There is an ongoing debate in the business world about the perfect age for an MBA candidate.  While the average age for first year business school classes is usually in the 27-28 range, some schools are beginning to trend younger (HBS and Stanford among them), raising questions about the best qualities for an MBA applicant to possess, and whether wisdom can only come with age.

Interestingly enough, recent data from the GMAC shows that GMAT test-takers (a.k.a. MBA prospects) under 24 represent the fastest growing age group. At 13.9%, their annual growth rate is nearly double that of test takers aged 24-30, and it hugely outpaces any older age groups.

Does this mean that younger students make better MBA applicants? Not necessarily, says Eric Caballero, a Manhattan GMAT instructor and Sloan graduate. In business school, he argues, you are graded mainly on participation. If you have little to no actual business experience, you might not have as much to contribute to the discussion as your peers, which could ultimately affect your grades.  In addition, a lack of hands-on experience can also affect the size of your rolodex. B-school reputations begin in the classroom, and the better insight you have, the more people will be interested in networking with you. If you are going to be paying for the rolodex, you want to be sure that you can make the connections.

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Here at Manhattan GMAT we are proud members of the non-profit organization AIGAC (The Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants). This association keeps those of us who help prepare students for graduate school to the highest standards. It also makes sure we continue to act ethically, putting the interests of our clients and prospective clients ahead of our own. Currently, AIGAC is running a survey on MBA applicants, so that AIGAC members can gain a deeper understanding of our students so as to better serve them.

As a taste of what this survey finds, last year, it discovered that the median age of MBA Applicants who took the survey stayed constant from 2009 at 27 years old, but the distribution of ages was wider in 2010, with more of both younger and older prospects. The survey concluded that the larger proportion of younger prospects is related to the increase in international respondents and women. Looks like there was a higher diversity of applicants, in terms of age, gender, and nationality in 2010. Will this remain the same into 2011? Help us find out!

And if you don’t want to take the survey just to help us out, you can always do it for the one free iPod Touch and two free iPod Shuffles that are being raffled off to the survey takers.

The survey takes about 10 minutes and can be found here: //surveys.marketpointsinc.com/mba11.asp. Thanks in advance for your participation! This info really helps us make sure we’re tailoring our classes and materials to fit well for you.

Manhattan GMAT has always prided itself on hiring the highest-quality instructors in the industry.  It’s one of our greatest points of distinction, and probably the first thing we would mention if you were to  ask us what sets us apart “ we have the best instructors out there. But what, exactly, does that mean?

In 2010, MG Prep received 915 resumes from prospective instructors.  After reviewing their credentials, we conducted phone interviews with 274 applicants. From there, 232 people were offered the opportunity for an online audition, where we got a chance to check out their knowledge, teaching methods, and classroom persona.  Of those auditions, 102 applicants were invited to our corporate offices in New York for a face-to-face audition.  Only 18 were hired.

In that final face-to-face audition, applicants are asked to teach real problems to students of varying ability levels.  We look for instructors who teach to every level of understanding, who interact positively and productively with their students, and who are receptive to criticism and eager for their own improvement. Plus, we always like to hire instructors with vibrant, engaging personalities and a deep-seated passion for education.  If the audition process is any indication, the 18 applicants who were offered positions were selected for more than just their 99^th percentile score and their teaching backgrounds.  They were selected because they truly are the best of the best. (Think about it: Harvard Business School accepts 12% of applicants. Manhattan GMAT accepts less than 2%.)

If you’ve had the opportunity to interact with any of our instructors, you have some idea of what we mean.  We spend over 100 hours training our instructors, we pay them 4x the industry standard, and we expect them go above and beyond.  They are continually meeting to discuss the best teaching strategies and how to make the most of the course format, and they are always eager to work on improving the curriculum.  It’s not uncommon to hear a conversation between instructors in which the words I love that problem make several appearances. Manhattan GMAT instructors are great at what they do, and, more importantly, they love it.

Want to learn more about Manhattan GMAT’s outstanding instructors? Check out our instructor bio page, where you can read about their backgrounds and take a look at what former students have said.

Imagine it’s five, ten, twenty years ago…

Congratulations, you just got into college! You are super excited, and your parents are so proud.  The time they spent reading to you, checking your homework, and quizzing you on vocabulary was well worth it, and they are excited to send you off to face your next adventure.  But first, they will leave you with a few parting words of wisdom: Join a club. Don’t drink anything green. Be sure to manage your time well. They’ll send you care packages, and be there for you when you need advice so that, while you may be on your own, you still have someone to turn to.

Now speed ahead five, ten, twenty years…

Congratulations, you just got into business school! You are super excited, and your Manhattan GMAT instructors are so proud. The time they spent drilling you, checking your quant problems, and quizzing you on sentence correction has been well worth it, and they are excited to send you off to face your next adventure.

But, of course, they have their worries. Will you know that you are supposed to pronounce all the letters in ROI? Will you remember your excel shortcuts? Will you be able to work well with your learning teams? What if you have questions about supply chains or microeconomics or how to balance wine and cheese in one hand? Who will you turn to?

Well, GMATers, we have you covered.  Carrie Shuchart and Chris Ryan, two former Manhattan GMAT instructors and successful MBAs, have written you the perfect care package. Case Studies and Cocktails: The Now What? Guide to Business School is both a handbook for the social side of school and an academic primer on the material you’ll have to master.

