Magoosh TOEFL Prep Review: Does It Worth the Price?

The Test of English as a Foreign Language assessment is an exam that measures the ability of a non-native English speaker to understand and communicate in the English language. This exam is a common requirement for higher education or work in some countries.

If you have a goal that involves English Language skills, you’re likely to write the TOEFL exam.

Fortunately, there are a lot of preparation resources for TOEFL exams readily available online. However, these resources are not created equal.

One of such study platforms for TOEFL exams is Magoosh. Magoosh is an online study platform that gives students writing TOEFL exams access to books, video lectures, practice questions, and loads of other resources to help them ace their TOEFL exams.

How exactly does this platform work, and what are the benefits and drawbacks of using it? This Magoosh TOEFL review is a comprehensive breakdown of all the features of the Magoosh TOEFL platform, as well as the pros and cons of using it to help you decide whether Magoosh is right for you or not.

TOEFL Courses Review

The Magoosh TOEFL course is a combination of various resources you need for the TOEFL exam, and you’ll get them all in one place. The course consists of video lectures, practice questions, and full-length tests, among other resources.

Magoosh TOEFL test prep course is a 100% online course. What does this mean? It means you’re not buying a book or downloading a DVD.

What you get is access to Magoosh’s TOEFL online test prep company dashboard, which has the links to all the video courses and all the other exam prep features of the platform.

What’s more? The stylish and easy-to-use dashboard is fully customizable. You can customize your TOEFL prep to your preferences based on lesson suggestions and your progress stats. Additionally, Magoosh has a mobile app that is perfect for those who want to study on the go with this platform.

The Magoosh prep courses are in two categories. Both courses have the same features, and the only difference between them is how much time you’ll have access to them.

There’s a one-month Magoosh TOEFL prep course as well as a 6-months plan.

Magoosh TOEFL Exam Lessons

Here’s the thing. The Magoosh TOEFL lessons provide an in-depth overview of the questions you’re likely to come across in the different sections of your TOEFL examination.

The 4 sections of the TOEFL tests are Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing. The exam lessons cover the basic concepts of these sections and strategies for completing them.

You see, Magoosh TOEFL exam prep lessons are highly informative. They are presented in video format and cover most of the concepts you’ll need to master to pass your TOEFL exam in flying colors.

However, even though they’re in video format, they are not very engaging. This is because they’re in the form of slideshow tests voiced over by the instructor. You’ll not see the instructors themselves on the screen.

Nonetheless, the lessons are comprehensive enough, and determined learners will be able to find all the information they need to pass their TOEFL Exam in these lessons.

For all the video lessons, you can adjust the playback speed and turn on captions. There are also transcripts detailed explanations for each lesson and links to related blog posts and other lessons.

Reading lessons

First of all, the listening lessons on Magoosh are quite impressive. There are 19 video lessons about this section of your TOFEL exams which adds up to a total runtime of three hours for all the videos.

The video lessons for listening section include a detailed description of the question type and common “answer traps” that you should avoid (covered in a separate video).

Listening lessons

The videos in this section are detailed as well. Generally, most test prep courses don’t do a very good job with TOEFL listening lessons, but the Magoosh TOEFL prep platforms are quite great.

Like the reading lessons, each question type has a video explanation explaining the concepts in detail as well as common traps to avoid.

There are also videos on the basic speaking task listening strategies to master to improve your chances of success with this section.

Speaking lessons

These are pretty decent as well. The instructors do a good job of describing the questions accurately, which is not something a lot of prep websites do.

They got the templates and timing suggestions for each of the videos right as well.

Writing lessons

From most Magoosh TOEFL reviews, the comments suggest that the writing lessons are not as quality as the other lessons.

However, the inaccuracies there are not so many, and you can make do with them as they are.

Grammar Lessons

There are a bunch of videos on grammar lessons as well, and they’re good quality too. Reviews show that there are other prep courses that cover the TOEFL grammar section pretty fine, as well as sides from the Magoosh course.

Pricing of the Courses

The Magoosh platform has a reputation as one of the most affordable platforms for TOEFL Prep courses, and this is absolutely right.

The courses are not only of good quality, but you also won’t have to blow up a fortune to get access to them.

As earlier mentioned, Magoosh offers two main packages for the prep courses.

The one-month premium course gives you access to all the features of the Magoosh TOEFL course with just one graded essay assignment. This course costs only $109.

The alternative is the Magoosh six-month premium pre-course which costs $129. This course includes all the features of the TOEFL course along with four graded essays.

