I have found Manhattan GMAT's Complete Course (the 9 week course) to be one of a few truly fine products in the world. There is plenty of content and additional study material beyond the individual class sessions and homework assignments. If you are willing to commit the time (which is a lot) than there is no other prep program better than ManhattanGMAT. I could not recommend this program any more highly.

I also found that ManhattanGMAT's "Thursdays with Ron" to be particularly useful. I believe that this is a resource that only ManhattanGMAT has.
I scored a 620 on my initial diagnostic and ended up scoring a 720 on my first actual GMAT exam.

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I have been trying to cross that 35 barrier since 4 months now. I had started at just V22 when I gave my first gmat prep. Through the 4 months, let me tell you step by step I have reached to V32 now. Its just been because of e-gmat course where they have personally analyzed my weaker areas and given me feedback regarding what I need to revise, what I need to practice and presently I am in stage where test taking strategies needs to be improved.

For Indians especially, I would recommend E gmat course because its the concepts and not just practice that will make you strong. Egmat helps you make the fundamentals strong initially. Normally Indians have the habit of reading faster without comprehending the text. Quicker comprehension is where I think Indians do lack. When you are giving gmat exam, the pressure still makes you weak in comprehension and this is where Egmat helps you alot. The strategy of quicker comprehension and the prethinking technique has helped me alot in these 4 months. I have reached a stage now where I am getting 85% accuracy in Rc in which I used to get only 50% accuracy as inference and detail questions were my weak points. Spending more time on passage and getting the gist in case its a tough paragraph (which usually takes time) are the key strategies to crack RC is what I learnt over here. SC's prethinking technique and getting the meaning of the sentence too has increased my accuracy in 700 level questions which initially used to be wrong. Coming to the test strategies too, I have been following their strategy of getting 2 questions right in the next test by working only on one weak area per week. Let me tell you that it takes time but its worth it. Even if you invest 6 days only on a particular CR weakness or any any other weakness , it helps you answer that particular question in test more confidently. I am left with following weakness as of now:

CR: Bold face, Flaw in the reasoning.

SC: Some unique 700 level in which options are too close

RC: supports a particular argument, least support.
The last test i gave I got 32 in which I got only 13 wrong overall which implies accuracy has improved but needs to be much better in the first 15 questions of verbal where my score dropped actually.

The mental fatigue is what pulling me in verbal. I need to practice more on giving full length tests though.


I hope I join the 700 club soon. Looking forward to kill GMAT>

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I came across E-GMAT when I was reviewing various courses. It appeared to me that E-GMAt is the best option for non-natives. Before I signed up, I attended a couple of free sessions by Payal and Rajat. After attending these sessions and knowing their course fee, I was 100% sure to enroll for E-GMAT.

I have started learning various concepts of SC and found that it is much better than Manhattan SC in terms of clarification and description. After each lesson, you have to go through a quiz session to review your learning. It provides you rules but focus more on application of these rules. These aspects were very useful to me.

The course structure for SC is very practical and provides an opportunity to judge your level of learning. The course can be used at your own pace, I was traveling a lot early this year therefore unable to attend online sessions, however, recordings were available and the team was very helpful in answering any question I had. I have seen a drastic improvement in my verbal accuracy. I am hoping to have my exam in the next few weeks and my target is to reach 750.

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My first MGMAT CAT was Q37/V32/580. Five months later my first official GMAT score was Q43/V42/700. After my MGMAT post-test assessment, I made some study adjustments, retook the test a month later and reached Q49/V45/760 - a 180 point improvement. I’m done….

The main reason that I reached 760 was that I studied like my life depended on it. But kudos to MGMAT for their excellent program. The instructors were uniformly sharp and engaged, and MGMAT’s tools gave me the resources I needed to leverage my effort into actual results. OG Archer in particular was an indispensible tool – allowing me to pinpoint strengths, weaknesses and timing flaws. Looking back, I cant imagine studying for the GMAT without MGMAT’s OG Archer.

