GMAT Tip of the Week

Enough is Enough

(This is one of a series of GMAT tips that we offer on our blog.)

A format unique to the GMAT, Data Sufficiency questions comprise nearly half of the GMAT’s quantitative section and tend to give examines fits simply because of the unique phrasing. Accordingly, a sound understanding of the question format will provide you with a distinct competitive advantage, and may even allow you to enjoy the challenge. True to their name, Data Sufficiency questions ask when the given information is sufficient to answer the overall question. To effectively answer these questions, it is first important to understand exactly what they are asking of you so that you’ll know precisely when you have enough information to provide a satisfactory answer.

Perhaps the easiest way to fully internalize the scope of these questions is to replace the word “is” with the word “must” – the questions are not asking you whether an answer is possible, but rather whether it must be the case. Accordingly, the question “Is x > 5?” isn’t asking “could x be above 5?”, but rather “must x be > 5?”. In this case, it isn’t sufficient to say simply that x could be 8; you’ll need proof that x can only be represented by values above 5. A common trap inherent in the exam involves an application of the following:

Is x > 5?

(1) x² = 64
(2) x > 0

The first statement does indicate that x could equal 8, which would provide the answer “yes”; but that same statement allows for a situation in which x equals -8, which would provide the answer “no”. Because you can use the information to elicit two different answers to the question, the statement is insufficient. Similarly with statement 2, you could answer “yes” by again using 8, which is greater than 0, but you could find an answer of “no” by using a smaller positive number such as 4. Only when the statements are taken together must the value of x be equal to 8 (a positive number that, when squared, equals 64), and so the correct answer would be (C) BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient.

You can also employ the “must” substitution when the question asks for a value. “What is the value of x?” essentially means “What must be the value of x?”. Finding two (or more) potential values of x would prove that the statement that allows you to do so is insufficient, as the question begs for one value of x which must be the case in all allowable circumstances. Put simply, in order to be “sufficient data”, a Data Sufficiency statement must be enough to guarantee one exact answer to the overall question (i.e. “yes” or “6”); if there is any wiggle room to support another answer, the statement is insufficient.

For more GMAT help, visit Veritas Prep to find a prep course near you. Or, try one of Veritas Prep's online GMAT prep courses.

Read More >>

UC Berkeley (Haas) on Admissions Interviews

Peter Johnson, the Director of Admissions at the Haas School of Business, recently posted a message on the Haas blog to answer some questions and soothe some nerves regarding Haas's admissions interview policies.

On the blog, Peter writes:

Contrary to popular belief, there is no fixed percentage of applicants who are interviewed, and chances of admission for those who do interview are based on the strength of the entire application package and the interview. In the past few years, between 25% and 30% of all applicants have been selected to interview--but keep in mind that this percentage has varied each year. It's simply a reflection of the strength of the candidates in a specific round.

Although it's a positive sign to be invited to interview, it doesn't mean you'll get an offer--but it does mean that the Admissions Committee saw enough strengths in your application to be seriously considering your candidacy, so it's always a good sign!

Note that those percentages are just historical norms. You can consider them rough guidelines in terms of trying to determine your chances this year, but the number will always bounce around. So, spare yourself the insanity and just focus on nailing your admissions interview, rather than trying to calculate your chances! To that end, be sure to listen to the school's admissions interview tips podcast.

If you would like more assistance in preparing for your MBA admissions interview at Haas or at any other top business school, take a look at Veritas Prep's MBA admissions interview assistance package.

Read More >>

Law School Admissions: Tackling the Personal Statement (Part II)

Last week we initiated a two-part series on the law school personal statement. Part I focused on the art of positioning and answering the reader's biggest question, Part II will describe the five law school themes as well as some thoughts on creating entertainment value in the personal statement.

The Law School Themes. In addition to your primary positioning, you also want to try to round out the key law school themes. They are:

1. Intellect (both intellectual curiosity and intellectual horsepower).
2. Motivation.
3. Discipline.
4. Collegiality.
5. Leadership.

For most applicants, two or three of these themes are readily apparent from the academic profile and resume. Most commonly, things like leadership, collegiality, and discipline jump off the page – evidenced by a long history of getting involved, being part of groups and organizations, and staying committed to tasks.

(Quick note on leadership: this aspect is not as important in the law school process as it would be on, say, the MBA side. Seeking applicants with strong leadership skills is mainly a self-serving proposition as law schools simply want to ensure that they have enough “leaders of men” to run their student programs. Okay, that sounds cynical, but producing leaders and putting them in the work force is just not a major priority.)

For many clients, the big themes that remain at issue are motivation and intellect. Let me discuss them each in turn.

