The two findings are interrelated, according to Alex Chisholm, GMAC senior manager of statistical analysis, who noted that non-MBA master’s degrees typically draw a greater proportion of women and recent college graduates. “This year’s Profile seems to reflect the growing presence of these candidates in the pipeline,” Chisholm said. Around one-fifth of GMAT exams taken in the testing year ending June 30, 2011, were by those pursuing non-MBA master’s degrees.

Of the 258,192 tests taken this past year, 55 percent were taken by non-U.S. citizens, marking the third straight year that U.S. citizens were outnumbered by test takers from other parts of the globe. Forty-one percent of test takers in 2011 were women, up from 39 percent two years earlier. Those younger than 24 represented 35 percent of all tests taken. This last group has been the fastest growing segment in the GMAT pipeline, swelling by 55 percent since testing year 2007.

Overall, 2011 saw the third-highest GMAT test-taking volume ever, marking modest declines from 263,979 in testing year 2010 and 265,613 in testing year 2009.

“Although overall testing volume is down slightly from a recessionary peak in 2009, early signs for testing year 2012 are encouraging,” Chisholm said. “Over the last several months, we’ve seen global test registrations up sharply.”

For the complete 2011 Profile of Graduate Management Admission Test Candidates, click here.

The India site, www.mba.com/India, features details about business schools and MBA programs in India and abroad as well as information about how to finance an MBA program. Through video, Indian students share their experiences of preparing for the GMAT and navigating the MBA admissions process.

GMAC’s decision to launch a site for Indian applicants reflects the dramatic growth the council has seen in the number of candidates from the region expressing interest in business school over the past several years, according to Ashish Bhardwaj, GMAC regional director for South Asia. “Also with significant growth in acceptance of the GMAT at Indian business schools, these candidates have more choice,” Bhardwaj added. “This new site will help them navigate the path to a quality graduate management degree with content designed specifically for this market.”

The Africa site, www.mba.com/africa, is similar to the India site in that it provides an array of information about the GMAT and graduate management education in general intended to help students in Africa who are interested in studying management on the African continent or abroad. Video elements on this site, too, feature students as well as school professionals discussing GMAT preparation and the overall MBA admissions process.

The new GMAT exam will replace one of the two essay questions that is part of the existing exam with an integrative reasoning test featuring four more types of questions than the current quantitative and verbal sections. Andrew Mitchell, director of pre-business programs at test preparation firm Kaplan, is warning prospective applicants that are planning to take the new exam that they could need to prepare for longer to get a high score.

According to GMAC’s own research, test-takers currently study an average of 100 hours in preparation for the GMAT. Mitchell told the FT that he believes this could potentially rise to 130 or 140 hours with the new test. The FT article acknowledged that Kaplan makes its money from would-be MBAs and therefore has a vested interest in promoting test preparation. Mitchell, for his part, stressed that busy applicants who plan to submit their applications toward the end of 2012 for 2013 entry could face real concerns if they wait until the last minute to take the test. “People applying next fall may not be aware of the issues,” he said.

The FT article noted that the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is increasingly being accepted by business schools as an alternate entry test to the MBA. The GRE also changed its examination and scoring system, in August of this past year, though test-takers who has sat the new exam have not yet received their scores. A recent Kaplan poll of more than 250 business schools found that more than 50 percent accept the GRE as well as the GMAT, the FT reports. But according to Kaplan’s Mitchell, the number of applicants submitting GRE scores is very small. “The GMAT sends a strong signal that you are interested in business,” Mitchell told the FT.

For the complete FT story, click here.

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The new GMAT Trends in Student Mobility Interactive Report reveals that new sources of business school talent are emerging around the globe, from Saudi Arabia to South Africa to Vietnam. “Many of the fastest-growing countries are unlikely to be considered traditional enrollment groups for global business schools, but with their increasing representation in the GMAT pipeline, they might very well be building blocks for tomorrow’s classrooms,” Alex Chisholm, GMAC senior research analyst, author of GMAC’s Geographic Trend Reports and creator of the interactive tool, said in a statement.

