According to Business Week, The average cost for a 2-year MBA (excluding room and board) at a Top 10 b-school has nearly doubled since 1998, jumping from an average of $52,000 in 1998 to almost $95,000 in 2008. Meanwhile, the differential between pre- and post-MBA salaries has narrowed. Ten years ago, the average jump in median salary after earning an MBA from a Top 10 school was about $51,000. Now that number is just under $39,000. Based on these numbers, it would now take almost 2.5 years at the increased salary to cover b-school costs vs. 1 year ten years ago. Taking into account opportunity cost (i.e., lost salary during business school), the total cost today grows to ~$242 thousand vs. $149 thousand a decade ago. Again, based on the incremental salary gains, a current MBA would need 6.3 years to pay back the total cost of a Top 10 MBA vs. a 2.9 year payback a decade ago.

So does this mean that an MBA is not worth it?

Many people mistakenly think that an MBA is the golden ticket to whatever they want afterwards — especially those who are going to a top school.  They think, “If I can get X University on my resume, I’m set for life!”  As with everything we pursue, from careers to relationships, there is no such thing as “set.”  Your success and fulfillment in the business world are dependent on what you do with the degree.  To the person who complains that after the MBA he/she is still in a dead-end job, I would say that is not your business school’s fault.  It’s your job to take your credentials, your network, and the knowledge you gained during your MBA program and go out and make the most of it.  I cannot believe that knowledge, networks and alumni resources hurt someone’s situation.

In fact, in these difficult times, a lot of schools are going the extra mile to help their alums.   If you’re looking for a new job, or a better job, this is absolutely the time to leverage your MBA network.  Contact classmates and alumni networks, set up informational interviews, and get moving.  The degree does not open up doors – the person does.  But an MBA can increase your muscle.

To sum up,  I think an MBA is useful for future success, but I don’t think it’s a requirement. I guess you’d have to look at your own case and figure out where you want to go with your career and whether the time and money spent would add value to that process. That said, though, there are plenty of good executive MBA programs around that address exactly this issue and do a good job of allowing folks to continue to focus on career and work, while simultaneously building new skills.

-I think the number 1 mistake is being too general.  I notice this with writers of every level.  When you write these admissions essays or resumes, you want to be specific.  People remember specific examplesand stories a lot more than general statements.  For example, it is notgood to say “I will be a great graduate student because I am smart.” It is much more powerful to say “I will be a great graduate student,because I finished in the top 5 on a competitive university entranceexam, I achieved high honors every semester in school, etc.”  So, insummary, be specific and sell yourself a lot!

-Another mistake is that many are too wordy.  In general, you wantto be concise and use as few words as possible.  Shorter sentences areeasier to read and understand, and there is less chance to confusemeanings.

-Many of the essays have word or page limits.  This means everysentence should have meaning and contribute something to your essay. Sometimes I see sentences that don’t really say anything.  If you have sentences like this, delete them.

-I sometimes see resumes that aren’t very consistent.  By this, I mean the fonts, the font sizes, the alignment, all of these thingsshould be consistent and look nice.  They should not change in the samedocument.

-Also explain things that aren’t self-explanatory.  If you writethat won an award or if you use initials, most people will not understand what those initials mean if you do not write them out.

A discussion from GMAT Club: Many students have presented questions regarding an MS Finance degree as a substitute or stepping stone to an MBA. Now seems as good a time as any to address this important topic.

First, some broad generalities

1. Master of Finance degrees take less time than US-style MBA programs (Roughly 1 year for the MS Finance vs. 2 academic years for the MBA)
2. The Master of Finance degree will have much lower work experience requirements than a high cluster MBA program (many MS Finance programs have no work requirement at all)
3. The Master of Finance will place far less emphasis on leadership or leadership potential than the typical “high cluster” MBA
4. The Master of Finance will tend to be far more specialized than even MBA programs that allow students to develop a “track” or “specialization”
5. Quantiative skillls are even more highly prized in Masters of Finance programs than in the typical MBA program
6. It is generally more difficult to find comprehensive employment data for MS Finance graduates

Second, note that MSF programs come in many different “flavors.”

