Hi everyone,

I am writing this post to walk you through my GMAT journey in the hopes that you might find it useful. At the very onset, what I have written is not meant to be prescriptive. It is a record of my experience with the GMAT exam and how I prepared for it - if, through this post, you can find even one idea that helps you in your journey, I would have done my job of giving back to the gmatclub community. I have broken this story down into three parts: 1) choosing a study plan, 2) preparing for the GMAT, 3) leading up to the test and the test experience.

Before that my daily schedule (high level):

Wake-up: 6:30 am
Sign-in at work: 8:00 am
Sign-off: 6:00 pm.
Work Out and Dinner: 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm.
GMAT Prep - 9:00 pm - 11:30 pm

Choosing a Study Plan
I decided to take the GMAT in May this year, hoping to apply to business schools by the first round of deadlines in September. I knew a few folks who had already taken the GMAT, so I reached out to them to learn about their prep journey (read quite a few posts from the gmatclub - all very helpful) - a few suggested Manhatten Prep, some suggested Math Revolution, and some others suggested e-GMAT. Everyone who suggested the e-GMAT course raved about its verbal infrastructure and how that was especially important for non-native English speakers.

I chose the e-GMAT because of its strong verbal infrastructure. I knew I had a comparative advantage in verbal over the others, because of my background in public policy. I develop and analyze policies for a living, so CR and RC are, in a way, a part of my job. I had also done my research and knew that breaking the 41/42 mark on the Verbal section in the GMAT exam increases your score substantially as long as you are hitting a Q48/49. Since my undergrad is in economics and I also do a fair bit of data science (for fun), my quant skills are decent. So I wanted a course that could complement my existing strengths and help me break the V41/42 threshold. I set a V45 target for myself.

Before starting the course in June, I took an official mock test to see where I stood. I started with a 650 - Q44 and V35. I realized I was relying too much on my instincts on SC. And while your instincts can serve you well (depending on how strong your foundations are in verbal), they won't take you too far when you start getting those hard (>700) type questions. My accuracy on >700 SC questions was abysmal, and I knew that was holding me back. e-GMAT treats SC like science and breaks down each sentence into various components - one then analyzes each component independently to see if they fit together well. Does the meaning of the sentence make sense? And if it does, does the grammar fit well into it? Once you can comfortably answer those two questions, picking the right answer becomes easier.

Preparing for the GMAT
I input my mock test scores on the e-GMAT diagnostic report and they gave me a plan for the next three months. I tweaked that plan to suit my own goals. So through the course of the three months, I spent 70 percent of the time on Verbal, understanding the "science-like approach to sentence correction" and 30 percent of the time on Quant.

For SC I started from the very basics - what is a sentence and built on my prep from there. For every module, e-GMAT starts you off with a pre-assessment quiz. This tells you where you stand before taking the module. Then after you complete the module, they do a post-assessment quiz to show you how far you have come. The "pre-assessment, prepare, and post-assessment" structure was very important for me since I got to see my progress daily.

I would study the module, take the post-assessment quiz and then attempt 10-15 OG questions daily. Once you complete each module on the e-GMAT in its entirety, you can take "cementing quizzes". These quizzes are there to test how far you have come and how well you understand the concepts you have studied.

For RC and CR, I read 4-5 articles a day from the economist on topics I was not used to such as geology, and other sciences. I did not dedicate as much time to learning the basics of RC and CR but spent a lot of time doing mock questions daily. In addition to the 10-15 SC questions, I would do around 3 RC and 10 CR questions daily. You will notice as you read more your RC and CR automatically improve. That said, if you are not a reader then e-GMAT does have some very helpful tips on tackling RC and CR too and they follow the same "pre-assessment, prepare, post-assessment" structure here.

For quant, I focussed predominantly on the word problems section since they make up for the most number of questions on the GMAT. The section is broken down into topics, and each topic starts from the basics. Once you are done with the concept file, you take post-assessment quizzes and see how well you understand the section. I would often couple my preparation with about 20 questions from the OG daily.

