We are often asked to compare and contrast MGMAT to Veritas. The primary difference between ManhattanGMAT and Veritas is that the two organizations have vastly different approaches to Instructor hiring and training. We have several Instructors who have had direct experiences with both companies – their accounts follow below.

“The quality of any business is reflected in its hiring process. Manhattan GMAT’s excellent hiring process is the main reason I decided to work for it rather than for our competitor, Veritas Prep. Before applying to both companies, the only thing I knew was that they both advertised in Craigslist seeking instructors. I soon found out that the similarities end there.

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Last month, GMAC hosted a seminar to brief us on facts, data, and trends from the test-takers out there. Here (somewhat belatedly), are some of the key points that they presented:

1.  Scores are creeping upwards – the average in 2007 was 537, 12 points higher than in 2005.

2.  The Number of Hours spent studying correlates to Higher GMAT Scores – people that achieved a score of 700 or higher reported studying an average of 114 hours for the test. In contrast, people that scored between 500 – 540 reported studying for 84 hours.

3. The Number of Weeks spent studying correlates to Higher GMAT Scores – 50+% of the people that studied for 7 weeks or more received a 600 or higher. This number dropped to 43% for those who studied between 4 and 6 weeks, and 37% for those who studied between 1 and 3 weeks.

4. Taking the Test more than once Tends to Result in a Higher Score – the mean score increase for someone who takes the test a 2nd time is 31 points. It should be noted though that this tends to be inflated by a couple of self-selection factors (i.e. the numbers tend to reflect people who underachieved on the 1st test relative to their college ranking, didn’t finish the quantitative section, etc.). 30% of re-testers saw no increase (or even a decrease). 40% of test-takers had their score increase 50 points or more, and 10% had results increase 100 points or more. I think ManhattanGMAT is responsible for some of that 10%. 🙂

From the above, it’s clear that even the administrators of the GMAT realize that this a test that you can prepare for in order to improve your performance. So your scores are certainly not fixed!

GMAC also reaffirmed once again that spending extra time on the first 10 questions does not help your score, and tends to hurt your score by ruining your time management throughout the section. There is enough variability in the algorithm such that some early mistakes are not necessarily critical to your score – you can quickly push yourself up to higher levels by getting later questions right.

These were the main points. They’re working on a new diagnostic test that can be downloaded, and the next edition of the Official Guide is targeted for late ’08. Still, this would not affect the average student substantially.

Last, they also indicated that most people rely upon word-of-mouth for choosing a test prep firm. That was possibly the best news of the event for us here at ManhattanGMAT!

Last Friday, GMAC (the publishers of the GMAT) invited a few of the senior people from ManhattanGMAT to a presentation in a hotel in New York to let us know what GMAC has in development.

The event was very interesting, to say the least.  Much of it consisted of applicant profile data (i.e. how many people are taking the GMAT, average scores, average score increases if someone takes the test more than once, etc.).  But there was  the odd announcement concerning some of the newer resources GMAC is working on for 2008.

We’re going to be posting a more detailed write-up later this week.  However, if you’re studying for the GMAT right now, the important takeaway is likely that there are NO changes forthcoming in terms of the format or nature of questions tested.  So no major changes on the horizon, through mid-2008.

More to come!

ManhattanGMAT is growing by leaps and bounds, and we are constantly searching for new Instructors.

It is a very hard thing to become a ManhattanGMAT Instructor; one must have a 99th percentile real GMAT score (now a 760+) and prior teaching experience to even be considered. Of those who satisfy these requirements and audition, we take about 1 in 5. Instructors must then complete training of approximately 100 hours before they are given a class or a tutoring student.

If that sounds like an awfully daunting selection and training process, it is! But we make it worth people’s while; in order to attract and retain instructors that are this talented, we pay $100/hr, by far the highest in the industry. And our selectivity has paid off – it is not an exaggeration to say that our outstanding Instructors are the main reason we have been so successful as a company. Feel free to check out their bios here.

