The Official GMAT Blog

Make the Most of Your Time: Setting Yourself Apart

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:55:44 GMT

So far, we’ve discussed how you can get a jump on strengthening your academic profile, optimizing your work experience, and building leadership skills in the years before you apply to business school. At this point, you may be wondering: what more is there to an MBA application? The simple answer is: you! Business school admissions committees are truly interested in getting to know the person behind the application and, specifically, learning about what sets you apart from the many other qualified applicants they’re considering. In this installment, we’ll talk about ways to cultivate these important differentiating factors.

MBA programs strive for diversity of backgrounds, perspectives and interests in their student body, and typically want to admit well-rounded students who have active lives outside of the office. In other words, someone who eats, sleeps, and breathes financial analysis may be very successful at work, but probably won’t make for a very interesting classmate. For the sake of both your sanity and your MBA applications, make time to pursue interests and hobbies unrelated to your career.

As always, there are a few guidelines to keep in mind as you determine how to spend your time. The first is to pursue your hobbies in a social context, if possible. Because networking and interpersonal skills are so essential to success in business, admissions committees generally feel more comfortable admitting students who tend to go out into the world and engage others rather than sitting alone at home. Even basically solitary activities can be made social with a little creativity. For example, if you like to read, think about forming a book club with people who are interested in the same subjects as you are. If you’re in the habit of running by yourself every day, consider training with a group once a week. Like to spend time in the kitchen? Think about taking a cooking class. The more the admissions committee hears about how you share your interests with others, the more easily they will be able to envision you as an active member of the student community.

Balancing personal interests with community impact is another worthwhile objective as you budget your free time. Just as is the case in the workplace, business school admissions committees appreciate applicants who devote some of their time and talent to doing good beyond themselves. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you need to start volunteering at the nearest animal shelter even though you’re afraid of dogs and allergic to cats. To find a truly rewarding experience that you’ll stick with over time, it’s important to identify a mutually beneficial opportunity. One way to do this is to reflect on your values and the causes you care about, and to identify local non-profits and other organizations whose missions are aligned with your own. You might also think about skills or services that you would be happy to offer on a pro bono basis, and seek out a group that could benefit. Because admissions committees count on students giving of their time to staff student clubs and mentor incoming students, engaging in this kind of service now will make your applications more appealing later on.

Shifting gears, another way to differentiate yourself before applying to business school is, simply, to be open to taking risks. Young professionals have a fair amount of leeway early in their careers, both in terms of their ability to bounce back from a career move that didn’t work out as planned, as well as in employers’ (and admissions committees’) willingness to forgive projects or ventures gone awry. Further, deviations from the conventional and expected in a candidate’s work history tend to make for memorable MBA applications. Give serious consideration to opportunities that interest or excite you, even if they represent a divergence from your current path or plan. This might mean accepting an assignment or placement in another country, assuming responsibility for a new and unproven product, leading a movement to change an unpopular corporate policy, or joining a friend’s unfunded startup. These kinds of gambles can really pay off. You could gain valuable cross-cultural insights; your product could become wildly successful; you might improve work conditions for hundreds of employees, or be there for the start of the next Google or Twitter. And, if things don’t work out, you’ll at least have an interesting story and valuable lessons learned.

Make the Most of Your Time: Be(come) a Leader

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:06:26 GMT

Along with the hard facts of a candidate’s academic background and professional history, MBA admissions committees also place a good deal of emphasis on the softer skills people use at work. The business school experience is highly collaborative, as students work together on class assignments, cooperate to run clubs and plan conferences and events, and share industry insights and interviewing best practices during the recruiting process. Admissions committees therefore seek applicants who have demonstrated teamwork and leadership skills.

While it’s fairly common for MBA applicants to have some experience working as part of a group or a team, not everyone will have had the opportunity to manage others or take ownership of projects. Setting out to build a track record of leadership before business school will not only help you stand out in the admissions process, but also develop skills that will serve you well throughout your career.

The most obvious place to look for leadership opportunities is in the workplace. In some fields, responsibility for teams and projects comes as a natural part of an individual’s early progression within an organization. If you work in a field in which this kind of exposure is fairly routine, don’t be afraid to speak up. Consider approaching your supervisor and sharing your desire to gain some hands-on management time. He or she may have a lead on an upcoming opportunity, or be able to advise you about how to best position yourself to be considered for the sort of role you’re seeking.

Meanwhile, other professions are more hierarchical, and might even require entry-level employees to work in the same role for several years before being considered for other activities. Chances for leadership may seem scarce in this sort of environment, but if you keep your ears open, you may well find openings outside of your formal job responsibilities. For example, you might consider joining an organization-wide committee or initiative, which may afford the opportunity to network with other departments or take charge of planning an event. You may also see ways to gain informal leadership exposure by offering to serve as an administrative point person for a project, stepping up to steer the team during a supervisor’s absence, or taking on mentorship of a new hire who is struggling.

Outside of the office, community organizations and other activities can serve as a great leadership equalizer. Whether management opportunities abound at your workplace or are difficult to come by, it remains that community service outings, professional and alumni organizations, and casual or competitive sports teams are open to all comers; and these can often provide avenues to coordinate events or direct others in working toward a shared goal. For example, if you play on an intramural sports team, consider becoming a co-captain next season. If you regularly attend events for alumni of your undergraduate institution, think about joining the planning committee. As a bonus, these kinds of involvements tend to translate quite nicely to participation in similar student-run organizations during an MBA program.

