After taking the GMAT the first time and receiving a 580 (Q44 V26) I was extremely discouraged. I did not think that my dreams of attending a top business school could be a reality with the timeframe I had. With round 2 deadlines less than 45 days away, I didn't think I stood a chance. I stumbled on target test prep's curriculum on craigslist and it was the best thing to ever happen for my GMAT. I could not have done it without TTP. This curriculum gives you every tool you need to feel confident and ready for the test no matter what level you are at. After all, it's self-paced. Stop wasting your time with the books, Magoosh, or manhattan and get target test prep. You will see improvement immediately and can constantly test your progress. Did I mention its EXTREMELY affordable for what you're getting?!

Seriously.. give this a try, you will not regret it.

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After studying for 10-15 hours a week for close to 4 months, I walked out of the test center with a disappointing 640 (Q42 V38). It was the lowest score I had gotten since I had taken my first diagnostic test 5 months before (550), but I can’t say I was too surprised. It was Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend and instead of feeling relieved and excited to be done with this test as I had hoped, I was panicked, dejected, and close to losing all hope that I would get the 700+ I needed to apply to my target schools for R1 this year. Sound familiar?….there’s hope!!



I began my GMAT journey at the beginning of 2016 and while I was prepared to put in significant time to get my desired score, I was optimistic I would be fine given my history with standardized tests and complex material. I work in financial services so have taken 4 licensing exams in stressful situations and also sat for both level 1 and level 2 of the CFA. My first mistake was not giving this test the respect it deserved…



I signed up for Manhattan Prep’s GMAT On Demand course and prep books. I found the interface easy to use and the videos helpful in reviewing the material I was completing in the books diligently according to the weekly schedule Manhattan Prep had provided. This was a familiar system for me as I had used it for all of my other tests—read/review material in books, watch videos online to reinforce concepts, and follow up with practice questions. I was acing all of the verbal questions in the books and videos and found the refreshers on some basic math concepts helpful. I took a couple of diagnostics along the way and went from a 550 to a 660. I plateau’d a bit on the 2nd and went to 670, but I didn’t let my nerves get the best of me. I wanted to trust the process. Fast forward to about 2 weeks before my scheduled exam and I scored a 650. I was devastated and terrified. I found the CATs frustrating and just could not crack the test questions despite doing well in my review books and the OG problems. I worked with a tutor for 1 session from Manhattan Prep out of panic. She tried to calm my nerves, but didn’t really help me connect where I was having trouble with Quant. She went through some last minute test taking and timing strategies. For $450 and 2 hours of precious study time, I wasn’t sold…but again, I was too far along to turn back and wanted to trust the process. I took one last diagnostic the weekend before the test and got a 680—ok, improvement! I was hoping I would peak on test day and all would be ok…



WRONG. I’m not a nervous test taker by any means and have always believed if I put in the work (at this point hundreds of hours and $1,000+…) I would prevail. I could not shake the nerves and doubted myself the entire time. The GMAT loves to prey on these types of test takers. I got through my essay and IR feeling pretty good. Quant started and immediately the first 5 questions just didn’t “feel right.” They didn’t look very familiar and it was clear I just was not understanding what concept the test was testing me on within my 2 min. time limit. It pretty much set me on a course for failure…when the screen flashed with the 640 I was shocked. I was torn up, frustrated, and inconsolable when I got home. I couldn’t believe after all of that hard work, the test felt almost foreign to me. I immediately went online to figure out how to fix this mess. I needed to retake the test in 3 weeks as I would be traveling for the summer and wanted to immediately start applications after.



ENTER TARGET TEST PREP. I started seeing reviews about TTP and wandered around the site. Despite sitting for the 3.5 hrs earlier, I took the diagnostic test on TTP and quickly realized these questions were far more similar to the real test I just took than the prep materials I had been using. Not surprisingly, I didn’t do very well on the diagnostic, but I finally felt a glimmer of hope after looking through the site. I wrote to TTP and asked about private lessons. Almost immediately, Scott (the founder!) IM’d me (Saturdaynight of MDW, btw…) and asked to set up a phone call, reassured me we would get my score, and gave me the piece of mind to actually get some sleep that night so I could wake up and get back to work.