The basic difference between these two courses is the number of graded essay assignments and how long you’ll have access to them.

The features of both packages are summarized below:

One month of access for $109. You get:

• One graded essay assessment
• Comprehensive TOEFL lessons
• 120+ video lessons
• 420+ practice problems
• Six full-length practice tests
• Personalized study schedules
• 4+ points guarantee
• 7-day risk-free trial period
• Unlimited ask-an-instructor questions
• Pause plan anytime

The 6-month prep course for $129. You get:

• Four graded essay assessments
• Comprehensive TOEFL lessons
• 120+ video lessons
• 420+ practice problems
• Six full-length practice tests
• Personalized study schedules
• 4+ points guarantee
• 7-day risk-free trial period
• Unlimited ask-an-instructor questions
• Pause plan anytime

Main Features of Magoosh TOEFL Courses

The Magoosh TOEFL prep course is a “one-stop-shop” for all your TOEFL prep needs. The platform provides all the tools and resources needed to prepare for your TOEFL test.

This includes detailed video instructions, study plans, general TOEFL guides, templates for the speaking and writing sections and tests, among other things.

What’s more? These resources are easy to access thanks to the intuitive and fully customizable platform.

Magoosh TOEFL Videos

Signing up for the Magoosh TOEFL Prep course gives you access to more than 140 video lessons. These video lessons cover everything from basic English grammar to advanced strategies for acing your TOEFL exam

Furthermore, Magoosh comes with 420 practice questions, and each of these questions has detailed video explanations. These video explanations contain tips and strategies for answering the practice question.

The Magoosh TOEFL prep videos were prepared by TOEFL experts with qualifications for top IVY league universities.

Turns out, all the videos are organized and presented in an engaging way. Although the courses are not very engaging, they are quite insightful, and they contain all the information you need to pass your exam.

You can also pause, rewind and rewatch the videos as many times as possible to understand the concepts explained.

The Magoosh TOEFL Dashboard

The Magoosh TOEFL dashboard is where you’ll have access to all the video lessons and the study resources that the platform has to offer. But how easy-to-use is it?

As it turns out, the dashboard is well organized. This makes it quite easy to navigate between lesson videos, writing and and speaking, practice question templates, study plans, and practice problems.

The dashboard also displays your progress report so that you can easily track your performance. Additionally, it suggests lessons based on your progress, and it adapts as your skill level increases in the course.

Expert TOEFL Instructors

The Magoosh TOEFL dashboard is where you’ll have access to all the video lessons and the study resources that the platform has to offer. But how easy-to-use is it?

As it turns out, the dashboard is well organized. This makes it quite easy to navigate between lesson videos, writing and and speaking, practice question templates, study plans, and practice problems.

The dashboard also displays your progress report so that you can easily track your performance. Additionally, it suggests lessons based on your progress, and it adapts as your skill level increases in the course.

Although you don’t get to see them, the TOEFL prep instructors on the Magoosh platform are some of the best in the TOEFL world. These instructors are experts in their respective fields and very passionate about teaching.

Magoosh instructors have degrees and postgraduate degrees from top ivy league schools. They have also demonstrated the ability to deliver the course content in a productive manner.

The instructors are in charge of designing the courses graded writing assessments themselves, preparing the videos, and setting the practice problems.

They will also grade your essays based on TOEFL standards when you take them and respond to you via email.

Magoosh TOEFL Practice Tests

Suppose you’re students preparing for a TOEFL exam. The practice test is a great way to assess yourself before actual exam and better prepare for it.

On the platform, you can take timed tests designed in exam-style to mimic the standard exam as closely as possible.

One of the things that make Magoosh the best TOEFL prep is that you have full control of what you want to include in the test.

What does this mean? It means you get to select the questions to include in the practice test from the pool of practice questions provided.

So, how many of these tests can you take? Generally, Magoosh recommended taking notes and setting a maximum of 3 tests for yourself. This way, there are substantial practice problems left.

Graded Essays

Your Magoosh prep course subscription includes graded essays. For the 1-month plan, you get only 1 graded essay submission, while for the 6-months plan, you get 4 graded emails.

What does this mean for you? It means you can send in your practice essay to be graded by an instructor just as if you were writing a TOEFL exam.

After submitting real test in the mail, you should get a response via email with your grade. This email will contain your band score for each scoring category and your overall score for the test.

Furthermore, the grading will detail the things you have done well in your essay as well as areas where you need to improve to boost your score.

Best of all, the feedback is completely personalized. This means your essay is graded by an actual person, and you’ll get a response that was meant for you specifically and not just a sample response or a generalized one.

