My journey to 695

Strengths:

Scientifically designed course content
Focus on structured approach to questions
Strong mentor support
Personalised strategy & learning support

Would make the product better:

None

I have taken up e-gmat self paced course on 12 Aug 2023. I gave my first attempt on Jan 25th 2024 and scored 655. My second attempt was on Mar 21st 2024 and finally achieved my target score of 695.

How I came across e-gmat
I have enquired with a few of my friends and colleagues regarding the best course available in the market. E-gmat was a clear winner with 100% of them voting for it. Without any second thoughts, I went ahead with the same.

My Experience during initial preparation
I would call this as the phase of understanding the requirements of the test and learning the core concepts required to attain proficiency. Their modules in Quant, DI and Verbal were very crisp and to the point. I felt their content and modules are very scientifically designed to exactly meet the test requirements without taking too much of the candidate’s time.
I really commend their PACE module in Quant section which precisely identifies your starting ability and suggests modules which can be safely skipped thus resulting in significant time savings. Another distinguishing feature of e-gmat is their emphasis on structured approach for all quant problems. They strongly discourage teaching any shortcuts in solving the questions. Developing this ability equips you with all the skills needed to solve higher difficulty questions with ease.
Verbal was a challenge for me. Their entire verbal course emphasizes on the most essential skill of comprehension, visualization of argument/passage. Again, they do not recommend any shortcuts. “Master comprehension” module is the backbone for entire verbal course. Pre-thinking approach of e-gmat is a game changer in CR and RC as well. Though I initially felt it to be very time consuming, I slowly realized the ease with which CR questions can be solved once you master this approach.
I started Data Insights section with a lot of speculation after going through other’s experiences. I was very low on confidence initially but by the end of the course I realized that the skill set required to ace DI is a combination of comprehension/visualization techniques mastered in Verbal section plus employing the structured approach mastered in Quant section. At the end of the day I have secured 82 with 94 percentile in DI.

Scholaranium
I would call it a treasure trove. This gives the necessary practice to put the candidate into the test environment, both in terms of difficulty and timed practice, right after learning the concepts. The quality of questions is too good and at the level of final test. Attempting these questions gives a realistic estimate of one’s level of preparation. After each test, the platforms presents the time/performance metrics which are helpful in self-evaluation. This is what they call “strategic review” and plays an important role in identifying and filling the gaps in preparation.

Mentor support/Interaction with team
Before taking up the course, I have heard that e-gmat provides support only through emails/their forum and does not facilitate direct verbal interaction with subject matter experts [SME] and that this is their main drawback.
In my experience, I find that the solutions provided by SME’s on the doubts raised on their forum are very elaborate and leave no room for any further confusion. Things become crystal clear after going through their explanation.
They have a dedicated strategy team who evaluate your account and are happy to suggest plans for improvement. Team has always responded within a day over email for any questions regarding strategy. They address any kind of queries during your preparation. I was not aware of this kind of support until I attended one of their free webinars where this aspect has come up accidentally. It was through these discussions that I interacted with Rida, who was my mentor till the end of my GMAT journey. She was very supportive and readily supported in devising a study plan/ providing extra resources to improve my verbal performance/ detailed analysis of mocks. She was kind enough to offer me scholarship for their prestigious Last Mile Program [LMP]

LMP
I was a part of LMP just before my first attempt but for only 2 weeks. I could not benefit totally from this program as I do not have enough time left before my first attempt. I was not very happy with my score in first attempt. I have communicated the same to the team. Payal has taken over at this point and provided a structured and objective plan with clear targets to put me on the path to my target score of 685 [eventually hit a 695]. She has analysed all my scholaranium attempts/ my first GMAT attempt and provided me with a clear insight into what was going wrong. This was a game-changer for me. I started identifying my faults and rectified one by one.
Her emphasis on visualization, comprehension, translation, and inference have created wonders for me and I landed at a 695 in my second attempt. Though these skills sound very simple and familiar, I have neglected them and did not realise their importance. I always felt I need to master something very complex to move to higher scores. While working on this plan, I realized that GMAT is a simple test that is intelligently designed with many traps. It is these traps that make the test appear as difficult. Her words that “It is not enough if you can see what could be the answer, it is also important to see what are the kind of wrong answers that can be provided” has changed my perspective of looking at every question. Apart from the correct answer, I started seeing the wrong answers and understand the kind of traps that are set in the test.

Free Resources
I have attended their free webinars hosted by Rajat and Payal every week on a wide variety of topics. Though they are offered for free these sessions are content rich and have helped me a lot. There is one particular session of Rajat on Mastering RC where he demonstrated the skill of reading an RC passage like a manager. This has helped me a lot in improving my RC abilities.

Overall, I would say that e-gmat offers the best resources for GMAT preparation alongside having a very competent and a friendly team for support. All the mentors are so supportive and accommodative of any special requirements. If you are ready to give your 100% to your preparation, they leave no stone unturned in ensuring your success. It is this additional human touch that differentiates a good course from a great course.