I would like to share my experience so far with the study curriculum of e-GMAT. I believe my review will be most helpful for non- natives. I am from India a B. Tech and MBA from NMIMS, Mumbai (MBA aspirants from India would know). I have around 4.5 years of post graduate work experience and generally work 60-70 hours a week. I am a FRM holder and CFA Level 3 candidate and have academically done well throughout. I am a credit analyst and frequently required to write reports and do number crunching. Thus, I was a bit overconfident and never thought taming GMAT would be difficult. GMAT humbled me, showed me I was wrong.
1st Attempt (January 7, 2013) (570, Q47, V22): Disaster - I was applying for Autumn 2013 intake for two specific courses, however, as the average work experience of the class was around 7 years I was asked to apply after a minimum of 5 years work experience plus for Autumn 2014 intake. Though I knew this was not my final attempt, since I had already registered for the exam I tried to give it a shot. The resource material used was Manhattan entire strategy guides, and OG. Quant PS was quite easy for FDP, Geometry, word problems and algebra. DS was a bit tricky for number properties.
Sentence correction: Too different from how we are taught English in our schools. We can frame our own sentences which we know are correct and carry with flow. However, when subjected to sentences with different structure finding the correct answer was tricky. I read the Manhattan SC book twice and tried to memorize all the idioms. Though I understood the rules, their application was far far away. Whenever subjected to a complex sentence I would read the entire sentence and was unable to find anything wrong with it. I would read the answer choices, look for splits, madly try to look for parallelism and many other mistakes. Accuracy suffered and timing was poor.
Critical Reasoning: I was okay with the CR from the beginning. The guides helped identifying the types of problems etc. Timing was decent except the only few where I was stuck between 2 choices and had to re-read the question and the choices.
Reading Comprehension: Tough! Solving the problems in time was impossible. I took around 15 mins to solve 4 questions. The guide said make notes, read the 1st para/sentence twice. I followed everything but, still, accuracy was poor and time consumed was highest.
Interactive reasoning: The guide had just a glimpse of what the problems will be like. Not too many problems to solve. I did not know even just before taking the exam that for each individual question you have to answer the sub questions correctly or else you will not be awarded a point for that question.
Exam experience: I did not touch quants or solve any problems for at least 1 to 1.5 months before the exam. I only wanted to focus on verbal and my timing. The argument essay was okay. IR managing time was tricky. Quants though wasted time on few DS questions but still solved all the questions with 3 mins to spare. Took my break. Verbal I had heard the first 10-15 questions are very important, they will decide your overall score. I spent the initial 45- 50 mins with the first 20 questions and from there the disaster was waiting to happen. I submitted the answers to the last few questions even without seeing them.
I was shattered, even with this low level preparation I had expected a score of 640 plus so that I could improve to a 700 plus score in my final attempt. Then at the end of FY13 I started looking for study options. I had long working hours, so classroom programs were not for me. While exploring across GMAT Club I came across the e-GMAT program. I attended one of the free session on SC and strategy and I liked the course at once. I registered for the Verbal live prep program.
Here is the difference that e-GMAT brought to my study program.
Sentence Correction: It is a remarkably well-designed course. I moved finding splits and what sounded correct to finding the errors and looking for meaning. My problem-solving approach has changed in all aspects, now breaking the sentences into clauses and the subsequently looking for errors such as subject verb disagreement, verb, pronouns, structure, modifiers and idioms errors. The structure was set and timing has improved with practice. The applications files and online classes were eye openers, how the concepts were applied to each and every question. I realized at times the split was irrelevant and the sentence had other errors that made it incorrect. While in my prior approach, I used to select the answer choices based on the split. The concept files are amazing and helped in my daily work as well.
Critical Reasoning: The course has been great in improving my accuracy. It gave me tools which can be applied with precision. The new concepts were ABC test for finding the conclusion in case of confusion. I learned a better application of negation test, variance analysis which helped me in assumptions and evaluate type questions. And pre-thinking has become a part of solving the problem. Though I just have one pre- thought answer to question before seeing the options, the process made choosing the final answer easier.
Reading Comprehension: I have tried to internalize the RC passages using the RC strategies. Humanities passages don’t haunt me anymore. Still I need to improve on my timing and accuracy.
Interactive Reasoning: I haven’t seen so much material on IR on any forum. All type of probable questions from graphs, 2 part quants, table, verbal, MSR etc. Though the question on standalone basis are not tough but been familiar with the structure has its own rewards.
Presently, I am almost a month out from taking the GMAT exam, still I believe that e-GMAT course has already made a big difference in my performance in my verbal scores. On my Manhattan mock tests I am able to complete the verbal and IR portion on time. Accuracy has improved and my raw score is hovering around 34- 35. I am trying to improve the same in the range of 37- 40 in my final month.
Wish me luck for my GMAT exam next month. The best part of the course is that it teaches you a new way to look at the problems and helps you to internalize the process and apply it across all questions. I hope my review will be helpful to non natives.

