Brand New to GMAT Club: Veritas vs Kaplan

Question

Hi

How's everyone doing? I'm brand new to the board, and I need some advice. 

A quick background check on myself: I'm 22, just graduated college (Virginia Tech), and working at my first job (sales). I have no wife and no kids. My work load is fairly light. 

My goal is to score 720+. I am prepared to do whatever it takes to get that score. I am currently studying the Kaplan 2003 GMAT book, and I've also heard some good things about Vertias Prep. 

The million dollar question: Are the GMAT courses worth the money? If so, which one should I choose - Veritas or Kaplan? 

Thanks a bunch!

Lee

kidderek · Answer

This is a question that can be answered using the "search" function or with a few questions:

1. Do you have discipline to follow through with a self-structured course of study?

2. (To a lesser extent) Do you have the ability to teach yourself?

3. Are you smart? What was your SAT score? Did you take a gmat diagnostic (not kaplan or any of the other ones that use scare tactics to sign up)?

The course that you will pay about $1000 for is less valuable than the knowledge you can attain here at gmatclub.  That is a fact.   

If you care to do well, read all the stickys and go from there.

leeye84 · Answer

Thanks Derek!

1. I can discipline myself as long as I have a very structured study plan. What the plan is? I don't know and need help. 

2. I teach myself all the time. No problem there.

3. SAT: 1430. I haven't took a GMAT diagnostic yet. 

I will first take a diagnostic test. Then, I would need to create a structured study plan. What's a good way to set up a study plan?

artshep · Answer

84,

I can address one of your questions - Kaplan vs. Veritas.

First, I have taken Veritas. I have not taken Kaplan. However, I know many who have taken Kaplan - none of them seem to be very happy with it.

On the other hand, most of those I've spoken to who have taken Veritas are very satisfied with it - myself included.

My conclusion is that Veritas is a much better choice than Kaplan. The instruction is more focused, instructors themselves are better, and Veritas program itself is more "cutting-edge" than Kaplan.

I'd be interested to hear which you choose.

kidderek · Answer

1430 and you wrote "haven't took?" kinda inconsistent there.

Anyway, if your three statements are true, put aside about $500 for books and test fee. The rest you can use to celebrate when you score 760+

Some must have books:
Princeton Review
manhattan gmat
OG
OG quant
OG verbal

skip kaplan, everyone hates em and they don't introduce anything new.

For CAT's (practice exam), you will have two GMATpreps, 4 PR CATs and a couple Manahattan, this is more than enough.

Your study should begin with reviewing all test related concepts/formats/etc. Learn the format of the test inside and out. Then learn all of the concepts that are tested. This should take no more than a month. After that, do regular practice exercises and at least a CAT, once per week. The OG is your bible for practice and the GMATPrep is your God for experiencing the GMAT, before the real GMAT.

Read other people's experiences and structure your own plan of study. It will inevitably be altered as you go along depending on your pace. 

Ideally, a 3 month plan is pretty good. But with a 1430, you will probably need less time.

Tuneman · Answer

Your insinuation that GMAT/SAT scores are equivalent to "smarts" is more disturbing than his grammatical mistake.

I wouldnt skip kaplan. I also would disagree that everyone hates them since both this site, and the majority of reviewers like the kaplan books and practice tests.

kidderek · Answer

Whoa, you're making leaps and bounds there. Who said correct grammar has anything to do with smarts?

False. Do a little more research before you make statements like that.

nbooky · Answer

I took classes from Veritas but not Kaplan.

However, I have reviewed materials from two Kaplan sources extensively:
(1) Lessons from Kaplan GMAT CD-ROM: Note that this is not the CD-ROM from the Premier program book. Kaplan sells a software suite consists of 4 CD-ROMs: GMAT, LSAT, GRE and SAT all in one package. The GMAT CD-ROM has computer video lessons on each type of GMAT questions, review materials, exercises and 4 CAT exams. Personally I found the video lessons useful as it is like a having a teacher teaching skills in a class.
(2) Strategies from Kaplan Premier 2007 book.

Both are good materials and the strategies covered are pretty much the same.
However, the CD-ROM has some drills kind of like in-class exercises.
Which one is better depends on personal preference.

Now for Veritas: In general, there are a set of strategies everybody cover. For example, for CR-type questions read question stem first; for RC understand the gist of the passageâ€¦etc. There are some stuff I learned from Veritas though: like SWIMMER, advanced math and logicâ€¦etc. I believe some other programs also talk about SWIMMER (Manhattan?).

The most I appreciate on Veritas is that they hire only instructors at 99-percentile. Some had commented that good test takers do not necessarily be good teachers, which I totally agree. However, I would argue I donâ€™t need to pay if I am just learning the fundamentals â€“ all these were covered in good materials like Kaplan. I got my money worth for observing these instructors tackling advanced problems â€“ these are techniques not covered in any books. For example, they use shortcuts to get to answer quicker, techniques to spot tricks by GMAT test writers, methods/their gut feels to eliminate incorrect answersâ€¦etc.

Note that I am already very familiar with the techniques and type of questions before taking Veritas. Veritas do cover every one of them. Personally, I found the advanced techniques are the most useful to me.

By the way, many people here also recommend Manhattan GMAT prep. I â€œthinkâ€

CrazyHorse · Answer

Since you scored well on the SAT, and learn well on your own, chances are you'd be fine with self-prep. I would at least start that way and see how you do as you practice.

The Kaplan 2003 book is too old to be that useful, really. Get the latest materials. I would recommend Princeton Review (Cracking the GMAT) over Kaplan, though. The tests are far better and are very similar to the official GMATPrep tests. IMHO PR and GMATPrep are the best tests to use. The Official Guide is a must for practice questions.

And definitely check out the forums here for help and more practice questions.

KLmets · Answer

I agree that for you, self-prep is probably enough. It depends on your learning style though.

I graduated from Rensselaer (a tech school as well!) and had a 1510 on my SATs. But I ended up taking a course anyway (with Manhattan Review). It was mostly because though I knew I could do well on my own, the instructors and a structured studying regime is very useful to me. It motivates me more, and since I've already put in the money for it, I study harder to make sure that I get the most out of the money. It's mostly a motivational tactic for me though.

In addition to the suggestions above, I'd recommend Manhattan Review books. Like I said, I took my course with them, so those helped me a bunch. I've also heard things about Kaplan, good and bad, so I'm not sure what to believe on that. Though from my experience, they are more useful if you need to brush up on your fundamentals as opposed to fine tuning your score. Either way, take a diagnostic test and evaluate your studying habits. I'm sure you'll do fine though as long as you are committed. Good luck!

junkbondswap · Answer

If you received a 1430 SAT score why did you attend a b-team school like Va-Tech? Poor academics and even worse football program...haha GO BC!

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