Those of you who have not yet taken the GMAT and are considering some sort of assistance should check out the May 22 article on BusinessWeek.com. They published an overview of some of the major GMAT prep players, reviewing Kaplan, Princeton Review, Manhattan GMAT and Veritas, The article does a good job of outlining pros and cons of each company.

While this may help you navigate the test prep landscape, keep in mind that there are lots of other, smaller players out there. Here are a couple that our clients have had success with:
Grockit
GMAT Guru

If you plan to apply this Fall/Winter, get the GMAT out of the way now, so you can focus on the rest of the application later. Call a test prep company today!

BusinessWeek.com is looking for writers for a new series of MBA journals. Specifically they are seeking:
*MBA students entering programs this year (2007)
*significant others of MBA students
*MBA applicants for the 2008 academic year

According to BusinessWeek.com, “these journals are intended to give prospective MBA students a detailed look at the application process and insight about the reality behind the marketing brochures’ version of life at business school.” Grant Allen, a former Stacy Blackman client, is a current writer, and has enjoyed chronicling his experience.

Writers would submit one journal entry per month. To apply, you will need to send writing samples and a resume. For the specific application details, please visit the BusinessWeek.com site.

For applicants and students aspiring to any career that involves journalism, this is an excellent opportunity. Of course if you are not chosen for BusinessWeek.com, you can always become a blogger like a young girl’s journey to MBA, blogging my way to an MBA, and MBA for HairTwirler.

For many potential MBA students, taking two years off to attend a full-time program is not ideal. In which case, consider one of the accelerated MBA programs offered by Columbia, Kellogg, Cornell, or Emory.

The Columbia Accelerated MBA takes four consecutive terms to complete. For the coming year, students would begin in Jan 2008 and complete the program in May 2009. The program is a good choice for students who do not need to complete a summer internship. Thsi would include entrepreneurs, individuals returning to a family business, students sponsored by employers, and students who want to remain in their chosen field or who already have a strong network in their chosen field.

Columbia Business School uses rolling admissions for all of their programs. They began accepting applications for the Jan 2008 accelerated MBA on April 25 and will continue to accept applications until October 10. Applicants receive notification within 10 weeks of submitting their application. Columbia encourages interested students to apply sooner rather than later.

Next Monday we’ll look at the Kellogg accelerated MBA program which has some eligibility requirements.

In an effort to help you distinguish between the offerings of top schools, over the past few weeks we have highlighted different joint or concurrent degree opportunities. We covered the joint MBA-JD at Kellogg as well as the joint MBA/MPP with the Kennedy School at HBS and Wharton.

Stanford recently announced two new joint degrees in Environmental Resources and Public Policy.. The environmental master’s is an interdisciplinary program with faculty from the schools of Business, Law, Engineering, Humanities, and Science. The joint MBA-MPP will take students three years to complete. Both degrees require that the students be admitted to the GSB first before applying for a joint degree. Stanford already offers joint degrees in law and education.