We spoke on the phone and I immediately felt like he understood what I was struggling with and my frustrations with the test. I told him I had 3 weeks to bring my score up to a 700+, and he did not dissuade me whatsoever. He built back up my confidence again—reassured me that I actually knew this material and could take the test, I just needed help understanding what the test was asking and how it wanted me to get to the answer. I started going through the online modules. I loved the UI and how easy it was to identify where my weak spots were. I dedicated a lot of time to get through as many of the modules as possible in such a short time, and augmented that with 3 private tutoring sessions with Scott. These sessions were incredibly helpful. Scott was able to walk through some very high quality problems and importantly, understand how I thought about problems and where I was going wrong. The most valuable part of these sessions was that he helped me prepare to solve questions that way the test wants you to solve them. This was something I felt was lacking with Manhattan Prep. I was able to refresh on basics and was solid, but MGMAT didn’t really connect the concepts with how they are hidden in the questions you get asked. TTP taught me how to identify concepts in questions and get to an answer, using solid fundamentals (not neccesairly tricks), often times in 30 seconds or less.



6/17/16 and I walked into the same test center and felt more relaxed, though not completely at ease. I was prepared for that feeling, though. Scott really helped me understand that this test is so different than any one I have ever taken. Nobody really feels totally comfortable with it—it’s the reality of an adaptive test. I got to the Quant section and started recognizing concepts and question types immediately. The “language” felt far more familiar but, again, I wasn’t totally at ease. With that said, I still felt a significant improvement in my performance on Quant and that confidence carried over to Verbal. The test ended, I clicked through the screens and then it flashed up… a 700 (Q47, V39)!! I was so excited I practically jumped out of my seat.



I can’t recommend TTP enough. I believe MGAMT was useful in helping me review basics and fundamentals as well as Verbal. I would not spend the $1,000 on the courses, though. TTP was far more affordable ($99/ mth) and the personal attention and dedication I got from Scott was amazing. It really made all of the difference for my score. While my friends and family were supportive of me and tried their best to understand my frustrations, it was so great to speak to Scott and have him in my corner. He got to know me, my test taking mentality, and where my weak spots were in such a short period of time. I credit his program almost exclusively (except for my additional 60+ hours over those 3 weeks:) ) for the jump in my Quant score



So, if you are sitting at your computer dejected and stressed out over a disappointing diagnostic score, tough GMAT sit…whatever it is…try out TTP and talk to Scott. All is not lost, you can get to your score! If I could do it all over again, I would probably just get the MGMAT books to refresh concepts and trust the TTP process exclusively after that.

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My first verbal score was at 27 and my second verbal score was at 34. I started using e-gmat after I achieved my second score. The course helped me understand the foundation concepts of sentence correction and critical reasoning. I didn't take the RC portion of the verbal prep solely because I wasn't bothered at all. My scores were quite rocky for verbal but at the end it shine through because I kept reviewing the solutions on scholaranium. I would say that 70% of my jump from V32 to V42 can be attributed to e-GMAT's teaching.

Sentence correction videos of e-GMAT are a gem. When I first tackled GMAT, I just went solely by ear. I didn't have any guidelines or proper understanding of what GMAT wants. e-GMAT helped me understand those guidelines and adopt a logical approach to solving sentence correction questions. The one thing I might add about e-GMAT is even though its approach is logical and accurate, the process was quite slow. I had to come up with my own pacing and strategies in order to make sure I won't run over the clock.

The critical reasoning portion, despite other reviews saying it's not as good as sentence correction, I think it's one of the best. I am not a native speaker and so my brain does not process English logic that well. It took quite some time for me to wrap my head around the usage of logical cues in GMAT and e-GMAT taught me exactly those words. I love how each section of the videos would highlight out word cues, especially for bold face. In order to make the best about of my e-GMAT experience, I listed out all the cue words given by e-GMAT and map them out myself on an A4 so I can look at critical reasoning holistically. Every type of questions has some sort of link with each other. Without e-GMAT i think I would have not hit a 97%-tile on the critical reasoning portion.

I would totally recommend e-GMAT for people, non-native in particular, who just started studying GMAT. This is a great way to gain understanding of what GMAT tests you. However, if you want to score higher than 38, you need to do your own legwork and a lot of practices.

