80 points improvement using E-GMAT

In February of 2021 I had given my first attempt of GMAT whilst preparing for the exam myself and on the D-day after the I completed the fourth section of the exam the computer displayed a message:

“You’ve have scored 660 (Q48 V32), do you accept the score?”

Even before going to the exam, I had decided that anything less than 700 and I will cancel my score, no second thoughts required. After returning home, I was thinking how to go ahead for the second attempt. Now that scored a 720, I would like to give my review of the E-GMAT.

Why I chose E-GMAT?

During the preparation for my 1st attempt, I had attended Webinars from a couple of test-prep companies, amongst which, E-GMAT webinar hosted by Rajat S. showcased their approach towards solving the verbal problems using pre-thinking, meaning based approach, etc. This approach was what I was looking for if I had to confidently improve on the existing scores especially in Verbal. In the webinar he demoed a few questions and applied the above processes, thus instilling confidence in them.

So, I reached out to them over email and shared with them my ESR for the 1st attempt to know how deep in the water I was. Based on it, Dhananjay - the mentor – and I reached on the plan of action to follow for the next 8 weeks.



My Journey with E-GMAT in three parts 1. Course 2. Mentorship 3. Testing platform

1. Course

Verbal course is one of the best out there, if not the best. In the learning phase it doesn’t put pressure on for the timing. Its priority is set i.e., accuracy first, speed second. And slowly and steadily my timings improved naturally as part of applying the process so many times.

Master Comprehension is an under-rated part of the course, it is first module that you go through, but in my Opinion is the most crucial one for it builds the base onto which other concepts would eventually function.

Meaning based approach (SC) and Pre-thinking method (CR) are no B.S. methods in that they don’t let you waste time on answer choice which are grammatically and logically correct but are not in line with the question (helps you in hard questions).

Though I did not spend enough time on RC (since improvement wasn’t required in this section), I had completed the core concepts of Reading strategies and these are perfect for any one who is struggling with the long complex passages.

Quant course has recently been revamped based on many user reviews and bringing it to the same high level of Verbal Course. The course itself is skill adaptive, once you take the diagnostic test for each module, you are given next course of action based on your accuracy, thus saving you valuable time so that you can focus on the areas which need your attention.

One of the greatest strengths of E-GMAT, in my opinion, is their forums, build over last 10 years; any questions you have would most likely have already been asked and answered, in rare cases where they aren’t, you post it there and get the answer usually within 24 hours. Whilst making the post you are asked to put forth your analysis so that they can understand if there is any flaw in your thinking.


2. Mentorship

During the course, the mentor assigned to me was Dhananjay Lowe. Since the very first call, Dhananjay knew what plan would be most effective and doing so what would be the next steps. As an example, I was worried what my timings would be in the exam as I was taking a long time in the process application initially, but he reassured me that I don’t need to worry about it, but still, that didn’t stop me from doing so. In hindsight though, his advice was correct as I had improved my timings in Test Readiness stage (more on that below).

After each of my exam or steps of the process I used to get back to him over email/ Zoom and discuss the way forward. These steps were based on various datapoints and analytics of the tests you give and are then zeroed in on. You can ask even a silly question (I don’t recommend you do that often ) and get a reply.

In the last 10 days before exam, I got a high specialised plan day wise on what I needed to do and also got insights on those steps as well.


3. Testing Platform

E-GMAT uses two platforms Scholaranium and Sigma-X, both serve their individual purposes in your preparation.

Scholaranium is the platform where you go to do your test readiness, cementing and ability quizzes done and get insights on your performance and take corrective action. Cementing really nails the head when it comes to the learning concepts outlined in the courses. Every question has the forum discussion below it, so you can go through it once you are done reviewing your responses. The way the learning is split in to ability, cementing and test readiness allowed me to master the concepts in a structured manner.

Sigma-X is E-GMAT’s mock testing platform, which is very close to the actual GMAT in my opinion and much closer than other platforms that I have used (I’ve used Expert Global and TIME CAT). It uses block-wise difficulty to adapt to the test takers’ ability. It will give you all the analytics and datapoints for each test. You can choose the section format and exam format (test centre vs Online) prior to the start of the exam. (My last three scores were 730, 690, 750).

The explanations of the answer choices are well elaborated along with the video explanations, in every explanation you get a proper reason that make a choice incorrect.

Overall, combined with the insights given by the Mentor and the data form the various test you would give while preparing is what enabled me to improve the score from 660 to 720.


Where can E-GMAT improve on:

1. May be increase the number of Sigma-X Mocks available (as of this review it is 5)
2. Have module for the AWA in the course.
3. The User Interface of the Sigma-X, if it is like the actual GMAT, then it would be better as you would get accustomed to the UX from the get go. Though, the current UX doesn’t hinder your test taking ability.