Henry Kravis Pledges $100 Million to Columbia Business School

Henry Kravis, a Columbia MBA (Class of 1969), made headlines yesterday when he announced a gift of $100 million to Columbia Business School. The donation will help fund the construction of Columbia Business School's new facilities in Manhattanville, just north of the Columbia's Morningside Campus.

Of course, when a man gives $100 million (the largest gift in the school's history), the school has to put his name on something. Accordingly, one of the school's two new buildings will be named The Henry R. Kravis Building in recognition of his gift. The new building will open "in about six years," according to Dean Glenn Hubbard.

Henry Kravis is one of the most successful men on Wall Street. He is the co-founder, co-chairman, and co-CEO of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), the noted private equity and buyout firm. Kravis and his partners, as much as anyone else, pioneered the use of leveraged buyouts in the 1980s to tap into companies' unrealized potential. All of the MBAs who rushed into private equity over the past 15 years have Kravis and his friends to thank for blazing that trail before them.

Kravis is no stranger to involvement at his alma mater, currently serving as the co-chair of the Columbia Business School's Board of Overseers. He's also been very active with his undergraduate school -- donated $75 million in 2008 to Claremont McKenna College in 2008, which led to opening of that school's new Kravis Center.

This is a real win for Columbia. Although the business school had already been slated to move into a new building in Manhattanville, the entire project (a very ambitious one) has already taken a long time to get off the ground, and the financial crisis of the past two years hasn't helped. Uris Hall has long been one of our least favorite buildings (maybe our absolute least favorite) among top MBA programs' facilities, and while you should choose a school for more than just its facilities, it's been hard to overlook Uris Hall and its cramped setup. Even Dean Hubbard himself has acknowledged that the building has been a constraint for the school.

Who's left? We're still waiting for Kellogg to announce more definitive plans for its new building. By then, we will have completed the new (or at least significantly improved) building renaissance at nearly every top MBA program in the United States.

Applying to Columbia or other top business schools? Call us at (800) 925-7737 to speak with an MBA admissions expert and learn about how we can help you. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

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"Diversity" in the MBA Sense of the Word

Recently we asked Debbie Rosenbaum, a recent Harvard JD/MBA graduate and one of our expert admissions consultants, for her thoughts on what "diversity" means in the classroom. What follows are Debbie's thought on the best way to think about diversity as it relates to assembling an interesting and productive cohort of people from different walks of life:

"Diversity" has become a recent buzz word among business schools. Institutions have accepted the idea that diversity serves not only as a strategic differentiation between increasingly similar business school curricula, but its effect also creates a more robust academic and social experience for students.

As a Latina woman who recently graduated from a top 10 business school, I have been impressed with schools' efforts to create more statistically diverse faculties and student bodies while fostering increasingly inclusive environments. However, I will admit that business school (in addition to being the only place where the line for the ladies restroom is shorter than the line for the men's restroom) is the only place to date where I have felt like a minority.

Traditionally, MBA programs have been dominated by white males--a trend not driven by some national conspiracy to deny women and minorities opportunities for achievement. This bias previously made sense: C-level positions were overwhelmingly filled with individuals who had access to education, wealth and opportunity. Today, however, business schools have slowly adjusted the statistics of their students, faculties and administrations, as women and racial minorities have begun to shatter the glass ceiling at the highest echelons of corporate America.

Businesses that continue to promote discriminatorily for top-level positions, in order to maintain the "good ol' boys" atmosphere, are finding themselves at a competitive disadvantage; tangentially, business schools are learning that applicants are actively seeking the diversity that is becoming standard in professional life. In short, what started as a legal effort to ensure equal protection has shifted into the policy that diversity is actually also "good for business."

Diversity Among Business School Students and Faculty
85 Broads, a global women's business network, notes women make up approximately half of the population and only about 30 percent of top MBA programs. Minorities--especially African-Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans--make up about a third of the population of the United States and yet only 7 percent of top MBA programs. Surely, the low numbers for women and minorities is in part due to the historical and social factors described above. But given the genuine efforts business schools have put forward to create more inclusive and diverse environments, the continued lack of representation remains troublesome. It is possible that these groups continue not to have the same access to opportunity; it is also possible that, as the National Society of Hispanic MBAs argues, the discrepancy is at least in part due to the lack of role models and financing.

