GMAT Versus GRE Smackdown
Many business schools now accept the GRE as well as the GMAT.
Will taking one test give you an edge over taking the other?
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Many business schools now accept the GRE as well as the GMAT.
Will taking one test give you an edge over taking the other?
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David's Corner: The Hidden Payoff of B-School Essays
B-school applicants often complain about the amount of time and effort they find themselves putting into their application essays. In fact, essays are the most difficult application component for many people. But anyone ambitious for a career in business stands to gain an important benefit from the very process of writing (and revising and re-writing) their essays.
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B-school applicants often complain about the amount of time and effort they find themselves putting into their application essays. In fact, essays are the most difficult application component for many people. But anyone ambitious for a career in business stands to gain an important benefit from the very process of writing (and revising and re-writing) their essays.
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Free GMAT Prep
Free practice questions (with answers of course!) plus helpful tips for each section.
A great tool for augmenting your GMAT preparations.
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Free practice questions (with answers of course!) plus helpful tips for each section.
A great tool for augmenting your GMAT preparations.
Read More
Which MBA Programs Offer the Greatest ROI?
How much of a difference does the name of the business school on your resume really make?
Watch the video and read the results of the ground-breaking research into how MBA brand name value was quantified!
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How much of a difference does the name of the business school on your resume really make?
Watch the video and read the results of the ground-breaking research into how MBA brand name value was quantified!
Read More
Business School Application Essays
Optional essays are just that, so don't feel obligated to write something just because the space is there on your application.
| Business School | Number of Mandatory Essays |
Number of Optional Essays |
Length Restriction |
| Carnegie Mellon | 4 | 1 | 2 pages |
| Chicago | 3 | 0 | 300 - 750 words |
| Columbia | 4 | 1 | 250 - 750 words |
| Cornell (Johnson) | 3 | 0 | 400 words |
| Dartmouth (Tuck) | 4 | 1 | 500 words |
| Duke (Fuqua) | 3 | 1 | 2 pages |
| Emory (Goizueta) | 4 | 1 | 150 - 500 words |
| Georgetown (McDonough) | 4 | 3 | 1/2 - 1 1/2 pages |
| Harvard | 4 | 0 | 400 - 600 words |
| Indiana (Kelley) | 3 | 1 | 2 pages |
| Michigan | 4 | 1 | 300 - 500 words |
| MIT (Sloan) | 3 | 1 | 500 words |
| Northwestern (Kellogg) | 4 | 0 | 400 - 600 words |
| NYU (Stern) | 3 | 1 | 500 - 750 words |
| Ohio State (Fisher) | 3 | 0 | 750 words |
| Purdue (Krannert) | 3 | 1 | 300 - 500 words |
| Rochester (Simon) | 1 | 0 | 500 words |
| Stanford | 3 | 0 | 1,800 words |
| Texas -- Austin (McCombs) | 2 | 2 | 200 - 900 words |
| UC -- Berkeley (Haas) | 6 | 0 | 250 - 500 words |
| UCLA (Anderson) | 2 | 1 | 250 - 750 words |
| UNC (Kenan-Flagler) | 3 | 2 | 300 - 500 words |
| U. Pennsylvania (Wharton) | 3 | 1 | 300 - 600 words |
| USC (Marshall) | 3 | 1 | 500 - 750 words |
| Vanderbilt (Owen) | 3 | 2 | 500 words - 1200 characters |
| Virginia (Darden) | 1 | 0 | 500 words |
| Washington U. (Olin) | 1 | 1 | 500 - 1000 words |
| Yale | 6 | 1 | 150 - 500 words |
Most schools expect your essays to be double spaced and in a font size of at least 10. When determining the maximum length for schools that list it by the page length, you should carefully read the application for formatting requirements and call the admissions office if you have any lingering doubts.
*Essays are for the 2011-2012 admission cycle.
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Find the Best School for You
Top MBA Programs offers inside information on how to choose the TOP business school that best fits you. This book contains in-depth portraits of over 30 TOP U.S. & international business schools.
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