Here are some broad types of MS Finance programs

1. Mathematical Finance
   “The program creates an integrated curriculum spanning four disciplines: economics, mathematics, econometrics/statistics and computational/numerical analysis.”
2. Financial Engineering
   “Financial Engineering is a multidisciplinary field that request familiarity with financial theory, the methods of engineering, the tools of mathematics and the practice of programming.”
3. Comprehensive Finance
   “Unlike mathematical or computational finance Master programs, we teach all of finance. This means for instance that we teach accounting, corporate finance, behavioral finance, etc., in addition to stochastic calculus, derivatives pricing, financial engineering, etc. We believe that our broad multidisciplinary approach to finance is an important advantage of our program, and that our placement record reflects it.”

Third, universities have different administrative structures for running MS Fin programs

. Here are some examples:

1. Finance programs sponsored by the Mathematics or Engineering department (e.g. University of Chicago and Columbia University)
2. The Hybrid programs that are shared between Mathematics/Engineerng and the Business School or Economics Department (e.g. University of Southern California)
3. The Finance program provided through the Business School or Department of Economics (e.g. University of California Berkeley)

Token: ZNG4CY5GA3V2

This is a discussion from Linkedin.com.  Ean asked “Can someone tell me the difference between a Masters of Business Administration(MBA) and a M.S. in Management? The course descriptions look similar, but I am not sure what kind of weight a M.S.M holds.”

The primary difference is the “core” requirements for the MBA generally 10 courses. The Masters program is good, but the MBA seems to be the Gold Standard.

I would agree that the MBA is much more recognized, but I would also posit that the relative value of each program depends on what you plan to do with the degree. For someone who wants to specialize in change management and leadership development, I would offer the MS or MA in Management as much more focused to support that goal – on the other hand, if a management position within an organization is what you want, then the MBA is probably better.

I know folks who are successfully managing departments and corporations, being consultants and who are unemployed. In each case, some have MBAs, some have Management degrees, and some have some other type of degree. Not sure that, outside the Ivy League schools, it is as critical as the MBA recruiters would have us believe.

The traditional MBA curriculum alays focused on exposing an individual to all the key areas of management within the business operations domain, and to a certain extent ensuring a solid financial literacy base for advanced ffinancial analysis and decision-making competencies revolving around identifying ket risk or opportunities with beneficial returns. The masters in management route though often similar would in some cases emphasise other key competency areas which that sgrow as specifc business school emphasised as being critical operating paradigms or perspectives to consider and in some cases grow as a body of knowledge.

The truth is the both the MBA and the MSBA are very similar, they require about the same number of total courses and require a grounding in general business disciplines, quantitative and communication skills.

The difference (at our school) is in the upper division electives. MBA students have a fairly tightly scripted program, there are only 4 electives which can be used for a concentration. The MBA is considered to be a “generalist” degree, covering the scope of management issues.

The point is, unless you have a clear reason to take a degree other then the MBA, the MBA is what you want.

An MBA is the master’s of business administration degree and the MS is a master’s of science degree. Either of these degrees are completed after a student receives the bachelor’s degree, and they are often used as means to advanced careers.

The truth is the both the MBA and the MSBA are very similar, they require about the same number of total courses and require a grounding in general business disciplines, quantitative and communication skills.

The difference (at our school) is in the upper division electives. MBA students have a fairly tightly scripted program, there are only 4 electives which can be used for a concentration. The MBA is considered to be a “generalist” degree, covering the scope of management issues.

MS students have no script and have 8 electives for their advanced courses. This means that you get two kinds of students going for the MSBA – Those that have a specific focus they want to prepare for (you see the MSBA valued in some technically oriented industries) – and those that are looking for the easiest schedule they can find.

