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Spoiler : Just take the subscription !!!
Background:
My first dig at the GMAT exam was an e-gmat mock (sigma-X) where I scored a 600 (Q46, V26).
I moved onto OG, concept books, etc. and could see myself enhancing my knowledge significantly in SC and CR. I saw the improvement in my GMATPrep mock attempts too, wherein I scored ranges between 700 and 740 consistently.
Looking at the mock scores, I was certain that I was empowered with the skills needed to clear the 700-mark. I unfortunately couldn’t cross the barrier in the 1st attempt. Due to my higher mock scores in GMATPrep, I was certain that there was nothing wrong with my preparation methods and perhaps it was a one-off scenario. But, after analyzing the ESR of my 2nd failed attempt and noticing a below average performance across the whole of verbal section, I realized that there definitely were conceptual gaps which I’d needed to cover up.
E-GMAT:
Based on recommendations of my friends, I quickly moved onto e-gmat. The first thing one could notice immediately is how comprehensive the course is. As suggested in the course, I started off with SC -> CR -> RC.
SC modules are definitely the beast in the course. They are elaborately explained using really simple terms such as verb-ing, verb-ed etc. instead of terms such as gerunds, transitive verbs, etc. For somebody who isn’t a grammarian, these usages are alone a massive time saver. Probably the biggest eye opener for me was focusing on the meaning of the sentence and making sure that the sentence made sense rather than just relying on grammar rules to solve the questions. Towards the end of my preparation, I could easily spot the correct answer choice within a couple of seconds and was hardly stuck between two answer choices, simply because of relying on the meaning-based approach. My simplest recommendation to everyone would be not to follow any form of shortcuts to solve SC questions. I have experimented such strategies in my attempts, and found failure for most parts. There is absolutely no point saving time when you can’t get the question right.
The most critical aspect of CR was the art of pre-thinking. Going through the range of answers in the mind is exactly what saves one from selecting the incorrect answer choices. A tough but effective strategy, pre-thinking has been taught exhaustively throughout the CR course. I had reached a stage where I didn’t even need to go through all the options during my final attempt - the moment the correct option came up, I was confident it was the right one! That’s the power of pre-thinking. I also tried out PowerScore CR Bible, although the contents are pretty much in similar lines as in e-gmat’s CR course.
RC course is great for someone trying it out for the 1st time. I had gone through a very similar process of understanding main theme of passage and watching out for the transition/key words (but, however, nevertheless, etc.) to solve the passages effectively during CAT prep. One aspect that I did notice across my attempts (GMAT exam and GMATprep mocks) was that the passages were seldom difficult to comprehend. It’s perhaps the exam pressure at times that might get to us, but one calm and well-paced reading is enough to nail the RC questions that follow the passage. Sufficient practice would enable you to easily identify what the “well-paced” definition might look like for you.
During my 1st GMAT attempt I had scored a Q49 in quants, a score that sounded great since it was just 2 points below the maximum (51). However, only when I looked at the percentile column next to the scorecard, did I realize that it was a 74th percentile, making me feel that I need to up my ante in quants too. I had relied on my CAT material for majority of the preparations for Quants, but used e-GMAT’s quant time and again to fine tune my skills in topics I wasn’t completely comfortable with such as number systems and modulus (algebra). The structure of the course was well laid out wherein I needed to just do the concepts I was not familiar with, and the algorithm did well to identify such areas and helped me speed up my quant prep significantly.
Over time, I kept taking up sectional tests in verbal and quant repeatedly to figure out patterns in my mistakes and took actions to correct them.
The support provided through emails, general queries, etc. was great too. I was once asked to use the error-log for my verbal section and noticed that there were many aspects of analysis which I had missed out on. While I didn’t maintain an error log throughout my preparation, my analysis methodology changed and I could see myself doing more than simply going through the solutions of the questions.
Scholoronium provided me a massive question bank and was more than sufficient in terms of quantity to help solve a variety of quality questions. The most impressive part of scholoronium was its detailed explanation. I had spent a significantly longer duration analyzing my attempts in scholoronium compared to my attempts on any other platform.
I would definitely recommend e-gmat based on my experience.
Like all the other reviews here mention, this is the only thing you need to succeed in the Quantitative Section of the GMAT exam. I had a solid starting point on my first GMAT practice (39) after not being in a Quantitative Major but was regularly scoring 50-51 on practice exams 2 through 6 at the end and finished with 49 on the real thing (710 total, think test day nerves got me a bit) I didn't utilize their verbal section (I stuck to only official questions for Verbal)
It's a lot of work. Their MO is simple, you have to learn the mechanics, they don't try to teach you tricks and gimmicks but they will teach you every single thing you need to know and how to master it. Hard questions are HARD. Like ... harder than anything you'll see on the GMAT in my opinion.
