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# GMAT Club Veritas Book Review

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GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink]  05 Aug 2010, 19:14
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This thread will be an overview of the Veritas books. I will not read every word and complete every problem, rather I will go through each book and provide an overview of the book. Both positives and areas for improvement. Disclaimer: All posts in this thread will be reviewed by a representative from Veritas. While we have no issue pointing out shortcomings in the books, we would like to ensure our posts regarding the books are FACTUAL.

Veritas book set:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/193624 ... 1936240165

Initial thoughts:
Very comprehensive set (read:HEAVY). There appears to be at least one book for each subsection, and then two books for sections that give people more trouble (i.e. SC). The set comes with a simulation test booklet and marker. This is key to getting the "feel" for the GMAT environment.

At this time, there are 9 reviews on amazon and all extremely positive.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html? ... ive=390957

Depending how this thread goes, some of these reviews may be posted on amazon as supplements for the current GMATClub.com review.

Feel free to post any specific questions here. I or a rep from Veritas will respond accordingly. Note: As I will be reviewing the books in the order they are packaged, if you ask about a later book, I will not answer it until I reach that book (but someone else may answer your question).
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GMAT Forum Moderator
Status: Accepting donations for the mohater MBA fund
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Location: United States
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GMAT 1: 710 Q48 V38
GMAT 2: Q V
GPA: 3.54
WE: Accounting (Manufacturing)
Followers: 56

Kudos [?]: 533 [1] , given: 234

Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink]  20 Aug 2010, 07:29
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Book 0 review: Veritas Prep Math Essentials

The book starts out with a diagnostic test that consists of 48 questions. It does not say to complete it in a certain amount of time, but I would recommend you allocate about 90 minutes for it. One of the biggest mistakes is solving problems without a time limit. Browsing the questions, there was a big mix (definitions, algebra, geo, graphs, etc.) The pre-test questions also appear in ascending difficulty (much like the OG). Like the OG problems/GMAT, there are answers in the problems that follow common mathematical mistakes (you can complete the work, think you have the correct answer, but a common mistake led you here and VERITAS knows it).

The subsequent sections cover the topics in the order seen in the diagnostic test. Many of the definitional issues (and shortcuts in algebra) are covered throughout the book. Each section has a post test to cover the topics covered. Draw back: explanations were not always given. The content appeared to be sufficient to figure out where the misstep/confusion resides, but that may not be true for all people. This is true across the drills and in book exercises (not consistent where explanations are given vs where explanations are not given). Explanations were given more often then not.

Some noted strengths:
word translation section appears solid (as an intro. There is a later book on word problems). Given this is an intro book, there is a limited supply of advanced problems (later books are labeled "Advanced" or "(section name) 2"). Lots of sidebar notes (i.e. triangles always show up). These sidebar notes supplement the section in question and provide some strategy to the topic. Later problems in the book may combine the current section with previous sections.

Some noted weaknesses:
Sometimes steps are skipped (factoring does not show all the steps for simplification). Shape sections (triangle and quadrilateral section) are a bit thin as an intro. I will follow up on this when I get to the geometry book. The upside is the sidebar notes provide insight and importance of these sections. No mention of combined shapes (a triangle or pizza slice shape embedded in a circle or semi circle).

Overall:
Excellent intro for the quant section. Provides a solid framework on what is needed and what areas may require additional attention. I give the book 4.5 out of 5
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GMAT Forum Moderator
Status: Accepting donations for the mohater MBA fund
Joined: 05 Feb 2008
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Location: United States
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Schools: Ross '14 (M)
GMAT 1: 710 Q48 V38
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Kudos [?]: 533 [0], given: 234

Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink]  02 Sep 2010, 03:37
Book 1 review: Veritas Prep Arguments

