in its TOEFL course:

• 420+ carefully edited practice questions
• 420+ explanation videos (each question has its own video)
• 140+ video lessons from basic grammar to advanced strategies for taking the test

As with other courses, if you don’t improve your score after the course, you can have your money back.

Magoosh SAT

The SAT course design helps students maximize their scores by studying no more than 20 minutes a day.

Are 20 minutes enough?

Magoosh says you can achieve this by using:

• Video lessons for each question
• Plug-and-play study schedules
• Help from real test specialists

Magoosh also lets you:

• Have flexible study hours
• Get text message reminders
• Have a custom study program
• Obtain points every time you study
• This study plan is supposed to increase your SAT score by at least 100 points.

Magoosh ACT

The Magoosh ACT preparation program promises to improve your score by 4+ points. If not, you can take advantage of their refund policy.

How do they do this?

Through “small steps” that lead to “big gains,” as the Magoosh website puts it.

What does that mean?

Magoosh offers a wide variety of resources and materials to get you ready for the test.

Here’s what’s available:

• Over 250 lessons
• More than 1,300 ACT questions
• Full-length practice tests
• 20 minutes of studying per day
• Videos explaining questions
• Smart diagnostic and process tracking
• ACT prep experts at your service
• Tailor-made study schedule
• Daily reminders
• Budget-friendly plans

Magoosh Praxis

This course offers carefully written and edited practice questions, a straightforward interface, videos explaining questions, and many other useful features.

The Magoosh Praxis course can help you on your way to becoming a teacher.

The course aims to prepare you with detailed text materials, video lessons, and practice sessions.

What’s more, you have access to a large lesson library.

You can also:

• Track your progress
• Customize your dashboard
• Тake advantage of the 24/7 support team

Magoosh LSAT

Want to get into Stanford Law School, Harvard University Law School, or another reputable college of law?

This course can help.

The Magoosh LSAT course, with its one-of-a-kind, tailored, and affordable prep program, is a great way to boost your chances of getting admitted to a top-notch law school.

How do they do this?

The course comes with official LSAT practice questions, as well as tutors and experts to guide you through them.

You will also be able to study anytime, anywhere, as the course can be accessed through PC, Mac, Android, and iOS devices.

Magoosh offers a significantly lower price than its competitors.

Magoosh MCAT

Prestigious medical universities, such as Duke University School of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, all require taking the MCAT.

The Magoosh MCAT course can be a great aid in your preparation for the exam.

The course is up to date with the latest MCAT exam and accommodates your schedule and pace of learning.

The course includes:

• 745+ questions
• 380 lessons
• Email assistance
• Comprehensive video lessons

Magoosh IELTS

The Magoosh IELTS course promises to help you boost your score.

The IELTS program consists of:

• More than 125 lessons
• Over 600 elaborated and analyzed questions
• Remote tutors reachable via email
• Video lessons

You can choose from two types of IELTS courses—one that preps you for the Academic IELTS (mostly meant for university students) and one that helps you with the General Training IELTS (mostly for work or secondary education).

Usability

Interface and Ease of Use

The Magoosh platform is simple, well designed, and easy to navigate.

That’s really valuable for an educational platform since the last thing you want to do when prepping for an exam is waste time getting used to a new interface.

Mobile Accessibility

You can access all Magoosh courses anytime via PC, Mac, or Android and iOS devices.

They also have a free mobile app that lets you study on the go. It has the same functionalities as the desktop version.

Here are some of the app’s features:

• Vocabulary flashcards
• Math and verbal practice
• Option to play with opponent
• Progress tracking

The platform also made it easy for people with disabilities to use it.

The Magoosh maintenance team makes sure the integrated features are always up to date and running smoothly.

Here are some of the accessibility features:

• Extra time for practice tests: you can add 50-100% more time for Magoosh practice tests.
• Video captions and transcripts: videos that explain answers don’t have this option, but all other videos come with a transcript.
• Video hotkeys (keyboard shortcuts) that look like this:

• Screen reader practicability: this feature is a work in progress—it’s not yet 100% compatible with all videos. Still pretty useful.
• Disability accommodation by exam administrators: this is a great feature that we often don’t see in platforms like this. Administrators provide personal assistance to students with disabilities when taking exams.

Plans and Pricing

In this section, we explore the available Magoosh price plans. The pricing details on the official Magoosh website is as clear as it can get. So I curated all the plans from here

Magoosh GRE

Magoosh GMAT

Magoosh TOEFL

Magoosh SAT

Magoosh ACT

Magoosh Praxis

Magoosh LSAT

Magoosh MCAT

Magoosh IELTS

Each course has flexible plans that you can tailor to your needs and preferences.

There are also Special High School Packages that include budget-friendly SAT and ACT preparation: full 12-month access to Magoosh SAT or ACT prep for $35 per account.

You just had a chance to go through Magoosh’s pricing plans. Some of you may think they’re a bit pricey. On the other hand, some are OK with what they ask.

Anyway, I was curious enough to check the cost of their close competitors’ packages and services.

Well, my curiosity leads me to this conclusion:

• I found the Kahoot! 360 Pro and 360 Plus packages to be costlier in comparison with quite the number of Magoosh’s plans.
• However, I also found out that Magoosh outraces Quizlet in terms of costs.

