Andrew Yang, our former President here at Manhattan GMAT, recently left us to pursue his own vision: creating a non-profit organization which aims to place college grads with start-ups across the country, following the model for Teach for America. Below is Andrew’s description of his new idea, Venture for America:

When a company has a serious problem, it sends its best people to solve it.

Right now our country has a serious problem – we need to create more jobs. And yet, our top college graduates are often not heading to innovative start-ups and early stage companies that will generate jobs and produce new industries. In 2010 over 50% of Harvard graduates went to work in financial services, management consulting, or to law school, with fewer than 15% going to industry, which includes companies big and small. The same picture holds true at other top college campuses.

Despite the numbers, many graduating seniors would have a strong interest in working for a start-up that had the potential to grow. It’s an ambition that’s commonly expressed among students. But there are significant obstacles for a senior looking to pursue this sort of opportunity: Read more

Manhattan GMAT continues to grow very quickly thanks to continued word-of-mouth from our students. Thanks for all of your support out there!

One product of our growth is that we’re looking for a few great men and women in all parts of our organization. Some of the positions we’re looking to fill RIGHT NOW include:

1. Instructors. By now, you have a sense of how picky we are. We’ll wind up rejecting 9 out of 10 candidates who have a 99th percentile score on the GMAT and prior teaching experience, based on how they perform during a battery of in-person auditions. But it’s only through this process that we can enlist the very best Instructors.

We’re now looking for additional Instructors in New York, Atlanta, Miami, San Francisco/Bay Area, Seattle, Toronto, and several other markets. Successful candidates will receive signing/training bonuses of $4,000 and will be paid $100/hr to start. And if you think you know someone who fits the bill, we’ll pay YOU $1,000 just for telling your friend if we hire him/her. That’s right, you can get paid just for knowing a brilliant teacher! Just have them mention your name when we ask how they found out about the position. For info on how to apply, click here.

2. Staff. Okay, these positions are in New York, because that’s where our headquarters is. But we’re looking for Full-time Marketing Staff and Full-time Operations Staff. Yes, we are legit hiring right now! If you think you have what it takes to contribute to the most dynamic education company today, click here to apply. Warning that we’re just about as picky with our staff as we are with our Instructors.

3. Part-time Staff. If you’re a talented, personable sort looking for part-time work to balance against school or even another job, we may have a position for you. We’re looking to hire part-time Marketing staff and part-time Operations staff. We will hire undergrads to work during the schoolyear if we like them enough, in part because we like to try and identify top performers before they graduate. Click here to apply.

Please do forward this to anyone you know that is looking for a job right now that you think would be a good fit. We’ll pay you $500 for a staff referral, and $250 for a part-time staff referral. It pays to have (employable) friends!

We received an e-mail earlier this week from a happy student reporting that he’d gotten a 760. This was great news, but not particularly newsworthy, as, happily, we get good news like this very often.

However, he also mentioned that his 760 score was good for a 98th percentile. This was a surprise, as 760 has been the bar for a 99th percentile since 2007 or so (before then it was a 750). Apparently, the threshold has JUST been raised to a 770 for a 99th percentile score!

What does this mean? It means that GMAT scores continue to climb, particularly at the high end. Indeed, average GMAT scores have climbed 14 points in the last 4 years and we suspect that, as more students use Manhattan GMAT, we’ll see this trend continue. 🙂

Study hard!

P.S. Manhattan GMAT requires a 99th percentile score for its Instructors, so it looks like the bar for incoming Instructor candidates has just risen. We are looking in several markets (New York, Miami, Atlanta, San Francisco), so if you know any extraordinary teachers who fit the bill, please send them our way!

Addendum:

After reaching out to GMAC to confirm this score breakdown, we have heard that as of the latest test update (for July), a 760 is still a 99th percentile score.

The 12th Edition of the Official Guide for GMAT Review is an awesome resource, likely the best available, and we heartily recommend it to all of our students. Indeed, the Official Guide and its supplements are included with all of our courses and form the core of our curriculum.

However, if there is one weakness that students often cite, it is that the Official Guide’s explanations are sometimes confusing and/or unhelpful, particularly on some of the math problems.

To address this need, we are very proud to announce the imminent publication of the Official Guide Companion! This book includes thorough, step-by-step explanations to every math problem in the Official Guide, using the principles of our curriculum for consistency. Problems that customarily give students headaches are flagged as part of ‘Horacio’s Hotlist,’ named after ace Instructor Horacio Quiroga. There is also an online version of the OGC for easy reference.

Note that all of the referenced questions appear in the Official Guide itself, which is necessary to make use of the Official Guide Companion (hence the name).

All of our course students will begin receiving the book May 17th, as part of their course materials free of charge. The online version will be active one week earlier, on May 10th. It’s good to be one of our students!

Thanks to Chris, Dave, Carrie, Graham, and all of the other Instructors that worked so hard to make the Official Guide Companion possible! Many students are about to have a problem solved (pun intended). 🙂

There have been many stories about the improving economy, but apparently the current climate remains tough for 1st year MBA Students seeking internships, according to Businessweek.com. For those of you who haven’t yet started school, you’ve got a year or two for things to improve!

Okay, not really. But ace Instructor Jen Dziura IS appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Network giving advice to her younger self on this link on WSJ.com (it makes sense when you watch it)!

Congratulations Jen! 🙂

What’s proper office etiquette? What type of drink do you order with what? Do I pay off my loans first or sock away some money for retirement?

We thought that these were excellent questions, and so were very excited when the guys from Gradspot.com came to our door saying that they were publishing a book about these and many other subjects, Gradspot.com’s Guide to Life after College. Basically, we wish that we had a book like this when we graduated from college (not THAT long ago . . . ).

If this sounds like a book you’d like too, pick up a copy or pass along one to your buddy/little sister/cousin/ex-girlfriend who’s graduating from college next month. They’ll thank you for it. 🙂

When you think about school rankings, US News & World Report is likely top of mind. However, the Business Insider has come out with its own B-school rankings using a method that emphasizes value to the graduate based on network and perception of the credential. These rankings also claim to have incorporated the feedback of top recruiters. It’s worth a look, if only to get a second opinion on the value of having graduated from certain schools.

We’ve all heard various things about getting into business school. Is it true that only quant types get into Wharton and marketing types into Kellogg? Do alumni recommendations matter more than others? Is the third round really the dead zone in terms of getting into a selective school?

Well, if you want to know the real scoop on these and other issues, our admissions consulting partner mbaMission is holding Mythbusters events in Boston and Philadelphia next Thursday, March 18th, and online on March 23rd! All events are free and conducted by an experienced Admissions Consultant from mbaMission. Thanks to them for dispelling MBA Admissions myths everywhere!

Over time, our Instructors have written a number of articles about various GMAT-related substantive topics. Now, our Internet ace Michael Dinerstein has worked to transform several of those articles into online tutorials. For those of you who struggle with more than one continuous paragraph of text, your ship has come in!

In all seriousness, they’re a lot easier to make use of now. Kudos to Mike for bringing these awesome kernels of wisdom to students everwhere!