Business school faculties suffer from the same lack of diversity, as indicative by the recent announcement by five Massachusetts business schools, which have formed a collaborative to increase their ranks of minority professors, mainly African-American and Hispanics.

Diversity of Gender, Race... and Thought
Despite these shortcomings, many business schools have recently made concerted efforts to rectify the gender and racial divergence, not because they legally have to, but rather because they find it in their best interest to do so. Diverse student bodies serve a variety of purposes. First, diversity in the classroom creates a more robust the academic experience. For schools that rely on faculty-led student discussions to teach subjects like leadership and marketing, a mixed student body helps illuminate minority views and perspectives that might not otherwise be addressed. Students from different backgrounds are also critical in providing exposure to real-world situations.

Outside the classroom, diversity also plays an important role in the business school experience. Interacting socially with individuals who come from different backgrounds and different points of view creates a more interesting social environment for students looking to expand their personal and professional networks beyond their already existing circles. At the end of the day, the real value of diversity is not in the statistical percentage of minorities; but rather in the product that diversity engenders: diversity of thought.

As institutions begin to take diversity seriously, we can only hope that the proverbial glass ceiling continues to shatter in corporate America as well.

Thinking about applying to a top-ranked business school this year? Take a look at our Annual Reports, 15 free admissions guides to the world's top MBA programs. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

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Top 10 Business Songs of All Time

This morning a debate broke out at Veritas Prep HQ over Blender Magazine's 50 Worst Songs Ever list. There was definitely some fierce debate over whether a song such as "I Wanna Sex You Up" is truly terrible, or really just belongs on another "What were we thinking at the time?" list.

That got us talking, and, well, when we start talking, we tend to come up with lists. This conversation turned into a "Top 10 Business Songs of All Time" list. We use the term "business" loosely here -- we picked our favorite ten songs that relate to working, making money, and investing in yourself. And we had some fun.

Without further ado, here is Veritas Prep's Top 10 Business Songs of All Time:

10. 9 to 5 (Dolly Parton) -- What better way to start this list than with a song devoted to the drudgery of dragging yourself into a job that you absolutely can't stand? When you're just a step on the boss man's ladder, what could sound better than getting that fat envelope from Harvard Business School and escaping out from under Dabney Coleman's thumb?



9. Gin and Juice (Snoop Dogg) -- Alas, the Mad Men days of constant cocktails at work may be over, but the true lesson of Snoop Dogg's 1993 (pronounced "nine-trizay") anthem is that it's important to keep "my mind on my money and my money on my mind." Only then can one truly understand the definition of laid-back: when you have a sound balance sheet (and when your mama ain't home), you can party all the way 'til six in the morning.



8. I Want to Be Rich (Calloway) -- Perhaps no song lyric captures the mentality of a hedge fund manager quite like "I want money; lots and lots of money; so don't be asking me why I want to be rich." In finance, the why is the what - you want money because...it's money.



7. The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades (Timbuk3) -- While the actual meaning of this song may be a darker hint an impending nuclear holocaust, we prefer to interpret it in a more sunny sense. If you're lucky enough to get into a top-ranked business school, one of the best times of your life will be that period between when you get in and when your last day on the job. You're still making money, you don't have too much pressure, and your future looks awfully bright. Savor it. Will you make "50 thou a year" and be able to buy a lot of beer? Oh yes, and then some.



6. Money (Pink Floyd) -- It's ironic that a song about the evils of money can make a band so much money, but that's the reality of the business world. Make enough cash and you can complain about it from the comfort of your beachfront vacation home while using it to light your cigar.



5. If I Had No Loot (Tony! Toni! Toné!) -- Contrary to popular belief, this band actually had no one named Tony in it. But they did manage to craft this catchy reminder that many so-called "friends" only want you for your money. Remember this when you blow up with your graduate degree and your sweet job at McKinsey.



4. Money for Nothing (Dire Straits) -- It could be worse than being rich and wondering if your friends like you or your money. You could be like the guy in this song, who learned too late in life the lesson that we teach our GMAT prep students every week -- it's not just how hard you work, but also how smart you work. The falsetto cameo by Sting and the mind-blowing-for-the-mid-80s computer graphics in the video help the lesson go down a little more smoothly, though.