Finally, no matter where you’re gaining your leadership experience, take proactive steps to cultivate your skills. Identify mentors who are willing to share their management strategies with you, and take opportunities to partner with more experienced individuals so you can learn from them on the job. Ask your supervisors, colleagues, and subordinates for feedback on your strengths and weaknesses as a teammate and leader. Some of their comments may be difficult to hear, especially at the outset of your professional development when you are sure to make a few missteps. This is the only way to gain insight into your blind spots, and subjecting yourself to a little ‘tough love’ now will be well worth it down the road.

Time to hit the ‘Don’t Panic’ Button

Monica Asencios — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:28:00 GMT

Tuesday, June 5, 2012, is fast approaching and with it the launch of the Next Generation GMAT with Integrated Reasoning. I can only imagine what test takers are thinking — that it’s probably a little stressful to be contemplating the changes to the test and that it’s unclear what importance schools will put on an IR score in evaluating your application. Actually, I can do a bit more than just imagine, as I took the exam myself in 1998.

Nobody likes change. Even my 18-month-old daughter can tell you that. For her, the change from a bottle to a “sippy cup” was tough, until she realized that the cup offered better control, a chance to show off a new set of skills and a path to more choices in drinkables. Now, she’s happily drinking away and the trauma she conjured up never quite materialized. Well, except for my wife and I. For us the trauma was real … and loud.

I can also imagine that some of you are wondering why these changes to the GMAT exam are, seemingly, being thrust upon you. After all, isn’t the GMAT exam just a standardized test that allows you to be compared objectively with all of your peers in front of an admissions committee?

Sure the GMAT exam does that, but it is more than just a standardized test — it is an exam built to purpose. For nearly 60 years the GMAT exam has been built to measure the skills necessary to succeed in a graduate management program, whether your goal is an MBA or a masters in accountancy or finance, for example.

In a recent survey, 740 faculty members from management programs worldwide identified an emerging set of skills that the business community is telling them are — and will continue to be— essential to success at the management and executive level. Schools went on to tell us that they needed to know that incoming students could demonstrate their ability in these emerging skills as the schools themselves began to develop coursework to develop and strengthen them. We named these skills Integrated Reasoning, and they are at the heart of the new section.

Examples from the business world validate the relevance of these skills, as data mining and analysis are critical in identifying purchase behaviors, cost factors, and opportunities to improve efficiencies. Even in graduate management programs, the case study approach (a typical methodology to teach various management concepts) requires students to integrate many different sources of information (graphical, tabular, text-based) to answer questions or provide a solutions to business problems. So Integrated Reasoning skills are relevant in school and on the job, but that doesn’t mean that they’re completely new to you. Students who have participated in pilot studies for the Next Gen GMAT and who have taken the Integrated Reasoning section have told us that they are already using these skills in their undergraduate study at or at work. One student said, “…it’s just the PowerPoint, spreadsheet paradigm we live in every day.”

All this to say, you don’t need to be nervous about the Next Generation GMAT exam, and you don’t need to panic. To help you prepare, we have created a hub of information on mba.com to familiarize you with the new Integrated Reasoning section, the skills being measured, and the questions. On the hub you will find examples of question formats and appropriate directions to help your respond. We will publish new test preparation materials in April: the 13th edition of the Official Guide to GMAT Review and free GMATPrep software.

If you’re wondering how you might prepare for the Next Generation GMAT exam in just two months, remember this: The Quantitative and Verbal Sections will remain the same, as will the Analysis of an Argument essay. You will still get separate Quant and Verbal scores and a Total score to send to schools, just like before. You will still get a separate essay score, too. And now you will also get a separate IR score.

You can begin your preparation for the Quant, Verbal and AWA sections of the GMAT exam now. When the new test preparation material is released in April, you can switch your attention to preparing for the Integrated Reasoning section.

One more thing to remember is that, time-wise, the test will not be any longer. Our goal in developing the Next Gen GMAT exam wasn’t to make the test harder; it was to make the test better. Better at testing relevant skills for today’s management education classroom and better at helping you differentiate yourself from other applicants by showing you have those skills.

The GMAT test has evolved continuously since its launch in 1954. We take great pride in being not just a leader in developing the gold standard of admissions exams, but also in being a leader in the discovery of talent. This means that with the Next Gen GMAT exam, we’re developing a 21st century assessment to help prepare you — the 21st century student — for the 21st century business environment in which you have chosen to make your career and your future.

-Ashok Sarathy, Vice President, GMAT Program

When Alumni Speak, It Pays to Listen

Monica Asencios — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:32:00 GMT

Who better to give you the inside track on job hunting and career advancement than b-school alumni? Whether from the class of 2011 or 2001, alumni know: The job search and planning for career advancement begin the moment you first set foot in a classroom.