From the day you receive your first acceptance letter in the mail, Case Studies and Cocktails will prove to be an invaluable guide to the ins and outs of business school.  Whether you are stressed about paying tuition, valuing bonds, repairing a dysfunctional team, or mastering the recruiting process, the solutions are in this comprehensive guide. Filled with the advice of students and staff from over a dozen top business schools, numerous dowloadable calendars and worksheets, and a glossary of need-to-know b-school jargon, Case Studies & Cocktails will provide you with all the tools you need for living and working as a business school student.

For more information, check out the Case Studies & Cocktails website.  Want a sneak peek? Read an excerpt on Poets & Quants or on Fortune.

This article was originally written for and posted on www.casestudiesandcocktails.com by Chris Ryan

Recently, U.S. News & World Report released its 2012 Business School rankings. The energy and commentary surrounding this perennial event is noteworthy. Stanford GSB muscled HBS out of the top spot, while my alma mater Duke Fuqua rose to No. 12.

While many MBA applicants revere the U.S. News & World Report rankings, others stand apart. The Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell lambasted the criteria used in the rankings, calling the criteria flimsy proxies for educational quality.

No matter whose ranking you prefer, we encourage you to embrace a comprehensive approach to selecting a business school. No doubt your school’s ranking and prestige will affect the potential for cultivating that golden MBA rolodex. However, your ability to execute on said potential will be determined chiefly by your state of mind, which demands a cultural and academic fit.  So once you’ve narrowed down your choices based upon rank, be sure to consider these other factors:

• Location and Social Life: Do you prefer lively urban campuses or smaller college towns, where almost everyone is an outsider and folks band together?
• Cost: Most business schools cost a pretty penny, but keep in mind that tuition and fees are not the only expenses you will be facing.  Be sure to take into account the cost of living in a particular location before making a decision.
• Teaching Methodologies: Harvard Business School uses the case method entirely, but that may not work for everyone.  Sit-in on courses and determine what teaching methods work best for you.
• Alumni Base: When it comes time to apply for that coveted internship or dream job, you’ll need to utilize all your connections. A large alumni base may offer more opportunities, but smaller groups of former grads are often more loyal and more likely to help an MBA from their Alma Mater.

For more advice on choosing a school and preparing for your MBA, check out our article on Poets & Quants. Need something a little more in depth? Part One of Case Studies & Cocktails is all about making the most of your time before B-school.

The folk at mbaMission always recommend getting started with your MBA applications as early as possible. By taking action now, you can dramatically improve your chances of gaining admission to a top MBA program in the coming years. It is never too soon (and certainly not too late) to take several crucial steps to shape your MBA candidacy. So we’re presenting a five-part series to provide a step-by-step timeline to help guide you down the long road of applying to business school. These guidelines assume that you are setting out a year ahead of the January deadlines. Even if you are starting later, you should be able to leverage this timeline to help you prioritize each step along the way. This week, they lay out what you should be doing February through April. For more information on mbaMission and how they can help you in this process, click here.

View Part 1 here.

February

Meet with Alumni and Students
As you contemplate your choices and begin visiting campuses, consider augmenting your process of a priori discovery by meeting with your target school’s alumni or students, so that you can Read more

We recently discussed our move towards a more international market, with online classes geared towards students in East Asia and India as well as in-person classes in London and Paris.

However, while we are expanding abroad, we are also continuing to focus on our new markets in the U.S. We’ve recently started offering classes in Miami as well as San Antonio and we are also expanding to Salt Lake City in the near future.

Because of our strong belief in high instructor quality, we only expand where we find instructors who meet our stringent qualifications. If you want to see us expand further, and you know of anybody in the locations listed on our instructor hiring page, be sure to send them our way! Our application process is tough, but in the end, both our students and our instructors benefit!

Students often ask for non-GMAT reading sources that they can use to improve their reading skills in general, for comprehension and for speed. Recently, some students have asked for more: how should they read such material? Is it the same as reading for work or for pleasure? (Not entirely, no.)

Reading Passages on the GMAT

Several circumstances separate GMAT reading from real-world reading (whether for business or pleasure). Read more

The folk at mbaMission always recommend getting started with your MBA applications as early as possible. By taking action now, you can dramatically improve your chances of gaining admission to a top MBA program in the coming years. It is never too soon (and certainly not too late) to take several crucial steps to shape your MBA candidacy. So they’re presenting a five-part series to provide a step-by-step timeline to help guide you down the long road of applying to business school. These guidelines assume that you are setting out a year ahead of the January deadlines. Even if you are starting later, you should be able to leverage this timeline to help you prioritize each step along the way. This week, they will lay out what you should be doing at least one year before you submit your applications. For more information on mbaMission and how they can help you in this process, click here.

Pre-Stage

The steps that we lay out in pre-stage planning are somewhat timeless. It is never too soon to take on a leadership position in your community, sign up for a supplemental course, visit your target schools, etc. We have therefore structured this piece so that you can consider the steps outlined in these sections ongoing. Read more

After having established ourselves as a bastion of high quality GMAT prep in the United States, Manhattan GMAT has begun to expand beyond that country’s borders. With our eight Strategy Guides shipping to all parts of the globe, we realized the call for more comprehensive prep worldwide and have scheduled classes to meet the demand of students across the world.

Though Manhattan GMAT already has classes in London, we recently started offering classes in Paris as well, with the first class scheduled to begin on January 18.

Cognizant of the vast numbers of test-takers further East, we have also begun to address those students’ needs with an online class specifically scheduled at a convenient time for those in India and in the Middle East.

For those whose time zones make even the India class inconvenient, we’re also offering a class specifically scheduled for students in China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore.

For a full listing of locations for Manhattan GMAT, click here.