A 5 min read

Pratique knew that if he wanted to ace the GMAT, he needed to focus on the Verbal section. He took a SIGma-X mock test to know which areas under the verbal section will help him improve his score from a V34. In this article, Pratique talks about how by following e-GMAT’s strategic approach, he was able to score a V47 – a 99%ile. You can also watch this video interview with Pratique, where he talks about e-GMAT learning architecture and provides his review on the entire course:

“e-GMAT treats verbal as a Science.”

– e-GMAT review by Pratique

Pratique’s Background – Analysing his strengths and weaknesses

Pratique: “I come from a qualitative background, and a lot of my work is about reading (policy analysis or policy development). So, those CR and RC skills have existed knowingly or unknowingly.  Reading was not an issue for me. However, Critical reasoning is something that I need to get used to. You might be critical thinking, but to look at a question and solve it purposely through a critical perspective, takes a few re-adjustments.”

Pratique took a SIGma-X mock test and scored a V34. Post analyzing data from his mock test, he realized that even though he had a good hold over verbal, he was relying too much on his instincts. The data also pointed out number properties and word problems in the Quant section that need to be revised and practiced.

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Now let’s look at how Pratique targeted the Quant and Verbal section and his strategies to score a 760 on the GMAT.

A Q48 student review about e-GMAT Quant course

Pratique had a strong hold on GMAT Quant section. His foundations were strong, and he scored a Q46 on his GMAT mock test.

Pratique: “As I was born and bought up in India, I had a good foundation for Quant. However, because I had not revisited those concepts in a while and not done the kind of questions that GMAT expects you to know, GMAT Quant was brand-new stuff to me, with some hazy memories from the past.”

Pratique opted for e-GMAT Quant course to score a Q48. Here is what he has to say about the e-GMAT Quant course.

Pratique reviews e-GMAT Quant course – power of data and analytics

Pratique: “There were two things that stood out for me:

• Word problem module
• Number properties module

These modules were beneficial for me, helped refresh my memory about quant concepts, and acted as my question bank. After a point solving quant question through GMAT OG becomes easy and e-GMAT’s questions are a bit harder, which in a way builds your ability to solve hard question type.”

The entire course helps develop your “ability” in hard questions to the extent that solving easy-medium questions becomes a piece of cake.

– e-GMAT review by Pratique

Quant 2.0 – Leverage data to reach your target score

With e-GMAT’s new AI-driven architecture in Quant, Pratique focused on areas that he lacked. It also tracked his improvement and curated a hyper-specific improvement plan. Look at this video to know how xPERT AI can help you reach your target score quickly and reliably:

A 99%ile Verbal scorer review about the e-GMAT verbal course

Pratique was comfortable with the critical reasoning and reading comprehension section. His main weakness was sentence correction. He improved from a V34 to V47 by focusing on his strengths (RC and CR) and weaknesses (SC).

Pratique: “Your instincts can help you solve those 600-700 SC questions, but not the 700+ questions. You might be able to look at a question, and based on how the sentence sounds, you might pick a correct answer. But this only works 6 out of 10 times for medium questions. When you start hitting those 700 questions, the value of the e-GMAT’s SC course structure becomes very important.”

How did Pratique ace the GMAT sentence correction?

“I started the e-GMAT’s SC course by learning the basic building blocks of what a sentence is. I remember the first video I watched was – “What is a sentence?”. The e-GMAT course makes sure that your conceptual knowledge is strong and then tells you how to analyze the sentence critically.”

– Pratique’s e-GMAT review

e-GMAT’s Learning architecture – Sentence correction

Pratique: “The SC module starts with a pre-assessment quiz, which helps you pinpoint your weak areas. Once you know which areas you lack, the course takes you to that course material, tracks your performance, and with the help of post-assessment, lets you know how much improvement you have made. This process is then repeated for each sub-section topics of SC (such as modifier, idioms, subject-verb agreement, etc.).”

The entire process starting with pre-assessment, working through your weak areas, and then post-assessment, gave a structure to my preparation.

– Pratique

Pratique: “The e-GMAT’s learning architecture helps you learn how to break down a sentence into chunks. For instance, you are learning the context, the reasoning for why the context exits, and the Conclusion of the sentence. This is one part. You then move on to the meaning of the sentence. Once all this flows together, you then check the grammar + meaning of the sentence. I never used to think like that about a sentence.”

One of the common mistakes that many GMAT aspirants make is to focus on the grammar of the sentence. Even if the meaning doesn’t make sense, they go with the grammatically correct answer choice, just like Pratique.

How to approach GMAT RC and CR questions?

Pratique: “Depending upon your background, you will always be good at some RC questions. In my case, I was confident about humanities questions. However, if you get that one passage where your interest is not there in the RC section, your verbal scores can be impacted. You can go from V45 to V40.”

Pratique read 3-4 science-based articles (weakness) from Economist every day. He did that for few days and came back to e-GMAT’s RC module to check whether he had improved.

Pratique: “One thing that I learned from the e-GMAT verbal course is that there is this whole process of pre-thinking that goes if you want to crack the SC, CR, or RC section. Once you get used to pre-thinking, analyzing, and then answering the question, you are not worried about the subject matter of the reading comprehension. I was focusing too much on the subject matter of RC rather than structure. The same process follows for Critical reasoning.”

Once you are attempting the RC question, do not be worried if you are spending 3-4 mins on the first question. Take your time to read the reading comprehension. – Pratique

Pratique’s Advice to students who want to score V40+

Focus on your strengths

Pratique: “I would say the first thing that you need to analyze is what your strengths are? A lot of times, we tend to focus on weaknesses and push very hard on them. For instance, if my Quant is at 48, and I know I can reach Q50 in less time than V42 from V36, I would focus on Quant. So, look at your strengths and if you can optimize it to reach your target score.”

Pratique spent 30% of his time on Quant preparation and 70% on Verbal. After analyzing his performance, he knew that he had a stronghold on Verbal, and he had a better chance at reaching his target score through verbal. So, hammer hard on your competitive advantage.

Get familiarized with things you are not used to on Verbal

Pratique: “If you are very comfortable with a 600-700 SC question, then only focus on solving 700+ level questions. There is no point in focusing on something that you are good at.”

Pratique build his ability in medium-hard questions on Verbal through cementing quizzes.

Read a lot

Pratique: “It might be a bit boring to read something that you are not interested in, but the GMAT exam is not going to throw stuff that you are interested in.”

What stops you from improving from 700 to 760? It’s your inability to identify your weaknesses. Our course architecture will help you identify these weaknesses, create a hyper-personalized study plan, and empower you to achieve your target GMAT score. Take a free trial today!