That is why, as a rule, the MBA is the preferred degree – there is a stronger level of consistency in the brand. And it is the union card you need to be taken seriously in corporate America. Businesses that hire MSBA’s are usually looking for specific competencies that they don’t get with a generalist program.

There are also master degrees other than the MBA and MSBA that prepare you for general management, for example a masters in Public Administration may be useful if you are looking to go into government.

The point is, unless you have a clear reason to take a degree other then the MBA, the MBA is what you want. If you are not sure I recommend two approaches：

1. First, talk to people who are successful in the area you want to grwo and find out what kind of degrees they have on their resume’s.
2. Second, Talk to an advisor at the school you are thinking of and discuss options. You may have to talk to more than one advisor – and it may be smart to have these conversations at a general university rather than a specialist school (even if that is not where you are planning on going). Each advisor is likely to steer you toward programs he or she is comfortable with. You may also want to network with some of your old college faculty to see what they have to say. They would probably love to hear from you and certainly be proud of what you have accomplished.

I have done some research on Youtube and found following 2 very interesting videos regarding MBA application essay writing.

If you are still struggling with MBA application essay topics, watch this video and spark your head: Read the rest of this entry »

The GMAT exam is a standardized assessment, delivered in English, that helps business schools assess the qualifications of applicants for advanced study in business and management. Please read Introduction to GMAT Test if you are not familiar with GMAT.

Sample Analysis of an Issue Question

“The best strategy for managing a business, or any enterprise, is to find the most capable people and give them as much authority as possible.”

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Sample Analysis of an Argument Question

The following appeared in an article in a health and fitness magazine.

“Laboratory studies show that Saluda Natural Spring Water contains several of the minerals necessary for good health and that it is completely free of bacteria. Residents of Saluda, the small town where the water is bottled, are hospitalized less frequently than the national average. Even though Saluda Natural Spring Water may seem expensive, drinking it instead of tap water is a wise investment in good health.”

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.

GMAT uses data sufficiency questions to test your ability to “reason quantitatively.” This stands in sharp contrast to the problem solving section, which is designed to test how well you manipulate numbers. If you find yourself doing a lot of number crunching on the data sufficiency questions, you are doing something wrong. Read the rest of this entry »

Most students getting their MBA in popular fields such as finance, marketing, and management, but these are not the only the specialization of MBA programs offered by colleges or universities. There are far more specializations in MBA offered for individuals in various industries; any fields that you can think off, there will be an MBA specialization for it.

Focuses on a wide variety of topics within the domain of finance including entrepreneurship for high tech companies, investment analysis, mergers and acquisitions, and value creation. Enhance your ability to perform risk analysis, capital budgeting, foreign direct investment, multinational capital budgeting, and manage foreign currency risk while also exploring quantitative methods of valuation. Read the rest of this entry »

Kurt Badenhausen and Lesley Kump from Forbes:  Is a business school degree worth the considerable investment? Our ranking will help you make that determination by comparing the cost of attaining an M.B.A.–foregone income and tuition–to the prospect of a bigger salary. In short, our study shows which schools offer the best return on your investment.
Read the rest of this entry »

You way be asked to answer “What is your most significant accomplishment and why do you believe it is the most significant?” if you apply for a scholarship or admission. Don’t be bothered. Think this accomplishment essay as another opportunity for you to show how capable you are.

So, Rule No. 1: Do not include information that has been in your application. For instance, there is no need to make a stress on your high G.P.A. in the accomplishment essay. Or, do not try to include the whole list of your awards.

However, it is commonly a good idea to start your accomplishment essay from the list of your awards. Another list you can start with is the list of your social activities. I am not saying that you should repeat the list. You should tell something behind these lists, something interesting and meaningful.

The following questions that may spark your mind:

1. Why did you want to pursue the  award? Or why did you want to participate in the activity?
2. Does this award/activity bring any changes to your life?
3. What had you been through during the competition/activity?
4. Did you ever think of giving up? What made you give up the giving-up?

