GMAT Strategy

Hi, I am doing a lot of research before I take a GMAT PREP COURSE and I was wondering if any of you have taken a class with VERITAS in 2010 or 2011? I read the reviews for them in beatthegmat.com and they have fantastic reviews but the more I read about them in other forums and google reviews it seems to me like they are operating an unethical business.

Could someone please clarify if their teachers are really as good as they've promised and if their study guides are any good.

Thanks.

Hey Khorsani,

It's great to hear that you're considering a course, and hopefully some students will weigh in with their experiences.

Since I'm pretty familiar with those negative claims online I felt compelled to say something here. If you notice how similar the language and tone are in pretty much all of those negative reviews, regardless of city or class format, I think it's pretty safe to infer that they all come from the same place. "Fraud"; "Phony"; "Operating fraudulently"; "Owner is a spoiled rich kid / beer family"; etc. - they all strike that same tone, and I'm confident that they all come from the same author (who will probably post in this thread, actually!).

It's sad, because that manufactured negativity has definitely served its purpose - I'd be pretty skeptical about paying money for a service for which that kind of publicity exists - but I hope that you'll continue to do your research. One of the primary reasons that the folks at Beat the GMAT created that "Verified Course Reviews" page here is to give students a better reviews resource that guarantees that reviews are authentic. And if you are thinking about a Veritas Prep class, please note that most of our 7-week Full Course schedules include a Free Trial option via which you can attend the first lesson free of charge so that you can meet your instructor and determine for yourself whether the experience is worth paying for, so please do take us up on that.

Hey dude, PM me if you want. I will give you a honest review. I switched to grockit. Much much better and cheaper.

I actually did do not do any research at all when I picked them and I still haven't so I think my opinion won't be tainted. I can give you my personal experience.

Brian,

Just because it comes from the same source doesn't mean its not true (I don't know if it is. Again no research. My only "research" is I actually used it). You guys need to clean up.

Brian,

Can you please tell me how you hire your teachers? And I've read that you provide practice tests that are not yours? Can you please explain. Thanks.

I would caution anyone against PM-ing any particular person. That is why the verified course reviews were created to give a balanced perspective from verified students.

Hiring is done via an exhaustive process. I have personally interviewed students in the New England area of the U.S., (Boston, etc.) And a candidate does not even make it to that stage until they have scored in the 99th percentile on an actual GMAT AND made it through a round of interviews with the staff at headquarters.

After a person is hired they are not given a class right away - they have to go through many hours of training first. Again, I have trained several instructors who first served as assistant instructors in one of my online courses. I have them teach several problems and provide them with advice/ feedback. Seeing a veteran teach is also very valuable experience. Instructors have to constantly meet standards at all times.

It is interesting that their is a rumor that Veritas is lax in hiring instructors. Does that make any sense to you? Veritas is a top company and our reputation depends on our instructors. Believe me when I say that the way we select our instructors matters more to us than it does to anyone!

Yes I totally made this account for the sole purpose of sullying Veritas' rep. Please.

Intellectual dishonesty in the field of education is where I draw the line. The most positive spin I can put on my experience is that you guys are overzealous on your marketing claim. It is what it is.

I think you forgot to answer his second question. Where do you get your CATs from?

David, here's the two PM you sent me when I asked you about questions from your CAT:

1) "We did not write these, we purchased them and they are being edited now. No way to explain them."

2) "The diagnostic quizzes are in need of editing. The full CATs are generally better. The GMATLife and the "Simulator" are good. The question you have cited is not good. I disagree with the "official" answer."

FYI, the question you referred to in quote 2. That's from the full CAT.

People make mistakes. Errors occur. Big deal. But how you guys as an organization respond to criticism is more telling. Own up to your stuff. Nuff said.

There's actually an few interesting articles from the NY Times about the psychology of generation Z. We as a generation were coddled by our parents and raised on lies/half-truth to "protect" us and we are reacting to that. As a generation we are more sensitive to lies/half-truth, almost to a rebellious level. We are sensitive to the slightest hint of the appearance of deception. While your generation are more accepting. That's where your future customers are going/at. There's a big gap in the level of tolerance for empty marketing claims between your generation and ours. Think about that before your respond to my post.