Leading Up To The Test and The Test Experience

Through the course of my prep I took four mock tests:
June (before starting my prep) - 650: V35, Q44 (official test 1)
July (mid-July, a month into my prep) - 740: V42, Q49 (official test 2)
July (last week) - 690: V38, Q47 (official test 3)
August (1 week before my test) - 720: V41, Q48 (official test 4).
I never attempted the AWA or the IR sections of the official mock tests. I would suggest you do. Doing so will give you a good sense of the entire exam and how long it takes. Also, IR and AWA can be tricky for some people, and you don't want any surprises on test day. My third mock score threw me off a little bit, but my performance was a function of how I was feeling that day. I had not slept well and was tired. It is important to know what you need in terms of prep for test day to be your optimal self. In my case, it is a good night's sleep and a light breakfast. Another important factor (for online test takers from home) is to prep on a whiteboard with markers. Make sure you are comfortable using a whiteboard before test day. Using it for the first time on test day can be detrimental to your performance. I started working on a whiteboard 2-3 weeks before my actual test. Small things, such as the smell of the marker, being used to erasing after solving 2 or 3 questions, getting used to the feel of the board, etc. may seem minor but can prove to be useful on the test day.

My actual test day was alright. I logged in 15 mins before the test was scheduled to start. The proctor checked my room through the camera and performed the formalities and I was on my way. My last tip to you would be to start your exam with your strengths. The GMAT allows you to structure your exam the way you like. Always start with the section you are good at. That sets the pace for the rest of your test. Imagine not performing well and moving onto the next section - you are already demoralized. So you might not be your best self in a section you would otherwise ace had you been happy and confident. Now imagine starting strong - you are happy and confident with your performance so far, you move to your relatively weaker section but because you have done well so far, you perform better than you would have as a disappointed test taker. That is the approach I take - does not mean it is correct.

Remember, the GMAT is just an exam and you can take it multiple times (ideally you would not have to but not doing well is not the end of the world). Also, it is just one of the many factors in a bschool application (assuming you are applying to bschool). If you don't do as well as you would have liked, IT IS OKAY. Be honest in your preparation. Be kind to yourself. And you will do well :)

Final score - 760: V47, Q48, IR5, AWA6

If you'd like to talk more about the exam, my prep, or just get to know me better, feel free to connect with me on Linkedin - www.linkedin.com/in/pratiquekain

Read More

e-GMAT has been instrumental in my journey to 740 in my very first attempt. The course is very well structured and takes you through all the concepts necessary to score the 90th percentile in GMAT. Working diligently on the e-GMAT practice files and application files will ensure that you pick up all the required skills to ace GMAT, right at the time of learning the concepts. The cementing stages and strategic review further helps to fill any gaps left during your study. The course structure has been further aided by the use of analytics such as xPERT to give you targeted inputs to improve upon. Such targeted feedback has been extremely beneficial towards the end of my preparation to fill the gap between my score and the target score.

The Quant section of e-GMAT may be slightly on the harder side but nevertheless provides you the confidence and skills to solve even very hard questions on your actual GMAT.

e-GMAT also helped me through one on one mentorship by creating hyper-specific improvement plans, once I was test-ready. This helped me maximize my potential in the run-up to the GMAT and I'm extremely thankful to DJ for working with me on this. He gave me strategies and weekly targets that helped me immensely in the final leg of my preparation. Overall, I'm quite happy to have made the decision of choosing e-GMAT.

Read More

Before I signed up for e-GMAT program, I had heard about it from few of my friends. So, once I made up my mind to appear for the exam, I browsed through their website and got in touch with the team. As per their advice, I appeared for a SIGMA-X trial mock and got 700+. Basis this score, I was enrolled for a mentorship programme, which allowed me to have a 1-1 guidance from one of the mentors. Following is my experience with the content and the team:

1. Sentence Correction - It truly lived up to its reputation (as I had heard from my friends basis their personal experience). I found it quite detailed and engaging. This content helped me to attempt SC questions in an objective and critical manner, thus improving my accuracy, time and confidence.

2. CR & RC - While these may not have course content as detailed as SC, they offer a very decent overview of question types and help to cement concepts with step-by-step detailed application modules.

3. Scholaranium - I found this an excellent platform to build one's ability and cement conceptual understanding, before moving forward to next concepts. This platform offers a nice overview of current performance and helps to work on one's weak areas as required.

4. Quant Course - The Quant content is quite comprehensive. A new update to this content, called Quant 2.0, has added a lot of practice files, a key requirement in Quant section, thus helping student to cement concepts in the respective sections itself.