3. Mo Money Mo Problems (Notorious B.I.G.) -- In the ultimate CEO doubletalk style, Biggie, Puffy, and Mase spit rhymes about how wonderful their money-filled lives are, breaking only long enough for the refrain to remind listeners that more money creates more problems. Sadly, the hook would turn prophetic as Biggie would be killed months after this record was released, but mo' problems meant mo' money for Puffy, as his subsequent Bad Boy Records albums created even more intrigue in light of Biggie's passing.



2. Take the Money and Run (Steve Miller Band) -- This song may betray a theme on this countdown - at this point nearly half of the tunes on this list seem to treat money as a hassle. The protagonists of this tale, even after a grand heist "are still running today", looking over their shoulders even after a great financial score. The lesson? Obtain your wealth legally and outside of the public eye. That's the lure of business school: avoid legal hassles and extraneous hangers-on and you should be able to enjoy your money.



1. Takin' Care of Business (Bachman Turner Overdrive) -- This staple of the Iowa wedding dance floor circuit seems to be a fun-loving tribute to everything you love about the corporate rat races: alarm clocks, waiting for trains, working overtime followed by guitar solos. What's not to love? What BTO actually means to demonstrate is the lure of owning your own business, at which point you can "work at nothing all day." Entrepreneurship is the name of the game, because it's the work that we avoid when we're all self-employed. Want to TCB like BTO? Consider an MBA ASAP.



Want to earn an MBA and start making some serious, song-inspiring money? Take a look at our industry-leading GMAT prep classes, or aall us at (800) 925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Photo courtesy of sam_churchill, under a Creative Commons license.

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GMAT Tip of the Week: Punting For Field Position

What a weekend this will be! (Author's note: you're looking at about a paragraph of pure football content; not a fan? You can probably skip a paragraph and just pick up the GMAT tips, but trust me when I say that this paragraph is going somewhere). Perhaps the Ali-Frazier of the current era will take place tomorrow evening in Tuscaloosa, with #1 Alabama taking on #7 Florida.

Just down the dial, two of the early-season's most impressive teams, Oregon and Stanford, will do battle in the Pac 10's matchup of the season. Stanford's coach, Jim Harbaugh, will take part in a weekend that prominently features several members of Quarterback U, Michigan: Heisman frontrunner Denard Robinson will get back on track after an injury-shortened game last week, and the NFL's Monday Night Football showcase will feature Robinson's predecessors Tom Brady and Chad Henne quarterbacking their respective teams. Are you excited yet?

The answer may well be no, as if you're applying to business schools this fall you may be swamped in applications (perhaps to Stanford itself, with the deadline coming next week) and GMAT preparation. But if you're looking for an excuse to take a study/essay break and watch some football this weekend, the slate of huge games can actually teach you a valuable strategic lesson as you ready yourself for battle with the GMAT:

Sometimes you have to punt for field position.

The term "punt" has become synonymous, at least in some connotations, with "quit", but in football (as it can be on the GMAT) it's actually a very strategic type of quitting. Coaches will elect to punt the ball away to the opposing team in order to gain valuable field position -- the space that the team will need in order to be able to score on the next possession.

This strategy can work wonders for you on the GMAT, a test that quite often limits its version of "field position" -- in this case time -- giving you precious little of the resource that you may need most. In at least some cases, you'll likely need to guess ("punt") and move on so that you have time available for future questions. Punting on the GMAT can take on at least a couple of strategic forms:

Necessary Punting
There will almost certainly be questions that you simply cannot solve in 2-3 minutes, and after that duration of time you'll need to cut your losses, guess, and save your time and mental energy for the next question. At an average of 2 minutes per math question and 1:45 for each verbal question, wasting an extra minute per question on a handful of questions can severely impact your ability to finish the exam on time. In addition to the severe penalties for leaving questions blank (it's almost always worse than guessing), you're losing opportunities to answer questions that you could likely answer correctly. What's even more troubling is the impact that running behind on time can have on multiple questions - when you rush, you're exponentially more likely to make careless mistakes and miss questions that you should answer correctly.

