We just posted some very useful information on the TOEFL on the AIGAC blog.  Any applicant who is a non-native English speaker, should check it out.

This is an excerpt from a longer article by Jeff Sackmann, originally published at www.gmathacks.com. Jeff has created several valuable GMAT-preparation resources, including Total GMAT Math and Total GMAT Verbal.

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In preparing for the unique challenges of the Computer Adaptive Test, the biggest adjustment you’ll have to make is mental. It is likely that you will not answer every question correctly. You’ll probably see several that are too difficult for you. You’ll also see a few that look doable, but would take too much time to work through.

Realize, first, that in order to get a good score (even a great one, well above the 90th percentile), you don’t need to get every question right. If you’re forced to decide between having a chance at getting a question right and conserving time in order to ensure that you finish the test, finishing the test is far and away the better choice.

Second, learn to recognize questions that are beyond your skill level. When practicing, by all means try to learn how to do those questions. But if you hit a point where you know you’ll never get tricky probability questions in less than 3:30, be ready to cut your losses on test day. Because the stakes of the GMAT are so high, we all want to nail every question and give our best effort. But if our best effort takes five minutes, the trade-off just isn’t worth it. Keep that in mind when you work through difficult problem sets.

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Stacy Blackman readers can get an exclusive 10% discount off of all GMAT Hacks products by using the coupon code “sbc10″ at checkout. Thanks, Jeff!

Yesterday on the Admissions Blog at Harvard Business School, director Dee Leopold offered updates on recent outreach activities in Shanghai  and on the first cohort of 2+2 program admits, who started their summer program on campus last week.

For those on pins and needles, awaiting the launch of the Class of 2012 application, fret no more. Leopold confirms it will become available on July 10. The essay questions, as we’ve noted, are already online.

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For a concise, thoughtful guide that will help you navigate the MBA admissions process with greater success, order our NEW book, The MBA Application Roadmap.

Dr. Michael Simpson, President of the International Space University (ISU), has announced that 12 participants from 10 different countries have completed the first stage of ISU’s new Executive MBA program at its central campus in Strasbourg, France.

The new course merges the specificities of a traditional MBA with space applications. The dozen participants, who took part in the first of four residential “modules” from June 1 to June 13, came from a variety of backgrounds and employers. They include large aerospace companies, government space agencies, small and medium size space-related organizations, as well as consultancy firms.

The first module was designed to provide financial and economic baseline concepts as well as an overview of the space sector, technically as well as from an organizational perspective.

Three other two-week residential modules, at various locations in Europe and the U.S., combined with distance-learning during this 18-month program, will provide the participants with more in-depth knowledge in such space-related areas as financing, economics, business law, policy and project management. Afterwards, the participants will apply this knowledge in a thesis which they will defend in the last module to occur at ISU’s Central Campus.

The remaining modules of this inaugural class will take place in partnership with the International Business School on the Isle of Man, The Space Policy Institute of George Washington University in Washington, DC, and the Space Foundation in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The first participants are expected to graduate in December of 2010.

(photo credit: Flickr user Xamad, CC 2.0)

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We are now on Facebook – please join the Stacy Blackman Consulting group, or become a friend of Stacy Blackman. I am posting news about MBA related events, job listings, and of course MBA news.

I am on Twitter too…click to follow me on Twitter! www.twitter.com/stacyblackman

For a concise, thoughtful guide that will help you navigate the MBA admissions process with greater success, order our NEW book, The MBA Application Roadmap.