Before I say much about the E-Gmat course, I will give a brief account of my current circumstances to provide better understanding about how the E-Gmat course was well suited for me. I am a working professional with almost 9 years of experience. The reason I mention this is that I had not given a standardized test for almost 9 years. Hence, getting back into the game and striving to get a score needed a lot of effort since I had forgotten most of my high school mathematics and didn’t have the sharpness of a younger mind. Moreover, I have a full time job so I needed to make time for preparation on top of my professional and personal commitments. This may not be such a big deal for many but since I was starting from scratch on a lot of the GMAT concepts, this meant a great deal of cognitive flexibility on my part to come out of my professional “work life” mode and into my ‘test taker” mode.

In my opinion, this is where the real strength of e-Gmat lies. e-Gmat is a course that is ideal to suit an online preparation format. Right from the system architecture to the feedback methods and various analytical tools provided, the system was perfect for me since I could not give fixed times of study every day. The advantages of online preparation are the flexibility with time and pace of the courses and e-GMAT executes this perfectly.

Firstly, the e-GMAT course material is designed in such a way that it tests your prowess in all the GMAT concepts from time to time to save as much time in preparation as possible. Always take the test, whether they are diagnostic tests, practice quizzes, application files… etc. The e-GMAT system is designed in a way that rewards success in the course by reducing the time spent on concepts we are aware and rewards failure by making sure the concepts we are weak in get sufficient attention. This is very evident from the Quant portion of the e-GMAT system.

The Verbal section of the e-GMAT system is quite unique. e-GMAT’s meaning based approach to SC is definitely the best in the market. It brings all the concepts of grammar, logic, and vocabulary together in a concise and precise manner and all the application files make sure that we understand and apply this method well.

The RC method is a bit lengthy I feel. The whole idea of making summaries is worthwhile but seems a bit time consuming in the exam environment. I feel this aspect needs a lot of practice from the student’s side. Although in all honesty, this approach did help me get out of my totally blank approach to RC.

This brings us to CR, the real mindbender. While e-GMAT advocates an effective method of pre-thinking, its application though challenging is fine-tuned by Scholaranium. I think Scholaranium is a wonderful tool which provides a lot of good feedback for the student. No one is perfect at Scholaranium so do not expect perfect green bars with 90 percentiles in everything. It’s a tool improve score. Hence, use it extensively, attend to the weak areas again and again. That’s what Scholaranium is there to do, build foundations out of failures.

Finally, the Sigma X mock tests are quite accurate in their representation of the GMAT. In all honesty, my GMAT experience was quite humbling. At the start, we are all heroes in our own stories. Hence, we believe that we are infallible and expect 800 right off the bat. The Sigma X mock tests helped me come back to reality and understand the challenge but the analytics behind them was the real help which showed me how to take a successful test. I think what many students fail to grasp is that the GMAT is more of a test of planning your failures rather than concentrating on your successes. This is what the Sigma X mock tests can catch and show well through its data analytics.

Overall, the e-GMAT course is definitely the best for an online mode of preparation. It was the best for me with my busy schedule and numerous activities. Finally, I would say it was a marvelous experience and a joyful journey. Thank you for all the help, e-GMAT team.

Read More

My tryst with GMAT began less than 6 months back. I was not confused with which training program to opt for as I have been around friends who spoke very highly of e-GMAT and dedicated their scores to its Verbal course. I immediately signed up, and I took up their Quant course as well since I saw that their Quant 2.0 xPERT AI promised a score of Q49+ for those with the ability. The following paragraphs aim to highlight the specific reasons why and ways in which e-GMAT has worked for me and is sure to work for most non-native speakers of English.

