Background and Context:
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I am a working professional with 18+ years of experience and recently took the GMAT (scored an okay 680 V40 Q44). I took to studies after 15+ years of being in student mode and preparing for a standardized test. Adding to the challenge, I was employed in the US (in a senior, very tough, and travel intensive consulting job) with 2 energetic, attention seeking, young kids and a wife in an equally demanding (and travel heavy) job.



Flashback - Close Encounter of the Alien Kind (2000/2001):
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At the beginning of my career, I took the GMAT and scored somewhere in the mid-500s. My prep at the time was devoid of any professional training courses and sans any major research on GMAT strategies (to be honest, around 2001, the level of available information on the internet must've been less than 1% of its current state). I thus attribute my poor performance to not much strategy but just brute force. While I don't remember my sectional scores, I do remember I scored much worse in Verbal than Quant.



The Proverbial Itch (2017/2018):
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Cut to Q2 2017. I decided to address my educational aspirations (1 year full time executive MBA). While I bought the OG and Princeton Review guides (and tests), I couldn't muster the courage to begin my prep for a good 9-10 months (courtesy my 1st traumatic GMAT experience). Determined to overcome the inertia, in March 2018, I started my prep focused on cramming textbook material (much like the 1st attempt).



Finding GMAT's Kryptonite (April 2018):
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In a month or so, I started stumbling across other helpful tools like GMATClub, BeatTheGMAT, other digital resources, as well as online prep courses. These resources (and real-life examples / experiences) quickly underlined the need for a radical revamp of prep approach. I consequently, started looking for a relevant Verbal prep program which could accommodate my rusted learning approach.

After intensive research and evaluation, I locked in on eGMAT's Online Verbal and Quant Course and signed up on May 1, 2018. Key features of the offering that resonated with me were as follows:

1. Self-paced and flexible format
2. Focused on building a strong foundation instead of relying on shortcuts
3. Rooted in classroom type textbook theory that I was comfortable with
4. Offering ample opportunities to test competence and understanding along the learning process (including a rich topic-wise database (called Scholaranium) of questions to practice in a timed fashion).
5. Analytics and metrics to identify weak and strong areas and adjust study plan accordingly
6. Easy to use platform and appealing user interface
7. Economically priced
8. Last (but definitely not the least), rave reviews and experiences of ex-users of the course



The Grind (May - September 2018):
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During my 4-5 month prep phase (laden with multiple breaks due to travel and other commitments), I made sure to complete the Verbal Section e2e (I completed 30% of the Quant Online Course). Given the breadth of topics, it was often easy to forget what I'd studied (especially considering breaks), so I resorted to taking detailed notes while studying and ensured that I revise them periodically (later I'd do this every time I'd sit down to take a quiz or mock test). Post completion, based on my weaknesses (highlighted by eGMAT analytics), I revisited certain sections of the course in entirety (in addition to attempting respective questions from Scholaranium). This approach showed clear improvement in understanding and competence.

One surprising feature of the course (and clearly one that was a lifesaver) were the regular supply of student experiences (of the course, how it aided their study approach and their final scores) via video links. I can bet my top dollar that irrespective of one's learning style, s/he will find some or the other experience that they can relate to. These experiences were my guiding light in my darkest nights and helped me bulldoze my way through self-doubts regarding my study approach as well as my abilities.



The Moment of Truth (Oct 6, 2018):
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I cruised through the Verbal section on test day. The exciting thing here is that I felt most comfortable with the topics I was the weakest at. Guess that is the beauty of the course where it helps you identify such areas and get comfortable with them (provided you put in the effort). Despite my comfort with the Verbal section, I was pleasantly surprised to get a V40. This feeling was albeit countered by my Quant score. This said, I don't think of it much given that I exceeded my 1st break by 5 minutes and lost time additional time (and composure) to scratch pen issues during the Quant section and still managed a Q44.



The Verdict:
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Without a doubt, I attribute my verbal performance to eGMAT. Guess, selecting them for my prep was one of the landmark decisions I took when it came to cracking the test. To quantify this, I already recommended them to a friend in India (his test is in a few weeks, and hopefully he will have a similar pleasant experience).

Thanks Rajat, Payal and the entire eGMAT team. You guys rock! \m/

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Picking up the e-GMAT verbal online program was definitely a boon, as it gave me the necessary perspective to be able to tackle the Verbal section in the official GMAT. The program gave me valuable insights in tackling the SC, CR and RC sections which were critical to my success. I have listed below how the program helped me in tackling each of the sections within the GMAT and I hope this information proves helpful.

