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Joined: 22 Apr 2004
Posts: 1117
Given Kudos: 59
Location: Southern California
Schools:Kellogg MBA 2004
Re: Veritas Prep Course Review
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02 Mar 2010, 10:39
Hi smuroach,
Thank you so much for the thoughtful, in-depth review!
I was a little surprised about your comments re: the course lessons being shortened, since we take the "42 hours" promise VERY seriously. That doesn't mean that a class might not end early by a few minutes here or there (if a class has covered everything for the night, we won't hold you hostage!), but if an instructor is consistently cutting off a class after barely two hours, that's not the Veritas Prep way. In fact, one of the challenges with our revised course curriculum -- which we launched one year ago -- is that our instructors sometime say that 42 hours isn't enough time to get through it all!
If you don't mind, PM me. I'd like to find out more. In the meantime, we went back and checked the student reviews for our past few Dallas classes, and found no complaints about class frequently being let out early. But, please do contact me so I can learn more, because we take things like this very seriously.
Also, I wanted to share some thoughts re: the way we structure our books. There are many ways to prepare the GMAT, but our experience has proven that this learning style works best for nearly every student. We very consciously frontload our lesson booklets with strategies, and then we buttress those with our original practice problems. By working through actual problems students can immediately segue from theory into practice. Consequently, we rely heavily on our instructors to treat each practice problem like a mini-lesson. Students can test whether or not they truly understand the proper strategic approach. Otherwise, it is too easy for students to simply nod along with a false sense of security.
Our pedagogical philosophy mirrors many successful mathematical learning models, and one of our founders has honed this approach for nearly 20 years on high-performing LSAT and GMAT students. Finally, because our lesson booklets are so comprehensive, it's easy to underestimate how many pages we devote to pure strategy.
Anyway, I'm glad you had an overall great experience with Veritas Prep!
Scott