Take this on the authority of nearly a thousand global alumni from across graduate management programs in the class of 2011 who recently shared details about their job search expectations, strategies, and outcomes in securing that first job out of graduate business school. The good news is that 86% of last year’s grads had jobs when surveyed shortly after they left campus—an outcome that required many hours of searching, networking, out-of-the-box thinking, and advance planning on the part of those grads. The extent of job search efforts varied, of course: Details like the degree program completed, the industry and size of the company where they sought work, the job level applied for—entry or senior—and often the amount of past work experience were often dependent.

The table below shows the job search methods most frequently used by class of 2011 grads. On the whole, top choices for pursuing the job search included tapping into their network of contacts (20%), leveraging school career services (20%), and participating in on-campus interviews (17%).

Networkto Expand the Job Search

Alumni surveyed from the class of 2011 reported that engaging in networking activities was the most time-intensive and most frequently utilized element of their job search process—averaging 157 hours per respondent. But those hours paid off in employment—37% cited networking as the most successful means of finding a job.

Certain networking activities also influenced the decision of many a class of 2011 alumni to consider expanding their job search or switching careers, including:

• Opportunities to meet with industry representatives and recruiters (42%),
• Networking with peers and classmates (28%), and
• Networking with alumni (22%).

Intern School For a Strong Footing at Graduation

In terms of job placement upon graduation, those with prior work experience have the clear edge. One of the best ways to acquire that experience is by participating in an internship while earning your degree. Nearly one-fourth (23%) of alumni who completed a two-year full-time MBA program last year successfully transitioned from an internship to a full-time job upon graduation. Overall, 13% of alumni from the class of 2011 held internships and continued working for the same employer once they graduated. Their average starting salaries for a first job after graduation were also much higher at more than US$86,000 than the average starting alumni salary of US$72,000.

Network Again for Career Advancement

The same networking strategies that aid alumni in securing jobs after graduation continue to facilitate upward career momentum for alumni in upper-level managerial roles who may have been working for a number of years. Many of these successful alumni engage in self-directed career development strategies that are networking-based and use project-based approaches to taking their careers further. More than half (53%) of three-thousand-plus alumni from the classes of 2000 to 2009 who contributed to our April 2010 survey revealed that building relationships with upper management was the most common networking strategy they used to help build their careers. Fifty-four (54%) percent of this group also reported that becoming involved in high-profile projects was the most popular means for career development.

Learn More About Alumni Job Search Strategies and Career Satisfaction

To help fine tune your goals for graduate management education and learn how more than 4,000 alumni transitioned from classroom to career, check out two new Data to Go reports on alumni job search strategies and career levels, as well as our recently published 2012 Alumni Perspectives Survey report, which highlights all of our major findings. As a recent blog post advised: It’s not just about the degree; it’s what comes after. Keep your “eyes on the prize” and plan now for the career you wish to have.

Make the Most of Your Time: Optimizing Your Experience

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:54:00 GMT

For many MBA programs, work experience is the heart of one’s candidacy. While academic preparation is essential, an applicant’s professional history informs his or her ability to contribute to classroom activities and integrate each course’s subject matter into a broader framework. Further, schools want to admit students who will go on to be successful alumni, and past performance is a strong predictor of future performance.

If you’re planning on applying to MBA programs down the road, it may seem obvious that you should try to excel in your career today. Still, some may find that objective so broad that they aren’t sure how to act on it. Knowing about the specific markers that admissions committees consider when evaluating a candidate’s work experience can help you to focus your efforts and take an active role in your ongoing career development.

MBA admissions committees often begin by considering a candidate’s overall career trajectory. At the most basic level, they’re looking for movement or change over time: among varied projects, into new or additional roles, or between functions or organizations. For candidates who have gained all of their full-time experience working for the same organization, business schools typically expect to see signs of upward progression, such as promotions, raises, or increases in responsibility. If you plan to stay the course with your current employer until it’s time for your applications, be mindful of this and take proactive steps to build momentum. For example, you might speak with your supervisor about paths to advancement in your firm, lobby for assignment to high-profile projects or clients, or volunteer to take on additional tasks outside of your basic responsibilities.

Of course, many business school applicants will have changed jobs at some point in their post-collegiate careers. Moves into new functions or different organizations are often lateral ones, as a professional may be willing to sacrifice upward movement in the interest of a better fit with his or her skills, interests, work values or preferred work/life balance. Further, candidates who have worked in multiple roles and settings often bring a valuable perspective to the classroom, as they’re able to speak to an expanded range of questions and situations.

MBA-bound professionals should therefore not fear that changing course will negatively affect their chances of acceptance by their target schools. Of course, the best (and most defensible) career moves are intentional ones; those that are made as a first step down a thoughtfully chosen path. Whatever the change you may be considering, it should be made with an eye to gaining certain skills or knowledge, becoming more familiar with a sector of interest, or enhancing your job responsibilities and opportunities for achievement. It should go without saying that you should make every effort to keep relationships intact and positive when leaving one employer for another, both for the sake of your business school recommendations and future networking needs.