Using Adobe Flash animation, the new tool serves up comprehensive five-year data for individual countries and regions about which citizen groups are sending GMAT score reports and what destinations are receiving them. For the testing years 2006-2010, the number of Saudi Arabian citizens sending GMAT scores jumped 191 percent, followed by Iranians, up 182 percent, and Vietnamese, up 151 percent.

The tool also reveals that test takers from both traditional and emerging markets are looking beyond the United States for places to study. Though the number of scores sent to U.S. schools has risen over the past five years and the U.S. is still the top GMAT score-sending destination, it is losing market share overall, according to GMAC. Of the countries analyzed, 49 citizen groups send a smaller percentage of scores to U.S. programs in 2010 than in 2006, according to Chisholm. He attributes this trend in part to the growing number of international business programs that are now using the GMAT exam, which opens access to study in more places.

The citizens of more countries are also choosing to stay closer to home for business school, GMAC reports. While the United States has long been the top GMAT score-sending destination for its own citizens, 12 other countries have now followed suit. In each South Africa, Canada, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Israel and Lebanon, more test takers send scores to destinations in their home countries than to other destinations.

For more key findings from the new Student Mobility Interactive Report, click here.

The new application combines online gaming with GMAT test prep, allowing prospective test takers to compete in real time against others preparing for the exam.

“There is plenty to like about the Official GMAT app,” Peg Jobst, executive vice president of the GMAT division at GMAC, said in a statement. “No other app gives you access to real questions from the GMAT exam as well as a fun way to keep your skills sharp and connect with others who are getting ready for the exam.” 

The mobile app is now available on iTunes for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. In addition to adding the game element to test prep, the new app also includes several serious features to help prospective test takers prepare, including a question timer to practice keeping pace, a performance tracking center to chart improvement, full answer explanations for every question, and “Exam” and “Practice” modes allowing test takers to focus on individual questions and take mini practice exams whenever they want.

The price for the “Official GMAT” app is $4.99 for 50 questions. Supplemental packs with 250 additional questions are also available for $9.99.

To access the “Official GMAT” app on iTunes, click here.

The mobile app will soon be available on iTunes for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. In addition to adding the game element to test prep, the new app also includes several serious features to help prospective test takers prepare, including a question timer to practice keeping pace, a performance tracking center to chart improvement, full answer explanations for every question, and “Exam” and “Practice” modes allowing test takers to focus on individual questions and take mini practice exams whenever they want.

The price for the “Official GMAT” app is $4.99 for 50 questions. Supplemental packs with 250 additional questions will be available for $9.99.

Test prep firms Grockit, Kaplan, Knewton, Manhattan GMAT, Master GMAT, Princeton Review and Veritas Prep are co-sponsoring the competition, and prizes include one GMAT course from each company as well as a $250 GMAT voucher to cover the cost of taking the exam for each competition winner.

Applicants must have finished college or be in their final year of college and must be registered Beat The GMAT members. The competition is open to international applicants. A panel of judges made up of Beat The GMAT staff and former Beat The GMAT Scholarship winners will decide this year’s winners. 

For more details on the competition or to apply, click here.

An advisory group of business school professors and a survey of 740 business school faculty worldwide identified the ability to synthesize and evaluate information from different sources as increasingly important to management education, according to Ashok Sarathy, GMAC vice president. “The skills they identified had a unifying theme: the ability to solve problems in a data-rich environment,” Sarathy said in a statement.

The new 30-minute integrated reasoning section will include 12 to 15 questions in four new formats:

• Multi-Source Reasoning – calling on test takers to examine information from two to three sources, including a combination of text, charts and tables, to answer questions. • Table Analysis – providing test takers with a spreadsheet-like sortable table of information they must analyze to determine the accuracy of answer statements.  • Graphics Interpretation – presenting test takers with a graph or graphical image to interpret and then select an option from a drop-down list to make response statements accurate. • Two-Part Analysis – giving test takers a question involving two components for a solution, with possible answers given in table format with a column for each component and rows with possible answers.

The new integrated reasoning section will complement existing GMAT testing verbal and quantitative reasoning skills. “The inclusion of Integrated Reasoning should encourage those with non-business backgrounds to take the exam, because it measures a different type of reasoning,” Sarathy said. 

The question formats have been developed through a comprehensive process involving the advisory group, faculty survey, and a think-aloud pilot study involving MBA students and field testing by more than 5,000 GMAT test takers in November 2010, GMAC reports.