Hopefully you can get an idea and start your essay. Please remember Rule No.2: Be real. Of course you add some “artificial” details to make the story more interesting (and I suggest you do so), but stay in the line so that your story doesn’t look like a drama.

Rule No.3: Find at least 2 people to help review your essay.

It is well know that tuitions, fees and expenses for MBA programs are very high. For international students, especially students from third world such as China and India, the situation is even worse. Unfortunately, there are very limited scholarship, assistantship or any other types of financial aid resources that are available for international students. Scholarships for international students are very competitive.

To secure scholarship you must work hard and work smart. Please read through Go to Business School for Free: A Scholarship & Assistantship Application Guide. This article from BusinessWeek is very instructional. Most principles apply for international students even though it was originally written for US students. Read the rest of this entry »

Alison Damast from BusinessWeek: With tuition for a top MBA program averaging $150,000 for two years, and nearly 90% of students taking out loans, business school is increasingly becoming a more expensive proposition. The average debt for a student attending one of the top 20 business schools hovers around $80,000, according to Graduate Leverage, a student loan consolidation and debt management company in Boston. Yet every year, a highly selective group of students manages to snag a full-ride scholarship or fellowship. Needless to say, they’re among the most competitive awards in the management education sector and many top business schools offer only a handful each year.

There’s very little luck involved in getting a full ride. The students who get them tend to be all-around superstars, outstanding at everything from work to their involvement in the community, says Linda Abraham, an admissions consultant for Accepted.com. And they work their applications to the max. Read the rest of this entry »

A list of graduate Financial Engineering/mathematical finance Programs in United States. Read the rest of this entry »

US business schools fall under two major categories: public schools, and private institutions. International students’ tuition expenses at public schools are based on nonresident costs, which are still usually less expensive than those of private universities.

It is important to note that the cost of a program in a US school does not necessarily affect its quality.

A brief idea can be got from the following table:

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a tough time to be starting a career and this year has been extremely rough: a new report shows that new college graduates had 40% fewer job prospects. And the outlook for 2010, while better, is still not very promising.  Jobs for graduates with bachelor’s degrees, which account for most new graduate hires, will drop nearly 1% next year, according to Michigan State University’s survey on recruiting trends.

Overall, hiring of grads with any degree will decline by 2% compared to 2009. ”Things fell apart really fast last year, but it looks like the job market for graduates has hit a bottom,” said Phil Gardner, director of MSU’s Collegiate Employment Research Institute, which conducts the annual survey.

Hiring of master’s degree graduates will plummet by 11% based on a weaker labor market for accounting students, the study said. But, jobs for Ph.D.s will spike by 20% and those for MBA graduates will rise 11%. A good sign for MBA students.

Large companies, those with more than 4,000 employees, plan to decrease hiring of all graduates by 3%, and medium-sized companies, those with between 500 and 4,000 employees, expect to lower hiring by 11%. Smaller companies, however, may provide a bright spot in the job market for new graduates.

Employers with fewer than 500 staff members said they expect hiring at their companies to jump by 15%. These companies will hire 11 new graduates on average in 2010, and 8 of them will be at the bachelor’s level.

Real Yale School of Management MBA admission interview questions:

• Why did you choose XX major (college major)
• Why did you decide to apply to this program?
• What are your expectations of this program?
• How do you plan to use your degree?
• Where do you see yourself in ten/five years after graduation?
• Can you give me an example of a time that you demonstrated leadership?
• Any question?

Reading Comprehension questions appear in the Verbal section of GMAT exam and they are meant to test your understanding of the implications, meanings, and structures presented in the passages. Each passage has up to 350 words and is followed by 2~4 questions. Because the GMAT is now a computer adaptive test, you will only see 1 question at a time. The passage, however, will remain on your computer screen.

There are 3 types of topics addressed in the the passages and each type of passage calls for a slightly different optimum test-taking strategy

1. Science topics. These passages deal with topics including astronomy, biology and medicine.
2. Social science topics. Typically, these passages deal with topics such as history, politics, and geography.
3. Business topics.