Throughout, MGMAT seemed as an engaged partner in the process. During both the live online sessions and the consults, it seemed that each instructor took the success of their students as a matter of personal pride. The individual consults I had from two instructors weren’t generalized advice – they were specific to my own weaknesses and how to address them.

My study plan was about 5 months. After getting a wake up call on my initial CAT, I read through the quant basics, all the quant study guides twice and did each problem set twice, 1 month apart. I did almost all of the self study per the syllabus and tried to be engaged for the online sessions.

I didn’t spend much time on verbal because it was my stronger area. Yet my score improved there as well, because I was learning from MGMAT how to take the test.

Once the class I was complete I ratcheted up to a steady diet of 50-100 practice questions per day – either MGMAT or GMAT Club. As additional supplements, I used the Advanced Quant guide, which I purchased. The techniques were interesting, but I used it primarily to gain additional exposure to difficult concepts and for drilling. I also watched numerous additional videos available from MGMAT – I wanted to be completely immersed in the quant so that any problem appeared as if it were something I had done before. Judging from my initial GMAT quant score – which was well below where I was practicing - I think this burnt me out a bit, frankly.

I think that one area of my study that definitely helped was targeted subject-matter drills. Each time I used the OG Archer, I would go to GMATClub and drill on my weak area. Using the search function I could quickly find 5-10 questions that targeted my weakness and grow.

So if there is one area I would suggest additional resources for MGMAT it would be more “drilling” options for particular areas. My practice CATS were in the low-mid 700’s going into the exam, but I think my breakthrough (from 700 to 760) on my second real GMAT was following the advice of my MGMAT post-assessment instructor Emily and eliminating my mistakes on easier questions.

Instead of studying 10 hours per day for my second exam, I took one week off to clear my head, and just did daily 1 hour drills on easy questions until I could run off 20 in a row with no dumb errors. No more advanced quant whatsoever before my retake.

Thinking about the 760 score and how my prep got me there, I think the MGMAT sections and homework moved my score from 560 to the 680-700 range, MGMAT’s advanced quant and additional GMAT Club study (thanks Bunuel!) got me to the point where I had confidence about a 700 level score, and my MGMAT post-assessment session helped me focus on eliminating the dumb mistakes and got me to 760.

So without hesitation I’d recommend MGMAT to anyone prepping for the GMAT. If you use MGMAT as your study partner I think you will be rewarded with an all-around solid program run by terrific people who are engaged in your success.

Good luck to all.

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I have been thinking of taking the GMAT for a long time(7 yrs), but work pressure, personal commitments keep getting in my way. I finally made a new year resolution and started researching all the courses/books. Initially I started with MGMAT SC book, but unfortunately I am not a very good text book learner. I have a very low attention span and start losing focus within 15-20 mins, additionally I start counting the pages that are left to complete a chapter, and then just give up on the efforts altogether. This added with constant work related travel every week and a very hectic project, I was miserable and was not making any progess.

I decided to purchase the eGmat Verbal live course after trying their trial videos. I was simply bowled over. This is the first time in my life, that I have seen boring academic content (SC and CR) explained in such a lucid and easy to understand manner.
The concepts are very clear and concise; its just with the right amount of detail and depth.I have never had a formal English Grammer Class. (Hindi was my first language) so the verbal side of the GMAT is my personal nemesis. However I actually feel that my confidence in SC and CR is increasing bit by bit everyday.

I would like to say here that the videos are excellent and makes me want to learn after a really long hard day, when studying from the books is a chore. The concepts especially the SC ones are really easy to understand and I find that the explanations and the application of rules to the actual questions is better than any gmat book. Also the emphasis on meaning of a sentence is something that I was not aware of earlier and hence was answering almost every question wrong in the GMAT diagnostic test. The quiz at the beginning of every module, ignites just the right amount of curiosity to deep dive into the concepts, and the quiz at the end reinforces the concepts and tells me how much I have really understood.

I wish I had begun my preparation earlier, but thoughts of Verbal always scared me.I have registered for my GMAT date in August, and hope to achieve a decent score.

