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

We believe that asking MBA candidates about their goals is plainly absurd, because so many students change their goals while they are in business school. Further, the pursuit of an MBA is supposed to be about career development and exploration, right? Regardless of how we feel regarding the subject, though, you must ensure that if a school asks about your goals in its essay questions or an interview, you have a compelling story about where you believe your MBA will take you. Several years ago, getting a banking job may have sounded compelling to you—are you really capable of making that transition today? Certainly, fewer jobs are available now in the real estate world—is this a likely next step for you during a prolonged real estate drought? Venture capital and private equity jobs are challenging to land even during the best of times—are you able to compete with the elite during a downturn? Read more

You’ve been wanting to study for the GMAT for a while, but it’s hard to find the motivation to get started. You know that if you sign up for a course, the personal engagement and structured homework will help you to stay on track.

The problem? It’s summer, and you want to travel and enjoy life! Signing up for an in-person class means that you’re committed to spending every weekend in the classroom. But you’re worried that an online class won’t feel personal enough, and that you won’t feel as engaged as you would in-person.

So, we’re trying something new at Manhattan Prep, just for people like you: a hybrid version of our 9-week GMAT course! 4 sessions will be offered in-person at our NYC office, and 5 sessions will be offered online. Read more

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.

In the previous three installments of this series, I summarized some of the big messages and discussed some of the interesting problems I spotted in the GMAT Official Guide 2018. (If you’d like, you can start with the first installment and work your way back here.)

Today, I’ve got lists for you—the problems that are new to the GMAT Official Guide 2018 (by chapter and problem number). Read more

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.

Check out these two sentences:

The horse raced past the barn.

The horse raced past the barn fell.

Believe it or not, both sentences have good grammar. But one of them makes a lot more sense than the other one! Let’s break them down and understand why. Read more

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 GMAT Official Guide 2018 books have landed and I’ve got the scoop for you! (If you’d like, you can start with the first installment of this article series.) Today’s post focuses on the Verbal questions in the big OG. Read more

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.

Last year, one of our observations about the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan’s main essay question was that the 400-word limit did not offer a lot of room to expound on the topic. Thankfully, applicants also had a second essay (albeit also quite short, at just 250 words) in which to address their professional aspirations. This season, Michigan Ross has tightened the reins even more, asking applicants to provide 100-word responses (or shorter) to three “complete the sentence” prompts and to write a 300-word-maximum essay answering three career-related questions that actually encompass four topics. The scope of the main essay prompt has also been drastically narrowed, from a discussion of a personal event or attribute of which the applicant was proud to a rather prescribed rundown of the candidate’s career goals and plans to attain them. Read more

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 new GMAT Official Guide 2018 books have landed and I’ve got the scoop for you! (If you’d like, you can start with the first installment of this article series.) Today’s post focuses on Data Sufficiency. Read more

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.

Do you remember that feeling of being in math class and the teacher asks a question that you really should know, but you don’t, and then you hear your name called to answer the question? Maybe your heart starts racing, your mind blanks even more, and in an attempt to avoid embarrassment, you just start talking, desperately hoping you land somewhere close to the answer.

As a high school teacher, I saw this all the time from the teacher side. And I would smile and thank the student for trying, but usually while thinking “just go ahead and admit that you don’t know!” Read more

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 GMAT Official Guide 2018 books have landed and I’ve got the scoop for you!

In this multi-part series, I’ll start by discussing additions and changes to the new Quant problems in The Official Guide for GMAT® Review 2018, aka the OG. I’ll follow that up with a discussion of the new Verbal questions from the big OG. I’ll also be providing you with the new question numbers, in case you already have OG 2017 and are looking for a list of just the questions that are new to the 2018 edition. Read more

As you may have already heard, you will soon be able to choose the order in which you complete the sections of the GMAT exam. This is a big deal for test-takers, some of whom will now have to begin practicing for the exam accordingly. Well, we’ve got great news! We’ve already updated Manhattan Prep’s GMAT practice tests to include this new feature, ensuring that our exams continue to deliver the most realistic and reliable practice test experience available. Read more