Business school students are likely unfamiliar with science passages but actually they are very factual and straightforward. Hence, they will likely provide the easiest reading comprehension questions you will encounter on the GMAT exam. You are not likely to see any inference questions drawing on a science passage. You are much more likely to see several factual questions that can be answered directly from the passage.

Generally there are 4 types of question a GMAT test taker can encounter. The 4 types are:

1. Main idea questions (primary purporse). For example:
   

   The primary purpose of the passage is to

2. Inference questions. For example
   

   It can be inferred from the passage that both Tulving and Clayton would agree with which of the following statements?

3. Details interpretation questions. Sample question:
   

   According to the passage, the WIDC believed that the proposed legislation resembled earlier legislation concerning women’s labor in that it

4. Structure questions. Sample question:

The function of the first sentence of second paragraph is

Three types of multiple-choice questions are used in the Verbal section of the GMAT® exam—Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning, and Sentence Correction. The Verbal section of the GMAT exam measures your ability to:

• read and comprehend written material,
• reason and evaluate arguments, and
• correct written material to conform to standard written English.

There are totally 41 question in this section and you have up to 75 minutes to finish it. Please click here to start your GMAT Verbal section practice test.

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The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is a test that has been produced by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), and is used to help business schools in making admissions decisions. The GMAT test is taken by students who are applying for admission to either MBA or other graduate management programs. The GMAT test is given in English only, and it tests analytical writing, quantitative, and verbal skills. The GMAT test consists of three sections: Read the rest of this entry »

GMAT Sentence Correction questions ask you which of the five choices best expresses an idea or relationship. The questions will require you to be familiar with the stylistic conventions and grammatical rules of standard written English. You must also demonstrate your ability to improve incorrect or ineffective expressions. This section tests two broad aspects of language proficiency:

• Correct expression: A correct sentence is grammatically and structurally sound. It conforms to all the rules of standard written English, e.g., noun-verb agreement, pronoun consistency, pronoun case, and verb tense sequence. A correct sentence will not have dangling, misplaced, or improperly formed modifiers, unidiomatic or inconsistent expressions, or faults in parallel construction.
• Effective expression: An effective sentence expresses an idea or relationship clearly and concisely, as well as grammatically. This does not mean that the choice with the fewest and simplest words is necessarily the best answer. It means that there are no superfluous words or needlessly complicated expressions in the best choice. In addition, an effective sentence uses proper diction—the standard dictionary meanings of words and the appropriateness of words in context. In evaluating the diction of a sentence, you must be able to recognize whether the words are well chosen, accurate, and suitable for the context.

This practice test contains 12 questions. Click here to start.

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Almost all top MBA programs ask applicants to write an essay about there short term and long term goal and how this MBA program will help the applicant reach the goal. Following is a sample career goal essay question:

Describe in a brief essay (do not exceed 250 words per section – 750 words maximum):

a) your post-MBA short-term goals (immediately after graduation),
b) your post-MBA long-term goals (3-5 years after graduation), and
c) how your professional experience, when combined with an MBA degree, will enable you to achieve these goals.

This essay is similar to the Career Plannig Essay required by many of the top schools. It should show the reader that you have a professional project that fits (indeed, necessitates) a top MBA program. Further, the reader will be able to evaluate your project against all other parts of your dossier to get a feel for how likely you are to succeed. The career goal question sounds easy to answer since everyone has a reason to apply for top MBA program. However, the reality is that not every applicants has clear and detailed or career goals. Some may just have career frustrations the other day and they want a fancy title to regain confidence; some may just want a MBA title to find whatever opportunities to make ‘big’ money. These reasons are understandable but cannot get admissions to a top MBA program. You need a WINNING career goal essay to conquer the readers. But how to write a winning career goal essay? Here are some tips:

First, tell a little bit about your working experience: your education, your career progress, your responsibilites and your contributions to your employers (speak with numbers).