Motivation – This has become an important issue this year as applications are up and MBA types have turned their attention to law school. A JD from a top program offers a bit more job security and, frankly, the program lasts longer, making it easier to ensure riding out a recession. So not only are you competing with more applicants this year, you are also competing against a “type” that is more common now than in previous admissions seasons. The best course of action is to “backdate” your interest in law school and then really spell out your motives for attending law school in the personal statement. It can be secondary to explaining your abilities, but it needs to be there. Another way to look at the issue of motivation is to consider the big three unasked questions on every law school application: 1) Why law school? 2) Why this law school in particular? and 3) why now?

Intellect – This breaks down into both intellectual curiosity and horsepower. Many applicants are fine on the former, but weak on the latter due to a low LSAT score (“low” being a relative term based on the 25th-to-75th percentile ranges at their schools of interest). Even if the GPA and LSAT components are fairly strong, they are often not indicative of a candidate’s true potential.

Entertainment Value. Considering the entertainment value of the personal statement does more than just provide relief for the weary application reader – it also aids in the framing of your writing sample, especially if there is a risk of the personal statement reading like a laundry list or a glorified resume. Listing everything out in that way is obviously to be avoided, but sometimes candidates must drive home accomplishments or events in a way that starts to resemble a list. A great way to do it is to embed a hook and frame the personal statement in that way. One solution is to build the narrative around “challenges” or “accomplishments” or any other device that gives it a thrust and a thread. Then you can create a setup in the intro, 3-4 exemplary paragraphs, and a conclusion that brings it home. Be sure to get right to the point, stating the big takeaway point in the very first line – then work from there.

Overall, the personal statement is not the place to cover everything. You simply want to triage what is most important and then build a compelling and detailed narrative to support that position. Confront your issues head on and tell the reader what he is dying to know and you will be leaps and bounds ahead of your competition.

For more on how to draft fantastic personal statements, take a look at our law school admissions consulting services, including our personal statement assistance service.

Read More >>

Financial Times Business School Rankings for 2009

The Financial Times has just released its 2009 business school rankings, with Wharton and London Business School sharing the top spot.

There were a couple of notable milestones in this year's FT rankings. LBS reached the #1 slot for the first time, breaking Wharton and Harvard Business School's joint stranglehold on the #1 slot. Also notable was that for the first time an Asian business school cracked the top ten -- Shanghai-based China European International Business School (CEIBS) came in at #8. Joining CEIBS in the top twenty were two other schools from Asia: The Indian School of Business ranked at #15, and the Hong Kong UST Business School was ranked #16.

You can see the full Financial Times rankings here. To learn what it takes to get into the world's top business schools, visit Veritas Prep's MBA Application Resources page. Also, for more updates on school rankings, be sure to follow Veritas Prep on Twitter.

Read More >>

Freeze on Law Firm Salaries

Much has been made of the economic crisis and its impact on the job market, but other than some anecdotal evidence ("Latham just made a capital call!" "Howard Rice is paying new associates to go away for a year."), there hasn't been much insight into the way jobs are being affected at top law firms.

Thanks to a recent article in the Sunday edition of The New York Times, we finally have a little knowledge on the subject. According to the article, Latham & Watkins decided to freeze associate salaries - a move that was emulated by several other major firms. This ends a cycle of escalating associate salaries that began in earnest during the early part of this decade as a recruitment and retention tool to both draw new attorneys to the firm and to keep junior and mid-level associates from jumping ship to either in-house legal jobs or more lucrative financial posts.

The good news is that salaries are not dropping (even though the retention needs have obviously softened - because what lucrative finance jobs are there to jump to?) and that the salary freeze actually seems to be fending off the more drastic move of cutting associates.

On balance, the news is pretty good. A JD from a top law school continues to show strong earning potential and a high level of job security. This certainly calls for another application increase during the next admissions cycle.

Read More >>

New Director of Admissions at Wharton

The Wharton School, which had been operating without a full-time director of admissions since Thomas Caleel stepped down last summer, has just named Jonathan "J.J." Cutler its new director of MBA admissions and financial aid.

Cutler, a Wharton alum (Class of 1997), doesn't appear to have much of a background in the education space, but has strong ties to Penn and has an impressive background in marketing and general management. Most recently, he had served as President and COO of Lindi Skin, a start-up offering skin care products specifically designed for people with cancer. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Marketing for Aramark Healthcare's North American group. Before that he spent seven years in a variety of roles at Johnson & Johnson, where he was heavily involved at MBA recruiting at Wharton.

Since it took more than six months for Wharton to find J.J. Cutler, we can only assume that they took their time to find just the right candidate to fill Thomas Caleel's shoes. We are actually quite impressed that the administration clearly "thought outside the box" and went for someone outside of the traditional education and admissions spaces. We wish J.J. the best of luck in managing Wharton's hectic admissions process.

For more information on Wharton, visit the Veritas Prep Wharton information page and take a look at the Wharton admissions essays and deadlines for the 2008-2009 application season.

Read More >>

GMAT Tip of the Week

Delusions of Grandeur

(This is one of a series of GMAT tips that we offer on our blog.)

