Journey from 620(Q49 V27) to 730(Q50 V38)

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.