Though my entire education has been in the English language, as would be the case with most people who pursue GMAT, it was important to know that my control over the language is quite different from that of an average American professional. With that in mind, I started the e-GMAT course with a Sigma-X Mock Test and scored a 640 (V33, Q45). I reached out to the support team and they shared a Personalised Study Plan (PSP) with me, taking into account my starting sub-sectional scores across Verbal and Quant, and the amount of daily time I was willing to dedicate to the preparation. Note that one does not have to do this to get an effective PSP in place - the website is built with a feature where one can create their own PSP by inputting the aforementioned data.

e-GMAT broke down Sentence Correction modules quite effectively and the course was structured in a very non-intimidating way. I did not have to deal with any complicated / complex grammatical terms that most other courses use. e-GMAT helped me approach SC questions in a very simplified way. The meaning based approach that they teach works every single time. Furthermore, the in-house of team of experts offer video solutions to most questions and that is pure gold. They take the time to dissect the question stem, effectively identify the errors and carefully eliminate misleading answer choices. I owe my SC ability entirely to e-GMAT's approach and video-solutions.

CR has always been a difficult sub section for me to get through. I realised that one's abilities need not be high in all sub sections to score in the 90th percentile (overall) on the test. If the ability is high in all other sub sections, then a 90th percentile is possible by ensuring that the ability is reasonably good in the weak sub section. My improvement would not have been possible without e-GMAT's "Pre-Thinking" approach to literally all CR question types. Every question in the course takes the time to effectively teach this approach. Once you get a hang of it, it becomes hard wired and intuitive while solving any CR question. It makes you a better thinker for life!

The reading strategies that e-GMAT teaches are crucial for a good RC score. I would not have been able to perform well in RC had I not religiously followed these reading strategies. They also build your confidence to deal with any passage irrespective of what it speaks about. As an Engineer, I was uncomfortable with Humanities passages. As an Indian, I was uncomfortable with passages based on American Politics. I could effectively deal with both types by following the strategies taught by e-GMAT.

Coming to Quant, I don't think there is any other course out there that gives you hyper specific data on your performance on quizzes and tells you what to takeaway from it. The difficulty level of e-GMAT's quant is reasonably high and rightly so. Neither the OG nor the Official Mocks are a true representation of the difficulty level one faces in the real test, at a Q49-51 level. The course is built in such a way that there are summary slides for every concept in every sub section so that the student can revise specific areas efficiently instead of spending excess time in redoing modules.

Sigma X Mocks are a very accurate representation of one's abilities. The Official Mocks usually have a 30-40 point error margin but the Sigma X Mocks have a 20 point margin only. Further, Sigma X Mocks pretty much simulate data in an ESR fashion, with specific data across sub sections and overall too. Pro tip: hide the per question timer on the Sigma X Mocks as the main exam does not have it. This tip will help you manage time better - a crucial factor that can give or take 20 points on the overall score.

MOST IMPORTANTLY - I have to thank Archit who was my mentor in the LMT (last mile training) program. e-GMAT chooses who to take in in this program, based on the student's dedication and performance across quizzes and Sigma X Mocks. Archit was super patient with me and helped me draft specific cementing plans that helped me bridge the gap in CR. He was my go-to person for everything related to the GMAT. Archit also helped me prepare for IR and AWA with some essential pro tips without which I could not have scored perfectly in these two sections.
Having this one person to consult with and be answerable to has definitely helped me work through day-to-day targets and pick myself up on days when I felt demotivated or defeated. Many, many thanks to e-GMAT for building this program!

TLDR: e-GMAT is the best test preparation program out there. My satisfaction level is through the roof and I would not change a thing if I were given the opportunity to do so. Be diligent and hardworking, and e-GMAT will incentivise you with the LMT program. Once that happens, you can be sure that you will score in the 90th percentile. Special mention to Rajat, Payal, Harsha, Shraddha & Stacy for the super insightful webinars they host on YouTube (they are free to attend for anyone).

Read More

My GMAT journey has been super long. I purchased my first set of GMAT resources in 2018 but struggled to prep with my job.

In March 2020, I purchased Egmat on the recommendation of a friend and I can guarantee that it was the best decision I made especially when it comes to Verbal!

The Verbal SC course is very well structured. The Meaning based approach though looks simple is very profound. I came across the other common approach - Splits approach - which many coaching institutes and courses teach. But I found EGMAT's approach much better. The RC and CR courses are very well structured too. The animations help register the concepts really well.

On the Quant side, one thing that I found extremely unique on EGMAT is the concept of "Process Skills." They have bucketed the processes we do while solving any Quant problem. This really helped me during my optimization phase.