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I have opted for the verbal online course of e-gmat.This course is very beneficial for the beginner as well as for others. Initially I was afraid of Engilish grammer but after seeing the e-gmat course I now very comfortable to give gmat exam in Nov.

e-gmat step wise approach is very unique and provide a strong base to understand SC,CR and RC questions. In SC question, once one read the e-gmat process one can easily find out 2 to 3 mistakes and can eliminate 2 to 3 options very easily in one glance and then its saves time to solve problem.
Before taking egmat i can only get 15 to 20 questions right but now I reached up to 30 to 32 in test trials.

Its instructors are very co-operative and online live programs are also very helpful.

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I will take my GMAT next month. Still I would like to put write about the e-GMAT course.
SC:
Based on posts in the various forums, I started preparing for SC with Manhattan SC book. While this book provided a good understanding of various error types tested in SC qs, it’s very dense. Moreover, my accuracy was not improving beyond 70% and even was decreasing below in time pressure. After strategy session “Master GMAT SC”, I enrolled in the verbal online course.
My take on this course
1. As per my opinion, the 3-step process of solving SC is the best process I have ever come across. Using this process, my accuracy has improved up to 90% in OG 12 qs. Honestly speaking, this process increased my confidence so much that I am actually addicted to the process
2. Emphasizing on meaning rather than too much theoretical grammar jargon is a real deal breaker. Example – e-GMAT uses simple terms like verb-ing modifier, verb-ed modifier in stead or gerund, participle.
3. Each concept is taught in a very logical way. Because of this, one can approach SC question in a same way as one does quant problem.
4. Audio-visual combination in e-learning really makes the learning enjoyable.

While each SC question OG VR2 was solved using a 3-step process, it also requests that you do the same for OG13. ( I am so addicted to this 3-step process!)
CR:
1. Argument structure and ‘pre-thinking’ assumption are a real deal breaker for any types of CR questions.
2. The course emphasizes the pre-thinking for most type of CR question.
RC:
1. Key reading strategy really helped me read the passage actively, improving my accuracy for RC questions
In summary, the best part of this course is that it makes the verbal preparation very logical rather than improving literary skill of English, making the verbal preparation very enjoyable and interesting. After one month of preparation, when my confidence was at rock bottom, it boosted my confidence. Now I think that like many other successful students, I can nail the verbal too. I am sure that my result on the real GMAT test will show soon.
If anyone is struggling with verbal, I would strongly recommend this course.