Accordingly, you'll want to develop an internal clock - much like that of a top quarterback like Brady or Henne - that lets you know when you're starting to approach that 2-minute mark (taking practice tests is crucial for developing this skill). Then, when your internal clock lets you know that you're starting to push that 2-minute threshold, take a second to analyze your situation. If you think that within 30 seconds or so you'll have the right answer - it's just a matter of finishing the calculations or double-checking your work - then by all means finish the question...it's like 4th-and-short in the opponents' territory! However, if you assess that it's more than likely that you'll still be working without a finish line - you're in 4th-and-long territory - you'll want to make an educated guess, punt, and save your time for the remaining questions.

Quick Punt
This type of punting - you'll see it in college football when a quarterback lines up in the shotgun on a makeable 4th down but then punts out of that formation to catch the defense without a returner - can be more strategic and a little less intuitive.

The "quick punt" strategy is one that you should consider employing if you know that timing will be a significant factor for you on the test. If you're resigned to having to rush, the quick punt strategy can help you win the "field position" or time battle. Here's how you can employ this strategy:

- Plan to "punt" on a predetermined number of questions (1 out of every 10 or 1 out of every 12...basically 1/4 or 1/3 of the test) and consider those punts to be assets - you own them and can feel free to use them at your discretion.

- When you see a question that looks difficult or time-consuming, use your punt within the first 30 seconds or less of looking at it so that you can bank nearly the full two minutes to spread over the rest of that section. This way, you have more time available for the questions that you know you can answer correctly. And because you've already predetermined that you'd guess, you psychologically don't have to feel like you've quit or failed - you've just strategically deployed an asset.

- The advantages? That extra time will allow you to relax a bit and not worry about pacing. You'll reduce your stress level and give yourself extra time to avoid those working-too-quickly errors. And because of the adaptive nature of the GMAT, it's quite likely that the questions you identify as "puntworthy" are those that you would have answered incorrectly, anyway. You're sacrificing minimal accuracy and giving yourself extra time. Furthermore, there's a 20% chance or more that you'll get that question right based on your guess, and a not-insignificant chance that that question is an unscored, experimental question, so you may not lose at all on this strategy.

As has been discussed in this space previously, the GMAT tests not only your ability to answer individual questions correctly but also your ability to manage the entire project of taking the test. By strategically electing to punt on a handful of questions, you can demonstrate your capacity for managing aggressive deadlines and workloads, and those skills are highly sought by business schools and employers. Punting isn't always "quitting" -- it's a part of the game, and if you learn to play it effectively you can maximize your chances of winning.

Do you want to reach your maximum potential on the GMAT? A Veritas Prep GMAT prep course is just what you need. And, as always, be sure to subscribe to this blog and to follow us on Twitter!

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MBA Programs Accept Younger Applicants, But Is It a Good Idea?

We've written many times about the trend at some top business schools toward accepting younger applicants. In some cases, these schools have even created specific programs to attract these candidates. But, a big question still looms: Does it make sense for someone to enter an MBA program with little or not full-time professional experience?"

A new Wall Street Journal article, explores this issue in some depth. The article doesn't really choose a side, but raises some interesting questions about how attractive a younger candidate is when he graduates at 24 with a fancy degree and very little work experience.

The schools' reason for trying to attract the candidates -- as we have always said -- is that even Harvard Business School and Stanford GSB feel the need to hustle to get their hands on high-potential young professionals before other graduate schools (not just MBA programs) do. Stanford GSB's Derrick Bolton said as much in the article: "When you see really talented people, you want to lock them in."

But does it do a service to the student to lock them in so early? For us, it really comes down to whether those candidates enter business school with any significant professional experience under their belt. The HBS 2+2 Program gives new admits a chance to gain two years of experience before matriculating (hence the "2+2" name)... This still feels a bit green to us, thinking back to our time in business school and who seemed "with it" and who still seemed a little young to be taken seriously. But, at least those first-year students will have some professional experience, usually from blue-chip firms.

Other programs mentioned in the article, such as Stanford, will (on rare occasions) let someone matriculate straight out of college. While the rare student who does this is undoubtedly a remarkable young person who has already achieved a lot and demonstrated unheard of potential, they often still bring a level of naïveté that will induce the occasional groan from other classmates. I know, because I have see it firsthand.

