GMAT Club
September 13, 2023
Syavashp

Joined: Mar 28, 2023

Posts: 45

Kudos: 7

Verified GMAT Classic score:
750 Q48 V44

Love it for the course content, organisation and analytics!

REVIEWER IDENTITY VERIFIED by score report [?]

Improvement 70 Points

Course e-GMAT Online Intensive

Location Online

Strengths:

1) Course outline and organisation into skill blocks
2) Data driven analytical approach to your test data
3) Cementing quizzes and error log

Would make the product better:

Maybe the course should mention somewhere that the Quant section is harder than the actual exam. I stuck through with Quant till the end but knowing this beforehand would have definitely made it easier!

I'd also recommend to improve the quality of the CR questions and use OG questions where possible as they are the most well made.

Lastly, it is probably too much to ask but maybe the Verbal section can have two approaches. The existing one for non-native speakers and a solving-by-your-ear type approach for those more well versed in English (in this area gmat ninja's answers on the SC questions on the GC forum are invaluable).

I initially gave the GMAT in 2016 when I graduated and scored a 680. I do not have the sectional scores but the verbal was around V40 and the math score was poor. For several reasons, I decided to retake the GMAT 7 years later and apply to the top MBA programs.

My case is unique in that I struggled with Quant section rather than the Verbal. I had a couple of bad maths teachers in high school, hated maths in O levels and never gave it in A Levels either.

I decided to firstly fix my foundation in Math. I chose the EGMAT because:

1) There are too many resources out there and it is not possible as a working professional to design your own study materials based on everything available out there for free.
2) I heard good reviews about EGMAT and especially that the Quant section was great.

I started off the course in February 2023 and decided to not settle an exam data beforehand and just see where the course takes me.

I would highly recommend EGMAT for several reasons:

1) The course is comprehensive for both Quant and Verbal. Every section starts off with a diagnostic that judges your ability in that area (for e.g. number properties > Even/Odd Numbers). Based on how well you perform on the diagnostic, the EGMAT algo skips certain lessons and tells you to do some other ones. This saves time.

2) The course is well organised in blocks of skills that you need. This gives you confidence.

3) Rather than approach the test from the mindset of "lets find you quick tricks to figure out complex problems", the course makes you do the proper math behind every problem. This was excruciatingly painful and time confusing for me but it was also extremely useful. a) It gives you confidence in your ability > less nerves on the actual test b) if you come across a very unique question, you have a solid foundation to fall back on.

4) The analytics for me were one of the two best parts of the course. Every question you solve gives you data: your accuracy in certain skill blocks, how quickly you answered the question and how quickly others have done on similar problems. This insight is very useful as it keeps timing in the back of your head from the very start.

5) The second best part of the course for me was the Cementing Quizzes. These quizzes are blocks of 10 questions that test your ability on a particular topic. EGMAT says that if you get 70% accuracy on the "Medium" and 50% accuracy on the "Hard" quizzes, you should be at 70th percentile. I was sceptical of this at first but it was very accurate for me. I consistently scored Q48-49 on practice mocks and scored Q48 on the actual test.

Moving on to the verbal section, the critical reasoning section was the best for me. The pre-thinking concept is a game changer when solving CR questions. These questions can get very tricky at the higher levels and pre-thinking can help you really ace those questions. The instruction is clear and concise and the course is neither too short nor too long.

I didn't make much use of the RC/SC sections so I can not comment on that. I will however say that you will find the SC portion very useful if you are a non-native English speaker with somewhat moderate/poor skills with the language. It is almost impossible to develop an ear for the SC questions (unless you already speak/write really well and read alot). If that's you, I'd highly recommend the structured approach of the verbal section.

That being said, I didn't make much use of SC for myself since this was not a problem area for me.

I have some other general advice for any test taker:

1) DO NOT SKIP the error log. It is one of those things that you wonder why you are wasting your time on it (especially when time is short!) but is extremely useful and will help you study methadically

2) The EGMAT Quant section is harder than the actual exam by a fair margin. This is a GOOD things as it prepares you very well for the actual exam and helps with both timing and accuracy

3) You should spend 80% of your time learning concepts and mastering those and only 20% of your time doing practices and mocks. Repeated mocks will NOT improve your score meaningfully. If you have an accuracy problem > master the foundations. If you have a timing problem > master the foundations!

4) On the verbal section of the exam, draw a 5 x 5 grid (like an excel sheet). The top row should be labelled A, B, C, D, E and the first column should have 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Make three of these for all 30 questions. As you read the SC questions, use grammatical errors to identify and cross out 3/5 choices. These will leave you with two choices. This is where it gets harder. If you can't find grammatical mistakes anymore, chose the more elegant solution (which may not always be the shorter solution!).

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