If YOU know someone you think may be interested in applying to us, send them our way! As they apply, let us know that you referred them by e-mailing jobs@manhattanprep.com/gmat/, and have them mention you. If we hire your friend and they begin teaching for us, we will pay you an “Instructor Bounty” of $1,000! That’s right, you can finally take advantage of having brilliant friends who happen to be outstanding teachers!

The information your friends needs to apply can be found here, as well as a list of locations for which we are hiring. And if you don’t have any friends that fit the bill yet, go find one! 🙂

As first announced on businessweek.com, ManhattanGMAT is officially arriving in Washington D.C.! Our first open house will take place next Thursday, July 19th at 6:30 p.m. And our first course will begin the following Saturday, July 28th, taught by veteran ManhattanGMAT Instructor Eric Caballero.

We are awfully excited to FINALLY be able to serve the students in our nation’s capital!

Last night saw the Business School Admissions panel here in New York, with Admissions officers from Harvard, Kellogg, NYU Stern, and Wharton in attendance. Each school aired a presentation highlighting the specific features of its MBA program, and then answered questions for over 140 prospective students in a lively Q & A session.

We will be posting some of the insights generated via the panel in this space in the coming days. One early tidbit – Harvard is reducing the total number of essays it requires, and also increasing flexibility to give applicants more choices for essay topics (2 required + 3 chosen from a number of different topics).

Andrea Mitchell Kimmel, Associate Director MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School answers a question, as Ellen Kim of Kellogg and Alison Goggin of NYU Stern look on.

The event was tremendous, and we’d like to thank our panelists for sharing their time. Again, we will be posting additional points raised and addressed by the panelists in the days to come.

Also, while we’re thanking people, here’s a picture of the organizer of the panel, Jessica Eliav (on the right), Director of Corporate Accounts for ManhattanGMAT, with Katie Buongiorno from the Marketing Department. Kudos to a great event! 🙂

Due to an immense level of interest, we are going to be capping attendance at our Business School panel on June 21st here in New York (Admissions officers from Harvard, NYU, Kellogg, and the recently added Wharton are scheduled to attend). If you missed out this time, we will be having another similar panel here in New York later in the year. If you’re already coming, see you on the 21st!

Recently, we interviewed a potential instructor who said that he had gotten a 99th percentile score a number of years ago, but that his total score was a 730.

This did not seem correct.  As many people know, the current score threshold for a 99th percentile score on the GMAT is a 760 or higher (out of 800).  This is a change from just last year, as even the most recent edition of the Official Guide indicates that 750 is a 99th percentile score.  But a 730?

So we examined a copy of this gentleman’s score report with great interest.  His score was reported as follows:

October, 1998

Quant Raw Score – 49

Quant Percentile – 97%

Verbal Raw Score – 41

Verbal Percentile – 94%

Raw Score Total – 730

Total Percentile – 99%

It turns out that he was correct – a 730 WAS indeed a 99th percentile score in 1998 (when GMAC first went to the computerized adaptive test format).

It is worth noting that this person’s raw scores NOW would translate to:

Quant Percentile – 90%

Verbal Percentile – 93%

In other words, over the past 9 years, it has become MUCH harder to be at the top percentile in the Math, and slightly harder to be at the top percentiles in the Verbal.   His scores now would not place him near the 99th percentile overall.

This just goes to show that it’s gotten, and continues to get, increasingly difficult to get a distinguishing score as competition heats up and preparation levels rise.

(on a side note – we did not hire this particular instructor candidate)

A recent article appeared on Businessweek.com that described some of the major GMAT Test prep options out there, and ManhattanGMAT was prominently featured.   If you missed it, click here to check it out.

The next Business School Admissions Panel discussion will take place on Thursday, June 21st, from 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at ManhattanGMAT’s Chelsea Center (138 West 25th St.).

Admissions Officers from Harvard, Kellogg (Northwestern), and NYU Stern will be in attendance to discuss the business school admissions process. They will also be advising applicants on what one should and shouldn’t be doing to prepare.

I will post again with the link to sign-up for this FREE panel discussion in the coming week or so. Watch out for it, as this event will be first-come first-serve until it reaches capacity.