Highly recommend it, I believe anyone can score at least a 48 on Quant after utilizing this course.
REVIEWER IDENTITY VERIFIED by score report [?]
While preparing for GMAT exam I did a thorough research for a good mock exam set and chose Experts's Global's 15 mock test as my first option as they are the most reasonably priced. To my surprise, not only were the mocks well structured and balanced but also, one key difference was an in depth explanation to each question of the mock highlighting all the major and minor areas of error one can make. This explanation which was also in a video format (helps in quant questions) really helped me identify where I was going wrong. Furthermore, with the mock series they provide additional free material for all the topics that broadly covers all aspects.
I started from getting 580 in my first mock and scored 710-730 in the last few. On exam day, got 750! So, if not sure about the whole study package, one should definitely take the mock series, its worth it.
Improvement N/A
Course GMAT Tutoring in English, Hebrew, Greek, or Arabic
Instructor
Location Online
I took a lesson with Dave Goldstein after I studied for a month and got a 720 on the official exam. My main issue was verbal and I had a non-native background with very limited proper English grammar education and I never read fiction books (though I picked up the professional usage of English on the job over ~4 years). I initially just used the MGMAT book, but after a month, I can feel that my progress was slowing down, the mere increase of familirty with question types no longer helps. That's where David came in, the most helpful thing in retrospect is that he instilled the correct way of practicing and pace of solving problems upon me. On the CR and RC sections, the sequence of reading articles, noting down key themes and answering questions, as well as practicing using more than a dozen LSAT test really helped me to be more comfortable on the exam. As we monitor the correct rate on the LSAT, the number just goes up over the course of a month. I think practicing is necessary, but to have someone where to pointing out exactly what you are doing wrong is incredibly efficient and allowed me to finish the whole GMAT workstream within two month (including one month with David), and save time for other improvements in my Bschool application. I highly recommend working with Dave if you are ready to follow his procedure and doing a lot of practice questions. In the end, you will gain a very systematic approach to verbal questions and confidence steamed from seeing your improvements week over week.
I began my GMAT journey back in July 2021. I was flooded with a huge amount of resources online, did whatever felt right to me and scored a disappointing 630. Fast forward to January 2022. I decided to give the GMAT another shot. I knew that I needed a structured approach this time. I already knew about E-GMAT as I had used some of their resources in my last attempt, and I decided to go for it!
This turned out to be the best decision! I was able to find all that I lacked in my previous attempt. I was confident about my Verbal, but my Quant needed a lot of work! So, I went through the course in detail. Thankfully, the Xpert architecture in the Quant course helped me save a lot of time. The meaning-based approach was very useful in Verbal. I could clearly make out a difference in the way I was solving the SC questions before and after the course. In CR, I found the pre-thinking approach especially useful. What helped me the most were the error logs and the cementing quizzes after every module. I found it frustrating at first to note down every mistake and my thinking behind it while filling the error logs, but I feel this was a real gamechanger. The cementing quizzes helped me build a solid foundation and boosted my confidence(Which is exactly what I needed especially in Quant)
Another thing that I found extremely useful was the Q&A forum. Personally, I did not find the need to ask many questions as the discussions were already available in the existing threads. But for all the questions I asked, I got a very quick response.
Coming to the SigmaX mocks, I did not find the need to write any other mocks. The SigmaX mocks were pretty on the spot. I scored a 720, 700 and 750 in the mocks which was pretty much consistent with what I scored on the actual test. I found the detailed analysis of the performance at the end of every mock to be very beneficial. I used this data to find out where I was wasting time and strategize for the D-day.
Finally, I would like to give a huge shoutout to my mentors DJ, Rida and the entire support team at E-GMAT. I couldn't have done this without them! I was taken in as a part of the last mile program and Rida helped every step of the way. She helped me create a specific plan and the insights she provided were very useful. The calls I had with her throughout helped me plan, strategize and most importantly identify my strengths and weaknesses. She also suggested some customized tests to me to overcome my timing and other issues.
This is more or less my journey to a 730! I would highly recommend this course to anyone looking for a structured approach to their preparation and achieving their target score!
