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GMAC reports an uptick in the number of applicants who retake the GMAT.
From tax-deductible MBA education to explaining the rise in applicants who take the GMAT more than once—Catch all the trending stories for future business leaders.
Financial win for MBAs
In this space, we’ve long counseled aspiring MBAs to think not just about what they want to do after they graduate from business school, but also about how to finance that journey. Though long-term ROI on an MBA is outstanding, business school is a big financial commitment. The good news is that there may be some relief on that front. A court just ruled in a case that may set an important precedent in allowing MBA students to make tuition more deductible. The case involved a student from Ukraine who moved to the United States for Mormon missionary work and who deducted nearly $20,000 in tuition and commuting expenses, partially because he was not working at the time. The IRS pushed back, hence the court case. “I knew the deductions were legitimate, but the IRS just disallowed them. Most people give up and write a check, but I had a little more grit, having grown up with the Soviets,” said Alex Kopaigora, the winning plaintiff. (The Wall Street Journal)
Repeater GMAT takers
New data from the Graduate Management Admissions Council finds that the number of student who take the GMAT multiple times is on the rise. GMAC says that 28% of all GMAT takers in the most recently completed testing cycle took the exam more than once, up from just less than a quarter the previous year. What explains the jump in repeats? “The introduction of candidate-friendly features during the past two years,” explains the test maker. These features includes allowing aspiring business students to cancel their scores at the test center (for free) or for up to 72 hours after the test (for a fee), without any MBA programs finding out. Additionally, test takers are now able to reinstate previously cancelled scores for up to five years. Here’s another explanation, from Jeremy Shinewald, founder and CEO of mbaMission: “We have even started to hear applicants who have great scores of 700 and above worry that taking the test once might send a negative ‘lazy’ message.” Full disclosures: mbaMission is an organization with which we partner. (Poets & Quants)
Should you take the GMAT or the GRE?
One of the most important moments for business school applicants as they begin the admissions process is deciding which admissions exam to take: the GMAT or GRE. For decades, the only choice aspiring business students had was to take the GMAT. But in recent years, the creators of the GRE have been making a successful play for acceptance at MBA programs. According to a 2015 Kaplan survey, 90 percent of business schools now accept the GRE in addition to the GMAT. That same survey also found, however, that among those schools that accept both exams, applicants who submit scores from the GMAT have the admissions advantage. Business Because dug deeper to find out what schools that accept both really think about the battle of the tests. “We prefer the GMAT because it was created specifically to evaluate business-school candidates. However, we will accept the GRE, and those applicants are evaluated in the same way,” says Cindy McCauley, MBA admissions director at Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon. “Candidates can submit either the GMAT or the GRE, as it’s important to us that students submit the test that most accurately reflects their strengths,” added Colleen Hynes, associate director of graduate admissions, Babson College. (Business Because)
Tips for first-year MBA students
It’s never too late to start thinking about your first year of business school… and we know some of our readers have actually finished the admissions process and come back to this blog for advice. Keep these things in mind as school starts up: 1) Attend orientations and meet-and-greets. This is a great way to get to know your fellow students. Group work is a big part of business school education, so knowing your potential partners will help you decide who you want to work with and who you might have to work with. This is all about relationship building. 2) Keep networking. Let your former college professors know what you are doing. Let them know of your goals. They could help you during recruiting season. 3) Brush up on your reading. You’ll be doing a LOT of that in business school, so if the longest thing you’ve read in the past few years has been a Wall Street Journal or BuzzFeed article (we’re fans of both), try reading something longer. (U.S. News & World Report)
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The post Jump in Applicants Who Take the GMAT Repeatedly appeared first on Business School Insider.
