Veritas Prep Blog

Matriculate at Your Safety School? Or Try Again Next Year?

Scott — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:11:51 +0000

A very common question we receive at this time of year goes something like this: “I applied to five business schools, and only got into one. I am not super excited about that program, and I feel confident that I can get into one of my preferred schools if I apply again next year. What should I do?” This could be a whole article that asks, “If you’re not that excited about your safety school, then why did you apply in the first place?” but we’ll save that for another day. Today we’ll explore the “Matriculate now or apply later?” question.

It’s a tough spot to be in. If you applied in Round 1, by now you figured you would know your fate. You had hoped you would get into one of your dream schools, and you also knew there was a chance you wouldn’t get in anywhere. But maybe you didn’t spend much time considering the outcome of having one potential date to the prom, but not one about which you’re not terribly excited.

This question ultimately comes down to two main things. First, how confident are you that something about your application will be significantly better next year? Think you can significantly boost your GMAT score? Is a big job promotion looming? Then maybe try again next year. If not, be realistic about your chances of getting in with essentially the same profile next fall.

Yes, you will likely go into the application process with more experience and savvy eight months from now. Your essays may be better, you might be better prepared for your admissions interviews, and you might give your recommendation writers better preparation the next time around. But, if you’re essentially working with the same raw materials as you did this past admissions season, then don’t be surprised if you get similar results.

Second, how much experience do you have? Are you already kind of “old” for an applicant? If you already have five or more years of full-time work experience, then you run the risk of looking “old” in admissions officers’ eyes. This is less about your actual age and more about where you are in your career. While some schools go to great lengths to say they don’t discriminate against older applicants, and they certainly don’t want to scare off anyone, applying with much more than a typical amount of experience invariably invites questions about why you’re applying now, rather than several years ago.

If you aren’t still rising quickly in your current career, then with every passing month the stench of “career stagnation” grows stronger. If this describes you (be honest with yourself!), then we would be more likely to advise you to go with the bird in hand and matriculate now.

Just remember… Don’t ever give up on your dreams, but remember how competitive the MBA admissions game is. If that “safety school” was attractive enough to invest all of that time and money into applying six months ago, then it should still be appealing enough to attend today. If not, then ask yourself, “Why not?” and take a step back before deciding where to go from here.

Are you current grappling with such a decision? Call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

Quarter Wit, Quarter Wisdom: Probability with Conditions Part II

Karishma — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:11:50 +0000

Last week I left you with a conditional probability question. Let’s look at its solution now. This will be my last post on GMAT Combinatorics and Probability (for a while at least) until and unless you want me to take up a particular concept/question related to this topic. Next week, we will start a new topic.

Back to question at hand:

Question 2: Alex has five children. He has at least two girls (you do not know which two of her five children are girls). What is the probability that he has at least two boys too? (The probability of having a boy is 0.4 while the probability of having a girl is 0.6)

Solution:

We want to find this probability: P(‘At least 2 Boys and at least 2 Girls’ given ‘At least 2 Girls’) = P(At least 2 Boys and at least 2 Girls)/P(At least 2 Girls)

Let’s try and find P(At least 2 Boys and at least 2 Girls) and P(At least 2 Girls)

‘At least 2 Boys and at least 2 Girls’ can be obtained in two ways: ‘3 Boys and 2 Girls’ or ‘2 Boys and 3 Girls’

P(At least 2 Boys and at least 2 Girls) = P(3 Boys and 2 Girls) + P(2 Boys and 3 Girls)

P(2 Boys and 3 Girls) = 0.4*0.4*0.6*0.6*0.6 * 5!/(2!*3!) = (0.4)^2 * (0.6)^3 * 10

You multiply by 5!/(2!*3!) because out of the five children, any 2 could be boys and the other three would be girls. So you have to account for all arrangements: BBGGG, BGBGG, GGBGB etc

P(3 Boys and 2 Girls) = 0.4*0.4*0.4*0.6*0.6 * 5!/(3!*2!) = (0.4)^3 * (0.6)^2 * 10

P(At least 2 Boys and at least 2 Girls) = [(0.4)^2 * (0.6)^3 * 10] + [(0.4)^3 * (0.6)^2 * 10] = (0.4)^2 * (0.6)^2 *10 (0.6 + 0.4) = (1.6)(0.36)

Now that we have P(At least 2 Boys and at least 2 Girls), let’s focus on getting P(At least 2 Girls). Again, as we saw last week, there are 2 ways of arriving at P(At least 2 Girls).

