28,430Leland Reviews

I've had a long history of test anxiety, especially when it comes to the quantitative section of most standardized exams. Going into the GRE with a 156 as my original quant score, having tried and failed with two previous tutors, and after multiple potential tutors and peers told me it would be difficult to raise my score above the 160 threshold I was aiming for, my prospects looked gloomy. And trying to raise my score over the course of two short months filled with application preparation, in the midst of post-graduate coursework, and travel for work nearly every week? Downright impossible. And yet, from the get-go, Nirmal's unceasingly positive energy and saintly patience made this an easy task. From conducting lessons over Skype to scrapping his own lesson plan in real time as I struggled more with one section or did better than expected in another, Nirmal was always flexible in addition to being focused on making sure I fully understood the concepts the GRE tested from all angles. I've hated math for as long as I can remember, but under Nirmal's tutelage the GRE became less of a nightmare and more of a tough puzzle I knew I could solve. As a bonus, he also introduced me to meditative practice that I used on test day and continue to use in my everyday life. My only regret is that I didn't listen to the friend who recommended me and seek out Nirmal's help sooner. I can't imagine the leaps I would've made under less stressful personal conditions and over more time. Even with all that pressure, on test day I scored a 162 - my highest yet! If you're looking for a tutor for the GRE or GMAT go with Nirmal - this is one answer I'm 100% sure is right!

Nirmal is an incredible tutor and I would not have gotten my goal GRE score without his help. Before working together, I was stuck with a low range score. I needed to make a big jump for my top choice graduate schools and Nirmal got me there. He guided me through every verbal/quant topic on the test and broke the content down into digestible parts that we would review during our sessions. Outside of our meetings, Nirmal took time to to identify my weakest areas, developed homework specifically tailored to my needs and then provided awesome tricks to attack abstract questions. When I would struggle with a topic, Nirmal would stop and explain the concept in a way that I could understand. Nirmal is patient, incredibly kind, professional, very flexible and brilliant. I have recommended him to every friend I have that will be taking the GMAT or GRE and I can not think of a better person to work with. Thank you so much Nirmal, I am beyond grateful!

When I started working with Nirmal, I was fighting major confidence issues, having studied by myself for months without making major improvement. I was also working full time and didn't have much time to study. Nirmal encouraged me to push through, to find more time and to commit to my prep so I could grow quickly. He gave customized homework and helped target my areas of growth. He was very flexible in timing and made sure we could meet when it was feasible for me. As a result, I grow 9 points on the GRE quant section in only several weeks, putting myself in a position to attend a top ten business school. Thanks, Nirmal!

I have personally recommended Nirmal to all of my friends who are considering taking the GMAT, and I would endorse Nirmal to any person looking for assistance with this test. Nirmal is thoughtful, courteous and diligent. He is also extremely flexible when it comes to navigating your busy work schedule. With only two months of preparation, I was able to obtain a score good enough to be accepted into Columbia's M.B.A. program. I would have never been able to accomplish this goal without Nirmal.

Alex's hourly rate was more than what I hoped to spend, but he was totally worth it. Unlike other tutors I'd worked with, Alex comes incredibly prepared, so you get a lot more out of your time with him than you typically would. Ahead of our sessions, he had reviewed my previous practice exams to ensure we focused not only on the topics I wanted to review, but also the topics he believed would increase my score. He had thorough decks prepared and provided robust notes to track learnings from each session. He is also an incredible teacher who breaks down the content incredibly simply and provides tips and tricks to get you through the exam more efficiently. Overall, Alex is incredibly kind, thoughtful, and awesome to work with, and he helped me raise my GRE 4+ points on both verbal and quant sections!

After almost 10 hour exam yesterday (GRE + Toefl), I was exhausted. I woke up this morning and I had a nosebleed. I opened my computer, and I typed leland.com to write Alex the best review. You see, Alex was so great that I was eager to write him a review when one of my nose is stuffed with tissue as I am typing this. I worked with him on GRE. He was attentive, supportive, positive, and detailed. If going the extra mile means something, he could be the example. By now, I took gmat 8 times, gre 3 times - so that makes me 11 time test taker, and I am so glad that I am done. On a deeper level, I think these graduate level tests are like IQ tests so there are invincible walls that you cannot climb once you hit the threshold. I did not believe in that wall. I think anyone could climb the wall, so i tried for 2 years. Whatever the case, and despite my lack of english-only environment especially in my formative years (childhood years and many books read during the age 12-17 seem to be the most decisive factor in verbal to be honest), I think the way Alex taught me materials was very good and i wholeheartedly recommend him to anyone. Thank you.

I attended Alex's group class that covered the Quant part of the GMAT/GRE and, having just started revising for the GMAT, I found it incredibly helpful. I cannot believe how many actionable strategies I learnt over the course of only an hour and a half! Alex is patient and incredibly knowledgeable. I also appreciated the fact that he used real-life examples to simplify the most challenging and abstract problems that we encountered during the session. I highly recommend him!

Working with Marie I was able to improve my quant score from a 157 to a 164 in just a few lessons. Recommend her for anyone trying to get their score to the next level.

Marie is a great tutor. She is very bright and cares about her students. She made each tutoring session fun, engaging and rewarding. She challenged me when I did not know the answer and made sure I understood the reasoning behind my responses. I could not have gotten into The University of Chicago Booth without her!

I attended the small group session with Alex. Learned some tricks for approaching the GMAT with problem solving strategies that are faster than brute-force math. Was exactly what I was looking for!