(I have even been on both sides of the argument. As an undergrad at MIT who took management classes at Sloan alongside full-time MBA students, I always resented those students for resenting my presence. Once I got to Kellogg as an MBA student with five years of work experience under my belt, I finally understood their point of view. As an undergrad with no full-time work experience, I wasn't able to contribute to class discussions or team projects like they were, no matter how much potential I might have had.)

And, as the WSJ article points out, the other audience to consider are professional recruiters. Here schools imply need to be pragmatic about what works and what doesn't. If a school Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business (a fine MBA program) can't easily place 24-year-old grads in great jobs from Harvard and Stanford still can, then it may simply mean that the "younger MBA" formula will only work for schools with strong enough brands.

At the end of the day, despite Harvard's seeming push to get younger, we almost always advise an young applicant to wait an extra year or two before applying. That person's application story will be stronger, his academic experience in business school will be richer, and his job candidacy will almost always be more appealing to future employers. Patience is a virtue, even in MBA admissions.

Thinking about applying to a top-ranked MBA program this year? Call us at (800) 925-7737 to speak with an MBA admissions consultant today. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Photo courtesy of Foxtongue, under a Creative Commons license.

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GMAT Challenge Question: Prime Time

It's time again for another GMAT challenge question, and this one focuses on one of the quantitative section's favorite themes: prime factors.

Please submit your answers in the comments field, and check back later today for the solution and a more-thorough explanation of prime factors!

What is the greatest prime factor of 12!11! + 11!10!?

(A) 7
(B) 11
(C) 13
(D) 17
(E) 19

UPDATE: Solution!

While it's quite common for students to simply look at the numbers 12!, 11!, and 10! and recognize that the highest naturally-occurring prime number is 11, it's important to recognize that this is an addition problem - the numbers 12!11! and 11!10! are combined to create a new number that may well have a higher prime factor than its factorial components.

When adding large numbers like factorials and exponents, as we discussed in this space last week, it's often quite helpful to factor out common terms. In this case, it's particularly important, because our entire goal is to break out the large sum into prime factors so that we can determine which is biggest. Each term has a common 11!, so by factoring that out we can get from:

12!11! + 11!10!

to

11! (12! + 10!)

Now, 12! includes a 10! - it's essentially 12 * 11 * 10!, so we have a common 10! within the parentheses that can also be factored out, going from:

11! (12*11*10! + 10!)

to

11!10! (12*11 + 1)

At this point, the largest prime factor must be either the 11 outside the parentheses or a factor of the number within it, so it's necessary to check the number within. 12*11 + 1 = 132 + 1 = 133. 133 is the product of 7*19, so 19 is a prime factor of 12!11! + 11!10!, and therefore the largest prime factor. Accordingly, E is the correct answer.

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? See how Veritas Prep's GMAT prep courses can help you reach your maximum potential on the test. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

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Admissions 101: Three Reasons to Wait Until Round 2

Continuing our "Admissions 101" series, today we explore the question of whether you should apply to business school in Round 1 or Round 2, and whether this decision really matters at all. Every year we get a lot of questions from applicants in late September and early October along the lines of, "Here's where my application stands today. Does it make sense to apply now, or [insert some way of improving one's application here] and apply in Round 2 instead?"

Our advice here is similar to what it was in our recent "3 Reasons to Retake the GMAT While You Can" piece: As long as there are some things in your application that can be significantly improved between October and January (and we'll explore ways to improve your application in a moment), it's almost a no-brainer to wait.

Here are three reasons why applying to top MBA programs in Round 2 is probably a smarter bet than applying in Round 1:

The "Numbers" Advantage is Slight, If It Exists at All
"Wait," you ask. "I read that more people apply in Round 2, and that applying in Round 1 means that you will have less competition in the early going, so it make sense to apply as early as possible." While it's true that more applicants tend to apply in Round 2 (in a traditional three-round admissions schedule), admissions officers know this as well, and they plan accordingly. Do you really think that, for Harvard's class of about 910 students, the admissions committee will gorge on Round 1 applicants, leaving no room for Round 2 and 3 applicants? Of course they know that more people will apply in Round 2, and they have been doing this long enough that they can plan accordingly.