P(At least 2 Girls) = P(2 Girls and 3 Boys) + P(3 Girls and 2 Boys) + P(4 Girls + 1 Boy) + P(5 Girls)

OR

P(At least 2 Girls) = 1 – P(5 Boys) – P(1 Girl and 4 Boys)

Let me show you the calculations involved in both the methods.

Method 1:

P(At least 2 Girls) = P(2 Girls and 3 Boys) + P(3 Girls and 2 Boys) + P(4 Girls + 1 Boy) + P(5 Girls)

P(2 Girls and 3 Boys) = (0.4)^3 * (0.6)^2 * 10 (from above)

P(3 Girls and 2 Boys) = (0.4)^2 * (0.6)^3 * 10 (from above)

P(4 Girls + 1 Boy) = (0.4)*(0.6) *(0.6)*(0.6)*(0.6)*5!/4! = (0.4) * (0.6)^4 * 5

P(5 Girls) = (0.6)*(0.6)*(0.6)*(0.6)*(0.6) = (0.6)^5

P(At least 2 Girls) = [(0.4)^3 * (0.6)^2 * 10] + [(0.4)^2 * (0.6)^3 * 10] + [(0.4) * (0.6)^4 * 5] + [(0.6)^5]

Method 2:

P(At least 2 Girls) = 1 – P(5 Boys) – P(1 Girl and 4 Boys)

P(5 Boys) = (0.4)* (0.4)* (0.4)* (0.4)* (0.4) = (0.4)^5

P(1 Girl and 4 Boys) = (0.6)* (0.4)*(0.4)*(0.4)*(0.4)*5!/4! = (0.6)*(0.4)^4 * 5

P(At least 2 Girls) = 1 – [(0.4)^5] – [(0.6)*(0.4)^4 * 5]

The values in bold are the same even if they don’t look same. (Trust me, I checked on my financial calculator!)

P(‘At least 2 Boys and at least 2 Girls’ given ‘At least 2 Girls’) = P(At least 2 Boys and at least 2 Girls)/P(At least 2 Girls)

P(‘At least 2 Boys and at least 2 Girls’ given ‘At least 2 Girls’) = (1.6)(0.36)/[1 – (0.4)^5 - (0.6)*(0.4)^4 * 5]

Even though the solution looks complicated, I hope you see that the approach is quite logical and straight forward. Let’s bid farewell to combinatorics and probability now. We will take up some other topic next week. Till then, keep practicing!

Karishma, a Computer Engineer with a keen interest in alternative Mathematical approaches, has mentored students in the continents of Asia, Europe and North America. She teaches the GMAT for Veritas Prep and regularly participates in content development projects such as this blog!

GMAT Tip of the Week: Meaning Matters (But Maybe Not The Kind of Meaning You Think)

Jeremy — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 06:43:26 +0000

If you have not yet encountered the term “intended meaning” in your GMAT study, you are free -and encouraged – to skip this post! But if you have, this point is worth learning. While many GMAT books and websites – including the Official Guide for GMAT Review in some of its solutions – provide as rationale for eliminating answer choices that they “distort the intended meaning” of the sentence, beware that the concept of “intended meaning” is dangerous if you use it to solve problems. Consider, as evidence, the following answer choices from an official GMAT problem:

(A) Using a Doppler ultrasound device, fetal heartbeats can be detected by the twelfth week of pregnancy.
(E) Using a Doppler ultrasound device, a physician can detect fetal heartbeats by the twelfth week of pregnancy. (CORRECT)

Using the concept of “intended meaning”, one might argue that, while grammatically preferable, choice E distorts the meaning by adding “a physician” to the sentence. But that argument misses the point of this exercise; choice A is incorrect because the modifier “Using a Doppler ultrasound device” needs to describe an actor who can use such a device. And the sentence as written does not supply a logical actor, whereas the corrected choice E does. E changes – or at least “adds to” – the meaning of choice A, but that is perfectly acceptable. Do not ascribe any “incumbency” to choice A – if A is illogical then the correct answer must change the meaning.

