Planning to take up the Gmat...

Thanks guys for your valuable response.
Just one question, I am currently employed in an IT firm and I am only aiming at taking a 700+ in Gmat.
I would be able to dedicate a solid 2-3 hours on weekdays and 6-8 hours in the weekends.
How much time do you think would take for an average student like me ? I have been totally out of touch and I am starting from scratch.

Hi rsjaynish,

Here's my two cents out of experience !

Coaching alone cannot boost your score. You need to put in man hours to attend the classes say 1-2 hours everyday after / before work. However you have to put in extra hours studying at home, revising what had been taught in the classes & more importantly PRACTICE !
Having said that, (I am not sure of your location) I agree with above posts - Princeton review generally guides you on the basics. Its for someone aiming around 550 - 650 range ! If you have a good budget say around 25K INR (just an assumption), Join manhattan review or crack-verbal in your vicinity. MR is quite good by teaching standards. They have excellent materials (for practice problems) and a professional attitude in service delivery. Crack verbal founder Arun jagnattan is quite active in other forums & has a good reputation for verbal prep standards. I have experienced MR and felt it was solid (this was years back). Crack verbal, is something on the roll and targeted towards boosting verbal weakness.

However, IMO if you have enough time for GMAT and BSchool application deadlines, yes I suggest learn on your own for a couple of months. Assess yourself to see if you really need a coaching (If you are kinda undisciplined, yes immediately go for a coaching). Find below an exhaustive list you might need, if you go the self prep way (like me and many others here on the forum)

GMAT Self Study List

1. Understand all about GMAT & How GMATCLUB can help you

GMAT test Structure :
https://www.mba.com/the-gmat/test-struct ... rview.aspx

GMAT Handbook :
https://www.mba.com/~/media/Files/mba/NE ... ook-20.pdf

New to GMATClub (GMAT Club resources - GOLD Standard) :
Understand the info found in below links to have a comprehensive overview about

GMAT FAQ
GMAT Books
GMAT Study PLANS
GMAT Tests
GMAT algorithm & scoring
GMAT Tools & Error Logs & More

everything-you-need-to-prepare-for-the-gmat-129968.html
new-to-the-gmat-club-start-here-130870.html

All these are absolutely free and valuable resources from GMAT Club

2. GMAT BOOKS & Online prep

These cost you $$$. But yes, if you plan, you can get these at a fraction of your coaching cost.

Manhattan GMAT Sentence correction Guide ( 4th or 5th edition ) & Aristotle SC Grail
or
e-gmat SC (This has a renowned SC & other verbal courses and trust me these are quite good if you hate study from books)

Power-score Critical reasoning Bible (A must and gold standard for CR)
Official Guide for GMAT 12th or 13th edition
Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review - 2nd edition
Manhattan GMAT Number properties Guide
Check Gmat Club's elite member and an hardcore Quant Guru - Bunuel's Signature for his problems & explanations
https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/categor ... er-wisdom/ - Karishma from veritas prep is an awesome GMAT instructor and gives alternate and effective Conceptual guidance about almost every quant topic in her blog !
gmat-math-book-87417.html - ofcourse prepared by Bunuel !
Manhattan Gmat Six Online GMAT tests
GmatPrep software available for free from mba.com - perhaps after studying an hour daily with a planned schedule and putting in an hour on weekdays (2-3 hours on weekends), Take a GMATPrep test to see where you stand and develop a further plan by being disciplined or by taking up a coaching.
GMAT CLUB Hard Quant tests (and in an adaptive format)
Manhattan GMAT OG12/13 companion (discusses all og quant problems very effectively better than the offiical solutions)

And Huh, I just found this on Gmatclub.

official-guide-verbal-question-directory-138844.html - Awesome BB!

Wow so much to go through !! :D
Thanks hoogly for the valuable suggestions and help, I will have a look over the links mentioned. I am based out of Chennai basically, I got in touch with Devashish from CrackVerbal. I personally feel I am not that disciplined and I need someone to actually teach me stuff. He has sent some sample online classes, I will go through them and see if I need a classroom training or if I can improve with online classes itself..

Jayanth

@hoogly: thank you for your comprehensive reply. I believe you have laid the cards out well.

@rsjaynish:

I would recommend that you try our course. We offer a very generous free trial. We are the only company in the world to provide a 4 point Verbal score improvement guarantee and we focus only on non natives. Attend our free session tomorrow to learn about the core skills you need to master to ace GMAT verbal. Below are some testimonials of students who were in your shoes and improved after taking our course.

1. Mahesh: Gave his GMAT 3 times, was unable to ace verbal during his first 2 attempts but improved in 10 days using our course. He is now studying at Babson. You can view his audio interview here
2. Satish: This guy improved by 14 points (Verbal 27 to 41) in 20 days. You can read his review here. His review is by the name thermacin.
3. Other than reviews, you can see a number of audio interviews here.

-Rajat

@rsjaynish - Yes, If you are not so disciplined, it is best to enroll in an online course.

Try the free online demo from crack verbal
Try the free preview from e-gmat ( try some topics in e-gmat SC )

Decide which methodology works best for you, check more of their offers (Any money back guarantee or score guarantee) and opt accordingly.
(Pick up one which closely mimics an instructor led scenario)

I have not seen a crackverbal course myself but as said before heard rave reviews about it.
I did preview the e-gmat course and could say , its more like a audio -video with instructor voice over. Very nicely made ! But again their course content is what sets them apart and yes they have helped most natives to get to the 40 mark in verbal. Rajat Sadana, one of their founders is quite interactive with the student community and has a set of GMAT general strategies up his sleeve.

But finally, yes preview the online courses, compare their offerings and take up any one ! Then its time to start preparing diligently.


@e-gmat : Thanks and yes, your articles on GMAT Verbal advantage and free previews are worth every penny and I do not see why new timers should not be informed about these so good resources else they are sure to miss out on these ! Also, for someone very naive and restless with little or no improvement in Verbal, e-gmat courses would come up as the most viable option left out there !

Message:
Hi Jayant,
It is true that online courses may sometimes not work for people not confident about their self-discipline. 
Just wanted to let you know that CrackVerbal has now launched digital classrooms in Chennai – this means that you will get all the focus and structure of a classroom course. You can check out the details here:
https://www.crackverbal.com/GMAT-Chennai.htm

The classes are held at Nungambakkam.
Do get in touch in case you need any help - we would be happy to help.

Arun