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I tried using some other online learning materials (I learn better on my own), but the video format did not work for me. I looked around for other tools out there, then I found Target Test Prep on of the GMAT websites. At first, I was skeptical, because I hadn't heard of it, and I assumed if it was good, I should've heard of it. I wasn't quite ready to commit despite the great reviews. I gave it a risk-free try (5 or 7 day trial for $1, I'm not sure which it is now). I was immensely impressed especially with the deep analytics they provide on their dashboard. This feature makes it easy to study the whole course or target weak areas. I studied the whole course but got a 46 on my first test. This was because I barely did any practice. They have tons of questions which feed into the data on the dashboard as you attempt questions. I just got a 49Q today after I took all 19 tests on the number properties chapter, whcih I consider the most critical for the test. I couldn't have done it without TTP, as most users call it. If you prefer to self-study, I cannot recommend this enough!!

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I have started to look at English as a logical language since I took the e-gmat verbal online course. Now when I read articles I am constantly categorising sentences into grammar components. The approach explained in e-gmat for SC and RC has been very helpful. I came across e-gmat advertisement links on Facebook during Dec 2016 and decided to try it
A little bit about my background, I am an IT professional with 11 years of work experience. With every passing year of work life I tended to read less of general English and more of technical books. I started preparing for GMAT since March 2016 and realised that my scores in verbal were stuck at 40-50% strike rate. By Dec 2016, I had attempted GMAT twice with abysmally poor scores of 20 in verbal while 46, 47 respectively in Quant. I am taking GMAT again this June end and hope to reach as near to 700 as possible. My RC strike rate has improved to 85% - this is through the reading techniques explained in e-gmat course and webinars. SC is explained very well with examples and simple rules, it is easier to spot errors once an individual has a mind map of what to look for. It is with practice that I have managed to inculcate the simple rules laid out by e-gmat, that one has to primarily comprehend the unambiguous meaning of the sentence first and then only look for the types of grammatical errors. My strike rate fluctuates in SC owing to my concentration levels given a particular day.
The journey to get a decent score in GMAT has been long, difficult and one of self-discovery. I will like to thank e-gmat for making it easier through their verbal online course

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I started my GMAT journey last July, with the expectation of applying to schools in the fall of 2017. As a native English speaker who has always read a lot, I was able to hit the 90th to 95th percentile in Verbal consistently without studying, so I focused my study entirely on Quant. Given the weighting differential between Verbal and Quant, I really only had to get a “decent” Quant score to reach the 720+ range I was targeting, which seemed perfectly achievable at the time given that math has never been a subject which I have struggled on.

My study process was well-thought out, and I was extremely diligent in my preparation. I used the MGMAT strategy guides, GMAT Hacks Total Math, and a variety of GMATclub resources to prepare. Completed all the questions in the OG Guide 2017 and OG Quant Review 2017 twice. Took all 6 MGMAT CATs and all 6 Official CATs multiple times. Detailed error logs of everything. And I studied A LOT. My first official exam was in October, on which I scored a 700 with a 42 Quant (47th percentile). Disappointed, I continued to study and took another crack in November, which resulted in another 700. Improved my Quant score slightly to 44 (54th percentile), but Verbal fell a bit. Thought ok a little more improvement and I’ll be alright, and scheduled another test for December. The third time was a heartbreaker – I choked and halfway through the Quant section I knew I was toast, and thought about just walking out with the test unfinished. Another 700 with a Quant score of 42; my performance had declined after hours and hours of studying. Given my non-elite undergrad and work experience, a 700 wasn’t going to cut it for the schools I would consider (especially with such a terrible Q/V split), and I didn’t end up applying for the 2017 intake.

After doing some series reflecting on my performance and spending a lot of time mapping out an improvement strategy, I knew I needed some kind of prep course. Made quite the spreadsheet with information on all the different prep course options, cut this list down, and demoed the finalists. Ended up choosing Target Test Prep out of all of them, which I thought at the time was somewhat of a leap of faith as it is not one of the major players i.e. MGMAT, Veritas, Magoosh, Kaplan or the like.

