Preparing for the GMAT Online Just Got Easier!

Since 2002, tens of thousands of business school applicants have chosen Veritas Prep to help them achieve their maximum potential on the GMAT. In 90+ cities worldwide, every year more and more students find out what makes the Veritas Prep strategy for GMAT mastery the best in the industry.

Our courses are also available online, in a Live Online option and a self-paced "On Demand" format. When you enroll in either one of these, you get access to the same 15 GMAT books that have made our in-person class so popular, plus access to our 15 practice tests, seven detailed diagnostics, more than 2,700 practice problems, and online homework help for one full year. It's no wonder that they've become so popular!

So, how could we possibly make these courses any more appealing? By making them even easier to afford! Starting Monday, our Live Online course is available for just $700 (or three monthly payments of $250) a savings of $500. And our On Demand online GMAT course now only costs $450, a savings of $400!

How can this be?! Like Crazy Eddie, we're insane!! Well, maybe, but the real reason is that we know that large numbers of students don't have the means to afford our industry-best 42-hour in-person course. That's no reason why they should be left out in the cold. (Or, left out in the heat, if you're like Crazy Eddie over there.) We're making it affordable for anyone to prepare for the GMAT, any time, anywhere. Our march on the GMAT world continues!

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? Compare us to the competition and see why more people choose Veritas Prep every year. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

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Enrolling in the Best GMAT Prep Course Just Got Easier!

By popular demand, today we introduce something that will surely bring a smile to the face of anyone who's ever wanted to pay Tuesday for their hamburger today: Now you can enroll in any Veritas Prep GMAT class and pay in three monthly installments!

Since Veritas Prep launched in 2002, we have always been one of the highest-priced GMAT courses in the market. When a company invests as much as we do in quality -- from our 99th-percentile-scoring GMAT instructors to our industry-leading lesson books to our extensive bank of practice tests -- it tends to be the more expensive option in the market. But, you shouldn't need to choose between getting a great score or saving a few dollars. Now, you can do both.

How do you enroll in a payment plan? When you enroll in any in-person or online GMAT course, a three-month payment plan will be your default option -- you don't have to do anything! Or, if you want to pay in full immediately and save, just check the "Pay in Full" box on the checkout page. There's nothing else you need to do. As soon as you enroll, you will immediately have access to all of Veritas Prep’s online GMAT lessons, diagnostics, and computer-adaptive practice tests!

By the way, payments plans are now available for all of our admissions consulting services, too! Just call us at 800-925-7737 to enroll, and ask for the payment plan option. It works the same way as the GMAT payment plan: Start working with us today, and pay over three months!

Getting ready to take the GMAT? Compare us to the competition and see why more and more people choose Veritas prep every year. And, as always, be sure to subscribe to this blog and to follow us on Twitter!

Photo courtesy of Andres Rueda, under a Creative Commons license.

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Will Video Kill the Classroom Star?

The Huffington Post recently ran an interesting column by Jodi Beggs, in which she contends that the advent of online education has the potential to create a winner-take-all model for education similar to that of the entertainment or sports industries: With the world having access to the world's best, a few superstars, she predicts, will captivate the attention of the masses while the more regional, smaller-scale stars will fade in popularity. Similar to how the world will (claim not to but ultimately still decide to) watch LeBron James announce in a one-hour primetime special this Thursday which team has the right to pay him millions of dollars, top teachers would be in a position to reach the masses all at once, and their just-not-quite-good-enough counterparts will, like those slightly less talented than James, fade toward the obscurity of the small-town circuit.

As purveyors of both online education and in-person, regional education, we at Veritas Prep were fascinated by the contention, which spurred on some conversation about the topic. For one, we applaud any development that allows top instructors to share their talents with the world. Veritas Prep's Live Online GMAT courses have attracted students from Central Asia, South America, Eastern Europe, and the South Pacific -- small markets for GMAT prep that now, by the advance of technology, have access to worldwide Instructor of the Year winners.

Those instructors, in turn, have lauded the ease of interaction in the live online format, noting that receiving and answering student questions can be just as convenient online as it is in person, and that forming student-instructor rapport has been almost surprisingly easy to do. Stories of Philadelphia-based students wondering how to FedEx a favorite cheesesteak and beer to a California-based instructor as a thank-you, or of American instructors meeting up with international students during airport layovers just to finally put a face with the name, have become much more commonplace than we ever expected. The benefits of online education have been quick to come and easy to embrace, and Veritas Prep instructors, students, and administrators alike feel fortunate to be on the edge of a new and exciting trend.

Should Great Teachers Be Worried?
In opposition to the "video killed the educational star" mentality, however, are some of the same points that have made many of us such fans of online education. Ask any Veritas Prep instructor or student what has impressed them most about the Live Online format and they're likely to mention in their short list of benefits that ease of interactivity and of building rapport -- items that remain possible when classroom sizes are manageable, but that wouldn't be the case under the proposed winner-take-all model. Watching LeBron James play basketball or Eminem perform in concert doesn't require any interpersonal connection -- their talents can be admired from afar without the need for the viewer to ask for clarification or for the performer to check for understanding.

