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I cannot recommend Target Test Prep enough.
I come from a non-traditional background (Musical Theater), and, when applying to MBA programs, knew I would need to perform at a competitive level in my quant and IR scores in order to make a mark in my applications.
I'm stubborn and cheap and didn't want to sign up for an in person class or one-on-one training (also very uncomfortable failing in front of people, and I knew there would be a lot of failure as I relearned all the math I'd forgotten since high school). I initially used a different program-a long set of books that gave me a good refresher on conceptual knowledge with basic questions about each chapter just enough to cover the basic principles. Even though I spent two months with these books and countless hours studying, my first sitting at a real test was a disappointment. I scored a 39 (37th percentile) for quant and a 6 (70th percentile) for IR. I knew these scores would not prove to an admissions team that I was ready for their business oriented programs. And what was worse, I knew that I was capable of a better performance. I just didn't have the right tools.
I looked around online forums for programs specifically geared towards raising your quant score and Target Test Prep seemed to be the best course content for the best price. I loved the idea of the monthly subscription, as I was registered to take the test again two and a half weeks later, and didn't want to spend a ton of money on something I would (hopefully) only use for a couple of weeks. And with the awesome week free trial, I really would only be using the subscription for a week and a half. The week free trial let me test drive the software and see that it was the kind of guided progression that I was missing out on from my resistance to not take an in person class. It provided a structure that made sense and felt interactive and engaging. The dashboard, study plans, and chapter tests, are invaluable tools. The hundreds of practice questions littered throughout the study guides really drill typical test formats into your study process. Where I had learned conceptual knowledge from the previous program, Target Test Prep teaches operational knowledge that is of real use when approaching the GMAT.
Admittedly, I did not follow the study guide to the letter, as I only had two and a half weeks to use the software. I did make sure to work through all of the study guides and take most of the "easy" level chapter tests. Then I moved on to the mixed review tests. I love that there is always a timer for the tests that counts down two minutes and that the scoring of each test tells you whether a question was easy, medium, or hard. I knew I was ready when the only questions I was getting wrong were "hard" level questions. I also felt confident looking at the dashboard, seeing that I had answered 500+ questions with 80% accuracy.
On the day of my second test, I experienced some major differences in my performance due to using Target Test Prep: I was more comfortable with all question types, I had working knowledge of all quant principles and knew what kinds of problems each question was asking immediately and what formulas to use, I was much speedier and my internal clock told me when two minutes was about up and it was time to move on, and, maybe most importantly, I could immediately identify questions that were simply too tough for me or on insanely difficult subject matter not even explicitly covered by Target, allowing me to quickly guess and move on, buying me time for other questions and saving me the stress of wondering if I could have ever answered it correctly.
With just two and a half weeks of studying with the Target Test Prep software, I raised my quant score from 39 to 46 (60th percentile) and my IR from 6 to 8 (93rd percentile). My verbal section also improved drastically due to having less stress over the quant section (I didn't study any verbal between test 1 and test 2).
I was not good at the verbal section. In my first attempt I scored 21 in verbal, which was really very bad. I got 49 in maths. But ended up in a low score because of verbal. In my first attempt I prepared mainly through Manhattan books and CATs. Manhattan SC is a really good book to understand the basics. But it is not good enough to score high marks.
While, preparing for 2nd attempt I purchased egmat. SC is really of gold standard. No doubt about it. It will teach you many concepts and make you feel very confident at the end of the course. I won't rate CR and RC in the same level of SC. But it is good to go. My verbal score improved from 21 to 29. I believe in RC no course can improve your score. It depends on your prior reading habits. But CR and SC any one can improve if they get good guidance. For SC I would rate it 9/10. For CR I would say 7/10. I would recommend this course specially to any non-english natives.
REVIEWER IDENTITY VERIFIED by score report [?]
Target Test Prep was incredible!! Hands down the best at what they do (i.e. GMAT quant). I had used other programs, including MGMAT and Magoosh before and for quant, there was no comparison to TTP. I used TTP’s online self-paced program but also worked one-on-one with a tutor in the final 5 weeks leading up to my test.
The online program is very well designed such that once you finish a chapter on a particular topic, you feel very comfortable with the material (b/c you've also been doing practice problems along the way that are built-in to the chapters). Beyond that, I really liked the ability to do practice sets via topic or build customized p-sets, and most importantly that all of the data analytics were available to you so you could clearly gauge what topics, questions types, etc. you needed to improve on.
As for the one-on-one tutoring, I would HIGHLY recommend Scott! He has clearly mastered the GMAT math content and it is evident in the techniques and approaches to specific problem types he is able to teach.
Particularly for my learning style, being able to say "I'm struggling with X,Y, Z topic " and then have Scott not only walk me through it, but also ensure I understood it by doing several more similar problems was very helpful. Something that would have typically taken me many more hours of trying to understand on my own, was usually cleared up in a few minutes, then drilled down to make sure I truly felt comfortable with it.
