Articles published in July 2017

Tiny GMAT Critical Reasoning Mistakes You Might be Making (Part 2)

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Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - Tiny GMAT Critical Reasoning Mistakes You Might be Making (Part 2) by Reed Arnold

Guess what? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free—we’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here.


As Hemingway did for lions on the Savannah, I have continued my hunt in GMAT Critical Reasoning problems for little mistakes in logic, the tiny tempting answer choices that could trap even the most rational of minds. I have also been consuming as much whiskey as he would have, so plese forgive any typps cos Im perty drnk rite now… Read more

When to Submit an Optional MBA Essay

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Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - When to Submit an Optional MBA Essay by mbaMission

Each week, we are featuring a series of MBA admission tips from our exclusive admissions consulting partner, mbaMission.


Virtually all the top business schools offer applicants the opportunity to address anything unusual or problematic within their profiles, using either the additional information section of the application or the optional MBA essay. This way, MBA candidates can proactively explain any irregularities or inconsistencies so that the admissions committee understands the circumstances behind these issues and is not left to guess or make assumptions. Commonly, applicants will write an optional MBA essay to explain or reveal one of the following kinds of issues:
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Introducing Our Brand-New Executive Assessment Masterclass!

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Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - Introducing Our Brand-New Executive Assessment Masterclass! by Manhattan PrepAre you trying to apply for an EMBA program but don’t know where to begin? Want to study for the Executive Assessment (EA) while juggling limited free time? Have you been unable to find adequate EA study materials? We created our newest offering, the Executive Assessment Masterclass, just for you! Read more

Pronoun Ambiguity on the GMAT

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Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - Pronoun Ambiguity on the GMAT by Chelsey Cooley

Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here.


What’s the deal with pronoun ambiguity on the GMAT?

Unfortunately, this question doesn’t have a short answer. Pronoun ambiguity is one area in which the rules of GMAT Sentence Correction are actually a little… ambiguous. (Sorry!) This article will describe what we know about the rules, and, more importantly, how you can use them to gain points on Sentence Correction. Read more

Mission Admission: Will I Get into Business School?

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Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - Mission Admission: Will I Get into Business School? by mbaMission

Mission Admission is a series of MBA admissions tips from our exclusive admissions consulting partner, mbaMission.


Not surprisingly, one of the most common questions we receive from MBA candidates is “Will I get into business school?” Of course, this is an important question to consider before applying, and we suggest that you honestly assess and understand your candidacy and risk profile within the context of your target school’s typical student body before completing or submitting an application to that school. However, once you have determined that you will in fact apply to a particular school, you should not let this question haunt you or halt your progress. Many applicants spend too much time worrying and not enough time working. Your admissions decision is ultimately out of your control, so just focus on submitting the best application you possibly can. Read more

Chicago Booth Essay Analysis, 2017-2018

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Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - Chicago Booth Essay Analysis, 2017-2018 by mbaMission

How can you write essays that grab the attention of MBA admissions committees? With this thorough Chicago Booth essay analysis, our friends at mbaMission help you conceptualize your essay ideas and understand how to execute, so that your experiences truly stand out.


For the third year in a row, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business is maintaining its rather unique “essay” question in which it asks applicants to select from a group of images depicting key moments in the Chicago Booth MBA experience and explain why the chosen image “best resonates” with them. When this prompt was first introduced in 2015–2016, the school offered a collection of 16 photos from which candidates could choose; last year, the group was reduced to ten. This season, Chicago Booth is presenting just six image options. We are unaware of the exact reasons behind this continued minimizing, but we theorize that certain types of photos were rarely chosen or did not elicit the kind of response the admissions committee ultimately felt was helpful in evaluating candidates. Another possibility is that multiple photos may have inspired very similar essays, so only one such picture was needed. Or Chicago Booth may have wanted to focus applicants on specific aspects of its program and therefore eliminated any images not related to those elements. This year’s photos again come with captions describing the depicted scene—an important factor in this equation in that an individual might be strongly drawn to a particular image, but the associated caption might influence his or her initial interpretation of it in some way. The bottom line is that with this nontraditional prompt, the school puts a significant amount of power in candidates’ hands in letting them select from a group of options, which thereby lets them better control the impression of themselves they want to present. We hope that you will find the essay question exciting and inspiring, rather than intimidating, and offer the following Chicago Booth essay analysis to help you plan your response. Read more

Stanford Graduate School of Business Essay Analysis, 2017-2018

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Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - Stanford Graduate School of Business Essay Analysis, 2017-2018 by mbaMission

How can you write essays that grab the attention of MBA admissions committees? With this thorough analysis, our friends at mbaMission help you conceptualize your essay ideas and understand how to execute, so that your experiences truly stand out.


Like several of the other top MBA programs that have released their essay questions for this year, the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) has remained faithful to the prompts it presented last season. But with a total maximum word count allowance of 1,150, the school gives its applicants a little more room in which to express themselves. Although the Stanford GSB is an institution well known for generating and encouraging  innovators, the school uses its application essays not to ask candidates to share their imaginative new ideas but rather to look inward and examine their motivations and values. These are your opportunities to demonstrate the parts of your personality and profile that are not readily conveyed through transcripts, scores, and lists of professional accomplishments. In our Stanford Graduate School of Business essay analysis that follows, we present advice on how you might do so effectively… Read more

Know the GMAT Code: Translation Traps

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Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - Know the GMAT Code: Translation Traps by Stacey Koprince

Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here.


The problem we’re going to talk about today is a work of art. (Yes, I’m a geek. Did you not know that already? )

But I’m serious: it’s a thing of beauty. It looks super easy. It’s not—there are traps all over the place. The GMAT test writers have a genius for tying us into knots! Read more

Mission Admission: Use Your Judgment on MBA Application Essay Details

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Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - Mission Admission: Use Your Judgment on MBA Application Essay Details by mbaMission

Mission Admission is a series of MBA admissions tips from our exclusive admissions consulting partner, mbaMission.


“Should I use Calibri or Times New Roman font for my essays?”

“Should I list my GPA to the third or fourth decimal place?”

“I don’t have enough space to enter my full title, so should I write ‘Vice President’ or ‘VP Sales’?” Read more

Know the GMAT Code: Logic Games in Integrated Reasoning

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Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - Know the GMAT Code: Logic Games in Integrated Reasoning by Stacey Koprince

Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here.


Most of the problems in Integrated Reasoning test the same material we already need to study for the Quant and Verbal sections of the GMAT. There are a few differences though—and we’re going to talk about one of those differences today, in the latest installment of our Know the Code series. Read more