If you are reading this, there is a high likelihood that you are a successful person; other than the occasional Googler-gone-astray, those who find a blog that specializes in admissions for elite MBA and JD programs tend to be students or young professionals who would like to advance their careers to an even higher level. Assuming that the description fits, congratulations to you!

When it comes to the GMAT, however, your prior success may hold with it a key to your undoing. As a successful professional, you have undoubtedly been able to make decisions based on gut feel or a calculated high probability - you've correctly hypothesized that a stock price might rise, or that a corporate initiative would yield positive returns; you've effectively chosen between academic majors and job offers; you've made purchases and decisions with incomplete information and feel confident that your choices were correct. At this point, you feel comfortable with your ability to assess probability and make good decisions accordingly.

On the GMAT, however, questions that ask you to draw a conclusion - "based on the above we can safely conclude that..." - require an answer that must be true based exclusively on the information given. These questions often pose a problem for successful individuals, who would rather provide a compelling answer with a high probability than a less exciting answer that is definite. When faced with the need to draw a conclusion on the GMAT, keep in mind that the conclusion must be true, but need not be exciting.

For more help on the GMAT, visit Veritas Prep to find a prep course near you. Or, take a look at Veritas Prep's online GMAT prep options.

Read More >>

MBA Admissions: Waitlist Advice

Being waitlisted by your target business school can feel a lot like flipping a coin and seeing it end up on its edge; this lack of a final answer after months of anticipation can almost feel more frustrating than receiving a firm "yes" or "no." But take heart in the fact that you're still in the MBA admissions game, and there may be more that you can do to ultimately get accepted.

First of all, know that a waitlist decision is much more similar to an acceptance than a rejection. The admissions office clearly saw something in your application that it liked, but for some reason -- perhaps you have a weaker undergrad transcript than they'd like to see, or there are simply too many other applicants who look just like you -- just couldn't pull the trigger and offer you a seat. While this can be very frustrating, in many cases (depending on the school) you have at least one more chance to show that you have what your target school looks for in its candidates.

Before you do anything, you will need to determine your school's policy for handling waitlisted candidates. Some schools readily welcome updates and additional correspondence, while others will allow only certain kinds of contact, such as messages sent to a specific email address. Some business schools, however, explicitly forbid you from contacting the admissions office under any circumstances. If this describes your target school, do yourself a favor and obey this policy -- not doing so makes admissions officers' jobs easy (i.e., it's easy for them to remove you from further consideration). It's frustrating, we know, but you won't help your cause by ignoring the rules.

Assuming that your target MBA program does allow you to contact the admissions office, then think about what potential weaknesses in your candidacy you may be able to bolster. Ask yourself:

• Did I clearly define my career goals?


• Was it clear how earning an MBA will help me achieve these goals?


• In what ways did I demonstrate fit with my target school?


• How did I showcase my leadership, intellect, maturity, and teamwork abilities?


• Did my GMAT score, undergraduate transcript, and professional experience prove my ability to succeed in the business school classroom?


• What about my application made me stand out vs. applicants with a similar profile?


• Did I do enough to demonstrate my enthusiasm for the school, including visiting the school and speaking with current students?

Once you have identified some potential weaknesses, draft a letter (paper is better, although email may be required) highlighting new information that offsets these weaknesses. Outside of these weaknesses, any big news in your life -- such as a job promotion, a significant achievement at work, or a notable new contribution to your community -- also makes for a good reason to contact the admissions office.

Once you do this, your job is not done. Assuming the MBA admissions office welcomes this contact, plan on making contact with a short and professional note every few weeks to remind them that you still exist and to reiterate your interest. If you can manage a trip to campus, great, but don't expect an admissions officer to officially meet with you. Still, short and relevant notes like these can be the difference between getting lost in the waitlist and getting into your target business school.

Visit Veritas Prep for more information on navigating the waitlist and for help in crafting your own waitlist letter.

Read More >>

Law School Admissions: Tackling the Personal Statement (Part I)

For law school applicants, this time of year tends to be all about personal statements. It is often the last remaining piece holding up submission of an application. Candidates struggle with the blank canvas nature of the assignment as they try to figure out what to write about and how to fit it all into two pages.

Many of our clients seem to be making one of two common mistakes: 1) trying to cram everything into the personal statement, to the point it sounds like an annotated resume, or 2) writing at great length about their strengths. It is tempting to throw it all at the wall and see what sticks, or to lean on what you know works. Neither of these methods will get the job done.

Below are some suggestions for your personal statement that will help candidates avoid these problems and craft a meaningful, persuasive writing sample. The Veritas Prep approach to creating a great personal statement always centers on three elements: 1) positioning, 2) the law school themes, and 3) entertainment value.