Coming to Scholaranium - this I can say is THE most amazing part of the whole EGMAT platform. After a long journey trying many resources for practicing questions, I had to come one full circle back to EGMAT because of their amazing SCHOLARANIUM 2.0. It gave me clear insights about my weak areas and that helped me bump up my score

The support from EGMAT team is great. I reached out to DJ that I have my gmat in 10 days and he helped me with a clear specific plan of what to do. The plan was detailed to the level of what specific sections of the course I should be revisiting. I didn't have to think much and just execute. Overall it has been a phenomenal experience!!

PS: While I took GMAT online, I am not sure if that is the best option. I had a really bad experience because on my IR section there was a bug. The proctor had no clue and kept time running. And I lost 8-9 min out of 30 min. GMAT club has many other similar horror stories. So just take that into account. What I hear from few folks is that if you use a wired connection instead of wifi, the experience is better - but am not sure how does that cause/not cause a bug!

Read More

Egmat is great for Verbal. I improved from 31 to 41 in Verbal using the SC meaning based approach and the CR pre-thinking approach. The approach for Sentence Correction is the BEST I have seen in the market.
The course is a bit intensive, but once you have your basics clear, Scholarium and Sigma X mocks are a blessing. So, I would recommend this course if you have the patience to go through the material and basics and revisit those as needed.
GMAT Club + EGMAT is enough for preparation as sometimes the Egmat explanations are too complex, I would look at alternative ways in GMAT Club.

Read More

E-GMAT was a excellent resource in my journey to 750 GMAT score. Few things that I specifically liked:
1. Methodological and step by step approach
2. Well designed course structure. Process of test, learn and practice was particularly helpful
3. Great content; learning videos might be tad bit long but getting a good verbal score do need that prep and e-gmat has done excellent job in getting the content solidified.

I'll recommend e-GMAT to anyone who has a plan to ace the GMAT, as it has the necessary resources irrespective of the level of the candidate appearing for the exam. It can help you fill conceptual gaps, have enough practice and gain test readiness all in one package.

Read More

I took the GMAT online test in July and ended up scoring a devastating 590! I was shattered. I did not know what went wrong. I immediately wrote to e-gmat team. They sent me a set of questions to analyse what really went wrong during the test. They also looked into my schoranium data to figure out what were my weak areas. And I figured out that the test anxiety really got over me. My schoranium scores showed that I had the ability, but I got very very nervous during the test which ruined the entire test!!
I took a day off and started over again. I looked into where I lacked. I followed the instructions given to me by Aditee (from e-gmat). Her detailed feedback really helped me to work on my weak areas. For example - I was not doing great in boldface questions in CR. In SC, I was always going wrong in comparison questions. I identified and worked on the questions from specific topics I lacked. And Scholaranium data helped my identify my weak areas!!
How E-GMAT course really helped me --
Starting with the Master Comprehension Course , I learned how to pause at specific points , read slowly and comprehend the meaning while reading. This technique really helps while comprehending long sentences!! Sentence Correction module is just mind-blowing. It is my favourite part of the E-GMAT course :) It teaches the meaning based approach, which actually helps to solve the 700 level questions. With just the grammar rules, one can solve the lower level questions, but for solving the higher level questions, one really needs to focus on the meaning of the sentence. Pre-thinking approach taught in critical reasoning module works wonders. It is difficult in the beginning to pre-think, but once you are able to pre-think, you can solve a question very easily.
The Scholaranium is a great tool to know your strengths and weaknesses and work on them. Please look at what the data is telling you!! If you are taking more time in solving a modifier SC questions, it means you need to go back to the modifier module and fill in your concept gaps. This is how I used the scholaranium to identify and work on my weaknesses.
I took the GMAT online test again in September. This time I kept two things in mind. 1) TRUST YOUR PREPARATION 2) IT'S JUST ANOTHER TEST, NOT THE END OF MY LIFE :) And I scored a 710 :)

Read More

I joined e-GMAT after looking at the reviews online and talking to people about it. I gave their diagnostic mock and scored 650 (Q47, V32).

