The GMAT Club Blog

GMAT Stats

GMAC's 2007 GMAT volume through November shows a significant increase in registrations and test takers over the same period in 2006. Actual test-taking worldwide has jumped 13% over last year with a dramatic 21.46% increase outside the US. Registrations climbed almost 12% overall and roughly 19% outside the US.

Via Manhattan GMAT comes another stat from GMAC:  The mean average GMAT score has climbed 12 points in the past 2 years, from 525 to 537.

All these numbers mean that competition has intensified. It will be interesting to see what the credit melt-down does to MBA hiring, particularly among financial institutions and the investment banks smarting from bad moves in the sub-prime market.  Since hiring is a big driver of MBA application volume, next year or the year after could see a decline in test-taking and applications if hiring declines.

But that's in the future and speculative. This is a highly competitive year.  If you want help with your round 2 applications, Accepted still has limited availability. Please see MBA essay editing.

Tis the Season

My bulging inbox reflects the activity and reality of MBA admissions at this time of year: MBA admissions offices looking forward to a couple of weeks off and MBA applicants heading into the last mad rush to submit quality applications by the early January deadlines. We're busy, but amidst the many orders and essays coming in and out, there are other items of interest. Let's take a peek:

• Acceptances. We are already hearing from applicants accepted to programs like Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Tuck, UNC, and others. These emails are among my favorite. A definite perk of my job. Congratulations to those of you who got the call, email, or fat envelope! What a wonderful way to go into the holidays. If you are one of those with the delightful dilemma of  multiple acceptances or simply someone who is having second thoughts about the school that accepted you, try to attend the admit weekends. They are valuable.
• Interview Invitations and Interview Reports. I have a good number of both flowing through my inbox. We have recent and excellent interview reports in the MBA Interview Feedback Database from Harvard, Stanford, Kellogg, Columbia, Chicago, and many, many more. Take advantage of this rich resource, and please share your interview experience after you interview so the database keeps growing and stays fresh.
  

 

If you have received an interview invitation or receive one after the new year, please keep in mind these Accepted resources to help you prepare:

 

 

• MBA Mock Interviews and Interview Coaching.
• MBA I.V.: Mainline to Top MBA Programs
• MBA Interview Feedback Database

Also, if your interview includes a school visit or you attend an admit weekend, take a picture or two and participate in Accepted's Beautiful B-School Photo Contest. At the moment, your chances of winning Amazon gift certificates worth up to $200 couldn't be better.

 

• Waitlists. Emails about waitlists are just starting to trickle in. I will write more about the topic in the early months of next year. In the meantime here are a few resources for you:
  • The Nine Mistakes You Don't Want to Make on an MBA Waitlist
  • "Waitlist Purgatory"
  • "5 Keys to Unlock the Waitlist Lock"

• Rejections. Yes I do hear about rejections, mostly from people who turn to us after having been rejected.  As I wrote last year, the best response to a rejection is self-reflection and analysis, not despair. There is still time, although not much time, to prepare a couple of good applications for the early January deadlines, not to mention later deadlines. If you aimed too high round 1 in this highly competitive year, consider applying to schools that support your specific goals but are slightly lower ranked overall. Also, evaluate your application. Did you fail to present yourself at your best? Or are you a victim of intense competition and the numbers. 
  

If you want an objective and informed evaluation of your application, please  keep in mind Accepted's Application Evaluation. And of course if you want an experienced wordsmith, coach, and critic to help you present yourself to the admissions committee, Accepted still has editors available to advise you and critique and edit your essays before round 2 deadlines.

Chats and Transcripts: Haas, INSEAD, Consortium, and LBS

We have two large chats planned for this week and are adding a couple of excellent new transcripts from recent chats.

