More women are headed to business school these days, according to a piece over at Forbes.

The numbers certainly are striking. In the last decade, women have enrolled at business schools across the country in ever-greater numbers. Between 1997 and 2007, the percentage of MBAs awarded to women jumped from 39 percent to 44 percent”a 12.8 percent increase over a single decade.  Top schools are showing big leaps, too: HBS went from 28 percent women in 1995 to 38 percent in 2010, while Wharton’s female population climbed from 32 percent in 2007 to 40 percent in the class of 2011.

So what’s driving the increase? The article suggests it’s the combination of a weak economy, recruiting initiatives targeted to women, and, most of all, the flexibility offered by an MBA. Female grads can take their degrees into the nonprofit world or even start their own businesses, says Deirdre Leopold,  Harvard’s managing director of MBA admissions. That allows more wiggle room, especially for students juggling family responsibilities.

The increasing gender balance sure seems like good news to us!

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!

[This article has been updated in a new post featured May 9, 2014. Read the newest version of The Distinction Beween a 700 Score and a 760 Score]. Recently, I was asked to write an article addressing what it takes to score in the 99th percentile. I have some reservations about writing such an article, but I agreed to write it.

First, I’m going to tell you why I have reservations about writing this article. A lot of people may read this article and think: Great! I can just do this and score in the 99th percentile! In order to have this conversation in the first place, however, we have to assume that the tester is already scoring at least 700, if not higher.

In other words, you cannot start with the information in this article (unless you’re already at 700+!). In addition, I can’t write an article that tells anyone, at any current level, how to get to 760. What I can do is write an article detailing the differences between a 700-level scorer and a 760-level scorer. What you can do, if you really want a 760, is first get yourself to a very solid 700-level “ using other articles and resources, not this one. (A very solid 700-level refers to someone who can consistently score 700 under full, official test conditions; it does not refer to someone who got 700 once after skipping the essays.)

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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. 🙂

The GMAT just keeps expanding. GMAC reports that there are now more than 500 centers worldwide where you can take the test, up more than 25 percent since 2006.

A record 267,000 people took the test in 2009, and for the first time since its creation, there were more international than US test-takers (by just a single percentage point). A lot of the growth comes from China and India. The number of Chinese citizens taking the GMAT rose 35 percent in 2009, while 7 percent more Indians took it. The growth in the number of test-takers on the subcontinent has been explosive recently, increasing 128 percent in the last 5 years.

To meet the additional demand, the GMAC is opening an office in India, according to the Times of India. It will be the company’s third, after the US and UK. “I feel there’s great potential for growth in the country,” GMAC CEO David Wilson told the paper.

Good news for MBA hopefuls: A couple of recent stories indicate things are picking up at career offices, particularly if you’re interested in clean energy.

Last week we pointed to a Business Week piece about increased interest in European MBA programs. Now the mag tells us recruiting is also picking up at the continent’s top b-schools. Renewable energy companies are recruiting aggressively, along with biotech, public administration, and nonprofits, says the director of INSEAD’s career office. That fits with the news from the senior director of Sloan’s career office, who recently told the Journal she’s seeing a lot of action in consumer products companies, including clean tech and medical devices. The hiring process still isn’t easy, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel! If that’s too far in the future for you to worry about right now, rest assured that students are seeing more summer internship opportunities too.

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.

Thinking of going to school abroad?  You’re not alone! Applications are up sharply at European B-schools, according to Business Week. It’s part of an upward trend worldwide, but the increase is particularly high in Europe, where many institutions say apps are up 10 percent or more. The Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School in Belgium has doubled its class in the past year, while Switzerland’s St. Gallen has grown its part-time program 100 percent. The trend is also ramping up competition in many places–Westminster Business School, in the UK, has had to wait-list full-time MBA candidates for the first time in the school’s history.

The piece attributes the growth largely to career changers and young people looking for a recession safe haven that will bolster their resume. European schools are also increasingly attractive to international students who plan to return, thanks to easier visa requirements and widely dispersed alumni networks.

If you’re in the market for an international GMAT course, check out our new London offerings, as well as our Live Online classes. And if you just want to take a trip to Europe, the dollar’s getting stronger, so a Big Mac will only be $8 or so.

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!