Veritas Prep Books vs Manhattan GMAT Books

Question

Since I am in a unique situation (I own full sets of both Veritas and Manhattan GMAT books), I though many of you may wonder how they stack up. Well, both are excellent resources and are used as the classroom material by their respective publishers (so you are ultimately getting what you would get in the classroom minus the instructor) but they are not the same.

Overview of VERITAS Books:

- A total of 15 guides (8 Math, 6 Verbal, AWA, and a test simulation booklet)
- Includes a math refresher and 14 topical guides
- Guides are intermingled (not my favorite way of studying). It goes like this: Arguments, Arithmetic, CR, Algebra, SC.... I prefer to focus on Math or Verbal and drive it home (but this is me)
- The set comes in a nice box; all of the guides are printed on excellent paper with very luxurious covers (gold logos/leterring is embossed)
- The spacing is weird; in many situations there is only 1 question per page, so a 150 page book could easily consist of 25 pages of theory, 100 quesitons on 100 pages, and 25 pages of explanations; one word of advice - don't solve the questions in the books or on the margins. On teh real test questios are presented on the monitor. Try to use a separate sheet of scratch paper.
- 5 online CAT tests are included when books are purchased directly from https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#-prep-books/ (as of 10/5/2011)
Price: $299

Veritas Strengths:

- Practice questions. Every one of the 15 guides is packed with practice quesitons
- Includes a sample of the official scratch paper (test simulation booklet) with a marker; $15 value
- Includes a math refresher with the set: $16 value
- Naming is straighforward. Algebra, Arithmetic, Sentence Correction, etc). I felt MGMAT's naming strategy of Number Properties, Word Translations, and VIC'S (what are those?) were confusing for a firt-timer and not very clear which books to get if buying ala carte
- Fresh questions; you probably have not seen them on forums/etc since these books have just been published
- Decicated book on AWA (this is usually a low priority for most test takers but still a nice touch). Surprisingly this book has additional CR and RC questions, so don't discard it if you think you don't need AWA practice

Overview of Manhattan GMAT Books:

- A total of 8 guides (5 quant and 3 verbal)
- All of the books refer to the Official Guide for the bulk practice; good if you have not solved throug the OG 12 but it sucks if you already did
- Additional practice for each of the 8 books is available online
- Package comes with 6 practice tests
- Guides are distinctly split into the Math and Verbal
Price: $122 (originally $193)

Manhattan GMAT Strengths:

- Though there are fewer books they seem to be more packed with material, esp books such as Number Properties and Word Translations
- 6 Online CAT tests
- Closely tied to the practice questions in the Official Guide
- Price ($122 vs $299)
- Coverage of DS throughout vs a dedicated DS book (probably not a big deal/difference but I felt having DS interspersed was better)

Bottom line: the Veritas set feels more complete (it has the test simulation booklet, AWA book, Math refresher, and a dedicated DS book). It would also be nice to have a reference to the OG 12 for additional practice (though you can use GMAT Club's guide to the OG). Finally, the price at 2.5 times that of MGMAT (and half the cost of Knewton class) seems to be a tad high. The big value and play I see from the Veritas set is a resource for those who are retaking the GMAT and need a new fresh source of strategy, questions, and inspiration. If you wanted to have more than the 5 tests provided with Veritas Books, you can buy just a single MGMAT Guide and it will provide you with another 6 tests.

I welcome your questions and feedback!
Also, some unboxing photos of the new VeritasGuides

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BigBrad · Answer

Fantastic overview and presentation BB of Veritas' professional looking guides. The packaging alone is enough to make me want to purchase these books

. I've already bought the Manhattan Guides and Kaplan Premier book but still need to refine my quant skills. Is there much overlap between the 5 MGMAT quant books and the 8 Veritas ones? I'm looking to definitely get the following Veritas books to fill the gaps left by MGMAT: >Data Sufficiency >Combinatorics & Probability >Statistics & Problem Solving Do the remaining Veritas books add anything extra to what is covered in the Manhattan books i.e. are they also worth getting or is this overkill? >Math Essentials >Arithmetic >Algebra >Geometry >Advanced Word Problems & Quantitative Review Thanks a lot BB!!