In addition to the new integrated reasoning section, the Next Generation GMAT exam will also feature a new streamlined analytical writing section, reduced from two 30-minute essays to one, since research has shown that most students post similar scores for the two essays. The resulting total length of the exam will remain constant at 3 hours and 30 minutes. Like the analytical writing section, the new integrated reasoning section will be scored separately and will not factor into the Total GMAT score.

For more on this story, click here. ]]> A new integrated reasoning section of the Next Generation GMAT exam will feature four new question formats that require prospective business school applicants to synthesize information from different sources to solve problems, sort spreadsheet-like tables, interpret graphics and make comparative analysis, the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) announced this month. The Next Generation exam will debut in June 2012.

An advisory group of business school professors and a survey of 740 business school faculty worldwide identified the ability to synthesize and evaluate information from different sources as increasingly important to management education, according to Ashok Sarathy, GMAC vice president. “The skills they identified had a unifying theme: the ability to solve problems in a data-rich environment,” Sarathy said in a statement.

The new 30-minute integrated reasoning section will include 12 to 15 questions in four new formats:

• Multi-Source Reasoning – calling on test takers to examine information from two to three sources, including a combination of text, charts and tables, to answer questions.
• Table Analysis – providing test takers with a spreadsheet-like sortable table of information they must analyze to determine the accuracy of answer statements. 
• Graphics Interpretation – presenting test takers with a graph or graphical image to interpret and then select an option from a drop-down list to make response statements accurate.
• Two-Part Analysis – giving test takers a question involving two components for a solution, with possible answers given in table format with a column for each component and rows with possible answers.

The new integrated reasoning section will complement existing GMAT testing verbal and quantitative reasoning skills. “The inclusion of Integrated Reasoning should encourage those with non-business backgrounds to take the exam, because it measures a different type of reasoning,” Sarathy said. 

The question formats have been developed through a comprehensive process involving the advisory group, faculty survey, and a think-aloud pilot study involving MBA students and field testing by more than 5,000 GMAT test takers in November 2010, GMAC reports.

In addition to the new integrated reasoning section, the Next Generation GMAT exam will also feature a new streamlined analytical writing section, reduced from two 30-minute essays to one, since research has shown that most students post similar scores for the two essays. The resulting total length of the exam will remain constant at 3 hours and 30 minutes. Like the analytical writing section, the new integrated reasoning section will be scored separately and will not factor into the Total GMAT score.

For more on this story, click here.

Boston, MA (Reuters) – While many pundits and political scientists have labeled social media services like Facebook and Twitter as key enablers in promoting democratic change in Egypt, one of the world’s most prestigious business schools has recently issued a press release offering a different take on the matter.  The release, which comes from Harvard Business School, indicates that a group of HBS students from the Class of 2011 spent their Christmas break on a field project in Cairo, and that this trip sowed the seeds of democratic change in the country.  While limited details on the nature of the project were given, sources within the university claim that this small cadre of students shipped thousands of copies of books like Capitalism and Freedom and The Coming of Managerial Capitalism for distribution among Egyptian citizens just weeks before the gatherings began taking place in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.  Harvard Business School Publishing promised that a forthcoming case study will provide further details.

ETS Unveils New Strategy (and Name) for Graduate Record Exam

Princeton, NJ (Knight-Ridder) – ETS, the makers of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), have announced a new approach with regards to their marketing and administration of the test.  Starting on June 1st, 2011, the GRE will be renamed the Graduate Masters Admissions Test Two (GMATT).  While ETS claims that this change is designed to reflect the broad applicability of their exam and it’s wholly redesigned approach, senior leadership at rival test provider GMAC (makers of the Graduate Management Admissions Test – the GMAT) are crying foul.  GMAC’s David Wilson offered the following: “We’ve filed a cease and desist letter with our counsel that calls for ETS to abandon their use of  the new exam’s name”, Wilson said.  “ETS is merely taking a cheap shot to gain traction in the MBA applicant market  and are still smarting from their loss of the contract to produce our exam.”  Officials at ETS could not be reached for comment.