Second, start with your limitations such as leadership. teamwork and social network. Explain why these limitations turn you down to your post-MBA short-term goal (position, responsibilities, contributions and challenges etc.) and why THIS MBA program is a big help. You may want to check the program’s web pages to find out the ‘why’.

Finally, set up a long term goal and explain why the MBA degree helps you in your career path.

What are your three most substantial accomplishments, and why do you view them as such? — Harvard

What is the most significant change or improvement you have made to an organization with which you have recently been affiliated? Describe the process you went through to identify the need for change and manage the process of implementing change. What were the results? — Kelley

Describe your greatest professional achievement and how you were able to add value to your organization. — Johnson

The goal in answering this kind of question is to analyze, rather than summarize, an achievement. This advice is particularly true if you’re discussing an accomplishment that is listed elsewhere on the application. Your readers want to gain insight into your character, not read a factual summary of what occurred.

Here are some guiding principles to use in constructing your answer:

Choose something that’s meaningful to you. Some applicants feel obligated to choose the most objectively impressive accomplishments. You should write about something that has personal significance, even if you weren’t formally recognized for it. What matters is that you write passionately and insightfully about your subject. Unless otherwise specified, you should feel free to draw on academic, personal, or professional successes.

Focus on details about the process. Show the reader through concrete details how you achieved what you did. If you want to discuss a grade you earned in a particularly challenging class, show us how you mastered the material. For example, describe creative strategies you used; don’t rely on clichés like “I succeeded through hard work.

Build tension. Describe obstacles and how you overcame them. Note initial difficulties or intermediate failures, then show how you recovered. By adding a sense of drama to your story, you will not only keep the reader interested, but also make the accomplishment seem that much more significant.

Evaluate the significance of the accomplishment. Again, the goal here is to add insight beyond what the reader knows from the straightforward facts. For example, you can comment on how the accomplishment represents an aspect of your character, or you can describe how it fits within your background of successes and failures. Don’t get carried away, however, and try to draw overly grand lessons. You might discuss external consequences of your actions to convey their magnitude, but ultimately you should stay focused on your personal response.

Don’t boast or be overly modest. This is a hard balance to strike, but if you stay focused on the details of your story, then you shouldn’t have a problem. Use the details to convey the magnitude of your accomplishment; you should be able to do so sincerely without having to promote yourself. For example, if you can show through illustrative evidence how you influenced the course of someone’s life, you won’t have to make a presumptuous statement about, for example, “having a profound impact on the life of another.

Reading Comprehension questions appear in the Verbal section of GMAT exam. Reading Comprehension questions begin with a passage that is up to 350 words long. Topics contain material from the social sciences, physical or biological sciences, and business-related areas (marketing, economics, human resource management, etc.). Because the Reading Comprehension section of the GMAT exam includes passages from several different content areas, you may be generally familiar with some of the material; however, no specific knowledge of the material is required. All questions are to be answered on the basis of what is stated or implied in the reading material.

Reading Comprehension passages are accompanied by interpretive, applied, and inferential questions.

Reading Comprehension questions measure your ability to understand, analyze, and apply information and concepts presented in written form.

Click Here to start GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Test

GMAT Analysis of Argument (AA): Structure and Template

As with the Issue essay, there is no single “correct,” way to organize an Argument essay. In our view, however, your essay should include separate “introduction” and “conclusion” paragraphs, as well as at least two “body” paragraphs in which you develop your critique of the stated argument.

The following template spells out this structure in more detail, and each of the sample Analysis of Argument essays in this book follow this basic pattern.

You do not have to adhere strictly to this format in order to write an effective Argument essay. You may find that some other form works better for you, especially for the body of your essay. Also, the numbers of sentences indicated for each paragraph here are merely suggestions or guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules. (Note: The transitional phrases used here are purposely simplistic; do not simply “parrot” them word-for-word in your essay or adopt a mechanistic fill-in the blank approach. If you do, your essay might appear stilted or contrived.)