The problem with the concept of “intended meaning” is that it seems to suggest that a sentence can mean something other than what it explicitly says. In fact, the dominant strategy for Sentence Correction is to recognize that each sentence means exactly what it says, and so if that meaning is illogical the sentence must be changed. Your job on the GMAT is not to play mind reader and try to interpret what a sentence might mean; your job is to judge each sentence on what it says, and to eliminate illogical meanings.

In contrast, Illogical Meanings are incredibly problematic. Consider the difference between:

A) Needing a transfusion after this morning’s accident, John informed the nurses that his blood type was O-positive
B) Needing a transfusion after this morning’s accident, John informed the nurses that his blood type is O-positive

What’s the difference? Meaning – and the fact that A is illogical. John’s blood type has not changed – there’s no justification for saying “was” O-positive. It is, and will continue to be, O-positive.

Remember that meaning is critical in Sentence Correction – and that while there is no “intended” or incumbent meaning, illogical meanings are to be eliminated!

Like high school seniors across the country, we at Veritas Prep are already well within our countdown-to-June period as we anxiously await the unveiling of the GMAT’s new Integrated Reasoning (IR) section (less than four months to go! Seniors/GMAT enthusiasts whoooo!) If you’re similarly-minded and thinking about the IR section already, the following should help you set your mathematical mind to the right frequency. Remember this: while the numbers in many IR problems might be large and specific, the math is all relative.

On the IR section, you will face 12 “problems”, each with more than one “question”, in 30 minutes. Using Relative Math (the theme for this post), you can determine that you’re looking at around a minute or so per question… which isn’t all that much time to interpret the question, perform lengthy calculations, and (discount) double-check your answer. Even with the use of the relatively-primitive IR calculator — one that does not recognize order-of-operations, so you will need to keep track of values by hand — these calculations will take time and leave potential for error. In most situations, you will want to avoid technical calculations unless they are absolutely necessary. Instead, you will want to employ Relative Math:

Determine which values are relevant to a correct answer
Estimate those values whenever possible
Calculate values only when the estimates are too close to call
Remember that the logical setup for the values is typically the crux of the question, not the calculation itself

As an example, consider the question:

City Amount Saved Total Budget

Andersonville $8,225 $47,975

Bronxtown $16,750 $142,950

Chadwick $3,925 $20,325

Dodgeville $3,350 $16,275

Edgewater $13,100 $51,675

The table above shows the 2010 annual budget for the Sanitation Departments of five cities, and the amount of money that each was able to save over that budget for the 2011 fiscal year. Which city had the lowest percentage savings on the basis of the previous year’s budget?

Anderson

Bronxtown

Chadwick

Dodgeville

Edgewater

City	Amount Saved	Total Budget
Andersonville	$8,225	$47,975
Bronxtown	$16,750	$142,950
Chadwick	$3,925	$20,325
Dodgeville	$3,350	$16,275
Edgewater	$13,100	$51,675

Note that a calculator might be tempting in this case, but that each calculation requires you to key at least nine digits — a time-consuming process that raises your potential for typo-based error. An eye for both logical setup and Relative Math can guide you through this process efficiently and confidently. First, note the correct relationship — the lowest percentage savings, or the lowest savings-to-budget ratio. Your goal, then, is to test the ratios of left column to right, looking for the smallest ratio. Your “baseline” for Andersonville is approximately 8/48 or 1/6. And in relation to 1/6, you know that the numerator is a little over 8 and the denominator is a little less than 48, so the overall ratio is going to be slightly greater than 1/6. You can denote this quickly on your noteboard with a + sign or a > sign to help you recognize the direction of your estimates.

>8/48, so >1/6
<20/140, so <1/7 (the current “leader” in smallest ratio)
<4/20, so <1/5
>3/16, and since you’re comparing against 1/7 (or 3/21) you know that this is greater
>13/52, so >1/4

The answer must be B, and if you’ve employed the above estimates you won’t have had to perform any true calculations to get there. Bronxtown had the lowest percentage savings.