Positioning. Positioning focuses on the major thrust of the personal statement. What is the strength you most want to advertise? The weakness you most need to mitigate? Is there a unique factor you can showcase? What is the one hole in your application that the admissions committee is dying for you to resolve in this space? This can be different for each applicant, but the one thing I know for sure is that the personal statement exists for you to tell the reader what he needs to know. Forget what you think you should write about or what makes for the best traditional essay – it all depends on a hierarchy of needs. If someone is a 4.0/180 from a great school, with a great resume, then the only concern is how entertaining the writing needs to be. For someone with amazing grades and LSAT scores, but zero real life experience, they had better be sure to talk about how they can lead and relate to people. And so on. During my time in admissions, I was always amazed by the fact that applicants avoided the "big issues" in their profile and wrote about something trite or off topic. Who cares if an applicant did relief work when my big question is whether or not they are smart enough to handle the work? I hope that does not sound harsh, but that is how it works.

Therefore, your biggest challenge as an applicant is to figure out how to frame your personal statement and what the scope should be, based on the preliminary facts that are in your favor, and those that are not. One of the most common application positions tends to be "my GPA and LSAT do not fully indicate my abilities." This isn’t going to feel amazingly original, but for a candidate with substandard scores, this will be the main question in the mind of the reader after glancing at a "one sheet" (the internal document that has your basic stats and information) and the resume. When you write your personal statement and review it, ask yourself: "Am I convincing the reader that I have the raw intellect to kill it in the classroom?" You want to be able to say yes to that.

Come back next Wednesday for Part II, focusing on the five law school themes as well as advice on bringing it all together in an entertaining fashion.

For more on how to draft fantastic personal statements, take a look at our law school admissions consulting services. We also offer specialized personal statement assistance services.

Read More >>

HBS 2+2 Program Application Essays and Deadlines Now Available

Harvard Business School has posted the admissions essays and deadlines for 2009. Here they are, taken from Harvard's site. Our comments are in italics:

HBS 2+2 Program Application Deadline
There is just one application round for the HBS 2+2 Program. Applications must be received by July 1, 2009, at 5:00 PM Eastern time. Applicants will be notified of their admissions decisions by September 15, 2009.

HBS 2+2 Program Application Essays

1. What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? (600 words)
   
   This is exactly the same question on the regular HBS application. While you are obviously younger than the typical applicant, Harvard still expects to see several separate, concrete examples of how you made a positive impact on the organization, community, or people around you.


2. What would you like us to know about your undergraduate academic experience? (400 words)
   
   This question is unique to the 2+2 Program application. Being that you probably don't yet have any full-time work experience, the admissions office is willing to dig deeper into your undergraduate experience to learn more about you. Don't simply recount your transcript here. Why did you choose your major in college? What motivated you to choose certain course? What were some things that you learned that you never expected to learn? Focus on just one or two themes here, ideally showing how you have grown academically over the past three years.


3. What have you learned from a mistake? (400 words)
   
   This is also taken directly from the standard HBS application. Just like with all mistake essays, you want to show introspection (What did you learn?) and a motivation for self-improvement (How did you use what you learned to better yourself and avoid that mistake again?). While you won't have the same experiences as a twenty-five-year-old applicant to draw upon here, look for experiences in all aspects of your life where you learned a valuable lesson.



4. Optional Essays (choose one)
   
   - Discuss how you have engaged with a community or organization. (400 words)
   
   - What area of the world are you most curious about and why? (400 words)
   
   - What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you? (400 words)
   
   All three of these are also taken from the standard HBS application. We always recommend that applicants err on the side of discussing themselves, the decisions they've made, and the impact they've made on those around them. These specific examples of your initiative and leadership are extremely valuable, especially if you are relatively inexperienced. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't answer one of the other questions, but be careful to avoid discussing big-picture generalities that don't let the admissions committee get to know the real you.

For more advice and information on Veritas Prep's specialized admissions assistance for applicants who apply to the HBS 2+2 Program, visit our HBS 2+2 Program page.

Read More >>

New Facility Opens at Michigan's Ross School of Business

The University of Michigan's Ross School of Business will welcome back its students from the winter break with its new 270,000-square-foot facility.

First announced in late 2004 after the school received a then-record-setting gift from real estate developer Stephen M. Ross, the building incorporates state-of-the art technology everywhere. Every classroom in the new building features three mounted video cameras and instant lecture-capture technology. Each study room has its own plasma screen Plasma screens hang in each group study room, and students can print, copy, and fax documents from anywhere in the building.

The new Ross building also features many leading-edge green technologies, including the use of recycled building materials, high-efficiency lighting and and heating/cooling systems, and water conservation technologies.

Despite its large size, the building has apparently held on to the close-knit, collaborative nature that the school's students appreciate. Plenty of natural light and impromptu meeting spaces mean that Ross students will always be able to grab a seat for a quick huddle on a team assignment.

For more advice on applying to Ross, visit Veritas Prep's University of Michigan Ross School of Business information page.

Read More >>

GMAT Tip of the Week

Practice The Way You Play

(This is one of a series of GMAT tips that we offer on our blog.)