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I selected e-GMATfor mainly two reasons. I was impressed by the way Mr. Sadana took the class in strat session 1 and I liked their audio video approach rather than reading from a book after a 10 hr workday (6 day week).
The reason I was able to make a good pace in e-GMAT was I neither read any other book nor I had any apprehensions of any other process. So I didn't need to unlearn anything. So it was easy for me to adopt their process since that is the only way known to me
Sentence Correction: Three step sentence correction approach: In the first SC session, Ms. Payal asks everyone in the class about the most important aspect in SC, and 8 out of 10 said – Grammar and I am sure that most of the guys reading this post thinks the same.
But with her logic that grammar is only a tool which is used to convey the meaning (purpose), made us understand that understanding the meaning of a sentence is more vital than knowing bunch of grammatical rules. I can say that this changed my approach towards SC questions. None of us here are grammarians and most of us don’t know all the rules of grammar. Even if you know all the rules of grammar, there can be two answer choices which are grammatically correct but only one will convey the intended meaning.
There is more than one instance where I was able to pick the correct choice concentrating on the meaning of the sentence when I was confused between two or three answer choices.
Critical reasoning: Pre – thinking has greatly improved my accuracy and test time in CR passages. Many of you who are familiar with the process may think it will take a lot of time or it is very difficult to pre think. But take it from me, once we internalize the process (it will take time to get used to it and sometimes, we forget to pre think but keep on trying and after some time you will start to pre think even with out realizing), it’s basically not selecting from the given choices because you already know the answer--you just need to search for the answer or something similar to that. Believe it or not guys, I was able to finish my verbal 15 mins before the scheduled time and I pre thought.

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Appearing for the fourth time wasn't easy. After the previous unsuccessful attempts, it was devastating, took a lot of courage and a lot of support from my husband and family. They believed in me and had the confidence that I could kill the beast (that's what the GMAT was for me).

I have done a Post-Graduation in Finance from India; worked with CRISIL (India's premier credit rating agency) and settled in USA after marriage. I was among the 3 candidates from 250 to be chosen for the job in CRISIL. Writing this not to boast but just to let know that an exam is not a replica of a person’s capabilities and how to handle rejection and stand up after breaking down completely.

The GMAT taught me that, never imagined would have to give a fourth attempt, when have excelled at everything else in life.

I know 610 isn’t as good as 700 but for me it is an achievement, the much needed success to get back the belief in myself.

I am writing this post for people who are strugglers like I am and are thinking what to do next, or what is it that they are not doing right. Why me? Trust me, I asked these questions to myself every time and finally I was able to answer them.

Let me start with my fourth attempt:

I appeared on 11th July, 2013. On the exam day, I was a nervous wreck and was scared to death. Just didn’t want history to repeat itself and there it was a blessed 610 - 40 in Quant and 34 in Verbal. Finally, the hard work paid off.

I was so happy to see a 34 in verbal as it was the section that gave me the wonderful 400s everytime. I thought I was good at English but the GMAT changed my perspective. Never was I able to get above 20. For the 34, I would really like to thank e-GMAT verbal prep and the downloads on GMAT Club. I took it 20 days before my exam, after I contacted Rajat, asked him what would be the best option and when my husband finally made the decision for me as I wasn't ready for taking up a new course just 20 days prior. But e-GMAT really helped me gain a lot of confidence in my weakest section.

For Details:

The course that they have is structured very well. It really makes you see details that you have not seen. It is truely said that what you see is what you remember better then what you read. e-GMAT follows this. I finished all the videos of SC, RC and CR within 13 days. They also have practice files (which were really helpful).

For SC: The SC videos are just too good. I was always good at SC but the e-GMAT videos helped me to understand the intricacies and gave a few shortcuts that really helped during the exam. For the first time I was able to look at the question, know what was wrong and mark the answer straight away. This saved a lot of time. It basically showed me how to find the mistakes and how to correct them without even looking at the choices. Something I was not able to do in my previous attempts.

For CR: I hated the inference and the assumption questions. Thank God I didn't get any on the exam day but e-GMAT made these very simple. I used to always get confused between two answers and invariably mark the wrong ones. I know many people face this, but the course I took thought me how to not choose the wrong answer and how one word in the choice can make it incorrect. e-Gmat has a process called pre thinking, I wasn't able to master it due to shortage of time but in some questions during the actual exam it really helped me to mark the answers as I could pre think them.

