Starting this week, we’re launching a series featuring recent news about MBA preparation, business school, the GMAT, and developing your business brain. Be sure to check out Knewton’s weekly updates to stay in the know about all things business.
Getting online GMAT prep and an online MBA was unheard of half a decade ago, but thanks to the Internet, it’s possible today. This infographic from OnlineMBA shows the growth of the “Intergalatic Network” to all of its current glory.
Cailey Hall is the SAT essay guru for Knewton’s SAT prep course.
As Knewton’s resident SAT essay grader, I get to read a lot of SAT essays. While every essay is different – and I always enjoy seeing how students choose to tackle the prompts – I do notice some of the same issues coming up again and again. Rather than tear my hair out every time I encounter one of these problems, I wanted to let you guys know what to do – and what not to do – on the SAT esssay.
Here’s a foolproof list of advice to get you a 6 every time: (more…)
You know you’re qualified for b-school, but how do you convince an admissions board?
Simple: Address 5 fundamental questions every MBA program wants answered, even if they don’t ask!
On Monday, August 30, join Knewton and MBA Prep School for an inside look at the essential questions you’ll need to address as a b-school candidate.
This live workshop will be run by Tyler Cormney, a veteran MBA admissions consultant and co-founder of MBA Prep School, where he helps MBA applicants get into all the top b-schools. He’ll tell you exactly what admissions officers want to hear—and how to craft an application that addresses the key questions you must answer when you apply.
Update: To view an archived recording of this workshop, just click here.
One of the most difficult and most important aspects of applying to business school has nothing to do with getting accepted – choosing an MBA program that’s right for you. Even if you’ve done well in an undergraduate institution, scored highly on the GMAT, written a killer essay, and accumulated extensive work experience in the industry, you still have to choose the type of MBA that best suits your needs.
There are many options out there: one and two-year full-time MBAs, part-time MBAs, executive MBAs, etc. The types are as varied as the people that apply to each, and each program is designed to serve a particular type of applicant. Here are some of the biggest advantages and disadvantages of each:
Jesse is a Content Developer for Knewton’s SAT prep course.
Wouldn’t it be crazy if you had to read paragraphs that looked like this? If you had to read paragraphs that looked like this, wouldn’t it be crazy? The reading of paragraphs that looked like this would be crazy, wouldn’t it? The craziness of paragraph reading like this reading wouldn’t it? Wouldn’t the crazy reading of paragraphs like this?
Unfortunately, that is exactly how many people approach the Improving Sentences section of the SAT: by reading each answer choice, one after the other, trying to see which one sounds right. This kind of approach might be alright for SAT Sentence Completion questions, in which the answer choices only consist of one or two words, but when each answer choice is a full sentence, the effect is mind-numbing. Your ability to hear the correct answer will be dulled by the constant near-repetition.
So what’s a test-taker to do? Here’s the solution:
Many of our Knewton students are heading back to school at the end of August. Over the next three months, Knewton will be, too!
Knewton’s campus outreach gurus (that’s Kristy and me, Natalie) are hitting the road and visiting over 40 colleges from August to November.
Why the cross-country campus trip? Easy answer: frat parties and to dominate in beer pong. But seriously, we’re venturing out to connect with pre-law students across the country and to spread the word about how awesome Knewton is.
Since we didn’t attend any of the schools we’re visiting, we need your help! If you have any recommendations of where to go and what to see, we’d love to hear them. Favorite pizza place? Tell us about it! Got an urban legend on your campus? We want to find out if it’s the real deal! If we take one of your suggestions, we’ll even throw in one of the awesome t-shirts we are proudly wearing below.
Check out our tour page to see where we’ll be, and leave your suggestions in the comments.
Thanks, and we’ll see you on campus!
- Natalie & Kristy
Every fall, high school seniors go through the same old back-to-school routine. They buy new clothes, grumble over a new class schedule, sharpen their pencils (or, upgrade their hard drives), and prepare to torture a fresh crop of teachers.
But during that last year of high school, students also have one more thing to worry about: college applications. And between college essays, schoolwork, extracurriculars, and the SAT, let’s face it: highschoolers have about a gazillion things on their plates.
Knewton’s goal is to help alleviate some of that stress (especially the SAT-related kind). To this end, we’re very excited to have our SAT prep featured with another company that actually helps make students’ lives easier during this busy time: U.S. News & World Report.
Each year, U.S. News publishes a College Rankings guide to help students find the perfect school for them. Countless high school seniors (not to mention juniors, sophomores… even freshmen) use these detailed, customizable rankings to help decide which colleges to apply to.
This year, as a feature on USNews.com, Knewton will offer three different prep packages—including a free SAT Review with Math, Writing, and Critical Reading diagnostic quizzes—designed to help students gauge just how prepared they are, and just how much more they need to do. We’ll also offer an SAT Starter Kit for even more detailed study, as well our comprehensive full-length, interactive SAT course.
To find out where you should focus your SAT prep (and to peruse those college rankings!), check out the Free SAT Review on U.S. News. It’s the perfect starting place to kick off your SAT prep and find your ideal college. Together with U.S. News, we’re excited to work to get those college app stress levels down.
We all know not to divide by zero. It is a rule from middle school—if not earlier—and the reasons for it are pretty straightforward.
If you look at the graph of y = 1/x, the y value approaches +∞ as x approaches zero from the right, and the y value approaches –∞ as x approaches zero from the left. But the graph never reaches x = 0, because you cannot divide by zero. Dividing 1 by smaller and smaller fractions results in larger and larger quotients, because many tiny bits can fit into one whole. But you can’t answer the question of how many zeros fit into 1; the question doesn’t make sense conceptually.
All this is interesting, and the history of zero is at least a little bit interesting, too. But for the purposes of the GMAT, we have already thought much more about zero than we have to. If we remember not to divide by zero, we have remembered everything we need to know for test day. Or have we?
Here is a problem where aspiring GMAT 800′s tend to forget that dividing by zero can cause trouble on the Quant section:
This “GMAT How To” was written by Jonathan Bethune, one of our excellent GMAT Content Developers. Stay tuned for our next how-to video next week!
Everyone knows that preparing for the GMAT takes practice — a lot of practice. But GMAT problems and practice tests aren’t the only things you need to get ready. Check out this how-to video for five strategies that will help you sharpen your CR and RC skills — even in everyday life. More on those strategies after the jump:
Christina Yu is a Content Developer at Knewton, where she helps students with their SAT prep.
As a former lecturer in English lit, I love the concept of a “reading list.” In honor of all the reading lists that have shaped my life, here is my stab at the tradition, combining classics with “modern classics” to help jump-start your SAT prep–and any future literary pursuits!
1. At a little over a hundred pages, Washington Square (more…)