After this, I followed their Verbal and QA course rigorously for a month or so based on my sectional requirements according to me. After my second mock, I was offered the e-GMAT Last Mile Program, which is a 1 to 1 mentoring program. This is where I came in touch with Archit, who studied my performances till date and came up with a 4 week plan to tackle my weakness (specifically SC). In the time to come, I created different error logs, revised them and solved questions in the form of quizzes regularly from the massive pool of questions from the Scholaranium 2.0 of e-GMAT. These questions are very similar to what we face in the actual exam and the best thing is the explanation that follows.

Throughout the course, there were different techniques that I learnt about; pre-thinking, reading strategies, process skills etc. to name a few. Then come the Sigma-X mocks. These mocks are a good representation of the actual test in the sense of their choice and difficulty of questions. These were helpful to gather insights after each milestone of preparation completed.

Talking about the mentorship program, Archit was there to help me with personalized plans and videos throughout the main month of my preparation. SC was one of the weak points in my preparation and he pointed that out, followed by a plan of action to tackle it. He identified QA to be my strength and suggested steps to bolster my score there to the maximum.

Lastly, I'll recommend e-GMAT to anyone who has a plan to ace the GMAT, as it has the necessary resources irrespective of the level of the candidate appearing for the exam. It can help you fill conceptual gaps, have enough practice and gain test readiness all in one package.

Read More

Background
I didn't know what the GMAT was comprised of before Dec'20. I had appeared for CAT before but I had very low confidence on my Verbal ability. Working full-time, I was really concerned about the selection of a right platform that could help me achieve a good GMAT score and that would allow me to do so at a self-determined pace. A few of my friends, who have already excelled at GMAT recommended e-GMAT, and I started my journey in Dec'20 with the e-GMAT online intensive course.

Approach
e-GMAT course has been structured to identify the areas of improvement right from the beginning, so that a huge amount of time could be saved using the detailed analysis of each of the subtopics. Each of the subtopics of both Quant and Verbal is structured around a three-step learning process: (1) concept, (2) process, (3) GMAT skills. This method allows one to be certain of the readiness to move to the following step, and to calibrate the time dedicated to each subtopic in a very personalized way.

Platform
The Scholaranium is an excellent platform which is unique of any product out there. It provides as many metrics as one can imagine to identify the process flaws and knowledge gaps at a very detailed level to know exactly what to do to improve. It keeps track of the results for the different levels of questions. With Scholaranium, one can design custom quizzes and can even choose at the subtopic level! Especially, one can design a quiz comprising only of Medium and Hard-level questions on any topics within each sections of Verbal or Quants. The explanation of how questions should be solved correctly and in a timely manner is very detailed and allows one to identify what went wrong or to confirm a correct.

Sigma X Mocks
I found the Sigma X Mocks to be closest to the actual exam. The adaptive software makes the experience very similar to that of the GMAT. From my own personal experience, I can say these mock exams even have more difficult questions than the GMAT, which allows one to be confident that when preparing for this hard questions, one is for sure covering the difficulty that will be find in the exam. In my best Sigma X Mock I scored a 730 (Q49 V40) which translated into a 730 (Q49 V40) in the real exam.

My study mentor: Archit
Perhaps the most important thing that makes e-gmat different from the other platforms is the support that one receives from the mentors. My GMAT mentor, Archit, helped me formulate the study plan and helped me at each and every step, whether it was identifying the weak areas during the concept building exercises or it was analyzing the various GMAT mocks to identify the corrective actions.

Read More

When I had applied to the ISB YLP, I wasn't expecting even a Round 1 shortlist. It was only in Round 2 that a GMAT score was required. When the shortlist email came, my first thought was panic. I had exactly 2 months and 3 weeks before the August 31st deadline. I started researching about the best way to study for GMAT in 2 months - with a goal of crossing the 700 mark somehow.

First Impressions :
I tried the e-GMAT free trial for a week. What sold me instantly was the pre-assessment quizzes for each individual topic. For example, if I wanted to study Absolute Values, I could give a short pre-assessment quiz of GMAT type questions to check my ability. This saved a lot of time later on as well, where I could just skip/skim through topics whose questions I could solve.