Further, as we wrote in a previous Admissions 101 installment, the number of applicants in a given time period really affects your chances less than you might intuitively expect. We'll let you read that post for more details, but suffice it to say that what you submit matters FAR more whether 3,000 or 3,500 other applicants apply when you do.

You Still Have Time to Erase or Overcome Weaknesses
Yes, fall is upon us (although we wouldn't know it here at Veritas Prep HQ, in this record Southern California heat this week), and the MBA admissions season is officially upon us, but that doesn't mean that you can't still significantly improve your application in some way. As we've written before, if your GMAT score takes any sort of explaining, why not devote yourself to a few weeks of serious preparation and try again? (Schools really only care about your highest score, so you have nothing to lose, other than the $250 GMAC test fee.)

If your work stories are underwhelming, you still have three months (that's a lot of time!) to take on a new project and make a significant impact on your organization. The same goes for your extracurricular activities -- while you want to avoid the appearance of expediency, that's still a lot of time to lead an event, raise some funds, or otherwise positively impact the community around you.

By this time of year it's easy to think of all of these part of your profile as being set in stone, but the fact of the matter is that, for someone who's only been working for several years, you still have a chance to make some significant moves that will shape the story of your career and your community involvement. If you can even think of some ways that you might be able to make something happen between now and January, it very well may be worth a shot.

Your Recommenders Could Probably Use the Additional Time
Admit it, you've already said to yourself at least once this month, "I wish I had gotten my recommendation writers started earlier." Or, just as likely, "I'm sort of sorry that I chose Bob to write one of my recommendations for Stanford. I wish it weren't to late to choose again." Well, this is your chance to give them more time, or to get a second chance.

There are many ways a business school letter of recommendation can go wrong, and they normally boil down to the recommendation writer not knowing what to do or not being invested enough in the process. Both of these can usually be fixed by giving them better preparation. If that doesn't work, you can always pull the plug and move on to someone else.

While that may be an uncomfortable conversation to have, it's better than the empty feeling in your stomach that comes with a ding email from Stanford. Of course, switching gears and asking someone else to do it means that new person may not have enough time, unless you delay to Round 2. We've seen many applicants' chances torpedoed by lackluster letters of recommendation... It's far better to submit GREAT ones in Round 2 than so-so ones in Round 1.

Trying to decide between Round 1 and Round 2? Call us at (800) 925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Photo courtesy of austinevan, under a Creative Commons license.

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Economist MBA Rankings for 2010

Recently The Economist released the 2010 edition of its global business school rankings. As the editors of The Economist noted in their introduction to this year's rankings, "Usually, schools move up or down just a few places year on year. This time around, however, swings have been wilder."

Why the big changes? Blame the global economy. Digging deeper into The Economist's rankings methodology, you'll see that the "Open new career opportunities" and "Increase salary" categories together make up more than half of the overall score a school earns. Naturally, as the rough economy meant that some schools had an especially hard time placing grads in high-paying jobs (or, in some cases, in any jobs at all), those programs took a hit in the rankings.

Without further ado, here are the top 20 schools in the rankings:

The Economist Business School Rankings - 2010

1. University of Chicago - Booth School of Business


2. Dartmouth College - Tuck School of Business


3. University of California at Berkeley - Haas School of Business


4. Harvard Business School


5. IESE Business School - University of Navarra


6. IMD - International Institute for Management Development


7. Stanford Graduate School of Business


8. University of Pennsylvania - Wharton School


9. HEC School of Management, Paris


10. York University - Schulich School of Business


11. University of Virginia - Darden Graduate School of Business


12. Columbia Business School


13. Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Sloan School of Management


14. New York University - Leonard N Stern School of Business


15. Cranfield School of Management


16. Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management


17. Henley Business School


18. University of Southern California - Marshall School of Business


19. London Business School


20. ESADE Business School

How to Use These Rankings
When you start researching your target MBA programs, of course it make sense to pay to the rankings. Simply by existing, the rankings influence other applicants, employers, faculty members, and other key people. However, trying to discern which is better of two programs when one program is ranked higher by U.S. News and the other ranks higher in The Economist's rankings... Well, that's not really the point. Use the rankings to help yourself get a feel for the "lay of the land," to determine what level of program competitiveness you might have a shot at, and to spot programs with specific strengths you might otherwise have missed. Then, do your own research (our free Annual Reports can help you a great deal here) and decide what programs fit you best.