For RC: This was my biggest problem. But again the videos of e-Gmat helped me a lot. They taught me how to take notes, what kind of answers can be for the questions asked and again how to pay attention to each and every word in the choices. For example: if there is a passage on: cure of some diseases and in one of the answer choices they say cure of all diseases you eliminate that choice. It is very obvious that you would do that, but GMAT has a tendency to frame answer choices in a way that make you mark the wrong one. I did that and I am sure many would be able to relate to this.

Apart from the e-GMAT videos I also downloaded all the 700+ files from the GMAT Club free download areas. These also helped a lot in my practice, and helped me get better.

My three attempts; what went wrong:

My first attempt was on May 29, 2012. I was confident and thought I could get a 600 easily, but I ended up with a 480. I did not take any classes, just downloaded materials from websites and studied from Kaplan (which was not helpful at all). The first time material wasn’t right and I took it rather lightly.

The University I was applying to said it would give me a chance to appear again. On July 2, 2012 I retook the test and scored a mere 400. I was devastated and lost on the admissions. I decided that I was not going to try again, but being on an H4 visa and having no plans to go back to India did not leave me a choice but to reappear. Analyzing on why I scored 80 points lower, I realized that I was scared, under time pressure, and focused too much on marking the right answer rather than focusing on the questions and answer choices.

Third attempt: This time I went as far as going back to India taking classes and appearing there. But the classes I took concentrated more on quant then on verbal (which was my weakness, quant was never that much of a problem), they gave me a lot of tests which I started appearing for one week before the exam. My performance on the tests was average I scored a 600-640. Thinking that this time I would get a 600 I went for the GMAT on January 17, 2013. I was very nervous during the exam and was really scared for verbal...I ended up with a 490. I was in tears and lost all my confidence. I didn't know what had happened.

After coming back from India, now I had taken it on to myself. I had lost all my self respect. I told my husband that this time I am going to fight it and get over with it.

In my previous attempts I was scared, under pressure, lacked on confidence and was so focused on marking the right answers that it resulted in a bad performance. Also, the material for the first two attempts were not up to the mark. Studying smartly is very important.

When I went for the fourth attempt, although I was scared, I was confident and this time I took each question as it came being more focused and well versed with the basics and the intricacies, with smarter and better practice.

In the end I would just like to add that GMAT has thought me to be courageous, patient, handle rejection as well as pressure and strengthened my never-give-up attitude. Beating the GMAT is not very simple but it's not very difficult either--it just has to be done the right way. Also, I would like to thank e-GMAT and my family for standing by me through this one.

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I took my GMAT for the first time in Oct '12 and again in March '13. I am planning to take it for the third time in Oct '13. When I took my GMAT for the first time, my verbal came out to be my weakest area. After reading various reviews on trusted GMAT sites, e-GMAT came out to be the obvious choice. I went for the Verbal Live Prep. I completed 70-80% of the course and appeared for the GMAT. I saw a 5 point increase in my score from 20 to 25. I am now preparing to complete the entire course and I am sure I will improve my score by 8-10 points further!
The structure of the course is very well planned and with diligent preparation. A multi-fold increase in your score is guaranteed. Go for it!

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After being a member on gmatclub for a while, I started looking for a course that was comparable in price and quality. I had seen a number of great posts from e-gmat and after doing the course math it was almost a no brainer to go ahead and purchase their verbal online course.

I was particularly interested in the SC and CR sections of their course. As a non-native I used to make a number of silly SC mistakes that woud drive me nuts. In a short amount of time, I was able to go through a number of the SC videos in the course and those were just as great as the gmatclub posts from the e-gmat gurus. There are a variaty of SC concepts, some of which I thought I had an above average understanding and a chance of getting answers correctly. Well, after seeing the videos I definitely could see why I used to make a number of careless mistakes. The concepts and explanations in the course, although I felt at times were meant for 1st graders, definitely solidified my understanding and boosted my confidence.

The great part about the course was that it also allowed me to use grockit for practice. This is where I was able to benchmark knowledge gained from the e-gmat tutorials vs. timed accuracy. Jokes aside, but I'm willing to admit that after some serious and focused practice I was like a hound dog sniffing through the sentences and was quickly and easily able to spot patterns and mistakes (I was scared :) ).

