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I literally studied for the GMAT for over a year. I originally signed up for two big test prep company (Veritas Prep GMAT and Manhattan GMAT) late in 2014 and took the full live courses. I went to every session and tried to follow all the homework, but didn't feel like their courses presented the most appropriate learning technique for me. They were very formulaic and the concepts weren't breaking through for me. Nothing against my Veritas instructor (he was excellent), I just felt like the group classes weren't the best learning environment for me as everyone in the class was at very different stages/ability levels at the time. In January of 2014 I scored a 590 on my first attempt. Although not bad for a first attempt, I knew that this score wasn't really good enough to get into any of my dream schools in the top-15. While my verbal was in the 70%, my quant was really weak only in the 50th percentile range.
Around the same time, I heard about e-GMAT through a good friend of mine. He raved about the course so I decided to take the plunge and give it a shot as a sort of a last resort (I had already spent a lot of money on GMAT Prep so I was very skeptical). I signed up in January 2014 and have used E-gmat for approximately 1 months so far.
The E-GMAT Quant modules literally changed everything for me! I finally started to understand how to approach and ATTACK problems. I finally got the idea that I needed to write everything on the pad and stop trying to do Math in my head.
The quant lessons are engaging, and have helped me truly understand what the GMAT is designed to assess - higher order thinking. Learning how and why the GMAT is a completely different ball game is absolutely critical to scoring well. The study materials really helped me understand the concepts and think like the test maker. I reviewed the lesson books many times after the course as I prepared for the exam.
The online format (Live Prep) far exceeded my expectations with its online chat panel. Another instructor is online to help out with queries if the main instructor doesn't have time to answer them all. Surprisingly, there was much more participation than a normal classroom and I learned as much from the other students as I did from the instructor. The flexibility was another huge plus- being able to watch it from home or watch a recorded version if I miss the class was super helpful as I have a demanding job.
E-GMAT is the complete package and overall, far exceeded my expectations and what I love most is that the instructors are genuinely interested in the students' progress and experience. I received a number of follow-up emails during the course to see how I was tracking. All this being said, I am yet to take the GMAT which I have scheduled in a month from now – so a lot of work still needs to be done. I will post a detailed review once I am done taking the GMAT.
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Before I took this class I was struggling to find a solid approach to best attack the GMAT. Part of my problem was finding the right materials. I wont say that the other materials I bought were a waste, but I did not use them much after I started using the E-GMAT materials.
The on-demand course is great for anyone who is able to motivate themselves to study independently. The amount of time I have put so far comes very close to 100, so definitely make sure you're okay with putting 2 - 3 hours in per night before signing up. If you do sign up, you'll find that this course is extremely engaging, fun, and effective. The virtual instructors have somewhat quirky personalities that make it easy to remember the GMAT lessons long after you finish the course. E-GMAT teaches you tactics of how to approach all types of problems to maximize efficiency on test day. Furthermore, it really goes into a lot of detail about question types and which ones really matter (in terms of your score) and which ones likely count for very little.
I am yet to take the GMAT and feel will write a detailed review once I am done taking it. But I have to say that overall, this course gives you just about everything you would get from a live course. You get all the recorded videos and skillbuilder exercises to watch whenever you want. It fits in much better to my hectic schedule versus having to be available for a scheduled class time. The course in general is extremely thorough and really focuses on teaching you how to think like the GMAT test makers. It really opened my eyes to the strategy that is required to do well on this test instead of just studying and memorizing content. I would recommend any version of this course through E-GMAT to those looking for a GMAT Prep course.