Try to accomplish three goals in your introductory paragraph (2-4 sentences) :

• Briefly restate the argument.
• Briefly trace the argument’s line of reasoning.
• Indicate the extent to which the argument is logically convincing.
• If possible, sum up your arguments in one sentence (or two brief sentences).
• Here’s a sample template for the first paragraph that accomplishes these goals:

The author concludes that____________, because ________. The author’s line of reasoning is that ______________. This argument is unconvincing for several reasons; it is____________ and it uses _____________.

In the first body paragraph your goal is to critique one of the following (3-5 sentences):

• The reasoning of the argument
• One of the premises of the argument
• One of the assumptions of the argument

Here’s a sample template for this paragraph that accomplishes this goal:
First of all, ____________________________ is based upon the questionable assumption________________________________. That _______________, however, _________________. Moreover, ________________________.

The purpose of the second paragraph is to address one of the following (3-4 sentences):

• The reasoning of the argument
• One of the premises of the argument
• One of the assumptions of the argument

Here’s a sample template for this paragraph that accomplishes this goal:

Secondly, the author assumes that_________________________. However, __________________________. It seems equally reasonable to assume that ____________________.

Third (and optional Fourth) Body Paragraph
In this paragraph your goal is to critique one of the following:

• The reasoning of the argument
• One of the premises of the argument
• One of the assumptions of the argument

Here’s a sample template for this paragraph that accomplishes this goal:

Finally, _______________________________________. The author fails to consider__________________________________. For example, __________________. Because the author’s argument_________________.

Final Paragraph (2-3 sentences)
In the final paragraph your goals are to:

• Summarize your critique of the argument
• State the main point of your essay
• The final paragraph is not the placer to introduce new arguments or issues. Sample template:

In sum, I agree that______________________. However, ____________________; on balance, ____________________.

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Quantitative Section Instructions

Time – 75 minutes

In the Quantitative section, there are two types of questions: problem solving and data sufficiency.

For each problem solvingquestion, solve the problem and select the best of the answer choices given.

Each data sufficiency problem consists of a question and two statement, labeled (1) and (2), which contain certain data. Using these data and your knowledge of mathematics and everyday facts (such as the number of days in July or the meaning of the word counterclockwise), decide whether the data given are sufficient for answering the question and then select one of the following answer choices:

• Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked.
• Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked.
• BOTH statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question asked, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer te question asked.
• EACH statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked.
• Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient to answer the question asked, and additional data specific to the problem are needed.

Note: In data sufficiency problems that ask for the value of a quantity, the data given in the statements are sufficient only when it is possible to determine exactly one numerical value for the quantity.

For all questions in the Quantitative section you may assume the following.

Numbers: ALl numbers are realy numbers.

Figures:

• For problem solving questions, figures are drawn as accurately as possible. Exceptions will be clearly noteds.
• For data sufficiency questions, figures conform to the information given in the question, but will not necessarily conform to the additional information given in statement (1) and (2).
• Lines shown as straight are straight, and lines that appear jagged are also straight.
• The positions of points, angles, regions, etc., exist in the order shown, and angle measures are greater than zero.
• All figures lie in a plane unless otherwise indicated.

Click Here to start GMAT math simluation test.

Following are the top best distance learning (online) MBA programs ranked by Businessweek in 2009:

• Aberdeen Business School
• American Intercontinental University
• Arizona State University
• Auburn University
• Audencia
• Babson College
• Ball State University
• Colorado Technical University
• Carnegie Mellon
• CENTRUM Católica (Lima-Peru)
• University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
• Drexel University
• University of Durham
• East Tennessee State University
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Emory University
• University of Florida
• Florida State University
• Georgia Southern University
• IE Business School
• Indiana University
• University of London (Royal Halloway)
• University of Massachusetts – Amherst
• University of Massachusetts — Lowell
• Mississippi State University
• Northeastern University
• Oklahoma State
• Pace University