To people who are bashing Veritas Prep, if you had some understanding of economics you won't make this claim. I haven't taken Veritas Prep but what I am going to say is pure common sense.


Veritas Prep chargers 1500$ for its flagship course(more than Manhattan GMAT).

How do you think it is doing business in more than 50 centres worldwide. Are people fools to pay such fees ? If it was fraud it would have been out of business long ago.

I went for couple of cheaper options and was ripped off badly. Thats what motivated this post.

Besides your pejorative tone and total disregard for the actual arguments people have, your reply is ridiculously pointless.

If u like it then use it. By your logic, the Madoff fund, Lehman, and AIG should be solid investments. Now I didn't say they are fraud but the things I've seen and directly experienced irk me. They are not so head-and-shoulder above others that I will patronize that dishonesty.

Where was your common sense and understanding of economics when you got ripped off on the other options?

AbhiJ wrote:To people who are bashing Veritas Prep, if you had some understanding of economics you won't make this claim. I haven't taken Veritas Prep but what I am going to say is pure common sense.


Veritas Prep chargers 1500$ for its flagship course(more than Manhattan GMAT).

How do you think it is doing business in more than 50 centres worldwide. Are people fools to pay such fees ? If it was fraud it would have been out of business long ago.

I went for couple of cheaper options and was ripped off badly. Thats what motivated this post.

Hey khorsani,

Sorry to take the whole weekend to get back to you - I was up in Portland from Friday to yesterday running the "Hood to Coast" relay race (200 miles from the highest point in Oregon to the ocean...I highly recommend this race for anyone who can make it!).

To your questions about Veritas:

1) Our hiring process consists of three steps. First, we conduct a telephone interview with selected candidates whose resumes impress us and fit our needs. Second, we invite those that excel in the first interview to join us for an online, teaching-based interview in which they teach a few problems to us in our online classroom. I personally conduct the first and second round interviews, and look for the following attributes in those that I advance to the next rounds:

-The basics - 99th percentile score, teaching experience, etc.
-A real intellectual curiosity about the GMAT and about helping students conquer it. It's one thing to know how to do the questions correctly; it's a much higher level to have thought about it from the testmaker's perspective. Those applicants we do hire tend to say things like "I bet students struggle with certain DS questions because __________" and "I'd predict that as the test gets harder it will do so by including more of the _____________ type of verbal questions." We want out instructors to enjoy thinking about the GMAT as much as they succeed at taking it.
-A genuine enthusiasm for helping people think and for teaching. I want instructors to have a favorite GMAT problem type, and I want to feel their enthusiasm for it through the phone. I want instructors to convey passion when they talk about their teaching success stories and about what got them interested in teaching the GMAT.
-The ability to contextualize GMAT problems when they teach them. Anyone can tell you that the answer, for example, is D. But our instructors should tell you what that problem means for how you should study. The two most important facets of the teaching-based interview are "what takeaways should students have after discussing this problem" and "what are the trap answers here and why would students pick them". We want instructors who don't teach content - they teach students, takeaways, and strategies.

Our third interview round is conducted in person with one of our regional "Mentor Instructors". David mentioned that he's a member of this team, which includes about a dozen instructors. Candidates write and teach their own GMAT questions to the Mentor interviewer, who upon a successful interviewer becomes a mentor for the new instructor, sharing resources and insight and serving as a local point of contact for a new instructor to supplement the training that instructors get from headquarters.

Once instructors are hired, they serve as teaching assistants on our Live Online course so that they get a feel for how students respond to our lessons. In this way, they get to watch a veteran instructor lead a class and can therefore make notes on pacing lessons, building analogies, catering to different ability levels, etc. But they also get to practice responding to student questions, anticipate the types of mistakes that students will make, etc. This process also gives them something tangible to complete when undertaking the other training activities of prepping lessons, viewing recordings, etc., as they know that there are official dates by which they need to be ready to answer student questions, and they have reflective periods after each class to make sure their preparation was at the right level to help serve students.