Plan on applying to a top MBA program this year? Veritas Prep gives you the ability to start working with an admissions consultant today and pay over time. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

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GMAT Tip of the Week: Change You Can Believe In

If it's the autumn of an even-numbered year, change is in the air, or at least in the hot air of the politicians seeking election in November. Noting, evidently, that most people are unhappy, politicians repeat the word change more than any other (with the exception of John McCain, who in 2008 used the word "Petraeus" slightly more than he used "change", but it was close!). Browse the political ads and stump speeches on YouTube and you won't get too specific an idea of what each candidate promises, but, by George, they'll certainly repeat the word "change" until you want to change the channel.

If you've clicked off of the Brown-vs.-Whitman or O'Donnell-vs.-sanity ads long enough to view this post, you're probably looking to change your GMAT score and your MBA candidacy. If so, you're in luck, because if there's one thing you can be sure of on the GMAT, it's change. Ratios, mixtures, proportions -- they're all GMAT problem types that focus on change.

And if you focus on that change in each problem, the change becomes the key to unlocking the entire problem - literally change you can believe in and should depend on. And, with a nod to Hillary Clinton, yes, this change post is one you can certainly Xerox if you'd like to. We don't mind.

How can an emphasis on change improve your GMAT score?

Consider the question:

The average of 5 numbers is 6.8. If one of the numbers is multiplied by a factor of 3, the average of the numbers increases to 9.2. What number is multiplied by 3?

(A) 1.5
(B) 3.0
(C) 3.9
(D) 4.0
(E) 6.0

As with any problem, you should start with what you know. You know that, if the average of 5 numbers is 6.8, then the sum of those numbers is 5*6.8 or 34. Similarly for the new total, if the average is 9.2, then the sum of those five numbers is 5*9.2 or 46.

So we have:

Old total: 34
New total: 46

When problems involve a change - ratio problems in which a certain number is added or subtracted and the ratio changes; mixture problems in which something is added to or subtracted from the solution and the mixture changes, etc. - the key to solving them is typically the change itself. Almost always, the change is expressed in two ways:

x is added and the new ratio becomes...
one of the numbers is multiplied by 3 and the average becomes...

When you're given two ways to mathematically express that change, use those two ways to set up an equation - you can then solve for a variable that links the past to the present (or the present to the proposed future, depending on how the question is asked) and that solution will allow you to fill in the entire puzzle.

In this case, we know that "multiplying one number by 3" also "increases the sum by 12". Since the only number that changes is that number that is multiplied by 3, we know that the multiplying by 3 is the same as adding 12 to that number. So, mathematically, we can say that:

3x = x + 12
2x = 12
x = 6

Therefore, the number in question - that which is multiplied by 3 and in doing so is also added to 12 - is 6, and the correct answer is E.

Use change as your "anchor" in problems that emphasize a change in ratios, proportions, or any other elements of a mixture. By expressing the change in two ways, you'll have an equation that will translate to both the initial and the final mixtures, and therefore will be able to answer any question that the GMAT asks about any part of the relationship. If politicians can use change as their platform to try to get to Washington, you can certainly use change as your springboard to Boston, Palo Alto, Evanston, or the other b-school campus of your choice.

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? Our online GMAT courses run all the time, to suit YOUR schedule. And, as always, be sure to subscribe to this blog and to follow us on Twitter!

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Veritas Prep GMAT Books Now on the iPad!

Like your iPad? Love doing well on the GMAT? You're in luck... Veritas Prep's industry-leading GMAT prep books are now available for download on the iPad! Now, test-takers can develop customized study programs using individual downloadable books from the most comprehensive GMAT prep course ever created.

Each book is rooted in our proven approach to GMAT prep, which focuses exclusively on higher order thinking -- one's cognitive ability to analyze, synthesize, and critically evaluate. To achieve optimal results, these books train you to solve problems like a talented manager, rather than memorize content.

