Hey usj:
Thank you for your interest in Veritas Prep! I'm far from impartial on this topic but figured I'd weigh in - I can definitely understand anyone's apprehension about testimonials and reviews wondering "yeah, but are those people like me?". My guess - since it's the BTG review site, a healthy number of reviewers were familiar enough with BTG from self-study before taking a class that they had already earned a fairly high starting point, so we're bound to have a somewhat skewed starting point for that sample (kudos to Eric and the gang for their help in getting everyone there!).
We definitely do help quite a few people get from the 500s (or below) to the high 600s and 700s. My personal record is a five-day, 490-to-710 improvement from a guy named Jason White (not the Heisman winner) back in around 2004 or 2005 when you could take the GMAT once per calendar month and he happened to take one of our one-weekend programs that fell on the last couple days of a month so that he could take the test a day or two later.
Honestly, to a pretty high degree I find starting points to be a fairly inconsequential - a lot of people infer limits from a 520 that they wouldn't from a 610, but without proper preparation neither score is all that indicative of your potential. Somewhat simple things like proper time management (usually gained through proper strategy), awareness of potential errors and pitfalls, etc. can make a huge difference, and without those factors you may be a 650-level student with a 500 score just because you're not enabling yourself to showcase much of your potential.
Long story short - I'd be willing to bet that more of our students start in the 500s than the 600s (a normal distribution bell curve would support that theory nicely) but also that the BTG review section itself is more apt to have higher starting points because, to quote Robert Palmer, the BTG student is "anything but typical" (and also simply irresistible).
Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep
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