Aside from broad trajectory, MBA admissions committees will also consider the impact an applicant has made on the job. While promotions and salaries are nice markers of success, the accomplishments that hold the most sway with business schools are those in which the applicant’s actions have some benefit outside of his- or herself. This can take any number of forms, from winning additional business from an existing customer by producing high-quality work, to stepping into an informal leadership role to bring a struggling team together. Perhaps you’ll have the chance to identify and address some inefficiency in an organizational process, or to achieve significant cost savings for your company or a client. As you progress through your pre-MBA career, be mindful of these various kinds of contributions you can make on the job, and take proactive steps to move into roles and projects that will enable you to make a mark on a team, process, or the bottom line.

Make the Most of Your Time: Evaluating Your Academics

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:00:00 GMT

Planning for an MBA often begins early in one’s career. Because business schools typically prefer that Master’s applicants have several years of full-time work experience before they enroll, even those who know after their first undergraduate economics class they want an MBA may want to work for several years before applying immediately out of college. For the early career professional intent on an MBA, the question becomes: how to make the most of the intervening years? Over the next few weeks, we’ll be offering a series of tips about steps you can take now to enhance your business school candidacy, even if your applications are years down the road.

While most of our advice will focus on looking forward, this first installment involves looking back. If you’ve already graduated from an undergraduate program, it may seem like there’s little you can do to improve this element of your candidacy, but this is actually far from the case. By examining your academic history and considering your educational profile as it compares to students at the schools you might want to attend, you can identify and address potential weaknesses before they become problems for your application.

As a first step, if you have any specific schools in mind, check their class profiles to determine how your grades compare to the average GPA of that program’s enrolled students. If your undergraduate average is equal to or higher than the number posted by a given school, you can rest assured that you’re on the right track with your school selection. Meanwhile, if your GPA falls below a program’s average, this does not by any means condemn your application, though it does let you know that your other academic markers may need to be higher than average to compensate for this potential shortcoming. You can accomplish this with a higher-than-average GMAT score, or with an alternative transcript of additional coursework at the college level. You can put forth this transcript as a better indication of your current academic abilities.

Next, look at the composition of coursework on your undergraduate transcript from an admissions officer’s point of view. While admissions committees value diversity of backgrounds and interests, they also need to ensure that the students they admit will be equipped to handle the heavily quantitative assignments they will encounter during an MBA program. They’ll therefore be looking for evidence of this in each candidate’s academic background. If a review of your transcript doesn’t suggest much experience with the numerical—as is often the case for students who majored in the humanities and in certain social sciences—or if your grades in quantitative courses equate to Cs or lower, then you might want to add some additional for-credit coursework to your application. Even a few college-level courses in areas like accounting, calculus, economics, or statistics can help to boost the admissions committee’s confidence in your preparation—provided that you earn high grades. The other side of this evaluation is to consider how you will make yourself stand out from the many other qualified applicants with similar backgrounds in the applicant pool. We’ll have more on this in a later installment of this series.

Finally, it’s generally beneficial to prepare for and take the GMAT® exam early. College students and recent graduates typically have an easier time with the study process and with the test itself than do individuals who have been working for years and gotten out of the academic mentality. Further, taking the GMAT exam well before you’re planning on applying to school affords the luxury of extended study time and the ability to wait to take the test until you feel truly prepared, as opposed to scheduling a test date based on a looming application deadline. Again, consulting the average scores of students at the schools you’re considering will provide a good benchmark to meet or exceed during test prep. While it’s obviously ideal to hit one’s target score on the first time out, taking the test well in advance of your application also allows you to continue studying and to retake the test if you fall short on your initial outing.

For applicants who need to take the TOEFL or PTE test, the same advice applies. While MBA programs generally do not set minimum GMAT scores that applicants must meet in order to be considered, it’s fairly common for schools to set cutoffs for the Test of English as a Foreign Language or the Pearson Test of English. Giving yourself adequate time to prepare for the exam, and to retake it if necessary, could make a difference in your ability to attend a certain program.

Why Master in Management

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:39:00 GMT

Today’s job seekers know that undergraduate degrees alone are far less likely to land you a top job than they used to without serious employment credentials. Those looking to boost their potential for dream-job occupation need a means both to acquire and demonstrate knowledge of higher-order business skills. And, thus enters the Master in Management (MiM) degree—aka MSc in Business and Management, among other names. An MiM degree is seen by many recent undergraduates competing with a mix of seasoned professionals as a means to develop the higher-level business and workplace skills needed to secure more competitive employment positions.

Competition in the job market is such that MiM degree programs experienced a five-year high in applicant growth, with 69% of MiM programs reporting increased applicant volume for their incoming class of 2011–2012.

Skills & Job Outcomes

Practical and Technical Skills. Skill development is a driving factor in the growing appeal of MiM programs for all applicants. This is especially the case for nonbusiness undergrad majors seeking to broaden their practical and technical business skills and expertise.

Four out of five specialized master’s graduates from the class of 2011 cited general business knowledge, managing strategy and innovation, and managing decision-making processes as the top three areas improved through their graduate program.

Wide-Ranging Job Outcomes. Grads who complete an MiM program find their degrees are highly marketable to a wide variety of industries for a broad range of job functions. Companies that planned to hire MiM grads in 2011 sought these grads to fill positions in:

Marketing and sales (40%)
Operations (35%)
General management (36%)
Consulting (31%)
Business development (31%)

Actual job search results for students who graduated in the Class of 2011 showed that 54% of those earning an MiM degree or other business master’s had received a job offer at the time we surveyed them shortly before graduation. And those seeking employment at that time received an average of 2.2 job offers.