Are you getting ready to take the GMAT? Take a look at some of the Integrated Reasoning sample problems our our site. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

INSEAD Is a Good Fit for You If...

Scott — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:11:07 +0000

We talk to dozens of applicants about INSEAD every year. Our European clients almost always are interested in the program, and among U.S.-based applicants, INSEAD is almost always their first or second choice if they’re interested in earning an MBA abroad. This makes sense given the terrific international exposure that INSEAD students get at the school’s two campuses. What frequently surprises us, though, is how little applicants really know about the school, beyond that fact that it’s a highly-ranked program with a high profile around the world.

Are you thinking about applying to INSEAD? How do you know if it really is a good fit for you? And how do you know if the INSEAD admissions committee will think you’re a good fit for the program? Today we present six reasons why INSEAD may be the perfect school for you to target for your MBA experience. While not all six of these need to describe you, the more these descriptions sound like you, the more likely you are to thrive at INSEAD:

You want to work in a multinational company or you want to work overseas
This is a common profile for an INSEAD candidate and its unique program offers obvious advantages to candidates with goals in an international context. It can be somewhat more challenging for graduates to find jobs in the U.S. when coming out of INSEAD, although they can leverage the recruiting resources available at INSEAD’s partner schools like Wharton and Kellogg to gain a “home field advantage” in the job search process.

You have clear goals
With the need to hit the ground running on Day One at INSEAD, students don’t have much time to figure out what to do next. They should have career goals well defined in advance. If changing careers, then the January intake might be a more suitable option, and students need to be prepared to put in extra effort to secure the right internship to enable their transition.

You are headed to work in a family business
Only a few schools have resources devoted to the challenge faced by those taking over a family legacy (ESADE is another). INSEAD has a specialized Family Enterprise Challenge executive education program and faculty such as Christine Blondel have focused their research on multi-generational family business and the successor’s dilemma.

You want to be a consultant
The major consulting firms often recruit at INSEAD due to the quality of its graduates. The preparation you can receive at INSEAD to tackle global issues in strategy, operations, organizational structure, or other important practice areas is comparable to none.

You want to take advantage of multiple programs and opportunities in different countries
With INSEAD’s close partnership with Wharton and Kellogg and affiliations with major business schools in Asia and elsewhere, students are able to study at multiple premier graduate schools all while pursuing their INSEAD degree.

You are flexible and can deal with ambiguity
When applicants don’t even know where they’ll literally be going to school if accepted — Europe or Asia — they need to bring with them a resilience and a willingness to adapt, just to survive the admissions process. One sign of the maturity that INSEAD values in candidates is the ability to roll with the punches and be agile to change. The INSEAD program is so fast-paced and hectic that it might be a burden to someone who is ill prepared.

Today’s blog post was clipped from our Essential Guide to INSEAD, one of 15 guides to the world’s top MBA programs, available for purchase on our site. If you’re ready to start building your own application for INSEAD or other top business schools, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

New GMAC Research Reveals Just How International the GMAT Has Become

Scott — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:11:37 +0000

This week the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) released a new report revealing how much the mix of U.S. and international test takers has changed for the GMAT over the past five years. According to GMAC’s new World Geographic Trend Report, a total of 258,192 GMAT exams were taken in the testing year ending June 30, 2011. That represents a drop of 2.2% vs. the previous year (263,979 tests taken), and a drop of 2.8% vs. two years ago, when a record 265,613 GMATs were taken.

GMAT figures also serve as a good indicator of where interest lies for MBA programs. For the year ending June 30, 2011, test takers sent more than 750,000 test scores to schools, but only 77% of those were sent to U.S. schools, compared to 83% in 2007, reflecting the continuing rise in interest in Asian and European programs.

Two other clear demographic trends emerge from the data: Test takers are getting younger, and women make up a larger percentage of test takers than ever before. The percentage of exams taken by people younger than 25 rose from 37% in 2007 to 44% 2011. For years GMAC has been making an effort to reach more college students and recent grads, and maybe its work is finally paying off. Looking at the male/female breakdown, women made up 41% of test takers in the year ending this past June 30, representing a new record. MBA programs have been outspoken about wanting to increase the number of women in their classes, but it’s hard for them to do so unless more women apply to business school, so this is a good sign.