First the upcoming chats:

• The Consortium has put together an impressive group of career services professionals to answer your questions tomorrow December 11 at 5:00 PM PT/8:00 PM ET during an online chat in the Accepted chat room. Representatives from the Consortium, Carnegie Mellon, Emory University, Indiana University, New York University, Univ. of Michigan, Univ. of North Carolina, Univ. of Rochester, Univ. of Southern California, Univ. of Virginia, Univ. of Wisconsin will be available. Please join us to pose your questions about career change, career management, and the MBA. Our guests will have the answers.
• On Tuesday December 12 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/6:00 PM GMT London Business School will assemble an equally impressive group of admissions, marketing, and student representatives to answer your questions about its MBA program. They will be ably led by Tamsin Shillitoe, MBA Marketing and Admissions Manager at LBS. Please join us to learn more about this leading international business school.

Now that you know about our upcoming chats this week, let me fill you in on recently posted transcripts.

• The 2008 Haas chat with Peter Johnson and Stephanie Fujii is now online. Excerpts:

thapar (Nov 20, 2007 1:36:23 PM)
Hi Stephanie ... it is said that IT applicants need to apply in first round to increase their chances ...otherwise the competition in second round is very high ..

StephanieFujiiHAAS (Nov 20, 2007 1:36:48 PM)
   Thapar, there are always so many rumors and theories out there...

StephanieFujiiHAAS (Nov 20, 2007 1:39:57 PM)
But, Thapar, to answer your question, the most important thing is to present the strongest application possible. And your chances always depend on the strength of the pool and how your experiences compare. We do see a good number of applicants from the IT sector but we're still looking for the same criteria -- academic ability, richness of work experience (so in your career, have you progressed over time, demonstrated leadership, impacted your organization/team, etc.) and personal qualities. Competition is high for everyone since we only have 240 students per class! So remember, a strong application is a strong application.

Classof2011 (Nov 20, 2007 1:44:10 PM)
   Pete: How is recruiting shaping up this year? Are the banks still hiring?

PeterJohnsonHAAS (Nov 20, 2007 1:45:18 PM)
Class of 2011, yes-- at least at this point. We've been watching this closely, of course, and some banks have indicated that they will likely hire fewer candidates, but as far as I know, none have indicated that they won't be hiring.

• The 2008 INSEAD chat on December 3 will be available shortly both from our MBA transcript page and the INSEAD MBA page.  Here are the excerpts:

Linda Abraham (Dec 3, 2007 12:57:26 PM)
   What is new at INSEAD?

MarkNorburyINSEAD (Dec 3, 2007 12:58:53 PM)
We're seeing a striking increase in applications with Singapore as busy as France; we are still increasing entrepreneurship modules all the time; we have innovative experiential learning in Africa and many other exciting courses.

Linda Abraham (Dec 3, 2007 1:06:43 PM)
   Mark, what percentage of students study at more than one campus?

  MarkNorburyINSEAD (Dec 3, 2007 1:07:06 PM)
   Hi Linda, 73% of MBAs study at more than one campus.

  Linda Abraham (Dec 3, 2007 1:07:13 PM)
Wow!

MarkNorburyINSEAD (Dec 3, 2007 1:08:12 PM)
   Linda - for the triple campus experience (Wharton as well as both INSEAD campuses) is about 15% or 120 a year.

MBA2010 (Dec 3, 2007 1:17:26 PM)
   Mark: Were applications up this year? If yes, by how many percent?

MarkNorburyINSEAD (Dec 3, 2007 1:18:25 PM)
MBA2010 - applications have been growing strongly, but we do not release percentages (suffice to say easily double digit).

 

Changes at Columbia

Columbia Business School announced yesterday that it is modifying its core curriculum to increase flexibility. The new requirements will go into effect in Fall 2008.

The new core will be divided into required and flexible segments. Students will be required during the first two semesters to complete each required course or to seek an exemption from that course. The required courses cover foundational business functions like Managerial Economics, Financial Accounting, Corporate Finance, Managerial Statistics, Marketing Strategy, and Strategy Formulation.

The core's flexible component takes place in the second semester of the first year, and student's will choose one course each from the following three business areas:

• Organizations: Organizational Change; Power and Influence; or Social Capital
• Performance: Operations Strategy or Performance Measurement
• Markets: Game Theory; Global Economic Environment II: Business Cycles and Financial Markets; or Strategy, Structure and Incentives.