Hiring Projections Up for 2012

Still more encouraging news on the hiring front for 2012 comes from employers surveyed last month, with 51% of companies planning to hire MiM graduates in 2012, up from 36% in 2011.

Plus, more than half (54%) of these employers also expect to offer paid internships next year to students enrolled in MiM programs, which is especially critical for any potential business school applicant coming fresh from an undergraduate program. As one employer told us, “If the students determine they will go straight into graduate programs, it is important that practical work experience is completed, at least through an internship or co-op work experience.” Our past research, which shows that students who participate in internships increase their chances of receiving a job offer by 26%, confirms this opinion.

Global Fluency

Employers we polled last month who operate on a global scale indicated they look for certain qualities when hiring international candidates, including: cultural knowledge, strong language and communication skills, and ability to thrive in diverse cultures. MiM programs, which received 60% of their applications in 2011 from international students, can also present rich opportunities to learn in a multicultural environment, develop language skills, and build an international network of contacts that can lead to global job opportunities.

A Young Class Profile

The chart below shows that 72% of applicants to MiM programs in 2011 were younger than 25 years of age and 85% had less than three years of work experience (with 56% reporting less than one year of full-time work experience).

More to Explore

If you’re still deciding what type of graduate business program is right for you, check out the mba.com School Search Service, which can help you find programs that best fit your search criteria and your expected career outcomes. Or create an account with our Graduate Management Admissions Search Service, and let more than 400 schools and programs find you!

“Official GMAT” Mobile App Lets You Study on the Go

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:02:56 GMT

You can keep up your GMAT preparation whenever you have a little downtime with the “Official GMAT” mobile app for iPhone, iPad, or Android.

A mobile version of the best-selling Official Guide to GMAT® Review book series, the app is the only mobile app with actual, retired GMAT questions—and full answer explanations—from the makers of GMAT exam.

Most importantly, the app behaves like the GMAT exam, presenting questions as they appear on the test and providing a question timer. These features make it convenient to master two of the most important aspects of GMAT test preparation: Getting familiar with the GMAT question formats and being able to pace yourself.

Because it was designed specifically to measure academic skills needed in management programs, the GMAT exam includes question formats you may not have seen on other standardized tests. Data Sufficiency, for example, is a question format created specifically for the GMAT exam, and it’s still unique to the test. You don’t have to solve a Data Sufficiency problem; you just have to determine exactly what data you need to solve it. Practicing with Data Sufficiency and other retired GMAT questions will help you go into your test appointment focused on answering the questions rather than learning how they work.

And pacing, of course, is vital. The GMAT exam is a timed test, and if you run out of time, you won’t earn any points for the questions you didn’t get to see. You’ll have approximately two minutes to answer each Quantitative question and 1 minute, 45 seconds for each Verbal question. Simply getting a feel for how to pace yourself so you can finish each section within the allotted time will go a long way toward performing your best when you sit for the test.

The “Official GMAT” mobile app lets you answer GMAT questions wherever and whenever you want. It includes “Exam” and “Practice” modes to allow you the option of seeing answer explanations after each question. Performance tracking lets you track your guesses as well as your performance on each group of questions, so you can see if you are improving, and an exam date “countdown reminder” will keep your test appointment in mind.

The iPhone and iPad versions also use Apple’s Game Center feature. To get your competitive juices going, the Game Center lets you compare how you’re doing with other app users.

The initial app includes 50 questions found in the Official Guide to GMAT Review, 12th Edition and is available for US$4.99 in the iTunes store and the Android Marketplace. Three additional packs of 250 questions, also from the printed Official Guide, are available for US$9.99 each.

Beyond the Rankings: Eye on the Prize

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:32:39 GMT

At the end of the day, no matter how friendly the students or stunning the facilities, your decisions about which schools to apply to will most likely be informed by your career goals. You’ve already spoken with colleagues and mentors—and perhaps even with hiring officers—about various schools’ reputations in your target post-MBA field. The next step is to turn to the hard numbers. Virtually every MBA career center publishes an annual employment report that details students’ internship and job outcomes for the previous year, as well as the companies that hired their students and graduates. These statistics can help you get a sense of students’ interests, as well as the program’s track record of placing graduates in certain areas.

Whether you have a specific post-MBA job function in mind or feel just as likely to go into banking as consulting, looking at students’ job choices with respect to industry and function should give you a sense of how many classmates might share your interests. The higher the number of graduates going into your desired post-MBA field out of a certain school, the more likely you may be to find related clubs, elective courses, and on-campus recruiting opportunities in your area of interest. Of course, this may also translate to increased competition for the most coveted jobs in that field, so it may be prudent to think twice if you find that the vast majority of a school’s students are gunning for your dream job.

It also pays to keep an open mind and examine the career outcome data for a range of programs, even if they don’t seem like an obvious match. Your findings might defy reputation-based expectations. For example, a school renowned for marketing might send more MBAs into investment management than into brand management, while a finance powerhouse might have just as many graduates starting new companies as a school that’s famous for entrepreneurship. A program might not be considered #1 in your area of emphasis, but this doesn’t mean that you won’t find exactly what you need to get the post-MBA job you’re seeking, and you might find yourself putting certain schools back on your list after considering them from this particular angle.