Looking at other geographic trends, an important milestone was reached in 2009, when international test takers surpassed 50% of the total. 2011 showed that this trend continues, with international students now representing 55% of all test takers. In the U.S., GMAT volume has dropped more than 10.7% since 2009, with 116,546 GMATs taken in the U.S. last year. Will this trend continue? It’s hard to imagine GMAT volume in the U.S. continuing to fall significantly, but the GMAT has grown a lot over the past two decades, so there may indeed be room for this number to fall some more. Even if the number steadies, it’s hard to imagine international applicants falling as a percentage of total test takers any time soon.

Do you plan on taking the GMAT soon? If you take it in June or later, make sure you’re ready for the new Integrated Reasoning section! And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

50 IAVA Member Veterans Receive Veritas Prep Scholarships!

Scott — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:11:14 +0000

We are excited to announce today, along with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), that Veritas Prep has awarded American Heroes Scholarships to 50 IAVA Member Veterans. These test preparation and admissions consulting scholarships will allow U.S. Military Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan to pursue a wide variety of interests including business, environmental science, history, law, medicine, museum studies, nutrition, psychology and public administration.

Of the 50 scholarships awarded, 31 IAVA Member Veterans will receive a free Veritas Prep GMAT prep course, either in-person or online, and Veritas Prep’s full suite of 15 GMAT course books and extensive resources; 19 will receive six hours of graduate school admissions consulting with a Veritas Prep admissions expert related to the graduate program of their choice. In addition to the scholarships announced today, Veritas Prep is extending discounts to all qualified IAVA Member Veterans; offering 50 percent off Veritas Prep GMAT courses and 25 percent off admissions consulting services.

We’ve been impressed by the wide range of career interests demonstrated by the scholarship winners. While we’ve written before about business schools actively recruiting U.S. Military veterans, but the applications we received demonstrated just how much one can do after serving in the armed forces. While there certainly were a lot of applicants targeting MBA programs and law schools, we also heard from young men and women who want to become teachers, scientists, doctors, and civil servants. We are so pleased to be able to help so many of them prepare comeptitive applications to the nation’s top graduate schools!

This morning, as part of the announcement we released the following quote from our own Chad Troutwine:

“Everyone at Veritas Prep feels honored to award the inaugural American Heroes Scholarships to 50 deserving IAVA Member Veterans. It is our privilege to help these exceptional men and women as they begin their journey to earn the professional degree they need to advance in the military or excel in a civilian career,” said Chad Troutwine, co-founder and CEO of Veritas Prep. “The recipients exemplify the diverse career interests of today’s U.S. Military Veterans. Their inspiring stories remind us that military service and graduate education are a potent combination that can lead to success in many fields. We look forward to furthering our partnership with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America to create life-changing opportunities for service members and veterans.”

We’re so excited to be involved with IAVA and its outstanding Member Veterans. We can’t wait to see where these terrific young men and women go from here!

Applying to graduate school soon? As always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

Quarter Wit, Quarter Wisdom: Probability with Conditions!

Karishma — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:11:11 +0000

Let’s look at the concept of conditional probability in detail today. (As if the probability questions weren’t tricky enough!) But since I like to discuss advanced concepts in this blog (in addition to alternative approaches and very important fundamentals), it would not be fair on my part to end the probability discussion without a quick review of conditional probability. Let me start by tossing a question at you.

Question 1: Alex tosses a coin four times. On two of the tosses (we don’t know which two), he gets ‘Heads’. What is the probability that he gets ‘Tails’ on other two tosses?

Solution: Wait a minute! Isn’t it something like the Binomial Probability questions we saw last week? It is but notice that it is also a conditional probability question. You are given that on at least 2 tosses, he got ‘Heads’. Under this condition, you want to find the probability that he got 2 tails i.e. he got 2 heads and 2 tails on his 4 tosses.

