Opinion - 540. MGMT to GMAT PIll or E-Gmat?

Question

Hi there!

So I took the GMAT Yesterday only to live a nightmare – 540 on the GMAT. The break down was Q42 and V23. I nearly fell of the chair when I saw V23.

I took the MGMAT Course twice to ensure that I have a strong foundation and that I can attack the GMAT like a ninja but I suspect that did not work as well as I had planned. During classes, I was strong in Quant but I felt that the Verbal areas needed some polish or that I needed to go back and review the content more frequently than I expected.

Anyway, I persisted and as I drew close to the GMAT, my nerves got to me and I couldn’t resist the GMAT Pill. So I bought the verbal section and I bought the E-GMAT course. Clearly, a recipe for disaster. After completing the GMAT Pill Verbal course, I felt like I could take on anything that came my way in Sentence correction but that did not seem to work when I had a blank stare on GMAT Day.

For CR, I didn’t quite gel with the approach by GMAT Pill. I understand the principle but I am constantly worried about timing when it comes to CR and RC. The explanations are fantastic but I just had a hard time to get it together with 2 – 3 days to go to the GMAT.

RC was a disaster. Complete and utter disaster. It’s reading, I get that but I think its more in lines with a mega CR Passage. RC = Mega CR.

To summarize, I took the GMAT, completely bombed it, Quant was ok – I can push, just need tactics. Verbal has and continues to need assistance. It was a disaster.

I have 45 days, My target is the 680 – 700 Range.

I will get there by Owning PS in Quant, and strengthening DS problems in Quant. For Verbal, I want to Own SC and become excellent at CR, both of which are within my reach. For RC, If I can just survive it, I should be fine.

What I need help with:
1. Do you think the strategy above should get to me to the 700 Club?
 2. MGMAT - > GMAT Pill Takers: what was it like when you made the switch? Did the content from the Pill build on MGMAT content or was it completely different in Quant? 
3. Does anyone have really good timing strategies?

Appreciate the help!

KarishmaB · Answer

I would like to share some thoughts on your situation: V23 to V40 is a tall order for 45 days. You need to take a hard look at the strategies you follow and why they are not working. Then you need to tweak them and then practice with the new strategies. Mind you, hard work will be required. You have taken too many courses - all your strategies must have got mixed up. You might want to go back, pick one course and go through its Verbal books again - pay close attention to every word. Understand that there are some solid gaps - you need to fill them up before you start working on timing. There are lots of tips that can help you manage timing. I am putting down some links for you. But let me repeat - worry about timing after fixing the gaps. https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/2010/10 ... for-field/ https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/2012/10 ... g-matters/ https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/2011/06 ... your-best/

egmat · Answer

Hi MustbeatGMAT,

I am sorry to hear that you could not do well on GMAT. I completely agree with Karishma. You have had an overdose of courses. So as she suggested - stick to one course and do it per the  recommended best practices . I wish you good luck for next attempt.

Additionally, I would like get one thing clarified - from your post it appears that you think GMAT Pill and e-GMAT are same companies. Please note that we are two different test prep companies. So you may want to clarify in your post whether you purchased e-GMAT course of GMAT Pill course or both.

Before I sign off, I would like to comment on one thing - both for quant and verbal you have said that while you were doing the course you felt that you could ace that section but your performance on the test day did not work out that way. This begs the question - how did you do in your mock tests? If you do mock tests well, then they are a pretty good indicator of your performance on the test day. Was that the case with you? Furthermore, how much did you practice the official questions. For example, if you did e-GMAT SC course, then did you practice the prescribed G13, OGVR2 questions after every application file. If yes, then did you apply the process while doing the official questions. This is absolutely critical to the success in the test. Knowing the concepts is one thing and it is surely important. But applying those concepts is absolutely critical for doing well.

Hope this helps. Good luck for your next attempt.

Thanks,

Payal

tstrogov85 · Answer

Indeed I agree the GMAT Pill explanations are fantastic, especially the SC and some of the newly released CR assumption videos. But you need to put in more than 2-3 days to actually have it click. I'd say that's true for anything you study.

When I was doing GMAT Pill, the key for me was to constantly review and rewatch the videos. At first, it didn't click - but when it did (about 2-3 weeks), it did wonders to my accuracy and timing. Be patient and keep at it. Also, Zeke's really good at replying to questions - so ask away and get the help you need. 2-3 days definitely is not enough to make really understand the thought process so I'd definitely recommend a revisit.

Did you take a GMATPrep practice test before going into the exam? If you are expecting a 680 - then do NOT go into the exam until you've scored a 680 on the GMATPrep software. If you haven't even gotten that score on the practice test, then go cancel your test and reschedule! Don't walk into the exam expecting that score if you haven't gotten there yet. Put in more studying before you sit for the test.

Only if you scored high on GMATPrep and then you got low score on the real thing do you deserve to say you were surprised. It seems you may have walked into the exam without exhausting your study material or reaching your desired score on GMATprep.

Also - don't expect to get to 700 by just owning Quant. You'll need both quant and verbal improvement to make it. I thought the MGMAT quant books provided good foundation. GMAT Pill did build on it by showing how to actually execute it.

MustbeatGMAT · Answer

Thanks everyone! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the insights. I just want to add in some comments here: Karishma - I am aware that 23-45 is a tall order and on that advice I have lowered my expectations on Verbal to try and take it to a 35/36 and move Quant up to 47 because I am a lot more comfortable with Quant and I think the learning curve is going to be a lot less steep. Thoughts? Payal - I apologize for the confusion. I know the e-gmat and gmat pill are separate. I felt very comfortable with the Quant section and I had taken the Advanced workshop for Quant with MGMAT two days before and was able to solve the problems in many ways and know exactly how to approach them as well. That really boosted my confidence. Also, I must thank you for the verb -ing modifier insights on the forums. I know I got at least 1 question correct because of that

tstrogov85 - I appreciate the input on how the MGMAT and GMAT Pill complement each other. It really is what I was looking for and I think I am going to the GMAT Pill for Quant as well. It appears as though the GMAT pill doesn't assume that you have a very high standing in Quant and Verbal and really builds the equivalent of the foundation of Math / Verbal and the Strategy guides into one "framework". So it might just be what I need. Regardless, I appreciate all the insight. I think it fundamentally boils down to an approach as below: Get Fit (know the foundations of Verbal and Quant inside and out) -> Train (learn the strategy guides inside and out) -> Practice and Recover (try, learn and maintain focus) -> Prepare for race day ( the week before or so, take it easy, carb up with easy drills and sample problems) -> Run the race (Apply everything I have learned to date) -> cross the finish line with arms in the air.

Opinion -> 540. MGMT to GMAT PIll or E-Gmat?

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