I appeared for my first GMAT attempt on 23rd July, 2021 with sufficient enough preparation of about 3 months, but I could score only 620. Having been a bright student for most part of my life, I was not able to comprehend the fact that I scored only V27. I was a bit shocked and depressed because I knew this was not my best and I could do better. I took a break of about 2 months before entering into a full-fledged preparation mode. I researched about available options for online GMAT preparation courses and, after a thorough analysis and reading multiple reviews from different sources, I decided to go with e-GMAT.
Following were my reasons to go with e-GMAT and what makes them unique, especially for a non-native English speaker like me:
It’s a complete package – When I was narrowing down my options, it was a close call between TTP and e-GMAT. Why I preferred e-GMAT over TTP is because after the end of the course, e-GMAT has this amazing feature/tool called Scholaranium. It is a quizzing platform with tons of features. We can customise the quizzes as per our need at a granule level. For example, we can practice RC passages from a specific domain (such as history, economics, biosciences, etc), CR arguments of a particular type (such as bold face, flaw, fill in the blank, etc), SC questions from a particular concept (such as tenses, modifiers, parallelism, idioms, etc), and Quant questions from a particular domain (such as prime numbers, even-odd, absolute inequality, triangle, sets, etc). We can also customise quizzes to simulate the Quant and Verbal sections of GMAT and slowly work on our appetite to get accustomed to the full length GMAT (increasing accuracy while staying within optimum time limits).
Each question (be it from the concept file, application file, practice file or Scholaranium) has an explicitly elaborate explanation in the form of text or a short video. Even if we are not satisfied/convinced by the explanation, each question has its own “Ask an expert” section with an explicit thread of previously answered/unanswered doubts. Most of the queries get addressed by this stage, even if not, we can always post our doubt and can expect it addressed within 24-hours (mostly).
The course is structured in such a way that you can actually feel growing at an intellectual level with each passing module. You go through the concept files, practice some easy level questions, and slowly move on to the 700-750 level questions, and the transition is so seamless that you actually feel more and more confident with each completing section.
Another amazing feature that makes e-GMAT unique is their approach. Entire preparation plan is divided into three stages: first you learn all the concepts, then you practice those concepts under Cementing stage (medium to hard level questions of a particular section in a timed environment) and once you are done with both these stages for all the sections, you move to the third stage in which you practice questions from multiple sections, slowly working towards test readiness.
Also, they offer 5 mocks (including 1 free mock), which are VERY similar to the actual GMAT exam. I used only 3 of those paid ones and my score were 750, 710 and 740. The feedback that you get from xPERT engine on these mocks is unmatchable. It shows timing vs accuracy matrix at not only sectional but also sub-sectional level. You can analyse SOO much from this data to work on your weak areas as per your requirement/need. In addition to that, whenever in doubt, you can of course reach out to the e-GMAT team anytime and they help you with each and every doubt within a couple of hours.
The one-on-one support that you get from the e-GMAT team regarding your doubts, next step, or feedback on your mock is just unparalleled. It's as good as having a private tutor. I owe a major part of my success (can call 730 a “success” :P) to Ms. Rida Shafeek and Mr. Dhananjay Lowe. I was associated with Mr. DJ during the initial phase and he helped me with each and every doubt, not necessarily related to the concepts. During the final few days, Ms. Rida was the one who helped me stay on track and learn from my mistakes. She used to analyse each of my mocks, make custom, structured, to the point and hyper specific data driven Loom videos, help me maintain my error logs, point out the topics that I needed to revisit, and comment on my general test taking strategy (such as timings in each block), my weak areas, and my strengths. She also helped me understand when I should just let go of a particular question in order to save time for the future ones. I would say, she was the saviour for me during those last 10-15 days that are the most crucial ones in anyone’s test prep journey.
I tried to extract as much as I could from the feedbacks that I received from Ms. Rida and finally went ahead and attempted the GMAT on 09th April, 2022. The moment I saw screen flashing 730 (Q50 V38), I knew it was all worth it.
One more thing that I would like to explicitly mention is that my subscription to their portal ended just 2 days before my actual exam and upon request they extended it for 3 days without any extra charge. This act (in addition to the several reasons mentioned above) shows that although they are in this for business (obviously), e-GMAT stands for something much more than just a means to make money.
In conclusion, if you chose to make e-GMAT part of your journey, rest assured that “they will be there for you” till the very Last Mile.
I thank Rajat, Payal, Rida, Dhananjay (DJ) and the entire e-GMAT team for making it all worthwhile.