- Intro to the GMAT structure (time, # of q's, score layout with spread (GMAC chart), etc)
- CAT aspect of the test
- Veritas lists out it's strategies for aspects of the verbal section (note: Veritas mentions one of its strategies as "fool proof". This is a very risky statement (always be wary of absolutes))
- In depth background on the concept of "arguments" (going back to the Greeks). This is a bit awkward. For people with little social science background, this can be a bit confusing. The book seems to be written for an instructor led class (will comment in the end of all reviews if this recurs through many books).
- Provides some definitions on the types of arguments and how the argument applies (single, universal, etc.)
- Good breakdown on identifying parts of an argument (syllogism)
- Good intro with some examples on syllogisms
- Book seems to jump rapidly between topics (RC/CR/DS/etc). Later books are fixed to verbal or quant, intros seem to jump around to provide a clear intro to everything before getting to detailed content.
- Good intro to using logic (including Venn diagrams, word translation (for DC), etc.)
- Mentions common pitfalls (i.e. extreme words are almost always incorrect on the GMAT, difference between logical response and opposite).
- Answers are all in the back of the book (as opposed to following the section the problems are in. I do not like this as sometimes the numbering convention is repeated between different types of problem sets (in lesson problems vs lesson drills)
- CR is covered the most in this book (followed closely by RC)
- In lesson problems are GMAT type problems and definitions. Drills at the end are mostly definitions.

The book appears to be written for an instructor led course when compared to the previous book, Book 0. Much more high level stuff some people would not connect to the GMAT without an instructor.

Overall: I give the book 3 to 3.5 out of 5

26 problems:
11 in the lessons
16 lesson drills
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Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink]  02 Sep 2010, 03:55
The review for veritas was in my To-Do list, and I apologize to break in between your review. But after reading your solid reviews for first two books, I must say nothing left from my side. You have reduced my work.

Thanks Mohater
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Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink]  02 Sep 2010, 07:11
Great reviews mohater..waiting for veritas probability,sets and ds book reviews.....i have heard these parts are gr8 and worth value....
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Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink]  05 Sep 2010, 18:45

Book Review: Veritas Geometry Guide

book-review-veritas-geometry-guide-100377.html

Overview of the book:

Each section in this book starts with review of basic properties relating to figures followed by the application of more difficult concepts with questions. A limited number of topics are tested on GMAT and all the tested topics are covered in this book.

Total questions in the book = 84 (including 5 drill questions)

Pros:

1. Book covers all the topics tested on GMAT like Lines and Angles, Triangles, Quadrilaterals, Polygons, Circles, Volumes and other 3D figures, Coordinate Geometry and many more.

2. Almost all the problems are near to the real GMAT problems discussed in OGs. One must practice from this book if one is not confident after attempting OG problems.

3. Many problems discuss, tests more than one concept, which is the best thing to train your mind.

4. Solution to the problems with diagrams. One can easily understand complex problem with diagram.

5. Important facts and formulas are listed in the book and in case one forgets formula on the test methods to drive those formulas is also in the book.

Cons:

1. More emphasis is given on PS questions; there are very few DS question. I think, there should be more DS questions are many of the test takers fear DS.

2. Only one problem is discussed on one page, I think Veritas should think on how to save trees! Go Green!

2 Mistakes in the book:

There are 2 mistakes I noticed in the book; though both mistakes are printing mistakes I should mention those mistakes here.

1. In the “Lesson Solution” section (on page no. 119-120) figure explaining question no. 26 is given in the solution of question no. 27.

2. Point P is not mentioned in the answer of question no. 65 (page no. 133)

One formula worth mentioning here is,

Central Angle/360 = Area of Sector/Area of Circle

I think this formula should have be added to book as few questions are based on this formula. Though another formula for calculating the Length of Arc (Central Angle/360 = Length of Arc/Circumference) is given in the book, the above formula should also be added for easy reference.

Final note:

When 4-6 questions of GMAT are going to come from Geometry, who wants to take any chance? One must buy this book, if one is facing any problem with Geometry section. Ok, if you believe in marking the book? I will mark this book as 4.5/5 (-0.5 for wasting so many pages!)
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Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink]  05 Sep 2010, 18:55
Good detailed info!! +1

kissthegmat wrote:
When 4-6 questions of GMAT are going to come from Geometry, who wants to take any chance?

Dont agree with this comment, though!!
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Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink]  02 Oct 2010, 10:42
thanks!
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Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink]  03 Oct 2010, 11:33

Veritas Guide – 0 (Math Essentials)

Few days back, I started my journey with Veritas guide – 0 (Math Essentials). The book provides in-depth coverage of the mathematical fundamentals one will see on the GMAT. Everything mentioned in the book is essential to perform strong on GMAT and book is designed to helps you to absorb further tough concepts tested on GMAT.