SigmaX Mocks :
I gave my first free mock, where I got a 510 (Q30 V31). That immediately pointed out to me what my weaknesses and strengths were. I had to work on Algebra and Sentence Correction questions. I was doing okay in Geometry, CR, and RC. After I finished analysing this mock, I bought their course, because the clear direction it gave me (in terms of my weaknesses) was invalable.

Learning/Teaching Approach :
The learning approach e-GMAT follows feels very scientific. They first measure your current ability, based on which they recommend modules for you to study, finally follwed by a post-assessment quiz which shows you your improvements. Their focus is on increasing the ability to solve GMAT type questions first, not on general accuracy - which is a great metric because ability automatically improves accuracy in the Medium-Hard questions.

Verbal :
Their verbal is a bit lengthy if you follow every single video. While it did help me visualise the sentences better and break down what the question was asking, I personally could skip many of the basic lectures and complete only the guided question solving files.
For someone with low confidence in verbal, it will help you visualise the problems GMAT throws at you in a more structured manner, and approach it in a step by step way. I would recommend the course with great confidence. Also, note that questions in verbal seemedto me harder than actual GMAT questions/

Quant :
The subject I had to spend a month perfecting. It took a long time but again, the structured approach to teaching it helped me immensely. The best thing is that they take questions that are so similar to what the GMAT expects you to solve, due to which you're not wasting time doing unnecessarily easy/difficult questions in the beginning.

Summary :
After 2 months of prep (3-4 hours a day), I finally got a 690 (V39 Q45). I will be giving a second attempt soon, and will continue with e-GMAT. Go for it if you (a) want to maximise a short prep time by focusing on only some topics in depth, or (b) you have 6 months at hand and can utilise their course completely. In eiter case, you will see improvement - I am sure about that.

Read More

Hi everyone,

I am writing this post to walk you through my GMAT journey in the hopes that you might find it useful. At the very onset, what I have written is not meant to be prescriptive. It is a record of my experience with the GMAT exam and how I prepared for it - if, through this post, you can find even one idea that helps you in your journey, I would have done my job of giving back to the gmatclub community. I have broken this story down into three parts: 1) choosing a study plan, 2) preparing for the GMAT, 3) leading up to the test and the test experience.

Before that my daily schedule (high level):

Wake-up: 6:30 am
Sign-in at work: 8:00 am
Sign-off: 6:00 pm.
Work Out and Dinner: 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm.
GMAT Prep - 9:00 pm - 11:30 pm

Choosing a Study Plan
I decided to take the GMAT in May this year, hoping to apply to business schools by the first round of deadlines in September. I knew a few folks who had already taken the GMAT, so I reached out to them to learn about their prep journey (read quite a few posts from the gmatclub - all very helpful) - a few suggested Manhatten Prep, some suggested Math Revolution, and some others suggested e-GMAT. Everyone who suggested the e-GMAT course raved about its verbal infrastructure and how that was especially important for non-native English speakers.

I chose the e-GMAT because of its strong verbal infrastructure. I knew I had a comparative advantage in verbal over the others, because of my background in public policy. I develop and analyze policies for a living, so CR and RC are, in a way, a part of my job. I had also done my research and knew that breaking the 41/42 mark on the Verbal section in the GMAT exam increases your score substantially as long as you are hitting a Q48/49. Since my undergrad is in economics and I also do a fair bit of data science (for fun), my quant skills are decent. So I wanted a course that could complement my existing strengths and help me break the V41/42 threshold. I set a V45 target for myself.

Before starting the course in June, I took an official mock test to see where I stood. I started with a 650 - Q44 and V35. I realized I was relying too much on my instincts on SC. And while your instincts can serve you well (depending on how strong your foundations are in verbal), they won't take you too far when you start getting those hard (>700) type questions. My accuracy on >700 SC questions was abysmal, and I knew that was holding me back. e-GMAT treats SC like science and breaks down each sentence into various components - one then analyzes each component independently to see if they fit together well. Does the meaning of the sentence make sense? And if it does, does the grammar fit well into it? Once you can comfortably answer those two questions, picking the right answer becomes easier.