Wish everyone all the very best in their GMAT prep.

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I gave Gmat twice, with scores of 670 and 610. I lost 60 points, all in verbal, in my second attempt. I ran out of all the resources; I solely depended on Manhatten SC for SC, Power Source CR Bible for CR and Manhatten RC for RC. Then I came to know about e-Gmat and bought its Verbal Onlline.

How e-Gmat changed my way of preparation?

The most important thing you get through SC course of Verbal online is the method of approach to get the right answer. They just don't give a bunch of grammar rules, but provide a systematic approach to tackle a problem. Even with CR and RC, the video's helped me to formulate particular strategy for particular problem. This changed the way i look at the questions.

Highlights of Verbal Online:

Sentence Correction:
*The course provides solid concepts. It was amazing that even after preparing from Manhattem SC there were so many concepts i was not aware of.

*The Gmat-like set problems after each concept will really help us to apply the concepts learnt

*Amazing level 3 questions. The level 3 questions are just the kind of questions we see in the real test.

*Emphasis on meaning. There are dedicated problem sets with emphasis on meaning of sentences.

*UGE questions. Extra practice questions in the form of UGE-User Generated Exercises, is very helpful.

Critical Reasoning:

I like the way how they divided the chapters and the sequence is pretty good too.
Especially the weaken, strengthen and assumption sections in CR are dealt in a precise manner with subdivisions and application files appropriately. I felt that if there were application files for method of reasoning and flaw in the reasoning, it would be good. Similarly more exercises at the end of the whole CR course would be an icing on the cake.

Reading Comprehension:

*The way they divided the course according to type of questions(detail qs, main point qs etc) is very fetching.
*The strategy suggested in the course to tackle an RC worked for me very well and i was able to increase my accuracy.
*There are Gmat-like practice problems at each level.

All in all. e-Gmat Verbal Course is a boon for all those struggling in verbal

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I am thrilled to report that I scored 740 (Q48, V42). I am your average Joe (Jolie) and I believe that, if I can score 700+, then most people can.

At the beginning, the exam seemed to be very difficult. I scored a sore 530 on my first mock – Kaplan free test. The worst part was I scored a mere 23 on verbal. I used to think that with my convent education and a degree in economics, verbal would be my strength but the test told me otherwise. At this time, all I could hope for was to get close to 700. 740 seemed out of question.

Preparation - books and materials
I started off my preparation with the MGMAT books. I read the Number properties, Equations & Inequalities and word translations for quant and the SC, CR & RC books for Verbal. On Verbal, the SC book was quite good but I found the CR and RC books to be average. 2 months into my prep, I was already hitting 630s on the MGMAT exams.

At this time, I decided that I needed a prep course to boost my verbal. After considering Vertias, MGMAT and Kaplan, I decided on e-GMAT’s live course because of its focus on verbal. This course took my preparation to the next level. The SC concepts that I learned through MGMAT were crystal clear after going through this course. Two other things helped me a lot on SC. Firstly the fact that the course is very heavy on application. There are these application files that don’t teach you anything but to apply what you have learned. Secondly, they have this OG solutions video course that is awesome. The downside is that such solutions are only available for SC and not for CR.

The CR course when combined with live sessions is really good too. It helped me weave through the logic of arguments and provided me an approach for most CR questions types. My accuracy just shot up. I would definitely recommend this course if you need help on verbal. This course played a major role in improving my verbal from 30 to 42.

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I gave my GMAT an year back and scored a decent 750 (Q50, V41). This course helped me improve from V32 to V41. I had read multiple books (Kaplan and MGMAT series) but could not push my mock scores beyond V32 - 60 percentile, clearly not acceptable. Desperate for improvement I looked for help. I found two companies that fit my budget – GMATPill and e-GMAT. After asking people around, I went for e-GMAT (thanks to Vinnik for recommendation). They teach SC using logic, something that came very intuitively to me. I knew most of the rules but was not aware of the logic behind those. Once you understand those, applying them became a lot easier. This helped me improve. SC became fun.