The combination of one-on-one tutoring WITH the online TTP program was key though. I would not have had the fundamentals to make our tutoring sessions as effective otherwise. The one-on-one sessions combined with the online program were a complete game-changer for my GMAT studies. This is undoubtedly what moved me from a 650 to 700. And for the record, it’s important to that I started studying for my GMAT in earnest with a very short timeline before I had to take my test to be eligble for R2 b-school apps (about 6 weeks). I know that had I started with TTP earlier my score would have easily been higher than this, but my goal given my timeframe was to get into the 700s club, which I did!
I’m still in the middle of the R2 process, but I am extremely happy to have been thus far extended interview invites for 4 out of 6 top 20 MBA programs I applied to. Don’t think I would have had the same outcome if I hadn’t raised my score with TTP! Great program! Cannot say it enough.
REVIEWER IDENTITY VERIFIED by score report [?]
I always felt GMAT is a simple test but which is difficult to master. Initially, i relied on only test questions and practice tests to prepare for the test, hoping that i will learn the requisite concepts during those practice sessions. Those tests were helpful, however they did not translate into the scores that i was targeting- something above 730. Then i came across e-GMAT's online course and attended a free seminar. I liked the verbal course offerings (my quant was sorted anyways!) and hence i decided to give it a try. Plus, the 40 point improvement guarantee was a reassurance for me. The things that stood out for me were the meaning based approach to SC questions and the way the scholaranium questions were designed to test not only the rules but also the understanding of the meaning. So, when i retook the exam, i had a method to my reasoning - this resulted in more confidence and clarity in eliminating the wrong choices.No wonders i saw a significant improvement in my verbal score the second time around and ended up with a 740(V38,Q51).
Taking the decision to quit your job of 14+ years and apply to B-school is risky. But once you take the risk, you need to make sure that your partners in the journey to MBA are dependable. And e-GMAT verbal and quant online courses are two really dependable partners who help you to cross that rickety GMAT bridge.
As for most non-native speakers, Sentence Correction was the greatest hurdle I had (or so I thought). I am an avid reader with more than 500 books in my personal library covering multiple topics. But still, I knew that relying on just that will not help me for sentence correction. I had attended the free SC and RC sessions by e-GMAT and did not think twice to order both the Quant and Verbal courses. And as per the plan suggested in e-GMAT, I started with SC.
To be honest, I had trouble with e-GMAT's SC process. Typically, I am a really fast test taker. 41 questions in 75 minutes does not pose a challenge to me, if it were not an adaptive test. In all the competitive exams I have faced, timing was never a problem for me. Following e-GMAT's SC process slowed me down. I started losing focus, and making a lot of mistakes. My score in scholaranium was pathetic for SC. But I had good scores for CR and RC, so I thought that may be enough.
Even though I knew SC was my weakness, I went ahead with the GMAT - to score a 630 with a V28. Given my demographic, I knew that was a low score. I ordered the ESR to see that while I was at the 83rd percentile on CR and 95th percentile on RC, my SC score was at the 5th percentile!
I had already booked my second test and had 22 days to improve my score. So basically, I had to figure a way to adapt the e-GMAT process. So, I decided to break it down. I started with subject verb agreement errors. If I could find the SV error or lack there of in a question, I would call it a win. Later I added other error types one by one till I was at least comfortable with 5 error types. It was the day of the second test by then.
The one mistake I did before the second test was to take 3 mock tests the day before. I scored 680, 690 and 700 in those mocks, but left me very tired for exam day. I was too tired going to the exam but still did feel that I improved well . But unfortunately, not enough. I got a 690 with a V35. A score just south of 700 was just not acceptable.
I took a whole month off after that. I started concentrating on my applications - but in the back of my mind I knew that this score was not enough. So after talking to my wife (2 GMAT attempts were all we budgeted for) I decided to do a third attempt - this time I planned it far off to the future. Got the ESR for the second GMAT- SC at 80th percentile, RC at 85th percentile and surprise, surprise - CR at 45th percentile!
Initially I could not figure out why such a low CR score. So I started taking more CR tests in scholaranium and started to pay more attention to my CR mistakes. What I majorly found was that for questions in topics I was aware of or those resonated well with me, I was developing some bias towards a view. For example, in a question regarding capitalists and socialists, my answer always had a bias to the socialists, even though it was not the right answer. So I had to figure out a way to suspend bias and be more open to other possibilities.
That was easier said than done. Combining that with being able to proceed with my natural speed of answering, the bias always won. I will not say it is something which I am able to control now - but it is better than before. For test number three, I made sure I was well rested the day before - I still did a mock anyways scoring a 710. The actual exam was better, scoring a 730 with a V40.