I spoke with a CBS representative, and she emphasized, as does Dr. Ziv in the press release, that the modification does not diminish the core's rigor, but will enable students to customize their education while still receiving a strong foundation in business fundamentals. It will also allow students one more elective course during their two years in the Columbia MBA program.

In comparing the new core to the current one, Columbia is condensing Managerial Economics into a half-term course, Global Economics into a half-term course, and operations management into a half-term course. It cut Creating Effective Organizations and Managerial Accounting and is incorporating much of the content from these courses into other core courses, including the new ones.

Columbia will also shortly launch its own blog with contributions from guest bloggers, including alumni, students, faculty, and even an occasional admissions representative.

Interview with Derrick Bolton

BW has published an informative and lengthy interview with Stanford's Director of Admissions Derrick Bolton. If you are a Stanford applicant either preparing for a R1 interview or drafting and editing your R2 essays, this really is a must read.

At the same time, while I strongly recommend this interview to Stanford applicants and find much of the advice to be spot on, I vehemently disagree with a few points:

• Derrick argues that applicants should not try to stand out because they will end up sounding like all the other applicants trying to stand out. I completely agree with him that the kernal of an individualistic, unique essay lies within you; unearthing that kernal requires introspection, reflection and sincerity. Having advised applicants to top business schools for over a decade, I passionately disagree that all all applicants will reveal that unique kernal without consiously choosing writing techniques and wording that will distinguish them. For more on this topic, please see:

• "What are They Looking for in Your Application."
• "Personal Statement Flaw #4: Superficiality."
• "Personal Statement Tip: Umbrellas, Passion, and Resilience."
• "Starry, Starry Night."
• "Admissions: Checklist or Mosaic"
• "The Devil is in the Details"

Derrick's response to BW's question about admissions consultants is simply inaccurate and misleading. He says "This is a process that already is expensive and high-stress. In a lot of ways, [the admissions consulting] industry feeds on those two things, and it makes it more expensive and more stressful in a lot of cases."

Give me a break. The schools nurture the stress and raise tuition annually.

It is specious to isolate the cost of the application process from the overall cost of an MBA because the financial benefits of an MBA justify both the much larger investment in a graduate business education as well as a smaller investment in GMAT prep or admissions consulting. The two biggest costs of pursuing an MBA are tuition and the opportunity cost of leaving the work force. Either one of these factors dwarfs any fees paid to admissions consultants. In the words of an Accepted.client, "Your fees are a rounding error in the cost of my MBA." And tuition is certainly the largest -out-of-pocket expense.

 

The stress that Derrick laments comes from the intense competition to get into schools like Stanford. In fairness, the competition and consequent stress stems primarily from the higher ranked programs' reputation for educational quality and the significantly higher average starting salary earned by their graduates. I certainly don’t believe that Derrick wants to reduce educational quality or damage Stanford's reputation to lower applicants' stress levels. But the schools are not innocent bystanders when it comes to the stress of the MBA application process: They nurture that competition to enhance their reputations and brand and to ensure the widest pool of candidates to pick from.

INSEAD Chat, Wharton Transcript

On Monday, December 3, 2007 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/6:00 PM GMT Accepted.com will host an online admissions chat with Cassandra Pittman, INSEAD's MBA Admissions Manager and other members of the INSEAD admissions staff. Please feel free to join us in the Accepted chat room.

We also have posted the recent Wharton chat transcript with Thomas Caleel. This chat focused on questions related to Wharton's interviews. Although I posted excerpts in a recent post, I'll post another one now:

rambling_man (Nov 15, 2007 1:30:17 PM)
Thomas: If Wharton takes only 1 out of three interviewed, what factors play into an interview evaluation that can make or break an application?

ThomasCaleelWharton (Nov 15, 2007 1:30:48 PM)
Rambling_man, that's really individual. The interview is just one part of the evaluation, and many times a great interview can still lead to a deny and vice-versa.