For Yiwei Wang Rusling of China, Howard Soh of Australia, Eyob Kinfe of Ethiopia and Carla Ganiel and Cindy O’Brien of the United States, the path to business school just became a lot smoother and more affordable. These individuals were named winners of the “Beat the GMAT 2008” competition, and were awarded business school scholarship packages valued at $15,000. The Beat the GMAT competition is designed to help business school candidates achieve their full potential on the GMAT and in the business school application process.

• Here’s the rundown on the five winners for the 2008 Beat the GMAT Scholarship competition:
  First prize was awarded to Yiwei Wang Rusling, a native of China, who came to the U.S. as a 17-year old freshman at Seattle University. The prize ($7,890 value) includes GMAT registration ($250 cash), one full Manhattan GMAT course, and a 4-school consulting package with Stacy Blackman Consulting, a business school admissions consulting firm.
• Second prize was awarded to Carla Ganiel of Maine, who has managed a variety of successful non-profit programs and completed two terms of AmeriCorps service. She provided health and safety training to migrant workers and established reading and math tutoring programs in Maine.
• Third prize was awarded to Cindy O’Brien of Detroit, a life insurance specialist who wants to obtain her MBA at the University of Michigan.
• Fourth prize was awarded to Howard Soh, a native of Australia, who is now an investment banker based in Kuala Lumpur.
• Fifth prize was awarded to Eyob Kinfe of Ethiopia, who earned his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Bahir Dar University, and is now working for Ethiopian Airlines.

To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must have completed college or be in their final year of college and plan to attend business school within two years. The sponsors of the scholarship competition include Beat the GMAT, Stacy Blackman Consulting and Manhattan GMAT.

The Beat the GMAT scolarship is a great opportunity for anyone who is applying to business school. Winners receive free GMAT classes, GMAT registration fee and a comprehensive package with Stacy Blackman Consulting. We look forward to reviewing the applications next week and encourage you to submit your application in time for the Thursday deadline!

In case you need some motivation, here are the prizes:

• First Prize ($7890 total value)
  • GMAT registration ($250 cash)
  • One 9-session ManhattanGMAT course
  • 4-School comprehensive consulting by Stacy Blackman Consulting
• Second Prize ($2130 total value)
  • GMAT registration ($250 cash)
  • One 9-session ManhattanGMAT course
  • 5000-word essay editing by Stacy Blackman Consulting
• Third Prize ($1960 total value)
  • GMAT registration ($250 cash)
  • One 9-session ManhattanGMAT course
  • 2500-word essay editing by Stacy Blackman Consulting
• Fourth Prize ($1540 total value)
  • GMAT registration subsidy ($150 cash)
  • One 9-session ManhattanGMAT course
• Fifth Prize ($1490 total value)
  • GMAT registration subsidy ($100 cash)
  • One 9-session ManhattanGMAT course

Visit the website for application details.

The Triangle Business Journal reports that MBA students from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business will match up against business schools from around the world this weekend in a business case competition to address challenges faced by telecommunications companies.

Boston University will host the event, which aims to solve market challenges of converging multimedia technologies. Each team of four students will have 24 hours to build a case, and the winning team will receive $25,000 and the opportunity to present its plan to Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson. A total of 16 universities are participating in this year’s competition.

Hans Vestberg, executive vice president and CFO of Ericsson, says the competition should offer the company key insight into the age demographic shaping telecommunications usage. The students, whose average age is 26, have been raised with technology and its capabilities. “These are the minds that have invented the language we use to describe a connected lifestyle and are the same minds that will lead us into the future,” Vestberg says.

On the Left Coast, UCLA’s Anderson School of Management will engage student leaders around the world with a Global Business Leadership Competition April 10-12, 2008. Outstanding students from top-tier global MBA programs have been invited to represent their respective schools in this three-day competition. The event will provide a forum for students to learn from each other while showcasing and stretching their own leadership skills and interacting with global business leaders and academics.

The GBLC will address the situations and dilemmas that global leaders along any career path may face and will extend beyond a traditional business case to engage student teams in interactive, task-oriented scenarios that simulate leadership challenges. Schools will be ranked for their excellence in the GBLC and prize money will be awarded accordingly, with a first prize of $25,000.