GMAT News

1. Clear Admit’s Stacey Oyler Shares Tips on Approaching Essays and Conducting Effective Target School Research -

   Just a quick reminder that Beat the GMAT, an online GMAT and MBA community, will host a free, live GMAT/MBA Web conference today for prospective MBA applicants, featuring Clear Admit’s own Stacey Oyler sharing tips on how to approach essays and conduct effective research about your target schools.

   The conference, entitled “Achieve Your Dreams: The GMAT, B-School, and Everything After,” will feature a range of guest speakers who will each address a different aspect of the MBA experience, from the application process to campus life to life beyond campus.

   Oyler will present from 1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. PST. Other scheduled speakers include Beat the GMAT founder Eric Bahn, Accepted.com admissions consultant Cindy Tokumitsu, and other experts from the admissions and GMAT test . . . → Continue Reading

2. Clear Admit CEO Graham Richmond Quoted by the Wall Street Journal on New GMAT Section -

   Last week, we blogged about the new section that will be added to the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) beginning in 2012. In its article covering the entrance exam overhaul, the Wall Street Journal interviewed Clear Admit CEO Graham Richmond, who commented on the possibility that a greater number of applicants from non-business backgrounds would favor the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) over the GMAT. Mr. Richmond asserted that he does not expect a major change in preference of entrance exams to occur as a result of the new section, and that “as long as they’re bright and can put things together” candidates in the arts should be able to answer the new questions effectively.

   To read the Wall Street Journal . . . → Continue Reading

3. GMAT Exam Will Include New Integrated Reasoning Section Beginning in June 2012 -

   A new section designed to measure prospective business school applicants’ ability to evaluate information from multiple sources will be introduced as part of the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) beginning in June 2012, the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) announced yesterday.

   The new integrated reasoning section will call on test takers to analyze information from a range of sources – including graphs, charts and spreadsheets – and draw conclusions based on the relationships between the different data points.

   “The new integrated reasoning section of the GMAT will be a microcosm of today’s b-school classroom,” Dave Wilson, president and CEO of GMAC, said in a statement. “These questions will provide critical intelligence to schools about the ability of prospective students to make sound decisions . . . → Continue Reading

4. GMAC Reports Unparalleled Growth among Asian Citizens Taking the GMAT -

   Asia is hot as far as the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) is concerned, according to a recent report from the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), which owns the exam.

   The number of Asian citizens taking the GMAT each year rose a whopping 75 percent from 2005 to 2009 – more than double the global increase in testing volume over the same period. The number of scores sent by GMAT test takers to Asian schools also soared. Business schools in Asia today receive three times as many score reports as they did five years ago. Schools worldwide, meanwhile, have seen a 41 percent increase in score reports received. “Asia plays a leading role in the global economy, and the strong GMAT activity . . . → Continue Reading

5. Beat the GMAT Launches Annual Scholarship Competition -

   Six lucky winners will receive $8,500 in test preparation services as well as vouchers to cover the cost of the GMAT exam as part of the annual Beat the GMAT Scholarship Competition, which launched last week. The competition is open to domestic and international MBA applicants who have finished college or are in their final year of college.

   Beat the GMAT, an online community and aggregator of content related to the GMAT and MBA, launched its annual scholarship competition on April 1st, announcing that it will award scholarship packages totaling $8,500, thanks to donations from a range of top test preparation firms.

   Participating test prep firms include Grockit, Kaplan, Knewton, Manhattan GMAT, the Princeton Review and Veritas Prep. Six scholarship winners, selected by . . . → Continue Reading

6. Worldwide GMAT Testing Centers Surpass 500 -

   The number of testing centers that administer the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) grew to more than 500 this year in response to higher-than-ever demand by test takers from around the globe, according to a recent release from the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), which owns the GMAT exam.

   The number of testing centers has increased by more than 25 percent since 2006, when Pearson VUE began administering the test for GMAT, GMAC added.

   “The need for skilled managers in a global economy is fueling the growth of quality management education programs around the world,” Peg Jobst, executive vice president of GMAC, said in a statement. “Increasing access to the GMAT will provide schools with a bigger pool of candidates to choose from,” . . . → Continue Reading

7. Majority of MBA Applicants Still Opt for GMAT Even as GRE Is Accepted by Some Business Schools, Survey Finds -

   Survey results released last week by Kaplan Test Prep reveal that most prospective business school applicants are still opting to take the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) for entrance into business school even as more MBA programs are beginning to accept Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores as an alternative.

   Asked which of the two exams they would most likely take if their top choice schools would accept either one, 55 percent of survey respondents said they would take the GMAT, compared to 12 percent who would take the GRE, Kaplan reports. Twelve percent said they would most likely take both.

   The majority of prospective applicants report they would take the GMAT over the GRE even though they consider the GMAT to be . . . → Continue Reading

8. New Program Provides Business Schools with GMAT Fee Waivers for Prospective Applicants in Need -

   The Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), which owns the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT), has created a new program designed to target prospective business school applicants for whom the GMAT registration fee presents a barrier to applying to business school.

   The new fee waiver program, part of GMAC’s ongoing efforts to ensure universal access to graduate management education, lets business schools apply for up to 10 fee waivers per year that they can then offer to prospective students who can’t afford the $250 exam fee on their own.

   GMAC encourages schools to offer fee waivers as part of need-based scholarship and financial aid programs, although schools may also use them to recruit students from financially disadvantaged regions or from other countries, GMAC says. . . . → Continue Reading

9. More Europeans Taking GMAT, Having Scores Sent to European Business Schools -

   The number of European citizens taking the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) rising rapidly and a growing number of these test takers are having their scores sent to management education programs in Europe, according to recent research from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which owns the GMAT.

   According to GMAC, increased test taking activity in Europe is part of surge in interest in MBA and other graduate management education programs worldwide. During the 2009 testing year, which runs from July 1st to June 30th, global GMAT testing volume reached an all-time high of 265,613. Of these test takers, for the first time ever this year more than half were non-U.S. citizens. Overall, test taking volume is up 32 percent since 2004. In Europe specifically, . . . → Continue Reading

10. GMAT Practice Problem: Rhymes and Divisibility -

    Today’s GMAT challenge question comes from our friends at ManhattanGMAT.  To help you with your GMAT studying, try to solve the problem on your own, and then read on for the explanation of its solution:

    Problem

    Two different primes may be said to “rhyme” around an integer if they are the same distance from the integer on the number line. For instance, 3 and 7 rhyme around 5. What integer between 1 and 20, inclusive, has the greatest number of distinct rhyming primes around it?

    (A) 12 (B) 15 (C) 17 (D) 18 (E) 20

    Solution

    First, make sure that you understand the new concept that the problem presents: “rhyming primes,” which are the same distance on the number line from a central number. You are given . . . → Continue Reading