bb · Answer

Thank you. You are asking a bit of a hard question but I will try

1. There is obviously overlap in concepts that the books cover but it is important to note the following: 1.1. Veritas books seems to go more in-depth on topics 1.2. Even though there is an overlap, the books have completely different practice questions, explanations, chapters, and often approaches. So, if MGMAT did not work for you, Veritas may 1.3. I have not gone through every problem and question of the books but my feel with Veritas was that they almost went a little too far (which is probably good but a few of course will complain that they had to learn something extra - yes, what a tragedy :rolleyes). My suggestion would be, give the MGMAT books another try and if in a day or two you see that they are not doing it for you from the perspective of approach or you have exhausted all the questions, then by all means get the veritas guides

BigBrad · Answer

Thanks again BB for the great info, really grateful. At the moment I can't afford to purchase all 9 Veritas quant guides but I would be happy to get a good number of the books as long as they add to the knowledge I've gained from the MGMAT guides.

The problem is I can't find any detailed info on the contents of each book. But I think it is safe to assume that the three Veritas books ("Data Sufficiency", "Combinatorics & Probability" and "Statistics & Problem Solving" books) would offer a new approach for me as the Manhattan guides don't go into too much detail. So I will get these. I am tempted to get the Veritas "Advanced Word Problems & Quantitative Review" but fear that its content may be very similar to MGMAT's Word Translations.

Out of the remaining 4 Veritas books, do you think I am right in assuming that:

>Veritas "Math Essentials" book is adequately covered by MGMAT's "Foundations", "Number Properties" and "Fractions, Decimals & Percents" books
>Veritas "Arithmetic" book covered by MGMAT's "Foundations", "Number Properties" and "Fractions, Decimals & Percents"
>Veritas "Algebra" book covered by MGMAT's "Equations, Inequalities, VICs" book
>Veritas "Geometry" book covered by MGMAT's "Geometry" book.

By 'adequately covered' I mean the concepts/theory are basically the same in both books, clearly the standard of questions in each book will be different.

n2739178 · Answer

is the Vertias word problems book good?

TheMB · Answer

Regarding the MGMAT CAT tests. If you buy one book, you already get six tests. So if I would buy two books separately I would receive two times six tests? Or eight times if I order the the entire box set? Or do you have to register and can do this only once?

I'm kind of confused...

I'm kind of confused...

whiplash2411 · Answer

TheMB: You get six tests irrespective of how many books you buy. They are the same tests, but if you buy the books separately, you might be able to let someone else utilize your tests if you keep the code intact. If you get the set of their books, you still get only 6 tests. I don't think it's 6 unique tests per book.

jordanhendrix · Answer

I had both as well, used each set heavily, in my opinion MGMAT wins, I did reach for Veritas to help with personal knowledge gaps that Manhattan happened to be light on (SC, Combinatorics etc)

Veritas goes VERY in depth about DS. Which is great considering MGMAT does not.

Both of these sets together can be a very power, yet expensive, combo

kissthegmat · Answer

I think Veritas Probability and Combination book is unique! MGMAT don't have any such book. But then only few questions come from P&C!! Also, Veritas has separate guide for AWA, overall I like the Veritas guides.

danielle771 · Answer

thanks for the post. I an a beginner and i intend taking the test once and scoring high, which of these bks should i buy, veritas or manhattan that would be most helpful?

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bb · Answer

Well, the first post was kind of addressing that... you won't be making a mistake with either.

cano · Answer

bb, I don't think you wanted to make this on purpose but after reading the first post one can get the impression that the Veritas Prep books don't use DS questions outside the specific book. Actually, on all other books (Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Combinatorics & Probability, Advanced Word Problems and Quant Review) PS and DS questions are interspersed, but you will get ONLY DS questions in the DS book, and only PS questions in the Statistics and PS book (excluding the Statistics problem set that contain some DS questions). I think it's really good that you get a specific book to address DS tackling techniques. But you get to practice DS before while studying every section.