The Target Test Prep course had a nice progression, forcing you to really master the fundamentals before moving on to some of the more advanced topics you would only see at higher levels. The lessons were great, and I picked up some stuff I did not learn from my prior studies. Thought the video explanations were surprisingly helpful as well, and the dashboard feature made it easy to identify where your weaknesses are and save questions for additional review. However, I think the real key for me was the massive amount of practice questions you were instructed to complete after each lesson. First, I thought they were very, very similar to actual GMAT questions (definitely more so than MGMAT) which helped to a degree. But most of all, doing a ton of questions focused on one specific topic at a time helped to drill concepts into my head and pickup on dumb mistakes I made too frequently, for example misreading the question or making errors on simple arithmetic. I compare it to math homework in high school; you would learn a lesson and then do an excruciating amount of problems that night to really master it. While the comparison to high school math homework might make you think “yeah umm that Target Test Prep course . . . absolutely not” all I can say is that TARGET TEST PREP FREAKIN DELIVERED! Took the GMAT for a fourth time in May, and stood up and fistpumped (as quietly as possible) when I saw 770 flash over the screen. After spending countless hours studying with little to show for it, the Target Test Prep course propelled me from a Q42 to a Q49 and a 770 overall score. For anyone needing help with Quant, this is your course.

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I'm yet to give my GMAT but I just had to write this review. A big shout out to the e-GMAT team for helping me out with my prep. This is a debrief of my journey so far and how e-GMAT has helped me improve.

The first thing I realized while prepping was that despite putting in effort, I was not seeing an improvement in my score. My diagnostic score was a 700 (Q45, V42) and all subsequent efforts were around the 700 mark - 680, 670 & 640. This obviously got me worried as I had hit the dreaded 'score plateau'.

I started going through debriefs on BTG and GMAT club to determine if there were others who were facing a similar issue. A commonality that I found was that these fellow GMAT-aspirants had signed up for the e-GMAT course and were swearing by the improved results that they saw. I had my doubts about this course and started off with the free verbal webinars conducted by Rajat from e-GMAT. I absolutely loved the webinars and promptly signed up for the e-GMAT Online course.

The prep:
I was struggling with RCs and thought that I good at SC and CR. However, I didn't have empirical data that backed this perception and there was no baseline. I decide to start from the start and the first module that I completed was Master Comprehension. This is the fundamental course for verbal and greatly helped me reorient my reading habits. The learnings are basic yet so important and I could feel the difference as I attempted RC and CR questions - improved focus and attention to detail.

Next up, I started with Scholaranium as I had to determine my baseline. This is what blew me away. Super Stuff. Schloranium is a dashboard that slices and dices your abilities in terms of strengths and weaknesses in all topics both, in quant and verbal. I started with solving all ability quizzes in quant and verbal and was amazed at the insights. I realized that I needed improvement in number properties, algebra and SC - and these were topics I thought I was good at !!!

I prioritized my study scheduled basis my strengths and weaknesses and put a countdown to my next full-length. I took my next test in about two weeks after I started my course and scored a 670 (Q43, V40). This was a big bummer but I was determined to figure out what went wrong since I was very confident going into this test. Turns out it was a timing problem - back to the drawing board. Two weeks of prep peppered with drills on e-gmat and practice from OG17, 16 & 15. Next test on 1st June 2017, I socred a 720 (Q45, V44). I can't convey what that felt like because this meant that I had surpassed the score plateau and was on my way to my target score of 750+.

My test day is a couple of weeks away and I'm now spending time in perfecting the core skills taught in the e-GMAT course and am going over fundamental principles in the concept files and yes, solving multiple sets of questions. I will definitely share my debrief post my GMAT but in the meanwhile I want to say this:

"If you're feeling stuck, disappointed or demotivated because you've hit a score plateau, don't worry. I was there too and the e-GMAT Online Prep course and OG practice has helped me overcome this. Attend Rajat's free webinars and if you like them, go ahead and buy the course because you will absolutely love the prep."

Feel free to reach out to me in the comments. All the best with your prep !

Cheers !

