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Nov 1811:00 AM PST
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Join us in a live GMAT practice session and solve 30 challenging GMAT questions with other test takers in timed conditions, covering GMAT Quant, Data Sufficiency, Data Insights, Reading Comprehension, and Critical Reasoning questions.
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Do RC/MSR passages scare you? e-GMAT is conducting a masterclass to help you learn – Learn effective reading strategies Tackle difficult RC & MSR with confidence Excel in timed test environment- Nov 23
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Nov 2510:00 AM EST
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Prefer video-based learning? The Target Test Prep OnDemand course is a one-of-a-kind video masterclass featuring 400 hours of lecture-style teaching by Scott Woodbury-Stewart, founder of Target Test Prep and one of the most accomplished GMAT instructors.
27 Apr 2015, 11:27
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A note about me: I'm a brand marketing strategist, and I'd like to pursue an MBA from either Kellogg, or Wharton. I had a window of time between projects to "knock the GMAT", but it's just not that simple. I totally underestimated this thing at first.
The naive early days: I bought the 2015 GMAT Official Guides and thought that would be enough. The OG questions are obviously the best quality questions, but the explanations are usually insultingly useless. Here's an example: "(D) is awkward and ungrammatical". Are you kidding me? How about an explanation why? Why is it awkward, specifically? Why is it ungrammatical, specifically? So frustrating.
Result: 480 Diagnostic test with GMAT Prep free software.
Early conclusion: I needed a more comprehensive plan, with more structure, and most importantly, I knew there just had to be a more methodical way. I realized the importance of having a clear tactic to take with each question type, and the importance of really great explanations for every question type on the GMAT.
From there, he's what worked!
Some people might be able to self-prep, and that's fine for them, but getting the right MBA is too important to me to take chances. My thinking is if I'm going to spend $200,000 getting an MBA, I can afford to spend a few hundred dollars to help get in to the right school. I checked out sample videos for every course I could to get a sense for the best style, including e-GMAT, Magoosh, GMAT Pill, on and on. I liked EMPOWERgmat. It seemed to have the best teaching style. Here's where I went to compare all of the samples in one place. GMAT Club has a thread that lists all of the trials.
How I used EMPOWERgmat: I downloaded the 2 Month Study Plan PDF, and signed up. EMPOWERgmat was excellent, and here's specifically why:
• There are video explanations for every question, including the GMAT Official Guide. Even though I already did the official questions, doing them again and watching these videos was night and day. The explanations are super, super thorough and helpful. It's like getting inside of the brain of a GMAT Jedi. It just clicked for me.
• The course doesn't just emphasize content, or tactics, it emphasizes both. Having gone through the process, I don't think it's possible to beat the GMAT with only one. You need both. The course got me up to speed on the content (arguments, proper reading techniques, geometry, math rules, SC rules, etc.), and blew me away with how powerful the tactics are (the RC ladder, triage, test it, the CR box, the 5 second scan, etc.). I'd say that the content probably got me up to a 550 or so, and the tactics helped me secure the 720.
• It's on demand, so I was able to train on my terms
• The price is ridiculous. $99 per month is crazy reasonable. I was even thinking about spending $1000 for a course. In retrospect, that probably would have been throwing money down the drain
• Important: I committed to exactly following the study plan, and I think it's really important to follow the plan exactly as laid out. I'm not sure it would have worked as well had I deviated, especially on verbal.
Realistic practice GMATs: As per Rich and Max's advice, I always took full practice GMATs with the AWA and IR sections, at 8 AM to match the same time of day as my real test. I always took my practice GMATs on a Sunday morning so I could practice Saturday, and then review the test Sunday afternoon with the EMPOWERgmat Mistake Tracker tool. I found the tracker indispensable to help isolate and target patterns in my mistakes. My scores hovered in the mid-500s for a while, then I shot through the 600s. My best practice GMAT was a 730, so I was right in line on the real thing.
All said and done: Even though I didn't end up clobbering quant, I'm OK with the results, especially hitting the 96th percentile on verbal and the 94th percentile overall. It was good to know that I could beat one of these tests. I didn't score at that percentile on the ACT. All said and done, it feels supremely good to have the GMAT behind me now. Once you beat this test, it can change not only your professional outlook, but it also just feels good, you know? To be able to say "I did it", it's worth everything I put into it.