If you hope to live in a particular city or region following business school, it will also make sense to note where a program’s graduates tend to take jobs upon completing their MBAs. These statistics tend to indicate the regions in the United States and the world where employers are most aware of and receptive to that school’s reputation and graduates. In general, the majority of students tend to accept positions in the same geographic region as their school, which also means that this is where a program’s alumni network tends to be strongest. If being in a certain location is a major priority for you, a look at MBA program placement data might lead you to limit your search to schools within a few hundred miles of your current home or preferred destination.

Beyond the breakdowns of student outcomes by industry, function, and region, it’s also informative to take a holistic look at outcomes for the entire student body. In particular, pay attention to the percent of students who had accepted job offers within three months of graduating, and the sources of those jobs. Do most students find internships and full-time jobs by following school-generated leads, or are they out making connections and generating opportunities on their own? You may also want to consider the total number of companies that schedule presentations and interview students on campus, and look at the mean and median starting salaries for graduating students to confirm that you’ll have access to the sorts of opportunities you’re seeking in the recruiting process.

Even after looking through several years of statistics to tease out the effects of the economic climate, you may find that students at some schools are simply more independent in their job searches, while those at other programs draw more heavily on career center resources. Depending on the strength of your existing connections in your intended post-MBA field, you may decide to adjust your list of target schools to ensure that you receive the amount of job-search support you desire.

Beyond the Rankings: See for Yourself

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 12:05:00 GMT

You’ve spoken to students and alumni in your network. You’ve scoured each school’s website. You’ve conducted online outreach to learn more about the curriculum and extracurricular opportunities. What next? The next way for you to go beyond the rankings as you consider MBA programs is to go out and get the scoop on a face-to-face basis.

The schools you’re thinking about may be scattered all over the country, but it’s likely that their admissions representatives will be coming your way in the months preceding the application deadlines. Whether organized by a single school or part of a larger event such as a tour or career fair, information sessions provide an excellent opportunity to get the latest news and details about a program. You may also be able to connect personally with admissions representatives and, depending on the event, alumni or current students, which can give you a better sense of the school community. Registration at these sessions tends to be limited, so check early and often to see when the schools you have your eye on will be passing through your area.

Information sessions or virtual fairs are an especially good proxy when a school is too geographically distant for a visit to be feasible. That said, it’s always a good idea to make a trip to a school’s campus if you have the time and the means; this is particularly true for the programs that are emerging as your top choices. Most MBA programs welcome visitors to campus throughout the academic year, and arrange a full battery of events for prospective students. Applicants can typically tour the campus, attend a class, eat lunch with current students, and attend an admissions Q&A. If you’ve been in touch with student club leaders or faculty members, a trip to campus is also a great occasion to connect with them in person.

More than anything, a visit to campus is your chance to spend time on the ground and get a sense of the day-to-day life of students in a given program. Schools tend to showcase their best features and newest facilities in their marketing materials, whereas making the trip in person allows you to see what the average classroom looks like, where students congregate and spend their time, and how the business school is situated within the larger university. Observing students’ interactions with each other and with their instructors is also the best way to get a sense of the elusive ‘culture’ of a school. Are students on a first name basis with faculty members, or is the relationship more formal? Do students stick around to socialize after class, or go their separate ways? Paying attention to your personal comfort level during the time you spend on campus may be the best way to assess whether a school is truly right for you.

Beyond the campus itself, there are other quality of life issues to consider as you survey the area. You’ll be spending 1-2 years here, after all, and there will (hopefully) be more to life than classes and clubs. Where do students live, eat, and socialize? What is the cost of living? Will the transportation infrastructure meet your needs? Are you more eager to relocate to a bustling urban center, or a quiet college town? If you have a partner and/or children who will be moving with you, you’ll likely want to inquire about the program’s support for students’ families, and think about job prospects in the area, quality of schools, and public safety. As you consider all of the pieces that form the big picture of the student experience, you may realize that some schools make better sense than others with respect to your lifestyle preferences and personal situation.

Are You a Master of Accounting?

Monica Asencios — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:00:00 GMT

Master of Accounting is an increasingly popular specialized degree in graduate management education, with more than half of Master of Accounting (MAcc) programs worldwide reporting increased application volumes for the incoming 2011–2012 class. Current acceptance rates for MAcc programs stand at 61%, which means that, on average, for every five applications to the program only three individuals may receive a seat in the class.

Data signals from GMAT examinees suggest demand for MAcc programs will likely grow: Nearly 8% of all test takers intend to pursue a Master of Accounting degree, driven by the more than 30,000 examinees with undergraduate accounting degrees in testing year 2011–the highest figure in five years.
So, why the interest in a Master of Accounting degree?

MAcc Grads Start Strong with Little to No Prior Work Experience

The Master of Accounting degree can afford you the chance to develop immediately marketable skills and credentials, and consequently, a leg up in the job market. In researching what companies want, we found that 57% of companies seeking MAcc grads were looking to hire individuals who had less than three years of work experience. This inclination for less experienced candidates was highest for MAcc programs when compared with other graduate business degree-holders.