5. Mentorship & Support team - I can't emphasize enough the great team e-GMAT has (including the general support team). With great content available, this team brings in their expert guidance and analytics (unique to every student basis his/her profile - current performance, target score, timelines). My mentor was Ashutosh, who was quite approachable and friendly. He used to propose a day-wise plan for me and basis my progress and performance, he used to adapt the same.

As I reflect on my entire preparation journey, I would highly recommend e-GMAT to new students looking for right content and guidance. You can be assured that this platform and the team can offer you a one-stop solution. :)

Read More

I followed the e-GMAT intensive study plan. I started with Quant and later continued with SC. After four months, I have really seen enough. What I am gonna say now will definitely upset some people, but I have talked to multiple people with the same opinion about the e-GMAT course.

For quant, the course certainly goes through all the relevant topics on the GMAT. However, there are multiple flaws:
(1) The practice questions are often unrealistic, nothing like the official questions
(2) The explanations to the solutions are often very confusing, and the comments section provides no real background to the reasoning behind a certain approach to a quant question. I feel like it is more about solving a particular question, rather than actually understanding the underlying concept.

For verbal, the course is even worse imo:
(1) The question quality is bad, really bad. Prove for this? One week before my official exam in which I got a 740 (Q48 V44), I took a SC diagnostic test from e-GMAT and had 3 out of 10 questions correct. I received a V44, and I am sure my verbal didn't improve that much within a week. In official questions I normally got at least 9 out of 10 correct, but the unofficial questions from e-GMAT really do not resemble the official questions.

(2) The "pre-thinking" approach for CR almost killed my CR ability. I really had to "unlearn" the approach later! After I used different materials (I will introduce that later), CR was probably my strongest section on the GMAT.

I could say many more things about the e-GMAT course that I didn't like, but I think I really wasted 3 months for this course. After 4 months I took another diagnostic exam and got a 530. Not very impressive after 4 months of almost full-time study. e-GMAT really has some strong marketing and it also got me. They throw around with fancy words like, SigmaX mocks, Scholarinium, AI, data-driven, and all this blabla..really, a test prep company that truly generates impressive results doesn't need such words for their marketing. Additionally, the success stories are impressive, but e-GMAT has hundreds if not thousands of clients. Obviously, with such a large sample there will be some great success stories. But for the majority of students I do NOT recommend the course at all. To improve your score, use TTP. For more details, refer to my debrief on GMAT Club: https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-debrief-from-a-470-q31-v24-to-a-740-q48-v44-369195.html

Read More

GMAT is an exam which is career defining according to me. From scoring a very low score ( below 620 ) to achieving 710 was a long journey. I purchased the E-GMAT course in April, 2021 and took the exam on 2nd of September, 2021. The course materials provided by E-GMAT are very elaborate and covers each and every type of questions one can expect. Quant modules had lots of practice quizzes and excellent video lectures. After completing the quant module, after a long time I started having the confidence to get a good score in it. Even the mock tests started reflecting the improvement in the scores. The verbal section was also detailed. I saw a huge improvement in the critical reasoning section and applying the pre-thinking logic served as the backbone of it. Even the sentence correction modules proved to be of great help. Scholaranium provided by E-GMAT had a great pool of questions. The hard level quants questions seemed to be more tough than one might usually get on the test but that in-turn made me find the difficult official mock questions easier. There are custom and customized quizzes for regular practice and they helped me a lot. Overall, I would highly recommend any GMAT aspirant to take E-GMAT course. I dont think any other material can beat E-GMAT's module. Just trust the process and keep on learning the way its taught and things will start falling into place with time.

Read More

The course is well designed and all the techniques taught are very much help you in improving accuracy and speed. Patience is required the first couple of week you apply the technique.
The support is excellent. I have never had a bad experience with them, really quick turnarounds. Their ability to analyse the ESR and put together an action plan is also amazing.

Also the techniques that were taught on how to Read will stay with me forever and somehow this technique has made me like reading. FYI: I hated it till now. But now i also see the benefits of reading.

All in all you are in good hands. My piece of advice: Don't see other people's timeline saying they started and finished prep in 3 months. You are on your own journey. Personally i would give e-gmat course 6 months of solid effort. The course definitely works.

