100% On-Point. No Nonsense Prep Course.

Background and Context:
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I am a working professional with 18+ years of experience and recently took the GMAT (scored an okay 680 V40 Q44). I took to studies after 15+ years of being in student mode and preparing for a standardized test. Adding to the challenge, I was employed in the US (in a senior, very tough, and travel intensive consulting job) with 2 energetic, attention seeking, young kids and a wife in an equally demanding (and travel heavy) job.



Flashback - Close Encounter of the Alien Kind (2000/2001):
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At the beginning of my career, I took the GMAT and scored somewhere in the mid-500s. My prep at the time was devoid of any professional training courses and sans any major research on GMAT strategies (to be honest, around 2001, the level of available information on the internet must've been less than 1% of its current state). I thus attribute my poor performance to not much strategy but just brute force. While I don't remember my sectional scores, I do remember I scored much worse in Verbal than Quant.



The Proverbial Itch (2017/2018):
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Cut to Q2 2017. I decided to address my educational aspirations (1 year full time executive MBA). While I bought the OG and Princeton Review guides (and tests), I couldn't muster the courage to begin my prep for a good 9-10 months (courtesy my 1st traumatic GMAT experience). Determined to overcome the inertia, in March 2018, I started my prep focused on cramming textbook material (much like the 1st attempt).



Finding GMAT's Kryptonite (April 2018):
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In a month or so, I started stumbling across other helpful tools like GMATClub, BeatTheGMAT, other digital resources, as well as online prep courses. These resources (and real-life examples / experiences) quickly underlined the need for a radical revamp of prep approach. I consequently, started looking for a relevant Verbal prep program which could accommodate my rusted learning approach.

After intensive research and evaluation, I locked in on eGMAT's Online Verbal and Quant Course and signed up on May 1, 2018. Key features of the offering that resonated with me were as follows:

1. Self-paced and flexible format
2. Focused on building a strong foundation instead of relying on shortcuts
3. Rooted in classroom type textbook theory that I was comfortable with
4. Offering ample opportunities to test competence and understanding along the learning process (including a rich topic-wise database (called Scholaranium) of questions to practice in a timed fashion).
5. Analytics and metrics to identify weak and strong areas and adjust study plan accordingly
6. Easy to use platform and appealing user interface
7. Economically priced
8. Last (but definitely not the least), rave reviews and experiences of ex-users of the course



The Grind (May - September 2018):
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During my 4-5 month prep phase (laden with multiple breaks due to travel and other commitments), I made sure to complete the Verbal Section e2e (I completed 30% of the Quant Online Course). Given the breadth of topics, it was often easy to forget what I'd studied (especially considering breaks), so I resorted to taking detailed notes while studying and ensured that I revise them periodically (later I'd do this every time I'd sit down to take a quiz or mock test). Post completion, based on my weaknesses (highlighted by eGMAT analytics), I revisited certain sections of the course in entirety (in addition to attempting respective questions from Scholaranium). This approach showed clear improvement in understanding and competence.

One surprising feature of the course (and clearly one that was a lifesaver) were the regular supply of student experiences (of the course, how it aided their study approach and their final scores) via video links. I can bet my top dollar that irrespective of one's learning style, s/he will find some or the other experience that they can relate to. These experiences were my guiding light in my darkest nights and helped me bulldoze my way through self-doubts regarding my study approach as well as my abilities.



The Moment of Truth (Oct 6, 2018):
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I cruised through the Verbal section on test day. The exciting thing here is that I felt most comfortable with the topics I was the weakest at. Guess that is the beauty of the course where it helps you identify such areas and get comfortable with them (provided you put in the effort). Despite my comfort with the Verbal section, I was pleasantly surprised to get a V40. This feeling was albeit countered by my Quant score. This said, I don't think of it much given that I exceeded my 1st break by 5 minutes and lost time additional time (and composure) to scratch pen issues during the Quant section and still managed a Q44.



The Verdict:
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Without a doubt, I attribute my verbal performance to eGMAT. Guess, selecting them for my prep was one of the landmark decisions I took when it came to cracking the test. To quantify this, I already recommended them to a friend in India (his test is in a few weeks, and hopefully he will have a similar pleasant experience).

Thanks Rajat, Payal and the entire eGMAT team. You guys rock! \m/