Preparing for the GMAT
I input my mock test scores on the e-GMAT diagnostic report and they gave me a plan for the next three months. I tweaked that plan to suit my own goals. So through the course of the three months, I spent 70 percent of the time on Verbal, understanding the "science-like approach to sentence correction" and 30 percent of the time on Quant.

For SC I started from the very basics - what is a sentence and built on my prep from there. For every module, e-GMAT starts you off with a pre-assessment quiz. This tells you where you stand before taking the module. Then after you complete the module, they do a post-assessment quiz to show you how far you have come. The "pre-assessment, prepare, and post-assessment" structure was very important for me since I got to see my progress daily.

I would study the module, take the post-assessment quiz and then attempt 10-15 OG questions daily. Once you complete each module on the e-GMAT in its entirety, you can take "cementing quizzes". These quizzes are there to test how far you have come and how well you understand the concepts you have studied.

For RC and CR, I read 4-5 articles a day from the economist on topics I was not used to such as geology, and other sciences. I did not dedicate as much time to learning the basics of RC and CR but spent a lot of time doing mock questions daily. In addition to the 10-15 SC questions, I would do around 3 RC and 10 CR questions daily. You will notice as you read more your RC and CR automatically improve. That said, if you are not a reader then e-GMAT does have some very helpful tips on tackling RC and CR too and they follow the same "pre-assessment, prepare, post-assessment" structure here.

For quant, I focussed predominantly on the word problems section since they make up for the most number of questions on the GMAT. The section is broken down into topics, and each topic starts from the basics. Once you are done with the concept file, you take post-assessment quizzes and see how well you understand the section. I would often couple my preparation with about 20 questions from the OG daily.

Leading Up To The Test and The Test Experience

Through the course of my prep I took four mock tests:
June (before starting my prep) - 650: V35, Q44 (official test 1)
July (mid-July, a month into my prep) - 740: V42, Q49 (official test 2)
July (last week) - 690: V38, Q47 (official test 3)
August (1 week before my test) - 720: V41, Q48 (official test 4).
I never attempted the AWA or the IR sections of the official mock tests. I would suggest you do. Doing so will give you a good sense of the entire exam and how long it takes. Also, IR and AWA can be tricky for some people, and you don't want any surprises on test day. My third mock score threw me off a little bit, but my performance was a function of how I was feeling that day. I had not slept well and was tired. It is important to know what you need in terms of prep for test day to be your optimal self. In my case, it is a good night's sleep and a light breakfast. Another important factor (for online test takers from home) is to prep on a whiteboard with markers. Make sure you are comfortable using a whiteboard before test day. Using it for the first time on test day can be detrimental to your performance. I started working on a whiteboard 2-3 weeks before my actual test. Small things, such as the smell of the marker, being used to erasing after solving 2 or 3 questions, getting used to the feel of the board, etc. may seem minor but can prove to be useful on the test day.

My actual test day was alright. I logged in 15 mins before the test was scheduled to start. The proctor checked my room through the camera and performed the formalities and I was on my way. My last tip to you would be to start your exam with your strengths. The GMAT allows you to structure your exam the way you like. Always start with the section you are good at. That sets the pace for the rest of your test. Imagine not performing well and moving onto the next section - you are already demoralized. So you might not be your best self in a section you would otherwise ace had you been happy and confident. Now imagine starting strong - you are happy and confident with your performance so far, you move to your relatively weaker section but because you have done well so far, you perform better than you would have as a disappointed test taker. That is the approach I take - does not mean it is correct.

Remember, the GMAT is just an exam and you can take it multiple times (ideally you would not have to but not doing well is not the end of the world). Also, it is just one of the many factors in a bschool application (assuming you are applying to bschool). If you don't do as well as you would have liked, IT IS OKAY. Be honest in your preparation. Be kind to yourself. And you will do well :)

Final score - 760: V47, Q48, IR5, AWA6

If you'd like to talk more about the exam, my prep, or just get to know me better, feel free to connect with me on Linkedin - www.linkedin.com/in/pratiquekain

Read More