GMAT or G-Madness

Como eres nuevo en Revista MBA, te recomendamos que te suscribas a nuestro feed RSS. No te pierdas ningún artículo: Cada uno te sorprenderá! Muchas gracias por tu visita!

I recently read a couple articles on Businessweek.com highlighting the scandal of many eager business school prospects that used a popular online study aid called Scoretop.com to assist them in their quest for top scores on the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT). This debacle, whose apparent exposure was exacerbated by overzealous, and quite ignorant test takers who blogged about their advantage on the GMAT because of Scoretop.com’s use of “live” GMAT test questions, has many legitimate test takers sweating bullets. These allegations may cause tens of thousands of prospective business school applicants’ scores cancelled, admissions packets rejected, and could even have detrimental impacts to those already enrolled in top MBA programs including expulsion, or worse – their degrees revoked! To tell the truth, I’m surprised this story hasn’t garnered more of a debate, however there is quite a thread of passionate people voicing (rather typing) their opinions on Businessweek.com.

At first, I was outraged when I read this story. There are people that scored a few points lower than these alleged “cheaters” and are being kept out of the top schools because of their lower GMAT scores. Meanwhile, their impeccable letters of recommendation, sparkling previous academic and work records, and impressive list of extra curricular activities don’t’ seem to merit a second look. Some schools see a high GMAT score, and automatically assume that this person is better qualified over a candidate with a lower score, but might have all of the above qualifications.

So, my question is this – how can schools place so much of an emphasis on a one-time test score that it drives people to become so anxious that they resort to the ultimate low - cheating?! There are better indicators that can complement GMAT scores that should be weighed equally when deciding whether or not to admit the prospective student. Just because an applicant has a 750 on their score, doesn’t mean they are well suited for the program, or for business school. It just means they are quite adept at logical test problems – or at the guessing game! This 750-phenom, might not have any work experience, have no desire or drive to make a positive difference in the world using their business skills, might have mediocre letters of recommendation and average grades in their undergraduate studies.

So, the choice is ultimately up to the university. What caliber of students are they attracting? Ones that stop at nothing (including cheating) to earn a higher score on a multiple choice exam, or one that has a well-rounded and proven successful track record of both academic, professional and extra-curricular achievements? Which student will better represent their school post graduation? One slimy businessperson that makes a lot of money engaging in dubious practices stemming from a long background of cheating to get ahead, yet might be able to contribute substantially to the alumni foundation, or one that is truly using their business acumen to help make a positive impact in the world, yet might not have a blockbuster GMAT score…

- Si te gustó el artículo, deja una marca social (usando el botón “Compártelo” aquí abajo) y enseñaselo al mundo. Todos te lo agradecerán, ¡No lo dudes! -

Compártelo