Similarly, and perhaps even more of a contrast, a concert performance or basketball game comes with one primary goal to the consumer: entertainment. Should the viewer miss a song to accept a phone call or leave a game early to beat traffic, that cost-benefit analysis belongs solely to the viewer's preference. In education, however, the goal is true understanding, which requires a higher level of engagement and commitment than does entertainment. Particularly when knowledge must be constructed upon other knowledge, missing a demonstration to take a phone call or turning off a class early can have repercussions that impact learning significantly.

Different Strokes for Different Folks
Just as there are known difference between visual and audial learners, we predict (and have seen evidence) that there are differences between in-person and online learners. As you decide which format is best for you, ask yourself how you may learn best. Are you typically prone to staying engaged in educational pursuits and participating in class? If so, then you may thrive in an online environment. Do you have a tendency to become distracted easily and try to multitask? An online classroom that exists just a mouse click away from the rest of the internet may prove to be less than ideal in keeping you engaged. Do you tend to view an instructor as part "knowledge dispenser" and an equal part "personal trainer"? You may want to ensure that you're working in a format that allows you to connect with your instructor personally to derive that motivational benefit. Do you often feel intimidated or embarrassed to participate in class as much as you'd like? A more-anonymous online format may be just the cure, allowing you to participate without the seemingly-judgmental eyes of your classmates.

So, will video kill the classroom star? Probably not. Video stars will undoubtedly be born, and deservedly so, but education is a unique world in which multiple methods of delivery are required. As any good teacher knows, the key to effective instruction is to provide learners with various methods of education so that each learner is in a position to construct knowledge in a way that allows her to build mastery of a subject. In the evolving world of educational technology, students will have opportunities to decide between elite instructors in a less interpersonal setting (be that an in-person lecture or an online video series) and more-interpersonal experiences with other instructors. As educators, we believe that our role is to eliminate the need for substantial trade-off between these options and to provide students with win-win decisions of this type, and we're confident that students in that situation will make the right decisions for themselves.

Want to see great GMAT instruction first-hand? We have GMAT prep courses starting around the world next week! And, as always, be sure to subscribe to this blog and to follow us on Twitter!

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Why Now Is the Perfect Time to Start Your GMAT Preparation

It only comes six times a year, when the planets align and our GMAT prep classes start around the world on the same week! If you're planning to apply to a top MBA program this coming fall (or even if you're just starting to think about it), this is the perfect time to start preparing for the GMAT.

Why? Because starting your preparation now will put you in position to take the GMAT by late July. If you ace it, then great. You can put the GMAT out of your mind and start planning the rest of your application. If not -- and it's not unusual for an applicant to take the GMAT two or three times -- then you still have plenty of time to prep some more and take the GMAT again, before you get deep into the stress of pulling together your Round 1 business school applications in October.

When it's early in the calendar year and applicants ask us, "What can I do NOW to most help my MBA admissions chances in the fall?" we often say, "Start earlier! Give yourself more time than you think you'll need, for everything -- the GMAT, your essays, your letters of recommendation. You'll be glad you did!" Sometimes they listen, and sometimes they don't. But the ones who do listen always become advocates of the "Start early!" school of thought. (Maybe that's why our May classes are so popular!)

Okay, back to the special occasion at hand: If you haven't yet taken the GMAT and want help in maximizing your score, you're in luck. We have classes starting in dozens of cities worldwide this week, in all sorts of formats -- weeknights, weekends, Saturdays-only, accelerated, and online GMAT prep. You name it, we've got a GMAT class for it. And taking our 42-hour, seven-week Complete Course (our most popular option) will leave you with plenty of time to take the GMAT in July, setting up the calendar for you beautifully in the back half of the year.

Ready to dig in and reach your maximum potential on the GMAT? Visit our site for a GMAT course overview to see why thousands of applicants choose Veritas Prep every year. Then, find a GMAT course near you and you'll be on your way.

As always, be sure to subscribe to this blog and to follow Veritas Prep on Twitter so that you don't miss a beat in the worlds of GMAT prep and MBA admissions!

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Introducing Our First Free Trial Online GMAT Class!

Introducing another first in the history of Veritas Prep! For the first time ever, we're offering students a chance to sit in on the first class of our Virtual Veritas Prep live online GMAT class for free, with no strings attached! Our July 28 Free Virtual Trial Class gives you an excellent chance to attend the first class of our 14-session Virtual Veritas course, meet your Veritas Prep instructor, see Veritas Prep's GMAT prep methodology in action, and get a feel for our online learning environment.

What is Virtual Veritas Prep? It's one of our two online GMAT courses, and it gives you access to one of our top-rated instructors (who has scored in the 99th percentile on an actual GMAT exam, of course), just like in an in-person Veritas Prep course. It's ideal if you don't live close to any of the 90 locations where we offer traditional in-person classes, or if you simply prefer the flexibility of attending class online. You'll receive the same 15 lesson booklets, 15 GMAT practice tests, more than 1800 problems, and 25 hours per week of toll-free phone support and unlimited email support. And, you're eligible for our same generous free retake policy when you enroll in the whole course.

The Free Virtual Trial Class runs on July 28, from 7 to 10 PM U.S. Pacific Daylight Time. Enrollment is limited, so register soon to secure your spot!

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