Conditional Probability is calculated as given below:

P(A given B) = P(A)/P(B)

Here, we are trying to find the probability that event A happens given that event B happens. To understand this formula, think of it this way:

Say there are a total of 100 cases and event B takes place in 10 cases. Also, event A takes place in 5 of the 10 cases in which event B takes place (A is a more restricted event under event B). Let’s say we know that event B has taken place. This means that one of the 10 cases has occurred. The probability that A has taken place is 5/10 = 1/2 and not 5/100. I hope this makes sense to you. Let me take an example to make this clearer.

GMAT score can take one of 61 values (200/210/220 … 780/790/800). So there are a total of 61 cases. What is the probability that I will score above 700 on GMAT? (well, it should be 100% because otherwise I should not be writing blog posts on GMAT but let’s assume that all the scores are equally likely)

There are 10 possible scores above 700 (710/720/730 … 800). Probability of a score above 700 = 10/61. That is our simple probability that we have been working on till date.

Now, consider this: You know that I scored above 600. How much exactly, you do not know! What will you say is the probability that I scored above 700? (again assuming that all the scores are equally likely)

I did score above 600. Now, what is the probability that I scored above 700? There are 20 possible scores above 600 (610/620/630 … 800). Any of them could have been my score. What is the probability that I actually scored above 700? It is 10/20. The event that I scored more than 700 is event A. It is more restrictive than event B i.e. the event that I scored more than 600. Given that event B took place i.e. I scored above 600, the probability that event A took place i.e. I scored above 700 is P(Score above 700)/P(Score above 600). This is conditional probability.

I hope you see the difference between probability and conditional probability.

Let’s go back to the original question now.

We want to find this probability: P(‘2 Heads and 2 Tails’ given ‘At least 2 Heads’) = P(2 Heads and 2 Tails)/P(At least 2 Heads)

We can easily find P(2 Heads and 2 Tails) and P(At least 2 Heads) since we are comfortable with the concepts of binomial probability! (right?)

P(2 Heads and 2 Tails) = (1/2)*(1/2)*(1/2)*(1/2) * 4!/(2!*2!) = 3/8
You multiply by 4!/(2!*2!) because out of the four tosses, any 2 could be heads and the other two would be tails. So you have to account for all arrangements: HHTT, HTHT, TTHH etc

P(Atleast 2 Heads) = P(2 Heads and 2 Tails) + P(3 Heads, 1 Tails) + P(4 Heads)

Let me remind you here that we can also find P(Atleast 2 Heads) in the reverse way like this:

P(Atleast 2 Heads) = 1 – [P(4 Tails) + P(3 Tails, 1 Heads)]

Let me show you the calculations involved in both the methods.

P(2 Heads and 2 Tails) = 3/8 (calculated above)

P(3 Heads, 1 Tails) = (1/2)*(1/2)*(1/2)*(1/2) * 4!/3! = 1/4

We multiply by 4!/3! to account for all arrangements e.g. HHHT, HHTH etc

P(4 Heads) = (1/2)*(1/2)*(1/2)*(1/2) = 1/16

P(Atleast 2 Heads) = 3/8 + 1/4 + 1/16 = 11/16

OR

P(4 Tails) = (1/2)*(1/2)*(1/2)*(1/2) = 1/16

P(3 Tails, 1 Heads) = (1/2)*(1/2)*(1/2)*(1/2) * 4!/3! = 1/4

P(Atleast 2 Heads) = 1 – (1/16 + 1/4) = 11/16

As expected, the value of P(Atleast 2 Heads) is the same using either method.

P(‘2 Heads and 2 Tails’ given ‘At least 2 Heads’) = P(2 Heads and 2 Tails)/P(At least 2 Heads) = (3/8)/(11/16) = 6/11

Notice here that you can ignore all the (1/2)s since in every case, you get (1/2)*(1/2)*(1/2)*(1/2) because Heads and Tails have equal probability. You can simply solve this question using this method:

No of arrangements with 2 Heads and 2 Tails = 4!/(2!*2!) = 6

No of arrangements with 3 Heads and 1 Tails = 4!/3! = 4

No of arrangements with 4 Heads = 4!/4! = 1

No of arrangements with at least 2 Heads = 6 + 4 + 1 = 11

P(‘2 Heads and 2 Tails’ given ‘At least 2 Heads’) = 6/11

Out of the total number of arrangements of ‘At least 2 Heads’ (which is 11), only 6 are such that you get 2 Heads and 2 Tails.