To those still prepping: go get your big GMAT score. I can tell you first hand that you can do it. You just need the right mind set to welcome the tactical training, commitment to a good study plan, and the right resources.
Compare the other video courses. It's not even a fair fight. EMPOWERgmat is amazing, and it was instrumental in helping me beat the GMAT.
Cheers everyone!
The naive early days: I bought the 2015 GMAT Official Guides and thought that would be enough. The OG questions are obviously the best quality questions, but the explanations are usually insultingly useless. Here's an example: "(D) is awkward and ungrammatical". Are you kidding me? How about an explanation why? Why is it awkward, specifically? Why is it ungrammatical, specifically? So frustrating.
Result: 480 Diagnostic test with GMAT Prep free software.
Early conclusion: I needed a more comprehensive plan, with more structure, and most importantly, I knew there just had to be a more methodical way. I realized the importance of having a clear tactic to take with each question type, and the importance of really great explanations for every question type on the GMAT.
From there, he's what worked!
Some people might be able to self-prep, and that's fine for them, but getting the right MBA is too important to me to take chances. My thinking is if I'm going to spend $200,000 getting an MBA, I can afford to spend a few hundred dollars to help get in to the right school. I checked out sample videos for every course I could to get a sense for the best style, including e-GMAT, Magoosh, GMAT Pill, on and on. I liked EMPOWERgmat. It seemed to have the best teaching style. Here's where I went to compare all of the samples in one place. GMAT Club has a thread that lists all of the trials.
How I used EMPOWERgmat: I downloaded the 2 Month Study Plan PDF, and signed up. EMPOWERgmat was excellent, and here's specifically why:
• There are video explanations for every question, including the GMAT Official Guide. Even though I already did the official questions, doing them again and watching these videos was night and day. The explanations are super, super thorough and helpful. It's like getting inside of the brain of a GMAT Jedi. It just clicked for me.
• The course doesn't just emphasize content, or tactics, it emphasizes both. Having gone through the process, I don't think it's possible to beat the GMAT with only one. You need both. The course got me up to speed on the content (arguments, proper reading techniques, geometry, math rules, SC rules, etc.), and blew me away with how powerful the tactics are (the RC ladder, triage, test it, the CR box, the 5 second scan, etc.). I'd say that the content probably got me up to a 550 or so, and the tactics helped me secure the 720.
• It's on demand, so I was able to train on my terms
• The price is ridiculous. $99 per month is crazy reasonable. I was even thinking about spending $1000 for a course. In retrospect, that probably would have been throwing money down the drain
• Important: I committed to exactly following the study plan, and I think it's really important to follow the plan exactly as laid out. I'm not sure it would have worked as well had I deviated, especially on verbal.
Realistic practice GMATs: As per Rich and Max's advice, I always took full practice GMATs with the AWA and IR sections, at 8 AM to match the same time of day as my real test. I always took my practice GMATs on a Sunday morning so I could practice Saturday, and then review the test Sunday afternoon with the EMPOWERgmat Mistake Tracker tool. I found the tracker indispensable to help isolate and target patterns in my mistakes. My scores hovered in the mid-500s for a while, then I shot through the 600s. My best practice GMAT was a 730, so I was right in line on the real thing.
All said and done: Even though I didn't end up clobbering quant, I'm OK with the results, especially hitting the 96th percentile on verbal and the 94th percentile overall. It was good to know that I could beat one of these tests. I didn't score at that percentile on the ACT. All said and done, it feels supremely good to have the GMAT behind me now. Once you beat this test, it can change not only your professional outlook, but it also just feels good, you know? To be able to say "I did it", it's worth everything I put into it.
To those still prepping: go get your big GMAT score. I can tell you first hand that you can do it. You just need the right mind set to welcome the tactical training, commitment to a good study plan, and the right resources.
Compare the other video courses. It's not even a fair fight. EMPOWERgmat is amazing, and it was instrumental in helping me beat the GMAT.
Cheers everyone!
30 Apr 2015, 10:17
Kudos
Bookmarks
sid1989
I intended it that way. This is the same message I used in my review about EMPOWERgmat too. The course was extremely valuable and I'm happy to spread the word.