Average work experience expected by companies hiring Master of Accounting grads:

Less than 3 years: 57%
3 to 4 years: 27%
5 or more years: 17%
Source: GMAC 2011 Corporate Recruiters Survey

Job opportunities also emerge for MAcc students when companies come to campus looking for new hires. Of the employers that conducted on-campus recruiting this year (68%), a majority of the financial and accounting firms were visiting schools with the intention to fill full-time positions. In addition, a majority of companies also visited campuses to recruit for internships, which offer one of the best ways to demonstrate your skills to a potential employer. Our 2011 employers’ survey revealed that of the accounting and finance firms that employed interns last year, 60% extended a job offer to interns who had applied for full-time positions.

The Skills and Talent Stand Alone

The recession and financial crises worldwide have put a spotlight on the value of the accounting credential that negates misconceptions of the degree being just for “bean counter” types! Companies seeking Master of Accounting grads intend to fill positions not only in accounting, but in consulting, finance, and investment banking, as well as operations and other areas that draw from a portfolio of business skills.
The table below speaks to some of the skills and abilities that a graduate program in accounting can offer you.

Jobs, Job, Jobs

The growing complexity and globalization of the industry is also driving employer demand for accounting candidates with advanced degrees. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2011 industry outlook predicts 22% growth in accounting and auditing jobs in the decade between 2008 and 2018, and indicates that those with master’s degrees and CPAs have the brightest prospects for the top jobs. Overall, nearly 8 in 10 recent grads from quantitative master’s programs would agree that their degrees prepared them to meet job market challenges and provided a competitive advantage in the workplace.

See if Accounting Is Right for You

Are you inspired to discover the accounting-related careers that await new grads? Do you want to assess your quantitative skills or get ready for the GMAT exam? Visit the mba.com Store and check out the GMAT BusinessReady™ Collection (featuring the combined tools for accounting, finance, quantitative skills, and statistics) to help you prepare for success before your master’s classes begin!

-Research Center at GMAC

Beyond the Rankings: Go to the Source

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:16:41 GMT

In the first entry of our series on ways to go beyond the rankings as you decide which MBA programs to target, we focused largely on sources of information within your own network. For the second installment, we’ll focus on the next steps of the research process that involve connecting with the business school community.

MBA programs differ in a number of very meaningful ways. Do students bid for popular elective classes using an auction model, or does registration operate on a random lottery system? Are there dedicated breaks for recruiting built into the academic calendar, or do company presentations and interviews run parallel to academic work? More importantly, are students generally able to get into the courses they want and balance the job hunt with class assignments? School websites and brochures will give you a sense of the big picture, but to get a handle on the finer points of the student experience, you’ll need to conduct some outreach.

The good news is that schools make it fairly easy to connect with students and staff who can answer such questions. A school’s admissions staff tends to be on the frontline when it comes to fielding questions from applicants; look for school-hosted message boards, scheduled Q&A chats, and the good old-fashioned “contact us” link. Many schools also maintain a roster of Student Ambassadors who are on hand to address more nuanced questions, while other programs retain student bloggers who write in detail about their business school experiences. Don’t be shy about reaching out to such students or admissions staff with your lingering questions; getting a clear picture of the processes and policies that shape students’ lives is a key way to differentiate among programs as you decide where to apply. Just try to avoid asking questions with answers that can be found on the school’s website. Check the FAQ and the registrar pages beforehand, and consider asking questions that focus on the students’ personal experience and perspective.

You’ll also have occasion to get in touch with members of the school community as you begin to think about how you’ll spend your time outside of class. Extracurricular activities are a major component of MBA student life, and a great source of the leadership experience that many recruiters prize. Reach out to the leaders of clubs you might like to join to get a sense of their plans for the coming year and the various ways that students are involved in planning events and activities. Don’t see an existing outlet for one of your current hobbies? Consider contacting a student government representative to learn about the process of starting new clubs. Meanwhile, if you’re of an investigative bent, you might also contact a faculty member whose work you find particularly interesting to ask whether you might be able to help with his or her research. As you learn more about the available extracurricular opportunities, you may find that you can envision yourself on some campuses more easily than on others, or see the potential to make a particularly meaningful impact at one of your target schools.

Beyond the Rankings: Get the Inside Track

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:48:00 GMT

You’ve decided to get an MBA—but where? For applicants who are just beginning to explore their options, rankings are a natural place to turn. They’re authoritative and, at first glance, look pretty comprehensive. They consider admission selectivity, post-MBA salary, recruiter input, student body diversity, international reach, faculty research … the list continues.

There’s one essential element of the school selection equation, however, that rankings fail to take into account: your personal career goals and preferences. With this in mind, we’d like to discuss a few sources of valuable business school information that will be highly tailored to your own post-MBA path.

Assuming that you already have a few schools in mind, a great first step is to reach out to your friends and colleagues and ask them if they can connect you with any current students or alumni. After all, nobody knows a school better than someone who’s been through the program. By working your network, you can forge personal connections with people who have this insider perspective on the schools you’re considering, allowing you to get their candid impressions of each program’s strengths and weaknesses.