Sports Illustrated ran an interesting article this week about Barack Obama and the influence that the game of basketball has had on his political career. The implication -- and some theorize one of the reasons that he won in the hoops-heavy states of Indiana and North Carolina -- is that he governs the way he plays: getting others involved, playing defense with discipline, making the smart play, etc.

What does this mean for your GMAT preparation? You, too, can learn to be more effective by taking a lesson from the game of basketball. One of the most important disciplines in basketball (sorry, Shaq) is shooting free throws, as most close games are decided at the end at the foul line. For this reason, basketball coaches everywhere adhere to the practice that the best time for players to practice free throws is at the end of practice, after running sprints. At this point, they can simulate the feeling of shooting those important late-game shots - when they're tired, their hands are sweaty, their legs are heavy, and their heart rate is pounding. It simply doesn't make a great deal of sense to practice free throws at the beginning of practice while they're fresh and energized, as the most important such shots they will take just won't take place in that environment.

On the GMAT, you will face Reading Comprehension passages only near the end of the exam -- after you've written AWA essays for an hour and spent 75 minutes grinding through the Quantitative section. At least one difficult Reading Comprehension passage will face you after you have been testing for over three hours, at which point you will need to be able to focus on a dense, four-paragraph essay on quasars, or a comparative study of Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost, or an analysis of the history of vaccination. At this point, simply staying focused may be your biggest challenge, as your mind will have been stretched in multiple directions throughout the course of the exam.

This is why it is important to take a lesson from the all-time great basketball coaches and practice the way that you'll perform on test day. Study Reading Comprehension at the end of your normal study sessions - after you've worked through an hour or two of Data Sufficiency or Sentence Correction. Sure, it may seem almost enjoyable to pick up a Reading Comprehension book on a lazy Sunday morning in an easy chair with a fresh cup of coffee (perhaps with Lionel Richie's "Easy Like Sunday Morning" in the background), but you won't receive the same benefit of needing to stay focused while exhausted and distracted. If you discipline yourself to practice GMAT Reading Comprehension questions while tired, you will develop skills to read effectively under duress, and by doing so feel much more comfortable when you face tedious passages late in the exam on test day.

For more help on the GMAT, visit Veritas Prep to find a prep course near you.

Read More >>

New Study Highlights the Growing Challenge of College Affordability

The Delta Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity, and Accountability has released a new study that reveals how college students and their families are picking up more and more of the costs as schools reduce the percentage of their budgets devoted
to instruction.

The Delta Project -- a nonprofit organization that aims to shed light on the challenge of affordability in higher education -- created the study to "follow the money" in higher education and try to determine why college tuition costs keep rising dramatically while the quality of instruction seems to get no better (and in some cases, get worse). The study paints a rather bleak picture: The schools where the most students are -- state institutions and community colleges -- spend the least on instruction per student. Where they have made spending cuts or diverted money away from programs that directly improve student instruction, it's the students themselves that frequently make up the gap with their own dollars.

In 2006, the most recent year for which statistics are available, students are public schools paid for about half the cost of their education, up from approximately 40% just four years earlier. Students actually pay even more of their share at private schools: Their share rose from about 58% in 2002 to more than 63% in 2006.

The report paints the picture of growing administrative overhead gobbling up schools' budgets, with the percentage of budgets growing at all types of schools from the mid-1990s to 2006. Meanwhile, in all cases at all schools, students' tuition fees rose faster than spending, with some of this difference going toward increasing overhead.

Compounding the problem for public universities and community colleges, these schools are also the ones that are most likely to feel the brunt of budget cuts at the state and federal level. Assuming government spending on education faces more cuts in the coming year, The Delta Project predicts that these trends may even accelerate. While the U.S. higher education system is still the class of the world, the growing affordability gap threatens to undo this strength in the near future unless something changes soon.

Read More >>

MBA Admissions Tips for Minority Applicants

Every year we receive countless inquiries from minority applicants who want to know if an MBA program is right for them, and what their minority background means for them in the MBA admissions process. The following are seven tips that we often share with our clients who come from these backgrounds:

• You Do Fit In! ­– Many underrepresented minority applicants have a vision of business school that includes a sea of similar-looking people, all with very similar professional and cultural backgrounds. This is definitely not the case, and admissions officers at top MBA programs constantly work to dispel this myth. Don't fool yourself into thinking, "They'd never want me. I don't fit the mold of a Harvard MBA." The very things that make you different could be what get you into a top business school. Embrace these things, and resist the urge to bury them in your admissions essays.


• But Don't Expect "Diversity" Alone to Get You In – Every year business schools are challenged to fill their classes with a diverse mix of students, and that diversity applies to so much more than your sex or ethnicity. What about your professional background makes you unique? What about your upbringing gives you a different perspective that you will bring to the classroom? What career ambitions do you have that might catch the admissions committee's attention? Make sure you know yourself and can articulate how you would enrich a business school classroom discussion.


