GMAT Strategy

Ok so I am new on here and I have been having a lot of trouble recently and have become stuck in my GMAT prep. First I want to say that this site has given me a lot of information on the GMAT that has been very helpful. Just recently registered on MBA.com to take the GMAT although I did not select a definitive date for my test. So you guys helped me there. Anyway back to my story I have become stuck in my GMAT prep. See my problem lies in the fact that I have found out that I really stink when it comes self studying for the GMAT because I don't know exactly what it is I need to study even with the GMAC GMAT pretest I was still confused as to what exactly I needed to focus on. So I started looking in to GMAT prep courses. And as I was looking I realized that out of all the ones the one that sounds the most appealing to me was Veritas Prep. Now the problem with this comes in the fact that the closest one is hundreds of miles away and unfortunately as of right now I can't drive due to a medical condition. I then decided to look into their online live/on demand option. My problem comes in the fact that I have usually never been any good at distance learning either. I know need the classroom setting/personal interaction of a classroom in order to succeed, but since I don't have a reliable way to get to the Onsite Veritas Center I am stuck right now with the online live option as my only option other then self study. So I was wondering if people can give me feedback on their experience with the Veritas Class Online Live prep course before I make a final decision.

Hey Steven,

Thanks for writing - and I'm glad to hear that you're considering a Veritas class!

First things first - I noticed your subject line and figured I could help a little here. So much of focus comes down to having manageable targets and goals for each session. "Studying for the GMAT" is pretty grandiose; "getting comfortable with GMAT algebra" is a lot more proactive, as is "learning the Critical Reasoning question types". Holding yourself accountable for specific targets each study session or each week is a great way to make good forward progress without dwelling on the entirety of the project. Honestly, the same is true of individual questions - if you focus on solving for the next unknown and then going from there, it's a lot less daunting than seeing "there are four variables!" and feeling that so-much-to-do anxiety. So my first suggestion for you is to take a subject or two and work specifically on that, check your progress, and then start building from points of strength.

Since you mentioned Veritas I might as well weigh in on that - that's how our syllabus is designed, with two lessons per week building from topic to topic, so I certainly think that it will add that structure and focus component for you. But I also share your concerns about an online class...I've had plenty of students really enjoy and thrive in that environment, but even when I'm teaching a class I wonder about how well I'd learn in that way (I have about nine Firefox windows open right now...the internet is just too big for me to focus on any one thing at a time).

So one thing I'd recommend - I'll be hosting a free seminar in our online classroom on Monday, May 16. At the right-hand side of this screen there's a link to register for that, and that would give you a chance to participate in a free trial of an online class so that you can determine whether it's for you. And if you do click with it, David@VeritasPrep, whose posts you may have read on here, is teaching the Live Online course that begins the next night (May 17), so that's a decent opportunity to get started with a familiar face.

Another thing we do offer for students who don't live in one of our in-person classroom cities is our Immersion Course format, which meets twice per day for 7 days instead of twice per week over 7 weeks. That allows people to travel in for a week from around the world so that the critical mass of classroom time is worth the trip. It's a little expensive when you factor in travel, so that's certainly a consideration, but that's my favorite format to teach because I love the team camaraderie that develops over that week, and I like having those built-in opportunities to grab lunches and after-class happy hours with students to go more in depth on topics or talk about their b-school and career plans. So that's another strong option if you're really committed to an in-person format...