In CR, the Prethinking approach helped a lot in improving accuracy for more difficult questions.

Overall, the course gave me much more structured approach towards my prep. Overall, the course provided me with a lot more clarity. Check it out if you need help on Verbal.

Much easier and more effective than reading a book, I would recommend this course to those looking for serious improvement on verbal.

http://gmatclub.com/forum/750-q50-v41-my-journey-and-helpful-tips-use-evernote-138761.html

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I gave my GMAT in November 2012 and scored a poor 630(Q 48 V 27). I considered myself pretty good with English grammer but GMAT verbal seemed to be an eye opener. All these years of staying away from college and doing a 9-5 job had made me rusty. I figured out that although there was no lack of effort on my part, i need to get the real feel of the GMAT and need to practice high quality questions akin to the GMAT questions.

Thats when I read about E-gmat on GMATclub. i tried a few live sessions on e-gmat sc and thought it was worth a try.

So I purchased the e-gmat SC, CR , RC +Grockit course.. This course is a decent bargain. I attended a few live sessions and found them pretty useful.I ended up making a few friends during these live sessions and it helped to discuss stuff with them during the course of the study.

The SC concepts and quiz are excellent.It is a very structured approach to learning SC from the basics. At times i found it to be too much in detail - but i guess its very good for a non native speaker.
The SC solution videos to the GMAT verbal review 2 SC questions helped a lot as well.

The SC live sessions were good and helped me understand the intricate details in SC. But i feel time management is a problem as the sessions stretch way beyond the scheduled time.

The best part of SC was i could post any doubts that crept in my mind on e-gmat forum. Shraddha and Payal ensured that they responded to all my questions and cleared even the silliest of doubts. Shraddha you were my savior!!

I found the CR live sessions hosted by Rajat very useful. Rajat has excellent clarity and the idea of pre thinking in CR really helps in improving accuracy on CR. However i felt the CR concepts and quiz were too much in detail and i found it boring to go through them at times. The CR section was covered in too much detail and it tweaked further.May be other users would beg to differ with me.

In my humble opinion, i didn't find much use of the RC concepts.

I figured out that the only way to be good at RC is to practice a lot of RC questions and figure out my own strategy.

There are few typos and errors with both SC and CR questions and the software does let you down once in a while :(

After finishing all the e-gmat, concepts , quiz and live sessions i gave myself 3 weeks to revise Verbal and Quant. I gave a few prep tests and scored around 700-730.

I tried a few questions from Grockit as well just to test myself every now and then. I think it did help me to access my problem areas.

I gave my GMAT on 15 April and got a decent 720(Q 49 V 40).

Unfortunately on the test day I was down with fever and couldn't give it my best shot.
It was a big improvement from my previous score of 630 (Q 48 V 27).
I would thank e-gmat for helping me achieve a verbal score improvement from 27 to 40.
I would really like to also thank Rajat, Payal and Archana for helping me out in every way possible.
Wouldn't have been possible without you all!

I understand that E-gmat has a few minor shortcomings as mentioned before, but in my humble opinion E-gmat is still the BEST GMAT VERBAL course available!!!

PS: I can be a little picky at times and hard on people. The minor shortcomings i mentioned shouldn't be treated as criticism but can be used to make e-gmat even better for all the aspiring students in near future.

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I used the e-GMAT course and was able to score 750 (Q51, V39) after scoring 640 in the first mock test. I took e-GMAT’s Verbal Online course. The e-GMAT course, especially the SC section was extremely helpful to move my score a notch higher. I found their SC content to be very specific, precise and applicable. Their material is very specific as it provides a clear set of tools and strategy to attack an SC problem of any level. Evidently, my consistency in SC section improved drastically, and more importantly I became much more confident with this section, which helped me further refine my strategy.

Also, one of the founders of e-GMAT, Rajat Sadana was very helpful in guiding me through my GMAT preparation, especially when my exam date was closing by. I really liked having someone much more experienced guide me by specifically looking at my previous CAT performances and helping me design an optimum strategy for the actual exam.

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