• Know What You'll Do With an MBA – It's okay if you still don't know exactly what you want to do when you graduate from business school, much less what you want to do twenty years from now. But business school admissions officers will expect that you understand what an MBA will do for you and – maybe more importantly – what it won't. Even if you're not sure whether you want to do investment banking or private equity, you'll need to show admissions officers that you have realistic career expectations and that you'll be marketable to prospective employers when you graduate.


• Reach Out to Students and Alumni Like You – Many top business schools have clubs that serve the needs of minority students and alumni. These people can help you really get to know an MBA program before you apply, as well as help you with the job search once you're in school. It's pretty easy to find these clubs on a school's web site, and their members are usually very happy to help someone in your shoes. Don't hesitate to reach out and ask for their advice.


• And Mentor Those Who Come After You – In business school and in the business world in general, many minorities benefit from strong networks of experienced mentors looking out for more junior people. Hopefully you have been (or will soon be) on the receiving end of some of this mentorship. If so, "pay it forward" and help a young professional or soon-to-be graduate who might benefit from your experience. While you may still feel young and inexperienced, you have a great deal to teach someone in college who is still deciding what they want to do when they grow up.


• Get Involved With MBA-Related Organizations Now – The National Society of Hispanic MBAs, The National Black MBA Association, and The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management are just three of the organizations that exist to help minorities discover the value of an MBA and thrive in top business schools. While many minority MBA students only discover and take advantage of them after they get to business school, these groups have plenty to offer even if you're only casually considering an MBA. Sign up for their newsletters and attend their events to develop a deeper understanding of the value of a business education.


• Take Enough Time to Ace the GMAT – While a strong GMAT score alone won't get you into a top business school, a low score can keep you out. But how do you get a high score? None other than the Graduate Management Admission Council (the organization that runs the GMAT) conducted a study in 2005 that showed a clear correlation between time spent preparing for the GMAT and an applicant's score – those who scored over 700 on the exam averaged well over 100 hours of preparation. So, get your hands on as many resources as you can digest, hire a tutor or enroll in a GMAT prep course if you need more help, and give yourself at least a couple of months to prepare for the exam properly.

If you are a minority applicant, keep these principles in mind as you begin to prepare your MBA applications. If you would like more help in the process, the MBA admissions experts at Veritas Prep can help you define your target business schools, clarify your career goals, and perfect your MBA admissions essays.

Read More >>

UC Irvine Law School to Offer Free Tuition

This story broke during the holidays, but is worth examining after the fact, because UC Irvine's new law school is planning to offer free tuition to students entering in the Fall of 2009 -- which will be its inaugural class.

This is a bold and smart move for a program with ambitious goals. The dean of the law school, Erwin Chemerinsky, has stated that the school's goal is to be "a top-20 law school from the first time we are ranked." This is part of a multi-pronged attack to hit the ground running and instantly be part of the country's elite programs.

Part A was to bring in Chemerinsky, a noted constitutional law scholar famous for his BarBri lectures and advanced work done at the law schools of both USC and Duke. This step hit a few rough patches when Chemerinsky was fired and then re-hired. All of the gritty speculation over the original firing can be found here. Now that he is back in the fold, however, it seems that Irvine has tapped the right person to usher in the rest of their far-reaching strategy.

Part B focused on faculty, which is obviously a key in driving student interest, peer evaluations, and, ultimately, rankings (and, presumably, educational quality, although no one ever seems to mention this part). This blog has spent countless posts dissecting the faculty migration patterns and how they have affected schools like Yale, Harvard, Stanford, and Chicago. Suffice to say, luring top professors is paramount when piecing together an aggressive launch or expansion. Irvine has been able to snag a variety of well-respected academics such as Rachel Moran from Berkeley and Carrie Menkel-Meadow from Georgetown.

Finally, there is Part C. This is where the law school has to make a big splash to win the hearts and minds of top applicants and sure enough, that is what Irvine has done by offering free tuition (for all three years) for the approximately 60 members of its first class. This financial incentive -- coupled with big name faculty members and talk of top-20 rankings -- should be enough to convince at least that many top tier applicants to eschew the traditional powers and give the new guy a shot. And with the inevitable rankings win that would follow such a haul, Irvine is positioned to pull a rabbit out of its hat and actually meet the goal of being ranked in the top 20 from the very first time it is ranked.

At the very least, Irvine offers another interesting option for law school candidates, who are surely tired of hearing about increased applicant numbers and talk of waitlists and rejection letters.

For those interested in learning more about law school admissions trends, please visit our law school events page for information on upcoming events, and see what law school admissions resources Veritas Prep offers. Also, for regular updates on top law schools, be sure to follow Veritas Prep on Twitter.

Read More >>

GMAT Prep Courses Start This Week

If you're now in the process of preparing for the GMAT, this is the perfect time to enroll in a GMAT prep course. This week Veritas Prep has GMAT courses starting in dozens of cities around the world.