Read More

When I was thinking of signing up for a GMAT prep course the most important consideration for me was the quality of the mock test being provided. After trying out the free mock tests by more than 7 test providers, the eGMAT Sigma-X mock tests stood out (more on this below).

As it turns out, one cannot just buy the tests standalone and hence I signed up for the entire eGMAT course. However, little did I know that this will be a pivotal decision in my GMAT prep. After taking the first Sigma-X mock test I requested an analysis of the same by one of the eGMAT experts to identify my weak areas. That was the time when I was introduced to this legendary godsend Dhananjay Lowe!

He helped me analyze my test and with his experience and analytical mind he was able to interpret the same data in a way that I could have never done myself. DJ made an action plan for me and asked me to go through the entire course as I has some process gaps and skill gaps. Talking about the course and each subsection:

1) SC: I know some of you may have come across eGMAT's prethinking strategy for CR as their USP. However, for me it was the meaning based approach for SC that was the game changer. I absolutely loved the way they emphasize breaking down the sentences into clauses, understanding the meaning of the sentence (Meaning >>> Grammar), identifying all the errors in the OG sentence, and coming up with an answer before looking at the options. I can't emphasize enough on how wonderful this 3 step strategy is. With the help of the hyperfocused custom quizzes, DJ's guidance, and eGMAT's Scholaranium I was able to make SC my strongest (from the weakest) sub-section in Verbal.

2) CR: The pre-thinking strategy (as some of you may already know) is a proven full proof approach to solving any question of any difficulty level. It does take some time to become second nature, but when it does you stand to reap massive benefits out of it.

3) RC: This used to be one of my weakest sub-section and I tried possibly every trick in the book to improve this myself. However, it was only after I followed DJ's advice and his proprietary "RC pill" that I could see an improvement not only in my score but also in the confidence with which I could approach a RC passage / question. Not to forget the drastic drop in time that I observed while solving RC passages. Lastly, the AI driven Scholaranium data helped me identify my exact weaknesses (eg: passages related to Humanities, Economics, BioScience, etc) and thus I could channelize my time and efforts to focus on just those topics.

Quants: The recently launched Quants 2.0 is probably the most comprehensive quants curriculum out there. The AI driven engine ensures that students are spending the optimum amount of time on the course and suggests the right steps to fill the conceptual gaps. I personally felt that the Scholaranium questions are slightly tougher than the actual GMAT questions. But again its a good thing to practice hard questions so that the exam is a smooth sail.

Sigma-X mock tests: As previously mentioned these tests beat all the other test providers by miles. Not only because of the quality of the questions, but also because of the supremely detailed post test analysis. They drill down into every single aspect of your test whether it be your block wise timing or sub-sub-sub sectional weaknesses.

Scholaranium 2.0: The best just got better!

Dhananjay Lowe (DJ): As previously mentioned I credit my entire success to him. My score may not have been something that both us desired, but it was nothing short of immense pleasure working with him. The best thing about him is that he is so very invested in your journey and success. His ever willing nature to help the students is something that never ceases to amaze me!

Vipul (Quants SME): I was struggling with my Quants a little and DJ proactively looped in Vipul to help me cross the finish line. Vipul crafted yet another hyperfocused study plan and used to provide me feedback on literally each and every incorrect question. He taught me the importance of maintaining an error log and I could see an improvement in my performance and confidence in a short span of 15 days!

Bottom line (in case you made it through this very detailed review): eGMAT and Dhananjay Lowe are a one stop shop for all your GMAT needs. All you require is diligence and having faith in these two, and I'm sure you all can achieve your dream score!

Read More

This review is specifically for the Sentence Correction part of the e-GMAT verbal online course.
I was not going anywhere in terms of improving my skills in the SC section and I was struggling with the approach to be taken for tackling the section when my friend suggested this course.
It is a self-paced course with a great number of interactive elements. All topics start off with a pre-concept quiz to test your knowledge, followed by the course content in the form of short videos and ending with a post concept quiz to check the improvement in understanding.
The best part about this course is its division of concepts into small videos with short exercises at the beginning and at the end. It gets easy to maintain focus in short spurts. And most importantly, the concepts are put to use almost immediately after learning them.