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As an older student, returning to academia after a 19 year absence, where I wasn’t the most engaged student as a young man, to say that I was rusty would have been a significant understatement. Though the EMBA program that I chose did not necessarily require the GMAT, they encouraged it for students who, in their words, "believe [their] academic records do not accurately reflect [their] current knowledge of quantitative methods.” Manhattan Prep was absolutely crucial not only to taking the GMAT, but to relaunching my academic pursuits. The online live courses were a fantastic way to reintroduce me to the classroom. The weekly class was highly interactive. At any moment, I could be called upon to answer a question or explain a concept. I quickly learned that I needed to be engaged, focused, and come to class prepared. The homework was voluminous, in a great way. As I mastered each concept, my confidence increased. With each week, I felt more ready for the GMAT and more ready for an MBA program. The instructors were enthusiastic, knowledgable, and great encouragers. Manhattan Prep’s live online courses include the physical books, e-books, practice exams, and access to all of their recorded online content. That’s a tremendous value. At the conclusion of the course, I chose to start all the way over at the beginning with the recorded online material to reinforce what I learned in the live course. If you have the time to do that, I highly recommend it. The material is very high quality, and very engaging. It solidified my learnings and allowed me to go at my own pace when I got hung up. The impact was clear. The score of my initial practice exam was abysmal. I saw progressive improvement with each practice exam. The actual exam was very consistent with what I had learned and practiced. I felt confident and prepared during the test. I walked out with a good score, but almost more importantly, I felt prepared to continue my academic pursuits beyond the GMAT.

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I'm an engineer so math isn't a huge obstacle. The funny thing is that though I'm very comfortable with written and spoken English, my score seemed to suggest the opposite. On couple of occasions I would get even the hardest questions correct and other days, I would struggle with simple questions. After trying everything under the sun and nothing seemed to work. Finally, I read the reviews on gmatclub and I decided to sign up for the Verbal Live Prep course by e-gmat. IT HAS BEEN LIFE CHANGING!

Things I loved:
- I gave this review the title "method to the gmat madness" because that's the first thing that E-gmat does. Their approach in course designing is breaking this monster of sorts into bite sized pieces, which is excellent for the student.

- My favourite is the SC course since that was my biggest pain point and as per my mocks, I seem to have turned it around. Almost every OG question has been solved by the experts and given the students.

- There is absolutely no ambiguity. For a wrong answer choice, the experts give you solid reason. If you've read some of the explanations given in OG, you know that it frustrates you because it does not make sense many a times.

- There is a discussions tab under each question (questions by e-gmat). Many students who have come before you have asked questions that have been answered by the experts. Sometimes, you'll end up reading about an error that you didn't even notice and the expert will give his/her take on it. In my opinion, this has added huge value as well.

- Live sessions on the weekends simulate a classroom like experience. The best part is that if you are faltering somewhere in your approach, it gets caught there and then. I I attended the boldface live session and it was taken by Rajat. It was so great!! Not only did I learn heaps in the class, but also understood the importance of marking an answer choice with confidence.

The improvement:
I haven't taken the GMAT yet but I have taken GMATprep test 1 from Exam Pack 1 and scored a V38. I started at a V31.

Takeaway
- You have to trust the process the experts prescribe. If you do, there is no sliver of doubt that you will reach your dream score.

- It is time consuming. And that's a good thing! You don't want just fluff to be handed to you and easy questions that will make you feel good. GMAT is designed as a rigourous test and it's only fitting that the course is too.

- The team is ready to help you even with GMAT strategy. When I was confused about which course to buy from e-GMAT, the experts recommended that I take the VLP and not the entire course. The entire course would have been better financial decision for them but they understood my needs and prescribed VLP. The student really does come first at e-gmat.

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I took the online class with Manhattan Prep and thought it was great. Because it was a live online class, you could still ask questions, interact with the instructor, and practice timed sets. However, if you happened to be busy during the scheduled time, all the lessons were recorded.

Overall I thought Manhattan Prep was extremely helpful in learning how to be strategic about the GMAT. On the first diagnostic test I took, I received a 680. My final GMAT score was a 760. I believe the main reason I was able to get this score is because of the class I took with J.R. Tomkinson. While I felt confident in my verbal abilities, I still was able to improve my verbal score by practicing the strategies we went over in the class for trickier critical reasoning questions. In addition, the quant section seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle before I started using the tips and tricks I learned through Manhattan Prep.

Overall, I would highly recommend this program for anyone trying to boost their score on the GMAT. This class really helped me wrap my head around how best to attack the GMAT

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