Sentence Correction: The comprehensiveness of the grammar rules covered and the number of practice questions one is expected to participate in definitely played a big part in my success. Additionally simple advice such as understand the meaning, although intuitive, played a big role in helping me crack the GMAT.

Reading Comprehension: I had earlier engaged in other GMAT prep material which were focused on techniques such as skimming through passages, reading only the first line of each paragraph and drawing inferences which although were quick weren't as effective. Again the simple advice of just take your time and comprehend the meaning of the passage really helped tip the scale.

Critical Reasoning: I was confident in this section from the very beginning and my earlier GMAT prep material too was focused towards Assumptions in an argument. Nevertheless the number of practice questions the program offered along with it's explanations was a big help during my prep period.

The strength of the e-GMAT verbal program is that it offers a program with no gimmicks. It is focused on simple straight forward advice which if implemented correctly would reap benefits. I'm glad i picked up this program and i hope this review helps you with your decision as well.

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I subscribed for e-GMAT Verbal Online course after browsing over several course reviews and de-briefs. One thing is for sure - "Verbal for Non-natives" is absolutely pertinent to design philosophy of e-GMAT. Though a person might get overwhelmed with too much audio/visual material, the time dedicated is totally worth it. I had accuracy of ~60% in Sentence Correct and the same has now been improved to ~90%. The "Pre-Concept" and "Post-Concept" quiz of the course helps you to check your understanding of concept before concept files and after concept files respectively.
The Pre-thinking concept taught in CR section is a silver bullet. The strategy is that you brainstorm and come up with potential answer choice before jumping to answer choices and hence, avoid spend time re-reading the stimulus.
I strongly recommend this course to non-natives and natives who are weak in comprehending the printed text.

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i have purchased egmat verbal online course 2 months back as i was very poor in verbal, the course has a very methodical approach for each section and i learnt a lot from it there using the pause tactics and meaning based approach has really helped me in gaining some confidence in sentence correction part of the verbal , the course is also very handy for critical reasoning and reading comprehension part it also covers integrated reasoning . in totality i feel any one who is week in verbal should definitely give it a try also the scholarium is a nice place to test your newly gained skills it has some gmat type questions on which you can test your skills also you can set the difficulty level according tp your understanding

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e-gmat's Verbal live prep was a super helpful program. I tried using several books and one other online source. I had a hard time using each of those because they didn't bring in the comprehensive learning approach that egmat's verbal live prep brings. I'll go through each section of egmats verbal live prep and how it was helpful. But first just to clarify, the only reason I gave a 4 star general rate was for functionality of the site. There was a couple times I had problems with general "bugginess" of the the site and where the site went down when I was in crunch time for studying. It was only off for a few minutes but was still annoying. Other than that the site worked great and didn't have any problems. The online modules and web recordings are all incredibly effective because of the interactivity. The interactive nature of the modules allow the user to learn and retain what you're learning. Scholaranium is a great tool to solidify and practice everything you've learned in the learning model.

Sentence Correction: The sentence correction program was incredibly effective. The reason it worked so well was that not only does the program teach grammar rules, it teaches on a meaning based approach. No other program that I tried took this approach and as a result no other program was as effective as egmats. When solving SC questions, testers should not only be thinking about if the grammar rules are correct, but what meaning is the author trying to get across. After learning this my SC approach changed.

Critical Reasoning: Like in my sentence correction approach, I changed my CR approach when I went through the online module. It teaches you to go for meaning when reading the CR question. After I got that concept down, CR started making sense. I didn't rush through problems worrying about time. I didn't look for shortcuts. I took a very fundemental approach to every problem I faced and ensured I understood exactly what the sentence was saying and what was being asked.

Reading Comprehension: RC is an area I really needed help with. Prior to talking the verbal live prep course I tried several ineffective approaches. The approach that worked was egmats, which teaches you to slow down, ensure you are comprhending each sentence you read through, stop and pause when you need time to think about what you read and not oversaturate your mind, and making effective notes that allows you to understand the purpose of the paragraph and allows you to know where to look for specific detail problems.