Improvement 70 Points
Course GMAT Tutoring in English, Hebrew, Greek, or Arabic
Instructor
Location Online
Dana was simply fantastic. Patient, systematic, methodological and tough - all the things that I needed to push my score from a none too exciting 640 to a reasonably respectable 710.
For quant Dana taught me key concepts but equally importantly, how to approach a problem and what was being tested. She also got me to stop randomly solving a problem before I had even thought about what I was going to do. The homework assignments really helped me get the basics down and practice so that the challenging problems became much easier. My quant went for a paltry 36 to a very healthy 48.
For verbal, Dana was instrumental in getting me to slow down again and learn how to properly eliminate answers. The SC section, where I struggled, was a lot easier after I went over the main grammar concepts with Dana. My Verbal score went from an OK-ish 38 to a pretty good 41.
I highly recommend taking lessons with Dana. A score of 710 was nowhere on the cards for me - but with Dana's help, I got there in a few months.
e-GMAT is a great affordable course for those who want a top GMAT score. I purchased the 4 month course in November and spent the next 4 months learning the concepts and strategies outlined in the course modules. I found both the verbal and quant course modules to be excellent. The modules clearly explained the concepts in short digestible videos.
Verbal Scholaranium is fantastic with in-depth analysis and good questions. I found Quant questions were not as representative of the OG questions, I instead utilised the GMAT Club tests for Quant.
Overall, excellent verbal course (I improved from V35 to V42) and great analytics that highlight areas to focus on. Thanks e-GMAT team.
I was reluctant to take the course because i was confident that my quant is extremely strong and i will be easily be able to study verbal. But that was not at all the case with me after I got 660 for 2 times. I realized that I needed to build a thorough understanding for verbal and of all the courses available, Egmat is hands down the best one.
In verbal, the master comprehension is very effective and starts from the basics. It feels unnecessary in the beginning but as RC passages become difficult, it becomes more and more relevant. In CR the prethinking is a game changer.
For SC the questions that I practiced were a bit different from those on the main exam. Scholarnium gives insights on which aspects need improvement and Sigma-X provides a platform to test the learnings.
The support team is extremely efficient and very helpful. Their advices were very crucial in achieveing 730.
I wish I had taken the course before my first attempt.
REVIEWER IDENTITY VERIFIED by score report [?]
TTP's quant section did an excellent job of explaining the logic for each question through text and video, and the function for asking questions via chat is helpful to get clarifications. Using the course was much more effective than relying on the GMAT official handbook. I did a few chapters of that but it's hard to bookmark questions and track accuracy.
Highly appreciate the test design. The chapter tests are effective for focused practicing. The review tests are able to help me review concepts across topics and solidify my overall understanding. At first I thought the number of practice tests was a bit excessive, but I observed marked improvement in my quant abilities, so I am grateful for all the practice.
The sentence correction exercises and explanations are helpful too. My reading comprehension was already very good, so I can't comment on the effectiveness of that portion.
Overall, strongly recommend this course!
Dear Acegmat603,
Congratulations on your score of 760 and becoming a member of the top 1 percentile test takers! A 160-point improvement with a 16-point improvement in Verbal from V26 to V42 is in no ways a small feat to achieve.
If I have to show someone an example of not giving up, it will have to be of yours. It is because of your hardwork and willingness to score good that you aced the exam in your 5th attempt over a span of 9 months. Hats off to you!
I must commend you on your diligence showed during your preparation. You followed the 3 Stages of Learning in the prescribed manner.
First Stage - You learned the modules diligently as it was indicated by your average concept quizzes scores and practice quizzes scores.
Second Stage - You then mastered the concepts through Cementing stage in Scholaranium.
Please refer to the image to see his diligence in the first two stages -
Link- https://success.e-gmat.com/V42-Diligence-and-Scholaranium-Statistics
Third Stage - You then started preparing yourself for the Mocks by taking longer quizzes from multiple subsections in the third stage.
Please refer to the image here to see how he prepared for the mocks -
Link- https://success.e-gmat.com/Preparation-for-Mocks
I loved the fact that you mentioned about your Quant improvement as well. Sometimes people think that it might just be a 4-point improvement from your first mock to your actual GMAT exam. But when we see this in percentiles, you improved from 53rd percentile to 87th percentile.
Please refer to the image here to see how his Quant Accuracies in the hard questions –
Link- https://success.e-gmat.com/Q50-Statistics-in-Scholaranium
It was just a matter of time that you replicated the same in the actual GMAT exam as well and we are glad to be a part of your arduous journey to your target score.
All the very best for your next steps!
Regards,
Akash