Veritas Prep offers multiple options to suit a variety of learning styles:

• Full Course
  The Veritas Prep Full Course is 42 hours long over seven weeks -- nearly twice the length of those of our largest competitor. Armed with over 1,400 pages of materials, students learn a deconstructive approach to confidently attack the GMAT. Students then apply these techniques to actual GMAT questions on 15 computer-adaptive practice tests -- the most in the industry -- and can also access an online recorded version of the class for six months. The Full Course is ideal for anyone looking for the most complete GMAT prep available.


• Intensive Course
  The Veritas Prep Intensive Course covers the exact same 42 hour syllabus as the Full Course, but runs on a compressed schedule. It meets for seven straight days in some of our more interesting locations, including New York, Honolulu, Napa Valley, London, and Dubai. Students receive the same course materials and GMAT practice tests that come with the Full Course. We designed the Intensive Course for those applicants who prefer a compressed schedule, and for those have a hard time clearing their weeknights or weekends.


• Weekend Course
  We also offer a more concentrated GMAT course that meets over two weekends. The Veritas Prep Weekend Course addresses all of the same topics as the Full Course, devoting 36 hours to those topics over two weekends. Students spend less time on covering homework problems in class than in the Full Course, but everything else is identical. The Weekend Course is best suited for those on an accelerated timeline.


• Online GMAT Courses
  Veritas Prep offers two online GMAT course options: a live online course and a pre-recorded version. Virtual Veritas Prep classes are conducted live at specifically scheduled times, via an online interface that allows students to interact directly with their instructor. Veritas Prep on Demand gives students online access to the entire Veritas Prep GMAT course, pre-recorded by a top member of our faculty, and is accessible anytime, anywhere. Our online courses are ideal for anyone who wants more flexibility, or who does not live near any of the 70+ locations where Veritas Prep offers its in-person classes.

Get started now to find a GMAT course near you!

Read More >>

GMAT Tip of the Week

Fractional Focus, Exponential Improvement

(This is one of a series of GMAT tips that we offer on our blog.)

The very fact that the GMAT does not permit you to use a calculator should give you some insight in to the nature of the quantitative section's emphasis - the GMAT is much less concerned with your ability to "crunch numbers" than it is with your logical skills, and the way in which you can make yourself more efficient while assessing and manipulating numbers.

Perhaps the best application of this insight is for you to focus on using fractions whenever possible - in lieu of either decimals or division problems. The GMAT almost exclusively features fractions that will ultimately reduce through calculation, whereas long division and/or the use of decimals will often waste quite a bit of your time and leave you prone to calculation errors simply because of the mass of digits you will need to carry.

Say, for example, you arrive at a calculation that requires you to divide 12 by 5. Rather than calculating that the answer will be 2.4, you're best served to simply leave the number at 12/5, and wait to determine which step will be required next. The problem will likely take the form of the following:

A group of five children finds $12 on the playground, and decides to split it evenly between them. How much will each child have if the playground bully demands a 16.67% commission from each for allowing them to take the money inside?

While 12/5 is, indeed, 2.4, this problem is best calculated by keeping your fractions until the end. In this case, each child will receive 12/5, and be allowed to keep all but 1/6 of their amount (.1667 = 1/6). So, each child will keep 5/6 of 12/5.

This problem is relatively easy to solve: 5/6 * 12/5 allows you to cancel the fives in the numerator and denominator, and then divide the 12 by 6 to arrive cleanly at $2. By keeping your calculations in fraction form as long as you can, you'll typically save yourself time and hassle, and can often perform the calculations mentally.

For more help on the GMAT, visit Veritas Prep to find a prep course near you.

Read More >>

MBA Admissions Interviews - What to Expect

At this time of year we tend to get a lot of questions about the MBA admissions interview process. If you have been invited to interview with one of your target business schools (congratulations!), then here are the main types of questions you can expect to hear:

• High-level questions about you

Just like in a typical job interview, your interviewer will often start things off with "Walk me through your resume" or "Tell me about yourself." This is your chance to take control of the admissions interview and explicitly state the two or three core messages that you want to get across. Practice is critical here -- you will want to develop and rehearse an two-three minute "elevator pitch" that describes your background, highlights your strengths, and provides a story beyond the plain facts stated on your resume.



• Questions about why you want to go to business school and your career goals

A good elevator pitch will likely cover these questions some, but expect the interviewer to probe more deeply here. These questions also give you the chance to answer why you want to specifically go to the school in question, and the research that you do on the school will pay off here. You don't want to go overboard, but citing a few specifics about the program will show the interviewer that you've done your research and are sincerely interested in the school. The interviewer may also ask, "Where else are you applying?" Our advice is to be honest here -- just make sure you have a good reason for applying to each of your target schools.