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Started at 610 (Q48 V28), scored today 720 (Q48 V41)
I enjoyed this course. It provided me the solid concepts and application tactics to score high in Verbal. As a non-native speaker, I struggled a lot with the verbal section. I tried other courses such as Manhattan, but I did not have the results I got with e-GMAT. E-Gmat is easy to follow, and you can have discounted prices if you need an extension of the course. It is the most cost-effective course is available on the market right now.
The architecture of the course is amazing. I definitely suggest live sessions... they provide so many useful tips. And also take advantage of the Q&A section for each exercise, just reading the questions and answers provide so many valuable insights.
And Scholaranium helps structure the fine tuning to improve accuracy.
The team answers really fast and they know what they are doing.
I am so grateful of having found this course, I really recommend it to anyone who is non-native speaker and wants to improve Verbal for good.

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E-gmat verbal course is so beautifully structured. It helped me improve from a V21 in gmat prep to a V38 in the real gmat. I dreaded the verbal section especially CR & a 17 point improvement in verbal could not have been possible without this course. Live sessions complement the online modules to give a candidate everything that's needed to ace verbal. Signing up for the e-gmat verbal live prep on the advice of many colleagues proved to be so fruitful.
Thanks e-gmat for creating such a wonderful product to help the gmat aspirants. The course gives a holistic learning experience and does not endorse shortcuts, making it a great fit for any aspirant who is methodical in the preparation. You would not be required to remember much or apply shortcuts rather just getting the basics right will help. Scholaranium gives ample practice to make you test ready.

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When i started preparing for GMAT, Verbal was my biggest problem area and it was extremely difficult for me to understand why certain options were incorrect and one was correct. I could never never understand any logic behind it.
I wasted 5 weeks doing Manhattan and OG, it just didnt work for me.
I finally came across e-gmat and after a lot of research and asking around i bought the Verbal Live Prep course. From there, there was no looking back. Initially after scoring V25-28 continuously in mocks, i finally score a V35 in the GMAT, enough for the 700 score.
The structure of the course is well defined, easy to follow and track. Audio Visual files of concepts is extremely helpful and a completely new way of teaching a course.
There are enough concept and practice modules for understanding the basics. However, it is never enough. The Scholaranium has some really good GMAT like 700 questions to practice.

They have a very simple 3 step approach which is easy to follow. Their approach is very logical and focuses on the meaning of sentences/ passages and this works wonders!

The Verbal Live Course is exactly the same as the verbal course, except the former has weekend webinars which is very helpful and surprisingly very close to a classroom. Also it kept me on track to complete modules before the weekend webinars. This was a big help for lazy people like me who procrastinate a lot.
However, if you are disciplined enough and keep yourself on track, even the verbal course is as good. You won't be missing out on much.

I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out the right material such as egmat for Verbal, i could have saved a lot of time. So don't be like me, just got for the egmat verbal courses if you are really struggling!

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Hi all,

Iam a non-native speaker and I see Gmat is a dread examination that I have ever had. After a short term that I was confident to study by myself, I failed the exam and then I was so confused Who I am. One day, I found E-gmat course on gmat club and then I recognize that It is a key factor so as to help me understand exactly the significant skills needed in the exam.

In SC, I can recognize each mistake swiftly. In CR, pre-thinking is a key that helps me to tackle argument and understand the core. RC is considered as the most difficult test and e-gmat course has a unique method to deal with.

All in all, I also have Verbal Scholaranium to practice before the primary exam and I hope I can achieve the best score.

I recommend this course to everybody who pursue a best score at gmat test.

Thanks e-gmat course!

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I gave the GMAT about a year back and was devasted looking at my score. I scored poorly on Quant. I realized during the process what I need is a more structure oriented process on my Quant. Although the questions of GMAT can be done due to the limitation of time and not following a step by step approach to solving each problem I faltered at the main exam ending up guessing more than 6-7 questions on my GMAT exam. On my next attempt I took up the EGMAT quant online course also and I saw a drastic improvement on my speed to solve problems following the 3 step approach to solve any given problem.
Through the course and the data analytics used on each chapter, I identified what my weakness was.To improve on the speed I used to use Scholaranium which was a great help in providing useful insights on which none numericals did I spent more time on . Also how can one use minimize the number of steps for problems which of a 650 level and up .The practice quizzes helped me solidify my foundations on each chapter. I didn't even realize when I reached from a level of Q35 to Q43 within a month . I wouldn't say Q43 is a kickass score but it made me reach quite close to the magical Q51 now. Thank you egmat for the support provided throughout the journey and I hope others will also get motivated reading this

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