This whole effort was done in a period of 4 months from August to November 2017. In hindsight - I should have taken more time to prepare. Planning the prep in a more structured way, keeping a good error log and giving enough time to oneself to unlearn a few things that may hinder the GMAT exam is the best way to face the GMAT. e-GMAT provides the first - with a solid GMAT plan and excellent content. As a candidate we do need to find the discipline to learn and unlearn, so as to be prepared for the test.
Joined: Nov 06, 2017
Posts: 1
Kudos: 6
Self-reported Score:
610 Q44 V30
680 Q43 V40
710 Q44 V42
Magoosh provided some of the best video explanations out there. I was able to go from a 610 to a 710 in 6 months (I am not a quant guy either) from this program. I supplemented it with EmpowerGMAT, which has a lot more tactics, but Magoosh was still my base for studying, reviewing, taking notes, etc.
In addition, their lessons are fantastic for those who want to start from square one and grow. If you have the time and capacity to stick to their provided schedule and really focus on learning from the ground up, Magoosh is going to treat you well.
I strongly recommend this service to anyone and encourage you to stick to a plan (1, 3, or 6 month).
I bought egmat last year but I didnt study. I got a job right after I decided to take a gmat test. Then I realized that I must have a master degree to leverage more opportunities. I started in November but my course was expired. Fortunately, I can extend my course by emailing egmats support.
I took few tests from OG books and l couldn't figure out what l was doing wrong with Verbal skill so I totally needed help in this section. Egmat showed me different ways to overcome complex sentence structure. I personally like the CR segment, egmat showed me logical ways to handle the CR pieces of information. The CR skills that I have learned impact not only my CR score but my RC score.
Such a helpful class! Both instructors were very knowledgeable, and had great insight and tips that helped me dramatically improve my score! I thought having the ability to discuss problems and issues I was having with the group of students was a great way to work through the struggles and improve! Each class focused really well on set topics, while also leaving time to go over specific issues anyone was having, and the instructors did a great job making everyone feel comfortable enough to share and speak up. WH=hat was most helpful was when we went over test strategies. Afterwards, I immediately saw an improvement in my scores and approach! Overall, a great experience, and I highly recommend!
Scott along with the TTP platform were invaluable in giving me the right tools to prepare for the quant section of the GMAT. My math has been generally strong, but without Scott's and TTP's help, it would have never been possible for me to score Q49. TTP taught me a lot of useful techniques for solving the Quant problems as quickly as possible with minimal risk of making mistakes. I had an excellence experience with TTP. The platform provides a complete package of study material, ideal for people aiming to reach a top ten percentile score. Highly recommended Thank you!!!
I paid over $1,500 for GMAT prep with Veritas Prep in San Diego and my GMAT score did not improve at all after two attempts which almost made me give up on my MBA ambition. I scored well below 600 (quant + verbal) after attending all classes with Veritas Prep which was a huge disappointment and embarrassment after all the materials I went through. I needed a new direction on how to nail the GMAT and get into a good business school.
My dear friend Raj referred me to e-GMAT and after attending some of the free webinars led by Rajat Sadana, I became very pleased, re-energized and was ready to study again for my GMAT to revive my MBA ambition again. Thanks to Raj as I have registered with e-GMAT and studying for the GMAT exams at a cost far less than Veritas Prep and other Institutions but gained more confidence and accuracy in answering level 700 questions.
Personally, e-GMAT has provided me the fundamental concepts I have been looking for through thoroughly prepared online videos covering both verbal (SC, CR and RC) and quant (Geometry, Number Properties, Algebra and Advance word problems) sections of the GMAT. The most important of all is the numerous quizzes and drills I take after learning the fundamental concepts of each section with I never had through Veritas Prep. This has increased my confidence in answering most of quant and verbal questions, accuracy and speed as well.
I can confidently pre-think assumptions very quickly and logically to answer critical reasoning questions with confidence and ease which I used to struggle with and now a non-issue for me.
Through the online videos and the weekend live sessions, I have seen my quant and verbal scores improved drastically and I am hoping to have a 720+ score on the real test as the preparation I have achieved through e-GMAT has equipped me with the tools and skillset needed to ace the real exams.
Thank you e-GMAT for all the efforts in putting together such efficient, wonderful, informational and educational online videos for all underlying GMAT concepts covering both the verbal and quant sections of the GMAT. Additionally, I love the weekend live sessions that empowers interactions from all students across the globe to solve questions. On a scale from 1-10, my score rating for e-GMAT is 10/10 and my favorite instructor is Payal Tandon but admire all the instructors for their hard-work and dedication in helping students improve their respective GMAT scores and getting into competitive business schools globally.
I hope my personal statement will motivate or encourage some of you out there who have lost hope in getting better GMAT scores. Please go e-GMAT and it will not disappoint you but will rather help you get better GMAT scores and getting into your dream business school.