The reviews and debriefs on GMAT ClubThe reviews and debriefs on GMAT Club clearly show that when it comes to delivering success on the GMAT, no other test prep company comes even close! Yet, there have been a few instances where some of our prospective students reached out to us because to them both e-GMAT and GMATWhiz seemed comparable and similar.
So, in this article, I will talk about our vision and our success and address some of the aspects as to why these companies are similar, and how we (e-GMAT) are very different. Additionally, I will address, how despite the similarities at the outset, our respective GMAT offerings are very different and how these differences have led to significantly different outcomes.
I understand that many of you may be skeptical given that an e-GMATer has written this post. However, we will try to be as objective and factual as possible. Every claim here is backed by data; data which you can verify independently. Having said that, feel free to report to us if you feel that any information here is misrepresented.
Let us start with the fundamental statement – why do test prep companies exist? They exist for one very simple reason - to help diligent students succeed. This is a very important statement.. why – because no test prep company can help a non-diligent student succeed (after all, we cannot go and take the test for you). Hence, the only way to compare two test prep companies is to compare the success, or in the context of the GMAT, to compare the number of 700+ scores that they have delivered.
Fortunately, GMAT Club through its verified review process, helps you make that comparison. If you look at the data, you will observe that e-GMAT’s students have reported 20X more 700+ scores than GMAT Whiz has.
Note, private tutoring reviews excluded for GMAT Whiz.
Another way to look at this data is that e-GMAT students have reported more 700+ scores in 10 days in August than GMAT Whiz’s students have done in all of 2021.
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Now the next question is – do they have similar number of students? Based on my estimates, we have about 2.5X as many students as GMAT Whiz does. So even when you consider the number of students, we have delivered 7X as much success as GMAT Whiz has.
While you can read reviews on GMAT Club, and see how they were verified, you cannot see the students. On YouTube, you can see these students and then you can go on to LinkedIn and also verify that they are real students. You will find a very similar stat at the respective company’s YouTube channels.
Now, this data above should alone be enough to answer the question – which company is more effective in helping students excel. However, you will get the same answer if you are interested in any other metric. For example, GMAT Whiz claim’s that their average score improvement is higher than that of any other GMAT Club partner. However, if you compare 2021 data, we have delivered 8X (yes, 8 times) as many 100-point score improvements as GMAT Whiz has.
I want to reiterate – all this data is public. Each one of you can go here and verify this data. GMAT Club does an excellent job of categorizing this data by recency. Thanks to BB (from GMAT Club) for keeping this information organized.
Now, after reading other posts, some of you may wonder, how come our success rate is so much better if we both companies use similar methods. There is a simple answer to this:
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1. Similar is not the same.
2. Similarity does not deliver results.
Boston University and Harvard Business School have very similar curriculum and both use the case study method. In fact, both have access to the excellent case studies that Harvard Business Online offers. However, there is no doubt that HBS delivers better outcomes than Boston University does. If similarity in methods and content drove outcomes, then all business schools would have similar outcomes. However, similar is not the same and similarity does not deliver results.
Next, for those of you who are more curious, I also want to talk about why the methods are similar and how does our support compare.
Historical data
Click here if you want to see this comparison since 2016. Click here if you need specific data on number of Q49+ or number of V38+ scores from 2016 to 2021. Why these thresholds – because both are 80th percentile numbers.
This one confuses many people – how come two test prep companies have such similar methods. This is a valid confusion, and we should have addressed it earlier. So, let us first start with why the methods are similar. This is because Piyush, Saquib, and Sunita (founding members of GMAT Whiz) worked at e-GMAT and learned the methods there.
Hence, Sunita and Piyush were trained on e-GMAT’s methods. Note, I am refraining from the legality and the ethical nature of their actions as this is for the legal system to decide.
So, why is similar not the same. Because 1) we continue to refine our approaches and 2) Neither Piyush nor Sunita were senior SMEs. Note, @eGMAT, we have 4 levels of experts and only L3 and L4 are course creators. Both Sunita and Piyush were L1 experts.
Let us take an example – both companies follow the meaning-based-approach. Actually, after ridiculing us for 6+ years, most companies now claim to follow the meaning-based-approach, but no one does it like we do. For example, no one separates the “aspects of meaning” out in the manner that we do. Just this one tweak, makes a huge difference when it comes to helping a 60th percentile student successfully solve 700-level questions.
Similarly, in CR, no one does visualization while teaching Prethinking like we do.
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The concept of normalization does not exist in Magoosh’s learning architecture. The system only knows that you have watched a video but has no means to evaluate (Read more)
Magoosh, on the other hand, follows book-based architecture, where many concepts are taught in bulk. These concepts, primarily non interactive videos, do not contain any purpose-built assessments to evaluate student’s learning. As a result, the system only knows that you have watched a video but has no means to evaluate whether you have truly mastered the underlying concepts. Similarly, the system does not teach you application at this stage, i.e. the equivalent of application files does not exist. Overall, the concept of normalization does not exist in Magoosh’s architecture. As a result, in the learning phase, many students, especially those who start with low abilities, may not be able to improve enough to be able to tackle GMAT Like questions.