• Questions about specific experiences in your background

Some schools will spend a majority of the interview in this area in order to better understand your background. These are the questions that famously start with, "Tell me about a time when..." These questions can cover all of the four applicant dimensions that we discuss in Your MBA Game Plan -- maturity, leadership, innovation, and teamwork. Your job here is to call on specific examples from your past, not to talk in hypothetical generalities. Use the "SAR" method: Situation (what the challenge or opportunity was), Action (what YOU specifically did), and Result (what you achieved through your action).

Good luck in your interview! If you want more hands-on help, take a look at Veritas Prep's MBA interview preparation services. Also, Your MBA Game Plan contains dozens of sample MBA interview questions to help you get ready.

Read More >>

Job Advice for New MBA Students

A first-year Tuck student recently posted a message on the Tuck School of Business admissions blog giving career advice to new Tuck (and all MBA) admits.

The student, Natasha V., writes:

When I was admitted to Tuck (a happy day!), I started asking more-detailed questions about the curriculum, community, housing… the list goes on. But one area I overlooked was finding out real information about what my job search would like for my desired career. Truthfully, I put these questions off, since I had some idea of what I wanted to do, and I told myself that I had two years to find a job.

The reality is, first-years are already in full-swing of applying for internships, which should (hopefully) lead to full-time jobs next year. So, my two-year deadline turned out to be more like four months... two very different timelines! Looking back, I wish that I had asked more questions about what my job search would look like at Tuck. It would have helped me get grounded before coming to school, and better understand how and when to apply for internships.

Natasha then goes on to share a few key questions that a newly admitted business school students should ask the school's career office:

1. For your desired career, which companies recruit on-campus for internships and full-time positions?


2. For your desired career, how many students find internships or jobs through on-campus recruiting?


3. For your desired career, how many students interned or accepted full-time jobs in that area?

It often surprises us how often students DON'T ask these questions until they are deep into the summer internship search in their first year. By all means, it is your responsibility to know what your job prospects will be in your chosen field at a given school. Make sure to take this into consideration when you choose a business school to attend, and even when you're deciding the MBA programs to which you want to apply.

Read More >>

Ms. Kagan Goes to Washington

There may not be a bigger story in the law school world this year than the departure of Dean Elena Kagan from Harvard Law School.

Kagan, the former Chicago and Harvard law professor responsible for Harvard's dramatic overhaul from a stagnant giant into a student-friendly haven and a magnet for powerhouse academics, is heading off to the nation's capital as Barack Obama's nomination for the position of solicitor general.

Seen as a stepping stone to an eventual seat on the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court, Kagan likely had no choice but to accept the offer, particularly in light of the fact that she was passed over for the presidency of Harvard University almost two years ago. Nevertheless, this is a major setback for the law school, as Kagan appeared to be a miracle worker during her tenure as dean. And the great irony of this development is that Kagan was such an agent of change during her time in Cambridge, but is now leaving to join forces with arguably the most revered change agent in recent American history.

Of course, Harvard - and education in general - won't be the only place where defections occur as people go to serve under the Obama administration. In fact, the mobilization of public servants to D.C. may wind up being the most remarkable development in a history election.

None of that will likely make Harvard feel any better, but they can rest easy in the knowledge that Kagan had a nearly unrivaled tenure during her time as dean of the law school.

Read More >>

HBS Round Two Admissions Update

Dee Leopold posted another update on the Harvard Business School admissions blog last week, this one for Round Two applicants. Consider this a mini FAQ for all of the questions that Round Two applicants will invariably ask 1,000 times over the next couple of weeks.

Most importantly for those who are racing to get the GMAT in before January 6, Leopold explained that reporting an unofficial exam on your application is enough. If GMAC's official score report doesn't get to HBS until after January 6, that's okay. However, if you haven't yet taken the TOEFL, then you're too late. In the case of the TOEFL, you do need to include an official score report with your application.

You DON'T need to wait for all of your recommendations to be sent in before you submit your HBS application, but your recommenders DO need to get their letters in before the Jan. 6 deadline (at 5 PM EST).

Good luck, everyone! For more information on HBS, visit the Veritas Prep Harvard Business School information page.

Read More >>

Update from the HBS Admissions Office

Last week Dee Leopold posted a Round One update on the HBS blog.

Leopold and her team are now in the process of reviewing applicants who have already interviewed for Round One, and they expect to continue doing so up until the school's Jan. 21 notification deadline. They are also putting some applicants onto the Round One waitlist, and Leopold says that she expects to waitlist around 100 Round One applicants.

If you're waitlisted, don't despair -- you may be invited to interview along with Round Two applicants. "Thus, you could say that a Round One waitlist decision is essentially a 'further consideration' message," says Leopold.

Given the anticipated surge in applications this year, especially in Round Two, we expect HBS and other top business schools to make heavy use of waitlists this year. They may like the looks of your candidacy, but if they're not sure just how big the Round Two wave will be, they may decide to wait until February before making a decision on your candidacy.

If you're racing to finish your HBS application before the Jan. 6 Round Two deadline, take a look at our MBA essay editing services, which offer a 72-hour turnaround time. Good luck!

Read More >>