Don’t limit yourself during this exploratory stage. In addition to seeking contacts at the programs on your shortlist, ask your associates and friends to introduce you to alumni or students at other schools that they believe would be a good fit given your personality, learning style, and goals. The people with whom you work and play have an insider perspective on you, after all, and might be in a position to recommend a perfect MBA program that wouldn’t have made it onto your radar otherwise.

For another perspective on the MBA landscape, consult your mentors and supervisors. These seasoned professionals are likely to have crossed paths with graduates of a range of MBA programs, and will be able to share their impressions of the alumni they have worked with. Getting a knowledgeable, third-party perspective on the people coming out of a given program will help you understand how a school’s alumni are perceived within your field, and may inform your decision about whether you want to join their ranks. Ask how you compare to the graduates of the programs on your list, whether your mentor can see you at some schools more easily than others, and what his or her colleagues have had to say about each. Of course, this assumes that you’re able to share your business school plans; if you’re unable to approach your own mentor with these questions, go back to your network and see whether you can borrow a friend’s.

Our final suggested source of “inside” information is the most outcome-oriented. If you have a sense of where you’d like to work on the other side of business school, consider contacting the HR departments at a few of your target firms and asking what they look for in an MBA-level hire. You may find that they’re especially fond of a certain school’s graduates, or learn that they place more emphasis on relevant work experience and demonstrated leadership than on the institution issuing your diploma. Even in the latter scenario, you’ll get valuable insight into the kinds of skills and experience you’ll need to gain during your time in an MBA program, which in turn will help you identify the schools that provide the right opportunities and resources.

The GMAT and Preventing Cheating

Anne Daugherty — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:46:00 GMT

In response to recent events surrounding alleged cheating in college entrance exams, GMAC has sent a note to its member schools with a review of GMAC policies, procedures, technology investments, and the security measures it applies to uncover and try to prevent attempted cheating on the GMAT exam. The review has also been posted on GMAC.com.

What this means for students and test takers is simple: GMAC is committed to ensuring that the security of the GMAT exam is protected and that the fairness of the exam as a tool for admissions is assured, no matter where in the world or when the exam is taken. We do this because we believe no individual test taker should lose an opportunity to earn a graduate management degree to someone else who took an unfair advantage or cheated on the exam.

We understand the value of a management education degree, whether it’s an MBA or a specialized Masters Degree, and we know too how gaining this education can make a difference in a career and a life. GMAC’s commitment to test takers is that we will continue to enhance measures to prevent and detect cheating on the exam. Additionally, when we detect cheating, GMAC will cancel scores and notify score report recipients.

To learn more about how GMAC is working to protect the GMAT exam, secure fairness for every test taker and, invest in security technology and practices click here.

Paying For School

Monica Asencios — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:14:13 GMT

Business school alumni consistently tell us that pursuing a graduate management degree was personally and professionally the right decision—a gateway to their future, worthy of the investment of time and money required to advance their career goals and open the door to new opportunities. But paying for school can certainly seem daunting, especially in this post-recession economy. As you consider which graduate program is right for you, keep in mind that you have many financing options available. Here’s what we’ve learned:

Develop a Financing Strategy

It helps to take a pro-active approach to developing a strategy that works for you and your family, and that aligns with your career aspirations. No one formula is right for everyone.

Prospective students have told us that loans, grants, fellowships, and scholarships, followed by personal earnings and savings make up the bulk of financial resources they plan to tap to finance their education. To put your situation in perspective, it may help to know that over the last two years, a typical graduate b-school student, on average, expected loans to account for 30% of the cost; personal earnings or savings, 21%; grants, fellowships, and scholarships, 19%; employer assistance, 18%; and parental support, 9%.

Breaking down how students plan to finance their degree on a global level, there are wide differences by region. As this figure reveals, loans constitute the largest source of financing for prospective students in Central Asia (36%) and the United States (30%); whereas personal earnings or savings play a big role for funding for residents of Canada (35%) and the Middle East and Africa (34%).

Match Your School to Your Financial Needs

Keep in mind that the level of financial aid you can anticipate receiving may depend on where you apply. According to our 2011 survey of graduate b-schools tracking application trends, scholarships are the most common form of tuition assistance in the United States, where 42% of incoming 2011-2012 students to all program types expect to be offered a scholarship, compared to 25% of students attending non-US programs. On the other hand, 52% of students who enroll in programs outside the United States will be offered loans from the school, whereas only 38% of incoming students to US programs expect such loans.

One easy way to find schools that meet your academic and financial criteria is to visit the mba.com School Search Service . Our online database of more than 1,000 programs is searchable by total program cost and financial aid, as well as by the traditional dimensions of program type, academics, class profile, and location. But remember to consult with those best equipped to advise you, including your school, your financial advisor, your family, and your employer when researching potential funding sources. You might be surprised by the options available!

Keep Your Eye on the Prize

A graduate management degree is all about future value and benefits. Look no further than recent b-school alumni. Their return on investment in a graduate business degree paid off in immediate employability (nine in 10 members of class of 2010 had jobs upon graduation). For more information on planning for b-school and making sure you are financially ready for the big step ahead, see “Figuring Out Your Finances.”

-Research Center at GMAC