Background Checks Conducted by Admissions Offices To Include Social Media Sites Like Facebook

Palo Alto, CA (Bloomberg) – In a somewhat controversial move, leading graduate business schools like Stanford, Columbia and Kellogg are including Facebook, mySpace and Twitter profiles in their routine background checks of admitted applicants.  The schools, working in conjunction with Kroll Background Screening, have determined that data mined from applicant accounts with social media outlets can offer valuable  insight into one’s readiness to join the MBA community.  Leading MBA programs will explore photos, status postings and group memberships that candidates include in their social media profiles.  Clayton Davis, a student planning to matriculate at Kellogg, expressed his concern: “On Facebook, my username is ‘Mr. Destruktor’ because that’s the handle I use in the online role-playing games I play.  Now I’m concerned that this could seem inappropriate to the team-friendly Kellogg community.”

Wharton Leadership Trek Gets Lost

Repula, Nepal (AP) – A group of lost hikers has been found safe . . . → Continue Reading]]> Harvard Business School Takes Credit for Egyptian Revolution

Boston, MA (Reuters) – While many pundits and political scientists have labeled social media services like Facebook and Twitter as key enablers in promoting democratic change in Egypt, one of the world’s most prestigious business schools has recently issued a press release offering a different take on the matter.  The release, which comes from Harvard Business School, indicates that a group of HBS students from the Class of 2011 spent their Christmas break on a field project in Cairo, and that this trip sowed the seeds of democratic change in the country.  While limited details on the nature of the project were given, sources within the university claim that this small cadre of students shipped thousands of copies of books like Capitalism and Freedom and The Coming of Managerial Capitalism for distribution among Egyptian citizens just weeks before the gatherings began taking place in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.  Harvard Business School Publishing promised that a forthcoming case study will provide further details.

ETS Unveils New Strategy (and Name) for Graduate Record Exam

Princeton, NJ (Knight-Ridder) – ETS, the makers of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), have announced a new approach with regards to their marketing and administration of the test.  Starting on June 1st, 2011, the GRE will be renamed the Graduate Masters Admissions Test Two (GMATT).  While ETS claims that this change is designed to reflect the broad applicability of their exam and it’s wholly redesigned approach, senior leadership at rival test provider GMAC (makers of the Graduate Management Admissions Test – the GMAT) are crying foul.  GMAC’s David Wilson offered the following: “We’ve filed a cease and desist letter with our counsel that calls for ETS to abandon their use of  the new exam’s name”, Wilson said.  “ETS is merely taking a cheap shot to gain traction in the MBA applicant market  and are still smarting from their loss of the contract to produce our exam.”  Officials at ETS could not be reached for comment.

Background Checks Conducted by Admissions Offices To Include Social Media Sites Like Facebook

Palo Alto, CA (Bloomberg) – In a somewhat controversial move, leading graduate business schools like Stanford, Columbia and Kellogg are including Facebook, mySpace and Twitter profiles in their routine background checks of admitted applicants.  The schools, working in conjunction with Kroll Background Screening, have determined that data mined from applicant accounts with social media outlets can offer valuable  insight into one’s readiness to join the MBA community.  Leading MBA programs will explore photos, status postings and group memberships that candidates include in their social media profiles.  Clayton Davis, a student planning to matriculate at Kellogg, expressed his concern: “On Facebook, my username is ‘Mr. Destruktor’ because that’s the handle I use in the online role-playing games I play.  Now I’m concerned that this could seem inappropriate to the team-friendly Kellogg community.”

Wharton Leadership Trek Gets Lost

Repula, Nepal (AP) – A group of lost hikers has been found safe and sound just south of Repula, Nepal after search and rescue crews used night vision equipment. The group, comprised of faculty and students from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, began their walk towards Mt. Everest base camp nearly 10 days ago but had come off the trail a few days into their trek.  The search for the group began on Tuesday night with a Kathmandu-based rescue helicopter was mobilized to help.  Trek organizer, Michael Useem (Director of Wharton’s Center for Leadership) offered the following thoughts on this harrowing experience: “I’m incredibly relieved that the entire group has made it through this ordeal.  I must admit that I am also somewhat embarrassed, as a professor of leadership I should have done a better job guiding the team towards our destination.”

Happy April Fools’!

The Clear Admit Team

(for more April Fools’ fun: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004)