Nonetheless, just to get rid of that doubt in your minds, here’s a view into how much more or less costly their close competitors are: Kahoot! and Quizlet.

To wrap it up, the price shouldn’t be the factor that decides whether to enroll or not. Moreover, consider it this way: Magoosh is pricer than others and less expensive than some.

If I were you, I’d be driven by:

• the features,
• services,
• numbers of prep tests,
• quality of questions and answers,
• and how efficiently prepared I’d be to step into that exam room and knock the hell out of the exam.

With that said, Magoosh has your back. It offers quality and one-of-a-kind studying preps.

Free Trials and Courses

Magoosh offers several free trials:

• Free three-day trial for English fluency: a course that aims to make students more comfortable participating in everyday or business conversations, public presentations, etc.
• Free one-week GRE trial: you get access to more than 20 video lessons and 20 practice questions.
• Free English grammar lessons: free of charge grammar lessons to improve your language skills.

Money-Back and Cancelation Policy

Magoosh has a zero-risk policy.

If you feel that the product is not a good fit for you or you score less than what they guarantee, you are eligible for a seven-day refund.

You can leave them a message or email them at [email protected] (subject line: “Requesting a 7-day Refund”).
If you want to delete your entire Magoosh account, simply send them an email with the subject line “Need to delete my account.”

Help and Support

Magoosh offers excellent 24/7 support.

A team of responsive support agents is at your service throughout the day.

One way to contact the support team is through email. You can also get a hold of them via phone by either calling or texting:

Another option is to fill out a contact form on their website.

User Reviews and Testimonials

There’s a ton of positive user reviews for Magoosh!

As part of my research, I read at least 50 reviews. So, based on that, here is my genuine and personal opinion on the matter:

• These are no fake reviews!
• Many students say that the platform helped them achieve their goals.

Does Magoosh really work?

Read these Magoosh Course Reviews by Real Students to find out:

These are just a few of the many positive Magoosh Reviews.

Let’s check out the Magoosh ratings and reviews on Trustpilot and BBB (Better Business Bureau).

Magoosh Reviews on Trustpilot

Magoosh has an excellent Trustpilot rating of 4.7 stars.

Most of the 253 reviews were positive, but there were also a couple of Magoosh complaints.

Here’s a couple of examples of Trustpilot reviews—one negative and one balanced:

Magoosh Reviews on BBB

Magoosh has A+ accreditation by BBB. That alone speaks volumes about the quality of its services.

To give you some perspective, here is the one complaint BBB received about Magoosh in the last three years.

So some people aren’t satisfied with the Magoosh service, but the number of negative reviews pales in comparison to positive ones.

Alternatives

Many educational platforms offer similar services to those of Magoosh.

Some of the names that stand out are Kahoot! and Quizlet.

Let’s compare Magoosh to those two competitors.

1. Magoosh vs. Kahoot!

Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform, so its strategy differs from that of Magoosh.

Kahoot! has websites and mobile applications with expert content, video lessons, and tutorials to help students prepare for standardized tests like GRE, SAT, ACT, IELTS, etc.

Many Kahoot! reviews note that its game-based design negatively affects students’ concentration, so they find it hard to follow the classes. In addition to this, there are students who respond quite positively and eagerly to this kind of studying process.

I guess this is a highly individual kind of matter.

Magoosh, on the other hand, aims to simulate a real-life test experience in a more flexible environment.

2. Magoosh vs. Quizlet

Quizlet provides tools to help students and teachers engage in more hands-on learning. The platform relies on flashcards, games, and other tools to facilitate the learning experience.

Magoosh offers an individual tutor for each student. It also makes use of flashcards, video tutorials, and practice tests.

Magoosh app reviews are a lot more positive than Quizlet’s when it comes to mobile friendliness and easy-of-use.

Pros and Cons

No matter how great a platform is, there’s always room for improvement.
Let’s go through the pros and cons of Magoosh.

Pros

1. Affordable: lowest prices among educational platforms
2. User-friendly: easy-to-use interface and smooth navigation
3. Useful study resources: free mobile app and a blogging community that screens all courses and programs
4. Customer support: 24/7 email support available
5. Personalization: flexible study schedules
6. Practice tests and quizzes: close to real-life timed exam environments and full-length practice tests
7. Video lessons: with transcripts included

Cons

1. No in-person courses: Some people learn better one on one in a regular classroom, so this may not appeal to everyone.
2. A limited number of practice tests: Some platforms offer a larger number of practice tests.
3. No essay evaluation: Instead, you get directions on how to evaluate it yourself. There’s one essay evaluation included in the six-month IELTS course package, though.

Summary

There’s no doubt that Magoosh is one of the best education platforms out there.

Why am I so crazy about them is their vision: they are not after your money (of course they don’t do this for free), but THE MAIN GOAL for them is for you not just to pass the exam, rather pass it with flying colors and ACE IT!

The platform offers in-depth video lectures and a 24/7 support team, which, combined with its affordable price plans, makes it great value for money.

The scores of students who use Magoosh are notably higher than those of other students.

All-in-all, Magoosh is a great aid to students who want to prepare for specialized exams and increase their chances of success.

Their point of view and perspective clearly work and have given many, thousands of people the opportunity of a lifetime – a chance to chase their dreams and get them where they want to be.