I wouldn't say having the math and verbal books intermingled is a disadvantage . They are numbered this way because the classes follow that order. But if you use the books for self studying, of course you can study them in the order that you prefer.

bb · Answer

Thank you Cano!

I checked the books and there are actually DS questions mindled in other books (just a handful but they are there)

qweert · Answer

To build on the foundation and basics, what would you suggest bb? I think the MGMAT practice tests are great, but i'm not really sold on their books!!!

bb · Answer

Sure, I have prepped with Kaplan books and I think those were great for my needs (not as detailed as MGMAT but I probably did not need all those details). Did you find something that worked well for you?

StudyOn · Answer

I'm planning on taking the exam in a month, and am currently enrolled in Veritas Prep with the books. I've also been working through the OG guide. I was wondering if it's worth it to get the MGMAT guides in addition to the prep I'm already doing, or if the work will be confusing/redundant. Right now my weakest areas are sentence correction and data sufficiency.

Let me know if I can provide any more info. Thanks

jsteuer4 · Answer

StudyOn, I am trying to decide which Online Prep course to take either Veritas or Manhattan? Reviewing the two: Veritas offers more full length tests than Manhattan with more "unlimited" telephonic support. Otherwise, they apply to be very similar. Do you find this to be true? Would you recommend Veritas to one of your friends?

rjkaufman21 · Answer

I'll chime in with my experiences and thoughts as well. I initially purchased the set of eight mgmat books and worked through most of them on my own. I was also planning on registering for their class but in the end decided to enroll with veritas Live online in order to gain new strategies, practice problems, and tests. I'm a little more than half way through the class so far.

I actually disagree with bb a bit. I feel that the mgmat books are more thorough in their explanations and in laying out strategies and concepts, whereas the veritas guides feel more like workbooks to me: basic explanations followed by a ton of practice problems.

Overall I think I like the manhattan guides better, the math guides especially the numbers properties guide were very helpful to me, when I first started studying my math was pitiful. Also the mgmat practice tests are much better than the veritas ones. Yes veritas gives more but only 5 are written by them, and none of them are as good as the manhattan ones.

What I do like better about the veritas books is the dedicated ds book and the combinatorics book. A caveat: the practice problems are divided into assorted problems which are easy to mid level and constitute 90% of the practice questions, and challenge problems which make up about the last 10%. in the ds book all of the assorted problems are very easy even for me and math is my weak point.

But the best thing about the veritas books is the number of additional practice problems. whereas manhattan only has drills after every chap, and their practice problems are just the og problems.

Last thing I'll mention, I don't recommend the veritas live online class. I don't know how the in person classes are but in my class we work directly from the books. We basically go through the opening sections of the books page by page, the teacher may as well be reading it to us. There is very little student involvement because there are over 40 people in the class. Also I was under the impression that there would be a moderator present to field text questions, but there isn't so the teacher has to stop and verbally answer every question, it's very frustrating. IMO it is more efficient to just buy the books and work through them on your own, it's faster and wastes much less time. I can't comment on the mgmat classes but I'm quite unsatisfied with veritas' classes. I do recommend the books however for anyone looking for 100s of extra practice problems.

jsteuer4 · Answer

Thanks for the great suggestions and comments. It was interesting to learn from two different people that they take most of the class time reviewing homework and that prep books are mostly easy to moderately difficult practice problems. Just FYI I decided to go with Manhattan. Thanks again

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Posted from my mobile device

rjkaufman21 · Answer

Yes good point I forgot to mention that the first hour usually of every class is dedicated to answering homework problems. To me this feels like a waste of time because at most I would have a question about 1 problem per book. I found the forums here to be a much better resource for answering those questions because you get various points of view and various methods to solve the problems. Besides that veritas has email and phone support so I really don't know why they waste so much class time. Let us know how manhattan treats you. Good luck.

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