Here is another metric that indicates the difference – post to Kudos ratio on GMAT Club. This is not a completely fair metric because it is driven by the kind of posts one responds to but still the difference is stark – e-GMAT has a Kudos to post ratio of 8 while the same ratio for GMAT whiz 0.6. Again, this metric is not as fair as the comparative success metric, but it just goes on to say that similar methods do not lead to the same outcomes and the same shows in community appreciation.
The GMAT is a life changing test. Hence, I recommend that everyone take a free trial and then decide which approach works best for him/her. Go for e-GMAT if you like our approach. Go for GMAT Whiz if you like theirs.
The screenshot shows the SV module in the e-GMAT course. You will observe a few things:
Three are seven learning activities, all dedicated to Subject Verb, amounting to approx. 3 hours of learning. Each of the learning activities has an evaluation score. This score is personalized to the individual. Thirdly, there is practice built into each activity. In addition, there are specific practice quizzes. Lastly, you not only learn concepts, but you also learn how to apply these concepts through a dedicated application file. Your ability to apply these concepts is then tested in the subsequent Practice Quiz (2.7). Overall, you get 3+ hours of learning, 7 personalized feedback points, and 45+ examples and practice questions in Subject Verb.
Here is the corresponding coverage of Subject Verb in Magoosh’s course. Here are a few things you will observe.
First – there are 4 learning activities totaling to 28 minutes of content. These activities are not designed to give personalized feedback, i.e. they have no ability to assess your quality of learning. Next, there are no practice problems during the learning stage. Lastly, Magoosh’s course does not teach application while you learn concepts. In short, this learning architecture follows a typical book-based learning architecture where you learn all the concepts first and then solve questions. Overall, the table below summarizes this comparison.
I would agree to the fact that pre-Dec 2020, our Quant course was not at par with our Verbal course (yet it was delivering success). However, since the release of Quant 2.0, it has outperformed our Verbal course in terms of delivering predictable student success.
Since its launch, Quant 2.0 has delivered more Q49+ scores than any other course has. In the first 7 months of 2021 (Jan to July), our students reported 17X as many Q49+ scores as GMAT Whiz’s students did.
1. e-GMAT – 107 Q49+ scores
2. GMAT Whiz – 6 Q49+ scores
Here is an example of the meaning-based approach. Note two things. The author:
Spends time on identifying the intended meaning and identifying errors in the original sentence.
Uses logic rather than complex grammatical rules to reject answer choices and to arrive at the correct answer.
Here is an example of the splits approach used by Magoosh. Note, here the author:
Spends very little time on the original prompt or on identifying the meaning.
Makes greater use of grammatical rules rather than logic to arrive at the correct answer.
This metric will probably swell from 17X to 20X if we take August to October data. This again proves that "similar content" does not translate to even remotely similar results, expecially when you are looking to achieve 90th percentile or better.
Read the reviews below to understand how the new Quant course has enabled people not only to score higher but also to get there faster. This is a learning architecture that is designed to equally optimize learning for students who start at Q30 and those who start at Q45.
https://resources.e-gmat.com/q38-to-q50
https://resources.e-gmat.com/anant-yt-interview
https://resources.e-gmat.com/varun-yt-interview
Quant 2.0 went through extensive trials. Some of those students were kind enough to provide feedback on GMAT Club. Click the link below to read their feedback:
https://resources.e-gmat.com/new-quant-course
At e-GMAT, support is one of our biggest strengths today. Why, because we realize that preparing for the GMAT is extremely stressful and can get very lonely and this is where we realized that a strong support system can make a huge difference.
Here are a few quotes that you can read about our support team.
One of the first things that this student would have to do is to choose a studystudy plan from this post. The student would have to choose between one-month and three-month study plans. The student would then simply execute on the study plan and hope that by the end of the same, they are able to improve to 730. Here are a few things to note.
Despite starting at a 65th percentile, the student would need to complete the entire Magoosh offering.
The student does not have any idea of the target sub-sectional abilities that the student needs to aim for.
Overall, Magoosh’s offering does provide one path that a 630 scorer (used here as an example) can traverse to reach their target GMAT score. This may not be the fastest way for nor the most optimized way for this student.
As a result, up to 60% of the time that the student spends may yield little benefit; why because this time is either spent on learning content that the student already knows or is spent on practicing and mastering questions that the student does not need to worry about. Let us see this with an example.
Let us take the same student, Rhea, who wants to improve from a 630 to a 730. Rhea will start her learning by building a personalized study plan using e-GMAT’s GMAT Planner. The GMAT Planner takes Rhea’s starting abilities and creates a personalized study plan. The plan is outlined below:
This plan shows precise starting abilities on the left and optimized starting abilities on right along with the time required to complete each sub section. It also includes a sequence in which Rhea will execute her plan. GMAT Planner uses AI to determine the shortest path to that 730 score for Rhea. It is also the path that she is most likely to execute successfully. The fact that Rhea has specific ability targets ensures that she knows when to measure her progress weekly rather than monthly through the tools (ability quizzes) provided by the e-GMAT platform. Rhea also gets a day-by-day calendar.