Remember, the GMAT is not a test of how well you can memorize lists or regurgitate rules. As we wrote when GMAC announced the new Integrated Reasoning section for 2012, the skills that really matter in business school (and in the business world) are the ability to recognize relationships and draw inferences from limited data. Since 2002, we have trained tens of thousands of students how to do exactly these things.

First it was in our in-person courses in 2002, then in online classes a few years later. Earlier this year we announced the availability of our individual GMAT books (which previously were only available as a complete kit on our site, or on eBay or Craigslist) on Amazon and on our site. Now, we've taken it a step further, making them available electronically to anyone with an iPad. The next step: 3D GMAT prep, perhaps?

If you're studying for the GMAT, be sure to compare us to other GMAT courses 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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The Economy, MBA Application Fence Sitters, And You

Recently the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) released its annual report analyzing admissions trends at business schools around the world. Interestingly, while most of us tend to associate a weak economy with ever-rising applicant numbers, that trend seems to have sputtered out for the current recession.

According to the GMAC report, half of the 665 graduate management programs surveyed reported an increase in application numbers, while about 40% actually reported a decrease in applications, compared to the previous year. So, have people finally given up on the MBA as a fallback option when the economy gets soft?

That may partly be true, although a more realistic answer is that, since this particular recession has lasted longer than most, it's tapped out as a source for additional applicants. Normally the first year after a recession hits is when schools see the largest surge in applications, when a little "pent-up demand" for advanced degrees gets released and people look for additional options as the job market gets soft. At any given time, there are thousands of applicants who are one the fence about applying. Some of them keep saying "Maybe next year" and never actually apply, while some who were about to say "Maybe next year" see their job prospects getting worse and say, "I'd better take the GMAT and start working on applying to business school."

As these "Maybe next year" applicants come off the sidelines, they pile on top of the normal wave of applicants that passes through business school every year -- the typical young professionals who are three to five years out of college and are ready to pursue an MBA. Add it all up, and you have an abnormally large applicant pool. But, this pool of "fence sitters" only runs so deep, and it essentially gets tapped out after one or two application cycles. That's probably what we're seeing now.

This is especially true for more general two-year management programs, which are often the most inviting for "fence sitters." According to the GMAC report:

More two-year full-time programs (49 percent) showed a decrease than an increase (41 percent) in application volume, continuing declines seen in 2009. In both the US and Asia-Pacific region, where most full-time programs are two-year, roughly four out of 10 full-time programs saw increases. Fifty-three percent of US full-time programs reported application declines.

Meanwhile, more specialized programs, which tend to be less inviting to the more casual "Will I or won't I?" applicant, reported a healthy rise in application numbers overall:

More than 60 percent of master-level programs in finance, accounting, and management, which traditionally draw younger students than MBA programs, reported application increases, with the average volume increasing last year by 20 percent or more.

If you're applying to business school this year, what does this mean for you? Not a whole lot, as we wrote last month, although applicants always like to hear that they have less competition, not more. As the economy eventually (hopefully?!?) improves, application numbers will likely continue to decline, as that pool of "fence sitters" re-stocks itself for the next recession, which will come sooner or later.

Plan on applying to a top MBA program this year? Veritas Prep now offers the ability to start working with an admissions consultant today and pay over time. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

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Last Chance to Meet MBA Admissions Officers in Your Hometown!

Are you applying to business school this fall? There's still time to register for a QS World MBA Tour event in a city near you!

The QS World MBA Tour gives you the chance to meet face-to-face with admission officers from the world’s best business schools, attend GMAT seminars and participate in sample business school classes. This fall, the World MBA Tour will visit 72 cities on five continents including many North American cities (see below).

Not only will you get to meet with representatives from top MBA programs, but you will also be eligible for $1.6 million in exclusive scholarships from many of the schools in attendance. Veritas Prep is proud to partner with QS World MBA Tour and we look forward to seeing you at an event this fall. Make sure to reserve your spot and register here!

Time is running out, but here are the events remaining in North America this year:

• Chicago: September 21


• Boston: September 23


• New York: September 25


• Philadelphia: September 26


• Washington, DC: September 28


• Dallas: September 30


• Houston: October 2

Plan on applying to business school this year? Call us at 800-925-7737 and speak to a Veritas Prep MBA admissions consultant. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

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