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As far as the practice tests, yes, we do offer a suite of practice tests that includes some tests that are licensed from other providers, including 800Score. We do this so that we can offer more practice tests to our students, and so that students have access to multiple pools of test questions and scoring algorithms (sort of like having diversity in the gene pool - if there are any slight biases in the way that one set of tests is scored or created, having multiple pools will help to dilute that).



I hope that helps answer your questions - thanks again for asking and for being so thorough in your research!

artstudent wrote:
Besides your pejorative tone and total disregard for the actual arguments people have, your reply is ridiculously pointless.

If u like it then use it. By your logic, the Madoff fund, Lehman, and AIG should be solid investments. Now I didn't say they are fraud but the things I've seen and directly experienced irk me. They are not so head-and-shoulder above others that I will patronize that dishonesty.

Where was your common sense and understanding of economics when you got ripped off on the other options?

You had replied to one of my post where you mentioned that you tried Veritas Prep online stuff and didnot find it helpful. You haven't mentioned anything regarding their books. It appears you just scanned the online materials.To make a claim that a prep company is a fraud you at least need to to go through the materials completely.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/best-prep-co ... tml#393961

If you are genuine and really want to help the community why don't you post a verified review instead of hijacking threads.

About Veritas Prep being "head-and-shoulder above others". You need to understand that no prep company/tutor in this world is head and shoulders above others. If you want a six pack you need to work out, no coach/trainer can help you achieve that.

Also regarding my experiences, I will post the detailed reviews in future.

@artstudent Why don't you explain what are the problems associated with Veritas prep? As of now your replies are very vague and generic. Give us specific reasons why you didn't like the course.

Also, you not liking the course does not mean the courses are fraud or bad. It could probably suit others. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinions. You post us the negatives and positives and let the readers decide whether it is good for them or not.

I am currently going through a Veritas prep course in India. Right now I don't want to comment on the course as it would be immature. First, I will have to go through the entire course and see how I will do in the GMAT basing on their advice.

This is what is called "drive by posting" and on GMAT Club they would "locked" down this thread. Why? Look at GMATPig - only 1 posting ever! Is this person going to be an active member of the Beat the GMAT community like Brian Galvin - the person who was insulted here? Or is GMATPig just here to call names and move on?

Brian has written dozens and dozens of free articles and videos. He has been thanked 429 times in 817 postings. There may be someone out there who cares more about helping students with the GMAT than Brian does but I have not met that person.

You can insult Veritas all you want insults are cheap and easy to make and I really do not care about them - people can decide for themselves. But do not insult a person like Brian who has contributed so many things to the Beat the GMAT community.

Now I am going to go back to helping students succeed on the GMAT and write my 893rd posting. If GMATPig decides to write a 2nd ever posting in response I will ignore it because Beat the GMAT is not about arguments and calling names it is SUPPOSED to be about helping students succeed on the GMAT.

As to Beat the GMAT having a bias, They do. It is all in the name. The moderators, experts and members really do what to Beat the stuff out of the GMAT. The Beat the GMAT community will not rest until the GMAT is thoroughly defeated and it takes a 770 to get the 99th percentile because everybody here gets a 760!!

Now, if anyone has any specific GMAT-related questions that are stumping you - especially on the verbal side where I mainly post (as my followers will note) - please PM me and I will see if I can help you. I survived the floods up here in Vermont pretty well and am replying to posts and PMs every day.

I have not taken Veritas but as far as Brian is concerned I have this to say,

He has helped me on a couple of posts and has given great insights and I am grateful for him for that. I am a pretty active BTG member and follow the posts around and I really believe a person who joined a day back and commenting like this is utterly ridiculous.

I don't know about veritas as I have not worked with them but as far as Brian and David are concerned I can vouch for them any day of the year. Both have provided great insight on this website and have helped a great deal of people. Please refrain from personal attacks, specially when you obviously don't know what you are talking about.