The book starts with the “Math Essentials Diagnostic Test” that consists of 48 questions and covers almost all the topics. The book is designed to build strong fundamentals of mathematics.

Total questions: 200+ (include examples, drills and many more!)

The Good:

1. Each chapter in the book starts with giving explanation on the specific question types, then in each chapter there are examples making life easy for test takers and finally chapter ends up with about 10 (sometimes more than 10) questions in drill. I think this is the best way to make things easy and Veritas knows this very well.

2. Book covers all the topics, such as, Divisibility, Fractions, Decimals, Percentages, Algebra, Solving Equations, Inequalities, Exponents, Roots, Quadratic Equations, FOIL & Factoring, Conversions, Word Problems, Lines and Angles, Triangles, Quadrilaterals, Circles, Coordinate Geometry and many more topics those are tested one GMAT. Book builds strong foundation for higher score!

3. Book not only gives concepts but also provides general information on the test i.e. how one should tackle this beast – GMAT. “Facts and formulas”, “How your mind works”, “Lazy genius” and “GMAT Insider” on the side-note make book worth going through.

4. Book gives some interesting information, which I think one won’t get in any other book e.g. “in inequalities why the sign must be flipped when dividing or multiplying by negative number”? The book gives answer to this tricky question in simple word. We know that 2 > 1, when we multiply by -1 (minus 1) it results in -2 > -1, but we know this result is wrong as -2 is farther from 0 than -1. So, we need to flip the sign whenever we are multiplying or dividing by negative number. (I confess that I have never thought over this ever!!)

1. Results of Math Essentials Diagnostic Test” should have given some performance level of one, some analysis of results or something like if one has score above 40 out of 48, one is at 600 level etc.

2. More explanations should have been given to the drills. The book has skipped explanations on various drills. I think adding explanations to all the drill questions would have added more value to the book.

3. There are few printing mistakes in the book. On page number 80, in topic “multiplication”, there is a misprint and instead of writing a1 x a2 = a1+2 = a3 , a1 + 2 is written. Also, on page number 124, in question number 9, I don’t think we can arrive at term R = 4/360 in any case (am I missing something?).

The Final Note:

In this book, I can’t complain about the wastage of papers on book as book is packed with information, problems and more problems! Book gives superb introduction for the Quant section and makes one ready for tougher problems. The book is definitely building block of success on Quant section. I’ll give this book 4.5 out of 5.
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Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink]  12 Oct 2010, 23:27

Veritas Guide – 1 (Arguments)

Veritas guide – 1 (Arguments) provides in-depth coverage of the fundamentals one will see on the GMAT. Everything mentioned in the book is essential to perform strong on GMAT and book is designed in such a manner that it will help you to absorb further tough concepts tested on GMAT.

Total questions in the book: 50+ (including examples, drills and practice questions)

Points worth mentioning:

1. The book starts with the introduction to the GMAT structure, how GMAT works, number of questions, timing, score charts etc same as Official guides explains.

2. As the name suggests – Arguments – whole book covers application of Arguments in CR, SC, RC and even in PS and DS. Book details about the types of Argument and how it applies on GMAT. Nothing on GMAT is without purpose!

3. Book not only gives concepts but also provides general information on the test i.e. how one should tackle this beast – GMAT. “Facts and formulas”, “How your mind works”, “Lazy genius” and “GMAT Insider” on the side-note make book worth going through.

4. The book is very much concise (of about 50 pages only) and gives good introduction to GMAT and various logics tested on GMAT.