I was only able to go through limited RC, CR and IR because I got preoccupied with work but some of the videos I saw were great, as well. Definitely, the major and even a number of miscellaneous concepts are covered in the course and have I had more spare time on my shoulders I would have loved to go through all the material in the course.

My only negative memories are with some of the web site navigation. I found it a bit confusing at first with the way the Dashboard was represented. Anyways, once you get the hang of it, it is not of any negative impact for the skills you gain for what you paid.

Overall, it's a great bang for the buck and the people from e-gmat have definitely put a great amount of effort for the great concepts, material and explanations provided in the course.

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I used e-GMAT online course extensively for the verbal section. I targeted for 100% accuracy in SC to achieve higher score in this section; and e-GMAT was helpful in pushing towards that. RC and CR sections of this course are also very helpful to improve your scores.

e-GMAT course makes the verbal section much more logical and understandable. This course removed much of guesswork that I earlier used in this section. I found the e-Gmat method of audio visual method along with pre and post tests after each concept much more helpful than just reading books. This course helped me in pushing my verbal score from 35 (mock) to 41.

I highly recommend this course for non-natives.

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My GMAT journey started sometimes in August 2011. I took the gmat in December 2011 , and it was heartbreaking for me; I scored miserably. In fact, my verbal score was such a mess that I decided to seek some help. After reading such great review about e-gmat, I decided to sign up for the verbal online , and my accuracy went from 20% to 70% . The e-GMAT SC course is what drilled the meaning approach in my mind and I am so thankful to the e-gmat team for their patience and support. GMAT verbal now makes more sense and I definetly have the tools to tackle this portion of the GMAT exam. Wish me luck for my upcoming GMAT exam.

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I wrote GMAT thrice and every time i came out of the exam centre i was disappointed, had my shoulders down, and felt as if i was unfit to crack GMAT. Here are my scores-- 570,590, and 600.

But after going through many reviews on Gmat Club, i found that E-Gmat customers are doing well in GMAT, especially non-native speakers, in verbal section. My weak area is verbal and everytime i was scoring in twenties in that section. So, i have decided to sign up for E-Gmat Verbal Live Prep and started my journey with E-gmat on october-2-2012.

As suggested by E-Gmat tutors i planned my schedule as follows.

1) As quant is my strength, first i worked on my weak areas and got ready with quant in first month ( october ).
2) Once we register to the course, we can attend the whole course 4 times. So, in the first few months i worked only on SC and made sure that i get 90% of the questions correct. ( Dec to mid-jan ).
3) Then i started preparing for CR ( mid-jan to feb ).
4) Then RC ( March ).
5) Then i formed a 30 day schedule. I took 5 mock tests every week.( April ).
6) After taking 2 mock tests i scheduled my REAL GMAT TEST. ( May 8th ).
7) I took my last Mock on may 5th and scored 720 in GMAT PREP 2.

I felt confident that i could get a good score but didnt dare to predict it. Finally after writing the exam i saw a 710( Q49, V39 ). I was very happy because i got 88 percentile V39 in verbal, which is more than 83 percentile Q49.

WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE:

1) E-gmat has a structured way for the non-native speakers to do well in verbal.
2) As soon as i completed a section, for example SC, i practiced SC in GROCKIT ( we shall get our account created once we register to VERBAL LIVE PREP ). This really has a huge impact.
3) The way E-gmaters approach SC will for sure increase the accuracy in SC section. ( Meaning based approach ).
4) Come what may-- Follow your schedule religiously. We shall excel for sure.

I improved my score by 110 marks. I recommend all the non-native speakers, who are weak in verbal, to join E-gmat because results are for sure. I wasted more than RS 1,00,000 for my coachings and exams. I dont want others to fall in the traps of unworthy coaching centres.

Finally, I thank all of you, who read my long post. Thanks alot RAJAT, PAYAL, and ARCHANA. You people made me cross the 700 barrier.

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