Now, this is where it gets better. In addition writing tasks due to grading your essay, the grader will also provide links to extra resources on the platform that will help you improve on the specific areas that you need to work on.

Getting feedback on your essay standardized tests like this will help you identify areas you still need to focus on.

If you pay attention to the grading feedback, you’re likely to obtain a higher score on your next essay and in your final exam.

Mobile App

In addition to the web platform, which is accessible from your desktop, laptop, or mobile device, there’s also an app for the Magoosh TOEFL practice test.

This dedicated app is available for both iOS and Android devices and is perfect for users who want to be able to access the course features on the go.

Through the app, you can watch your video lessons, view your progress reports, and access other exam prep resources. The app also has flashcards for the TOEFL vocabulary section.

These flashcards simplify the process of preparing for the exam and help train your brain for quick information retrieval.

The app tracks your progress as you use the vocabulary flashcards so you can always know the words you have mastered already and the ones you’re yet to touch.

Private tutoring

From our analysis and many other Magoosh TOEFL reviews, one major limitation of the Magoosh TOEFL prep course is the lack of private tutoring.

As many of the Magoosh TOEFL reviews show, some students would prefer to have one-on-one help with their TOEFL preparation.

Magoosh does not provide this feature. All you get is a self-paced online course. Of course, this still works great for those who prefer to prepare for this exam on their own with no external help.

There’s also no live lesson or anything close to a conventional classroom experience. If this is what you want, you may have to look to other alternatives.

If you are looking for the top tutoring services, you should check our list of the best tutors online.

However, Magoosh offers a lot of support for its platform. There’s the “ask-an-expert question” function where you can get answers to any challenging problems you might have as you study on your own.

What’s more? You can also contact the support team via email, chat, or helpline to get help with using the platform.

Score Guarantee

Magoosh offers a guarantee of at least four points on its TOEFL exam. This means you’ll get a refund of your subscription if you do not see an increase of at least four points from your previous exam score after using the Magoosh platform.

Considering the number of practice exercises and resources available on the platform, this is a reasonable enough guarantee.

Of course, there are some basic requirements you have to fulfill before you are entitled to get your money back. This includes watching all the video lessons and taking the three practice exercises and questions.

Now, that’s a lot of resources to go through, and if you’re dedicated enough to go through all of them, there’s a good chance that your TOEFL score will increase significantly.

If you’re preparing for certification exams, you might be wondering, Is Exam Edge legit? We’ve thoroughly reviewed the platform, analyzing the variety and quality of its test prep materials, customer service, and overall effectiveness.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the quest for mastering the English language, particularly for non-native speakers, often leads to the TOEFL exam – a pivotal requirement for various educational and professional opportunities.

The preparation for this exam is made more accessible due to numerous resources available online. Yet, not all these resources stand on equal footing.

Magoosh, an online educational platform, is one such resource that focuses on delivering comprehensive study materials to students preparing for the TOEFL exam.

Offering everything from books and video lectures to practice questions, Magoosh aims to guide students towards success in their TOEFL journey.

However, like every tool, Magoosh brings along its unique set of features, benefits, and potential drawbacks. Therefore, an in-depth review of Magoosh’s TOEFL services is essential to discern whether this platform aligns with your specific learning style, needs, and expectations.

Remember, the right preparation strategy can make a significant difference in your TOEFL performance and outcome.

FAQs

Is Magoosh TOEFL worth it?

For anyone writing TOEFL for the first time or looking to improve their TOEFL score, the Magoosh TOEFL prep course is definitely worth it. The platform is feature-packed, very easy to use, and offers a lot of helpful resources that will guide you through your exam preparation. For such an affordable fee, you’re getting more than your money’s worth in the long run.

Does Magoosh help for TOEFL?

Yes, Magoosh offers loads of helpful content for TOEFL preparation. You’ll also learn about the grading tactics, common pitfalls to avoid, and tips to improve your score significantly. The platform itself is easily accessible and flexible. This makes it easier to fit your TOEFL exam prep into your schedule and prepare more effectively.

Is Magoosh harder than TOEFL?

You’ll probably find one Magoosh TOEFL review or two that claim that Magoosh practice mode is harder than the actual TOEFL exam. But how true is this? The truth is, many students indeed think Magoosh practice questions are harder than the actual exam than the last TOEFL exam they took. But there are many others that think it seems easier.

Now, either of them could be right. The difficulty of TOEFL exams varies from year to year. Therefore, whether or not the practice test is harder depends on the questions you get on your actual test day.