• Regent University
• Robert Kennedy College
• St. Joseph’s University
• Suffolk University
• University of St. Thomas
• University of Texas at Dallas
• University of Texas at Dallas Global Leadership Executive MBA
• Thunderbird
• University of Warwick
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Walden University
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Following are the top 30 part-time MBA programs ranked by Businessweek

• 1UCLA (Anderson)
• 2Emory University
• 3USC (Marshall)
• 4Loyola Marymount University
• 5Lehigh University
• 6University of Denver
• 7University of Chicago
• 8Loyola University – Chicago
• 9Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• 10Drexel University (LeBow)
• 11Villanova University
• 12Elon University (Love)
• 13Southern Methodist University (Cox)
• 14Richmond (Robins)
• 15Boston University
• 16University of Washington (Foster)
• 17University of Nevada, Reno
• 18Indiana University – Southeast
• 19Georgia State (Robinson)
• 20Washington (Olin)
• 21Ohio State University (Fisher)
• 22Wake Forest (Babcock)
• 23Rollins College (Crummer)
• 24Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)
• 25New York University (Stern)
• 26University of Texas at San Antonio
• 27Houston (Bauer)
• 28Boston College (Carroll)
• 29U. Mass. – Amherst (Isenberg)
• 30Texas-Austin (McCombs)

The follow outline can be used for almost all English Tests that have 30-minute-essay questions. This outline can be used for TOEFL essays, GMAT Analysis of Argument essays and Analysis of Issue essays.

Depending on personal experience, personality type and emotional concern, we find that some people hold the idea of ……A….. meanwhile others prefer to …..B…., form my point of view, it is more advisable to chose A rather than B. My arguments for this point are listed as follows.

The main reason for my propensity for A is that ______________________. _______________. For instance, ________________________.

Another reason can be seen by every one is that ____________________. ______________________. For example, ________________________.

The argument I support in the first paragraph is also in a position of advantage because ___________________________________________________.

Although I agree that there may be a couple of advantages of B, I feel that the disadvantages are more obvious. Such as _____________________. In a word, _________________________________________. So, it is sagacious to support the statement that it is better to A.

Some people call this outline ‘Structure Template‘ while I disagree. You can use this for practice to learn how a good essay structure is, but I have to mention please don’t abuse it!

Below are some sample GMAT AWA analytical argument questions. For a full list of all real essay questions please visit GMAT’s official site.

A1.The following appeared in a memorandum from the business department of the Apogee Company:
“When the Apogee Company had all its operations in one location, it was more profitable than it is today. Therefore, the Apogee Company should close down its field offices and conduct all its operations from a single location. Such centralization would improve profitability by cutting costs and helping the company maintain better supervision of all employees.”

A2. The following appeared in an editorial from a magazine produced by an organization dedicated to environmental protection:
“In order to effectively reduce the amount of environmental damage that industrial manufacturing plants cause, those who manage the plants must be aware of the specific amount and types of damage caused by each of their various manufacturing processes. However, few corporations have enough financial incentive to monitor this information. In order to guarantee that corporations reduce the damage caused by their plants, the federal government should require every corporation to produce detailed annual reports on the environmental impact of their manufacturing process, and the government should impose stiff financial penalties for failure to produce these reports.”

A3. The following appeared in a memorandum from the head of a human resources department at a major automobile manufacturing company to the company’s managers: “Studies have found that employees of not-for-profit organizations and charities are often more highly motivated than employees of for-profit corporations to perform well at work when their performance is not being monitored or evaluated. Interviews with employees of not-for-profit organizations suggest that the reason for their greater motivation is the belief that their work helps to improve society. Because they believe in the importance of their work, they have personal reasons to perform well, even when no financial reward is present. Thus, if our corporation began donating a significant portion of its profits to humanitarian causes, our employees’ motivation and productivity would increase substantially and our overall profits would increase as well.”