Mind you, you cannot do that if the probabilities differ. Look at the question given below:

Question 2: Alex has five children. He has at least two girls (you do not know which two of his five children are girls). What is the probability that he has at least two boys too? (The probability of having a boy is 0.4 while the probability of having a girl is 0.6)

Think about what you are going to do here. We will look at the solution of this question next week.

Karishma, a Computer Engineer with a keen interest in alternative Mathematical approaches, has mentored students in the continents of Asia, Europe and North America. She teaches the GMAT for Veritas Prep and regularly participates in content development projects such as this blog!

GMAT Tip of the Week: Integrated Reasoning, It's All Relative

Jeremy — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:11:57 +0000

Determine which values are relevant to a correct answer
Estimate those values whenever possible
Calculate values only when the estimates are too close to call
Remember that the logical setup for the values is typically the crux of the question, not the calculation itself

As an example, consider the question:

City Amount Saved Total Budget

Andersonville $8,225 $47,975

Bronxtown $16,750 $142,950

Chadwick $3,925 $20,325

Dodgeville $3,350 $16,275

Edgewater $13,100 $51,675

The table above shows the 2010 annual budget for the Sanitation Departments of five cities, and the amount of money that each was able to save over that budget for the 2011 fiscal year. Which city had the lowest percentage savings on the basis of the previous year’s budget?

Anderson

Bronxtown

Chadwick

Dodgeville

Edgewater

City	Amount Saved	Total Budget
Andersonville	$8,225	$47,975
Bronxtown	$16,750	$142,950
Chadwick	$3,925	$20,325
Dodgeville	$3,350	$16,275
Edgewater	$13,100	$51,675

>8/48, so >1/6
<20/140, so <1/7 (the current “leader” in smallest ratio)
<4/20, so <1/5
>3/16, and since you’re comparing against 1/7 (or 3/21) you know that this is greater
>13/52, so >1/4

The answer must be B, and if you’ve employed the above estimates you won’t have had to perform any true calculations to get there. Bronxtown had the lowest percentage savings.

Wharton Opens New West Coast Facility

Scott — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:11:43 +0000

Although Wharton has had a presence in San Francisco for more than ten years now, the school’s Bay Area outpost for executive education has had a relatively low profile. Wharton seeks to change that with a recent rebranding and a move to a new space that gives the program significantly more room than it had before. Wharton | San Francisco has relocated to the historic Hills Plaza building on the Embarcadero, taking over a space that feels less like that of an East Coast business school and more like a Bay Area tech startup’s offices.

The first class enrolled at Wharton West (as it was then known) in August, 2001. The dot-com meltdown, which was well under way at that point, surely came at a bad time for the fledgling program, but Wharton persevered. Now, Wharton | San Francisco boasts nearly 1,000 alumni of its executive education programs, and its new space will allow the program to grow: It can now accommodate 150 students at one time.

According to an article in Penn’s student newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian:

Equipped with high-tech classrooms, faculty spaces, common areas and group conference rooms, the new campus offers students and staff a variety of amenities that Wharton administrators say the old campus lacked.

…

For Wharton Dean Thomas Robertson, the move is a step forward on the road to establishing a strong presence outside of Philadelphia.

“The relocation of our campus to Hills Plaza is aligned with our vision to establish Wharton as a vibrant presence on both coasts and, moving forward, to position it as a portal to countries in Asia and the Pacific Rim,” Robertson said in a statement in June.

It will be interesting to see if other schools commit to expanding their presence in the United States. While no one has been quick to follow Wharton’s lead, the fact that the school seems to be doubling down on its West Coast program may spur other top universities to look for ways to expand beyond their home markets. Stanford withdrew a bid to build a New York City campus in December (with Cornell eventually and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology eventually winning out). Will another top school try to make the leap from one coast to the other?