The planner than outlines the stage of learning that Rhea should start every subsection with.
For example, in SC and CR, Rhea does not need to learn concepts since she has demonstrated that she knows them. The same holds true for Arithmetic. However, in Algebra and Reading Comprehension (RC) she needs to start with the very basics. By avoiding spending time on content that Rhea already knows, this personalization helps her save time.
True to its book-based learning architecture, Magoosh offers generic 1-month to 3-month study plans which may be effective for student starting at a score of 500 but are not optimized for students with 600+ scores. These study plans do not provide effective target abilities nor subsection specific time estimates. As a result, many students may end up wasting useful time either studying content they already know or studying content they don’t need to worry about.
e-GMAT’s GMAT Planner ensures that every student’s study plan is optimized for his strengths and weakness. As a result, every student spends time learning content that will help him achieve his target score in the shortest possible time and not waste time on content that he already knows. In addition, in every sub-section eGMATers work towards optimized milestones. Furthermore, using sub-sectional ability quizzes, eGMATers can validate their progress every week without resorting to taking mocks.
As you read our reviews, you will notice a few things:
A majority of reviews mention support.
Most people do not mention Rajat or Payal; rather they talk about DJ, Atreya, Aditee, Shweta, Stacey, Shraddha, Harsha, etc.- our strategy and subject matter experts
Next, go read reviews of other test prep companies. You will observe a few things as well.
The percentage of reviews that mention support is not as high.
They mainly talk about the company founders
Why is this important? Firstly, because it shows the quality of support. While, every founder will do a good job supporting students, very few companies have support personnel who are passionate about changing lives and driving student success to such an extent that students find them worthy of mention.
At e-GMAT, we have 10 such support people who are keen to help you with your GMAT preparation, no matter what stage or level of preparation you’re at. In fact, we have designed support that is optimized to the stage of learning you are in. At e-GMAT, we believe and have proven that if you are diligent, we will leave no stone unturned to ensure your success.
Let me end this post in the same way I started. No test prep company can make every student successful since (student’s) diligence is a prerequisite of success. The only reason a test prep company exists is to make diligent students successful. Hence, the only way to compare two companies is to compare the number of students they have and compare their respective successes. GMAT Club provides one such forum where you can compare the success delivered by companies and when you look at the numbers, you will conclude that e-GMAT has mentored 20X as many successful journeys as GMAT Whiz has. Even when you account for the difference in # of students, that number is probably in the 7X to 10X range.
I invite you to spend some time on our free trial. Do the same for other companies as well so that you can compare apples to apples. Also, ask if a company provides a predictable path to success. Note, no company can make every student successful (especially if you are not diligent) but in this day and age, companies should be able to tell you (i.e., through metrics) whether you are on the path to success.
Do let me know if you have any questions about e-GMAT or the data presented here. I will be happy to answer the same.
Happy Learning!
Rajat
How do we compare to Magoosh? Here's a comparative analysis!
"We're happy to help you with questions you have about any of our material. You can use the "Help" tab on the Dashboard or email us at help@magoosh.com and we'll usually respond within 1-2 business days. We do have limitations to how much we can help any individual student, but in most cases (for 99% of students), we can answer all of your questions!"
The excerpt above is from Magoosh’s pricing page. Support at Magoosh is designed to be transactional. This means that when you have a problem, you write to the Magoosh’s team and they respond withing 1-2 business days. Now, this is the mode of interaction regardless of whether you have a study plan related doubt or a subject matter doubt.
Below is a screenshot from our pricing page. Here are a few things that you will observe. First – this support purpose built: There are specialist teams that help you with your study plans, subject matter doubts, score plateau queries, etc.
Second – we provide support not only on weekdays, but also on weekends.
Lastly, we have a specific support team – Last Mile Push that helps students improve from 680 to 740+.
All support at e-GMAT is not transactional. For example, our students get invited to weekly onboarding sessions. In these sessions, they work directly with our Strategy experts who address any doubts they have about their personalized study plans.
Similarly, our subject matter support is provided through an innovative item-based forum. This architecture ensures that it is easy for you to ask a doubt. It also ensures that 95% of your doubts get answered even before you ask them, saving your precious time. Also, you can bookmark responses to these doubts and revise them on a weekly basis, ensuring you don’t repeat mistakes.
Read this article to learn how our support architecture keeps you motivated and pushes you to achieve your best score on the GMAT.
While both e-GMAT and Magoosh served thousands of students, they offer very different courses and the results that they have delivered are hence very different. Magoosh courses are built on a traditional book-based architecture where there is little feedback and learning whereas e-GMAT’s courses are built on a private-tutoring-based architecture that provides more than 500-points of personalized feedback. In addition, both companies have a very different approach to study plans and to support.
In terms of results, on GMAT Club, e-GMAT’s students have reported 20X as many 700+ scores as Magoosh’s students have (2021 statistic), even though both companies served a very similar number of students in 2021.