The only bad point about the book is its price. Book is priced at $30, about 1400 Indian rupee, which is bit on the higher side according to me. Overall book is good and one can go through this book to understand basics and can be good supplement to official guide’s general information section. I'll give this book 4 out of 5. _________________ Senior Manager Status: GMAT Time...!!! Joined: 03 Apr 2010 Posts: 293 Schools: Chicago,Tuck,Oxford,cambridge Followers: 6 Kudos [?]: 48 [1] , given: 7 Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink] 12 Oct 2010, 23:41 1 This post received KUDOS Mohater has already given the review of the two books u mentioning.. try with other parts if possible so that we can have review for all the 14 books.... Retired Moderator Status: I wish! Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 788 Followers: 109 Kudos [?]: 306 [0], given: 33 Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink] 12 Oct 2010, 23:47 sandeep800 wrote: Mohater has already given the review of the two books u mentioning.. try with other parts if possible so that we can have review for all the 14 books.... Have you checked these links ? gmat-club-veritas-book-review-98640.html#p775491 book-review-veritas-geometry-guide-100377.html I'm speaking my views over the book and Mohater spoke his own views. Okay! Now, you can also give your reviews over Veritas guides after reading our reviews!!! _________________ Retired Moderator Status: I wish! Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 788 Followers: 109 Kudos [?]: 306 [0], given: 33 Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink] 12 Oct 2010, 23:50 I'll review all the Veritas guides one by one starting from 0 to 14. _________________ Retired Moderator Status: I wish! Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 788 Followers: 109 Kudos [?]: 306 [0], given: 33 Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink] 06 Nov 2010, 03:24 Veritas Guide – II (Arithmetic) Within last 3-4 days, I have finished Veritas guide – II (Arithmetic). Here are the my views on this book. The books gives insights about the type of arithmetic question can be asked on the test day and are followed by the application of more difficult concepts with questions. Total questions in the book: 110+ (including examples and practice questions) The Good: 1. Each chapter in the book starts with giving explanation on the specific question types, and then in each chapter there are examples making life easy for test takers. Further, some questions are discussed as easy, medium and difficult level questions. After that there are sufficient challenging problems to practice on each question type. 2. Book not only gives concepts but also provides general information on the test i.e. how one should tackle this beast – GMAT. “Facts and formulas”, “How your mind works”, “Lazy genius” and “GMAT Insider” on the side-note make book worth going through. 3. Book covers all the topics, such as, Operations with real numbers, fractions, factors and multiples, ratios, percents, quotient/remainder, rate/distance and work/rate, venn diagram and many more concepts. 4. Book gives insight on the common pitfalls and how to avoid them on test day. 5. I’ve never ever understood and have always confused the difference between LCM and GCF. The book really helped me to distinguish between these two and I hope I will never forget. The Bad: 1. More emphasis is given on PS questions; there are very few DS question. (Remember! There is separate Veritas guide for DS question. I will review that very soon.) 2. In the “Lesson Solution” section there are few misprints (check out solution of question no. 42 and 72 etc) also I think explanations can be made better. Final Note: Those who have read Veritas guide – 0 (Math Essentials) this Arithmetic guide reinforce the fundamentals and give strategies to attack the tougher problems. A must go through guide and I will mark this guide 4/5. _________________ Intern Joined: 16 Oct 2010 Posts: 20 Followers: 0 Kudos [?]: 0 [0], given: 0 Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink] 16 Nov 2011, 11:57 waste of money, I got the books today and don't think can be compared to Manhattan Strategy Guides, for Sentence correction GMAT club and SC Grail. Only plus extra questions but don't worth$300.
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Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink]  22 Nov 2012, 06:39
Just finished the Advanced word problem book, i think it is a tailor made book for those who are consistently breaking the 40-42 barrier but want to push towards 45 and beyond. However it is essentially a collection of questions and solutions. Veritas Prep as come out with an updated set of 12 books (instead of the older set of 15 books) therefore one can pick a used copy of most of their older books for under 10 dollars a pop or buy a brand new one for 22\$ and get 5 free CAT's. It is a great transition book from Strategy guides (MGMAT or VP) to MGMAT Adv quant / GMAT club tests..Their Data suff. book is also filled with some tips and strategy and a good collection of questions (i am yet to do the questions).

What is unique with their NEW SET is that they have come out with an ADVANCED VERBAL book , which sounds good (I have ordered it but have not received it yet). Will write a review of that book once i finish it.
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Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review [#permalink]  29 Nov 2012, 14:55
Is Math Essentials comparable to MGMAT Foundations of GMAT Math?
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Re: GMAT Club Veritas Book Review   [#permalink] 29 Nov 2012, 14:55
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# GMAT Club Veritas Book Review

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