Are you thinking about applying to Wharton? Take a look at our Essential Guide to Wharton, one of 15 guides to the world’s top business schools, available for purchase on our site. If you’re ready to start building your own application for Wharton or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Admissions 101: Time to Obsess Over Round 3 Again

Scott — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:11:48 +0000

It must be that time of year again… Ahh, yes, early February. The phone is ringing right now, and there’s a decent chance it’s an applicant calling to ask if he should apply to business school in Round 3, or if he should wait until next year. (Okay, I was wrong… That client called for help in resetting his password for our website. But it will ring again shortly!)

At this time of year, we have the “Round 3 or wait?” discussion with applicants multiple times per day. As usual, the answer we give them is, “It depends,” although we do have some very strong opinions on the matter. Applying in Round 3 is not automatically a bad idea (if it were, then why would schools have a Round 3 deadline at all?), but there is definitely a “buyer beware” aspect that you should consider. In this case, what you’re buying is a few minutes of an admissions officer’s time, and the price you pay is the application fee plus all of the blood, sweat, and tears that will go into your application.

No two applicants are in the same situation, so the answer we give is never quite the same. One applicant might call us because he recently lost his job. He hadn’t been planning on applying to business school this year, but his sudden unemployment now makes MBA programs look that much more appealing. Another might call us because she just took the GMAT again and still can’t get above a 650. She had been planning on nailing the GMAT this month and spending a couple of weeks on her essays and letters of recommendation, but now she wonders if she’d be better served by taking more time for her GMAT prep and applying in the fall, with a (hopefully) higher GMAT score. Still another applicant just rolled out of bed last week and decided that the one thing he’s really wanted all his life is Harvard MBA… He just never realized it until now!

You may be wondering if it is worth the risk to apply in Round 3 or if you should wait to submit your applications in Round 1 during the next application cycle. Every applicant is different and there are a variety of factors to consider for this very crucial decision.

Let’s clear up one misconception right away: Round 3 is NOT an automatic black hole where applications go to die. As we wrote earlier this year, top business schools know that great applicants can come in any round, and many schools have very specific reasons (such as U.S. schools needing to stay competitive vs. international programs) for paying close attention to the Round 3 applicant pool.

Still, since in Round 3 your chances of success can’t help but be impacted somewhat by what happened in the previous rounds — Did your first-choice school admit more students than it originally had planned? Are yields higher than historical averages? — you can’t help but wonder if you’re going to get fair shake in Round 3. Ultimately, however, how well you do in Round 3 depends far more on you and your application than on what numbers the admissions office saw in previous rounds.

Applicants most likely to get accepted in Round 3 include those who:

Apply to Part-Time or Executive MBA programs
Apply to schools outside of the Top 20 MBA programs
Have extenuating circumstances that prevented them from applying in Rounds 1 or 2
Have a unique applicant profile

If none of these apply to you, then that’s one more reason to wait. Balancing out that reason, however, may be something such as your age. If you’re already on the “old” side for a typical applicant (e.g., you have more than five years of full-time work experience now), and there’s not a high likelihood that you will take a significant step forward in your career in the next eight months, then that’s one more reason to apply now, in Round 3.
It is never cut and dry.

Round 3 partly gets a bad reputation from those applicants who throw together their applications at the last minute (rather than having to wait eight months before applying in next year’s admissions cycle) and end up getting rejected. “See,” they say, “I knew I wouldn’t get in. Round 3 is impossible.” But Round 3 wasn’t the problem… their applications were what held them back. We spend a great deal of our time here at Veritas Prep talking applicants out of such kamikaze missions, and the same goes for the “Round 3 vs. next year” decision.

In short, if you apply to a top-ranked business school with a flaw that really bothers you — e.g., a low GMAT score, or a weak undergrad transcript with nothing to compensate for it, or sloppy essays, or I-hope-he-spelled-my-name-right letters of recommendation — then you can safely assume that flaw will also bother MBA admissions officers enough to keep you out. In that case, we almost always strongly recommend that an applicant wait, takes steps to improve things, and then apply next year, when things are in order.

Waiting is always a good idea if you can apply with a notably better application next year. But, if you feel you have a strong application now, and you don’t expect to have a significantly stronger story in eight months, then applying in Round 3 is not such a terrible idea. Just keep in mind that there are factors outside of your control. Just like in real life.

Applying to business school soon? Call us at (800) 925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert about whether or not Round 3 is a good idea for you. Be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!