We just wanted to provide our readers with a quick update on developments in the blogosphere since our post yesterday about the GMAT/Scoretop.com saga.
With the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) now in possession of the hard drive belonging to Scoretop’s founder, Lei Shi, test-takers revealed to have paid a subscription for access to actual GMAT test questions through Scoretop stand to have their test scores canceled and to be barred from taking the GMAT exam again.
Without a score to submit for the admissions exam favored by many of the top business schools in the world, the application process for these prospective applicants promises to be anything but easy. Scoretop customers who have yet to send scores to schools will have nothing to send. And for those whose scores have already been sent, GMAC says that it intends to notify schools of the cancellations.
But what about students who are already enrolled? Or who have already obtained their MBAs? As a BusinessWeek.com story on Monday pointed out, Scoretop has been operating since 2003. According to several schools contacted for comment, the fate of current or prospective students whose scores are canceled is still unknown. “It’s impossible to say at this point what that means,” Ed Anderson, Duke’s associate director of admissions, told BW.
According to Joe Fox, director of MBA programs at Washington University’s Olin Business School, a lot will have to do with how much information GMAC can provide about individual students – particularly about how frequently they used the Scoretop site.
“We could do anything we wanted—from a slap on the wrist to expulsion from the program—and we’d be well within our rights,” Fox told BW. As a cautionary tale, Fox reminded readers that when a Chinese national was caught taking the GMAT for dozens of prospective students several years ago, one Olin student who had the test taken on his behalf was dismissed before he could complete his degree.
Which brings us to the point made by MBA blogger TinyDancer in a recent post. “It seems like every year there is a scandal in the MBA world,” the Wharton student writes. She goes on to remind us of a few from recent years, including the Harvard application decision “hacking” scandal, where students who followed the advice of a BW poster were able to modify the Apply Yourself website to see their decisions early, and last year’s Duke cheating scandal.
Of course, we’ve covered each of these scandals over the years right here on the Clear Admit blog. So, while we can’t claim to be able to predict the exact flavor of next admission season’s scandal, we do promise to keep you informed.
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