GMAT Strategy

Hi there,

I am in Washington, DC and looking for any advice that can be provided in regards to the in person courses mentioned in the title.

A little background on me, I last took the GMAT in January 2012 and attained a 620 score with a 6.0 on the writing portion. I took an Online Kaplan course and was rather careless about it, as I was also a Senior in Undergrad and prioritized that over GMAT studying. So, I am looking into doing a Full or Complete in person course, because seeing someone every week or other day will give me more incentive to go, AND I hear that complete course instructors generally care much more about guiding students through the process.

Anyways, I was hoping someone/anyone could provide insight between the two programs. Has the quality of Manhattan gone down since they were acquired by Kaplan? I've never heard of Veritas before last week, do they have strong reviews? Is there a preferred brand between the two? The main reason I'm not going to Kaplan is from the poor experiences I've had with them in the past. Instructors that I would be choosing between are Marcus Hedahl (Manhattan) and Anthony Ritz (Veritas). The searches I've done have given me a few reviews on each, but hoping someone has encountered either of them in their GMAT past (or currently).

If this is in the wrong forum section, I apologize and have no issue moving it.

Thanks!

This is the right forum for your question!

I am glad that you learned of Veritas. In the past 12 years we have worked with over 50,000 students!

It is fine to ask people if they know about a particular person but the verified reviews on Beat the GMAT and GMAT Club are a more trustworthy source. Those reviews are from actual students who were enrolled in the Veritas or M-GMAT course. When someone responds to a posting like this, it is hard to tell if they have taken the course or not.

I searched for reviews on GMATClub to see what people had to say about Anthony. There are 10 reviews of Anthony and it looks like they are all five stars out of five. Here is the link. https://gmatclub.com/reviews/instructor/ ... -345345515

Beat the GMAT does not group reviews in quite the same way so you have to look for the particular instructor but no doubt you saw the review of Anthony's class posted April 13th -- it is the 4th most recent review right now on Beat the G. https://reviews.beatthegmat.com/veritas- ... ull-course

Here is just the beginning of the review,

"I have just completed my Veritas program (March - April), instructed by Anthony Ritz, and found this program INCREDIBLY helpful.

I found out about Veritas through a friend who previously took the program (who scored a 740). He told me how this program was exactly what he needed to make him get the score that he did eventual receive. I of course was skeptical, and a little intimidated, however, now that the class is complete, I can say with utter confidence that I feel significantly more prepared for the test - and ultimately agree with my friend. I have my test scheduled for later this year and feel much more prepared for the test."


If you are still undecided you can go to Anthony's first class session for free. Ask him some questions before or after class. Our goal is to help you get the score that you need and we want you to sign up if our class is a good fit for you. Here is the information on the free trial class. https://www.veritasprep.com/gmat/free-trial-gmat-class/

Great info from David. The general opinion is that both of those courses are excellent. I would examine differences in their offerings to see if one feels like a better fit for your needs as a high scoring retaker.

Thank you David and Thomas for the replies. I had read the GMAT Club reviews, and my biggest concern was that there were only ten reviews, thus I came here. A little more information on my score breakdown, on the "old" GMAT, I got a 32/64% on Verbal and a 43/64% on Quant for a total of 620/70%. I know Quant is where I am stronger (scored a 740 on the SAT Math portion), so I know that score will increase. Are both programs well rounded, content wise, or do they skew in one direction? I look at other scores posted on here and most people have stronger Verbal sections, so I am curious to know if the books skew Verbal, or if Verbal is easier than Quant.

Thanks!

Hi Rich, they briefly mentioned the change in my late 2011 Kaplan online course, but I have not experienced it myself. I have not taken an updated CAT either, so I don't know where I am at now. I'll look into doing this today!

David@VeritasPrep wrote:This is the right forum for your question!

I am glad that you learned of Veritas. In the past 12 years we have worked with over 50,000 students!

It is fine to ask people if they know about a particular person but the verified reviews on Beat the GMAT and GMAT Club are a more trustworthy source. Those reviews are from actual students who were enrolled in the Veritas or M-GMAT course. When someone responds to a posting like this, it is hard to tell if they have taken the course or not.

I searched for reviews on GMATClub to see what people had to say about Anthony. There are 10 reviews of Anthony and it looks like they are all five stars out of five. Here is the link. https://gmatclub.com/reviews/instructor/ ... -345345515

Beat the GMAT does not group reviews in quite the same way so you have to look for the particular instructor but no doubt you saw the review of Anthony's class posted April 13th -- it is the 4th most recent review right now on Beat the G. https://reviews.beatthegmat.com/veritas- ... ull-course

Here is just the beginning of the review,

"I have just completed my Veritas program (March - April), instructed by Anthony Ritz, and found this program INCREDIBLY helpful.

I found out about Veritas through a friend who previously took the program (who scored a 740). He told me how this program was exactly what he needed to make him get the score that he did eventual receive. I of course was skeptical, and a little intimidated, however, now that the class is complete, I can say with utter confidence that I feel significantly more prepared for the test - and ultimately agree with my friend. I have my test scheduled for later this year and feel much more prepared for the test."


If you are still undecided you can go to Anthony's first class session for free. Ask him some questions before or after class. Our goal is to help you get the score that you need and we want you to sign up if our class is a good fit for you. Here is the information on the free trial class. https://www.veritasprep.com/gmat/free-trial-gmat-class/

Hi David,

I was hoping you could provide some insight on why Veritas does two 3 hour classes (or 1 6 hour class) a week for 6 weeks? I noticed that Manhattan does one 3 hour course a week for 9 weeks, so I understand that more classroom hours come with Veritas, but just curious if there is a specific trend MGMAT or you guys have seen that led to the structuring of the course.

Thanks!

Hi David,

I was hoping you could provide some insight on why Veritas does two 3 hour classes (or 1 6 hour class) a week for 6 weeks? I noticed that Manhattan does one 3 hour course a week for 9 weeks, so I understand that more classroom hours come with Veritas, but just curious if there is a specific trend MGMAT or you guys have seen that led to the structuring of the course.

Thanks!

I am sure that either format will work but you asked for the reason why we structured the Veritas course the way that we have...so here you go.

You are correct, the difference is 36 classroom hours versus 27. Those extra nine hours allow for a more in-depth look at subjects like data sufficiency, probability, advanced verbal, etc.

Each week features a Verbal Reasoning class and a Quantitative Reasoning class. The six week time frame is a balance between moving slowly enough to allow time for homework and quickly enough to keep students progressing toward the examination.

More in class hours, a good pace that allows the student to move through the subject matter and begin practice tests. And of course the six week course is really only the beginning. There are lots of resource such as office hours, video explanations of homework problems, and the most practice tests, all of which are available long after the class session has ended.

Hope it helps!