Veritas Course: How good is it?

Any suggestions on the best site to get the Manhattan series? I couldn't find it in Barnes & Noble.
Also, about how much does it cost?
Thanks!

If you are motivated, disciplined, have basic quant skills and are a native english speaker - and I am not trying to be condescending - then you would be wise to save your money! even if you aren't a native english speaker... save your money. If you are not disciplined and need structure imposed on you... then a course is probably for you. I would bet dollars to donuts that many of the 700+ folks on this board never took a prep course... and got their high score through hard work and determiniation.

I took the Veritas course and was really disappointed in their instructors.
The only plus side was you get plenty of problems. A big negative is alot of the problems are from old GMAT tests that you might have seen before etc... it is not like Kaplan where they actually design the problems, Veritas just buys other people's questions.

They give you tons of practice tests (Veritas, ARCO and 800score) but I think 800score is bullocks and The one Veritas CAT I took was about 140 points off from my average score... so ..... i think their CATs are garbage.
The website is nice and the lectures on the website are decent (maybe you just want to pay for the website only package)


I honestly don't know what I was expecting from a prep course; I imagine they are all the same or worse then Veritas. I just wanted to make sure I was doing everything I could to get the best score.

My last three CATs have been 720 & 730 (PowerPrep) and 730 (800 score). I do not credit Veritas with these high scores (I started the course with a 640 or a 630 on GMATPrep) instead I credit my hard work (2-3 hours a day working on problems) and studying non stop...

I was very happy with Manhattan Number properties, Word Translations, and Sentence Correction. NP & WT were very basic... but at the same time they helped me bump my Q score up 2-3 points at least. I only have 4 weeks until the GMAT but I am contemplating buying the rest of their series of books.

IMHO, Pr Cracking the GMAT was pretty useless for me - it is just a cursory glance of what you will be facing on the GMAT. Depending on how many hours you want to put into studying... you might want to just skip it. Buy all the Manhattan books. do every chapter twice, and take one of their free CATs every week.

Thanks for the advice, anonymousegmat!
I'll look into the Manhattan series. I've already bought the new PR 2008 ed., but I'll admit I did it more for the access to online tests and more practice questions. I figure since I bought the newest version, I can resell it and get something ($$) back from it after I take the GMAT. Plus, I have read many good reviews about it on this forum.
I guess what you said about the discipline is where I've got to work the most. I work in a full-time management position, am a new father with a 4-month old son, and volunteer as a Den Leader for the Cub Scouts, so I am trying to design a plan of attack to ensure at least 2 hours of study per night.
Is there anyone out there in a similar situation who can give me some pointers that have worked for you in your GMAT prep?
BTW, I also don't study Sundays, so that's a lot of ideal weekend time lost...it's a personal choice for religious reasons, and following it hasn't failed me yet!
Keep it in mind, though, as you share your thoughts and advice with me!
Thanks in advance!

Simon,

Just to give you a heads up:

In all honesty, busting your butt for the GMAT is only the start of a multiyear process of busting your butt in grad school. So I think you should really think about whether this is the right time in your life for it...
I hear that grad school isn't like undergrad... all programs are different (i.e. executive programs = your job is buying you a much more expensive but easier diploma but the workload is generally tougher, and you are expected to do a lot more work "on your own" outside of the classroom. Do not be surprised if your professors expect 10-15+ hours of work a week out of you per class. Do not be shocked if your reading list includes multiple texts. While the work will be more engaging and interesting than GMAT prep, you should expect more than 2 hours of work per night; so if you are finding it difficult to make time for GMAT prep consider the possibility that your time crunch will be magnified when you actually get into B school

Thanks for the tip! I've looked into exec. ed., but I don't really like the structure, to say the least.
I do want to start my MBA soon, especially before I have more kids because I know that life only gets more hectic from this point on. I know I can handle the load because I always worked full-time while keeping full-time status in school. For my MBA, however, I will be leaving my job to pursue an opportunity I feel will act as a launch pad for my long-term career goals.
I realize the 2 hour commitment will probably change from finding 2 hours to spend on out of class work and trying to scrape up that much time for family!
That's why I'm seeking prep advice now; I know once I'm in b-school there will be only one speed...and that's full speed ahead!
Thanks for the advice, and I appreciate any other advice the forum can offer!