Another highlight of this course is its logical approach towards language skills. All concept and practice questions are approached using a fixed framework that surprisingly fits well in all kinds of questions and aids in improving speed/accuracy.

I would strongly recommend this course, especially to Indian Engineers.

Read More

I came across e-GMAT when I saw a success story video of a student, who had improved his score by over 80 points. Since then I have watched close to 50 such success stories and seeing those stories I knew that e-GMAT will help me succeed as well. My journey with e-GMAT was about 4 months long and it ended with me scoring a 770(Q50, V45) on GMAT online.

What I loved most about the course?
Structured Approach for each module:
Unlike other courses, e-GMAT gives you a structured method that needs to be followed for solving each SC, CR and RC question. For both SC and CR there is a 3-step approach that needs to be followed. Initially it takes students extra time to solve questions using these approaches but with regular practice, the approaches become second nature to the student, aiding the student on exam day in a situation of high anxiety and pressure.

Depth and Breadth of SC Course:
I always struggled with SC but with e-GMAT's SC course almost anyone can score in the 90th percentile. Obviously the Meaning based approach is a game changer, but I would like to bring attention to the 200+ SC concepts that are covered in the e-GMAT course. Once the meaning is understood it is absolutely crucial to know the pertinent grammar rule clearly and the e-GMAT course covers every such rule. Many courses only focus on the common error types and hence students of such courses fail to understand usage of different sentence structures.

e-GMAT support:
One thing every student from e-GMAT will highlight is the personalization at every step of the preparation. I was given a personalized study plan basis my performance on the diagnostic Sigma-X mock. Whenever I had doubts during my preparation my mentor Archit Bhargava was there to help. I would just send in an email and I would get a response within a few hours. Without this constant support, I am sure to have spiraled off my preparation.

Scholaranium 2.0:
The most impressive thing about Scholaranium 2.0 is the explanation for each question. The explanations are in written in line with the structured approach thought at e-GMAT. The explanations are absolutely crucial because only when a student knows why exactly he/she got the question wrong can he/she learn and make sure not to repeat the mistake. The explanations also make it very easy for students to create accurate error logs.

Sigma-X Mock Accuracy:
High quality mocks are very essential to any student's preparation. In the past I relied on the official mocks from mba.com but even those mocks seemed to be of lesser difficulty in comparison with the actual exam. The Sigma-X mocks simulate the real exam experience and gauge a student's ability accurately. Also, the data driven results from Sigma-X mocks help students to focus on the areas required and fine tune their approach.

Personalized Analysis and Support:
I was invited by Archit to join the Last Mile Program(LMP), a program in which Archit would constantly monitor my progress and suggest further steps. I am sure that without Archit's support I would not have achieved my score and I cannot thank him enough. Timing was a huge issue for me and Archit made me see how I could better manage my time. He analyzed my performances on the Sigma-X mocks in the form of videos and suggested hyper-specific practices to improve timing. His personalized videos helped me improve my timing issues easily.

Overall, I would highly recommend e-GMAT for anyone appearing for the GMAT. The all inclusive course, the data and the mentorship provided make e-GMAT the best available GMAT preparation company out there.

Read More

I’d just given an official attempt scoring myself a 700. Given I was touching upwards of 750 in my mocks but was not able to translate the same in my official attempt – I felt quite disappointed. I approach Atreya from e-GMAT for last mile support in GMAT. Him and the e-GMAT offered me unparallelly set of questions and high-quality topic wise study material that helped me improve 30 points in a month.

e-GMAT’s self-leaning modules are quite comprehensive and offer in depth understanding of concepts by offering examples with detailed solutions. The cementing quizzes helped me identify my baseline performance in respective sections and Atreya was kind enough to help me build an error log and to device a customized strategy plan to improve on my weaker topics.

Apart from practicing from their high-quality question bank, Scholaranium 2.0, the meaning based approach preached by e-GMAT helped me refine my approach towards solving, improving accuracy as well as speed.

Their Sigma-X Mocks offered under their comprehensive package were also quite accurate in their capacity and offer sectional performance insights, like what ESRs offer. Something quite helpful in planning out strategy for the D-day.

The support, as well as motivation, offered by Atreya and team was quite helpful in helping me improve. I would like to recommend e-GMAT to fellow test-takers.

Read More