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Shutting Down a GMAT Cheat Sheet Shutting Down a GMAT Cheat Sheet A court order against a Web site that gave away test questions could land some B-school students in hot water by Louis Lavelle // '); } // ]]> // http://m1.2mdn.net/viewad/817-grey.gif http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/mgh.bw.general/general;page=t0;t0=middle1;sz=120x40;ord=1234567890 More than 1,000 prospective MBA students who paid $30 to use a now-defunct Web site to get a sneak peak at live questions from the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) before taking the exam may have their scores canceled in coming weeks. For many, their B-school dreams may be effectively over. On June 20, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted the test's publisher, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), a $2.3 million judgment against the operator of the site, Scoretop.com. GMAC has seized the site's domain name and shut down the site, and is analyzing a hard drive containing payment information. GMAC said any students found to have used the Scoretop site will have their test scores canceled, the schools that received them will be notified, and the student will not be permitted to take the test again. Since most top B-schools require the GMAT, the students will have little chance of enrolling. "This is illegal," said Judy Phair, GMAC's vice-president for communications. "We have a hard drive, and we're going to be analyzing it. If you used the site and paid your $30 to cheat, your scores will be canceled. They're in big trouble." Small Advantage to Test Takers GMAC sued the operator of the site, Lei Shi, for using it to distribute copyrighted GMAT-related materials without GMAC's permission. Shi, who has reportedly returned from the site's base in Ohio to his native China, is under investigation by the FBI, GMAC says. Shi, who did not have legal representation for the GMAC lawsuit, could not be reached for comment. While the consequences for students may be severe, the advantage they gained by using Scoretop is almost inconsequential. Unlike other GMAT test-prep sites, which use retired questions, Scoretop and others claim to provide access to "live" questions that test takers might encounter when they show up for the exam. Participants on the site would debate the proper answers. But the GMAT uses a computer adaptive format that generates a new test for every user based on responses to previous questions from a stockpile that contains thousands of possible questions. "Even if a site is illegally able to obtain some real questions, it is extremely unlikely that a test taker will see the same questions on the live exam," says Larry Rudner, GMAC vice-president for research and development. Scoretop has been in operation since 2003. Visitors to the Scoretop Web site before it was shut down would have encountered posts from happy users and a list of "test experiences," users' firsthand reports about the most recent test questions. But on June 23, they found this message from GMAC: "GMAC takes cheating very seriously, especially attempts to obtain access to live test questions in advance of an exam. We also take very seriously any unauthorized distribution of our copyrighted GMAT preparation materials. If you are caught disclosing, accessing, or using 'real' GMAT questions your GMAT score will be cancelled [and] you may be subject to a civil lawsuit or criminal prosecution." The news about the cheating scandal was the talk of the annual GMAC conference in Chicago over the weekend, where the organization's President and CEO David Wilson described the latest developments for an audience of 700. It's unclear how individual schools will respond. More than 4,000 graduate management programs use the test as part of the admissions process, but many of those using sites like Scoretop seek admission to the most competitive programs. So the fallout is likely to be limited to top schools. Several schools, contacted June 23, said it was far too early to determine what fate awaits students or prospective students whose scores are canceled. "It's impossible to say at this point what that means," said Ed Anderson, Duke's associate director of admissions. Some Scoretop Users May Have MBAs Joe Fox, director of MBA programs at Washington University's Olin Business School, said a lot depends on what information GMAC can provide about individual students, especially the frequency with which they used the site. "There's an infraction, that's for sure," Fox said. "At a minimum it flies in the face of our code of professional conduct. We could do anything we wanted—from a slap on the wrist to expulsion from the program—and we'd be well within our rights." Since the Scoretop site has been in operation since 2003, it's possible that students with tainted GMAT scores are in the application process, currently enrolled, or already graduated. For those in the application process, the applicants may be rejected, and for those currently enrolled, expulsion is a possibility. Several years ago, when a Chinese national was caught taking the GMAT for dozens of prospective students, one Olin student who had the test taken on his behalf was dismissed before he could complete his degree, Fox said. That's a possibility this time around, too. "I think it's fair to say we'll take this seriously," he added. "It could be the end of the line." Lavelle is an associate editor at BusinessWeek.

good score - the Kaplan online test is easier than the ones on the CD but it is still a very good score

it might be interesting for you...I had 730 as well but Q51 and V36 :).

yes, there is!!! - with the GP and/or with the OG11 I had at least 2 questions in the V section and probably 2 or more in the Q. I have posted this in my thread when finished the GMAT - have a look at it :) - a few pages ago :).

guys...when you finish with the gmat and start preparing the essays you will recognize that the gmat is just a small piece of the application. Somewhere in the forum there was a link with an interview from Stanford dean who proudly says that they have rejected every 800 candidate for that year (I am not sure which year). In my opinion the essays and your personal story, and of course, the way you tell it are the crucial part of the application... p.s. SC - have you noticed while reading that I say Stanford and after that "they"? :)

try in the admissions forum...most people here are on stage "preparation" and taking the GMAT...

i`m sure that there are people who can score 700+ without having even seen the OG :) have a look at the TwinnSplitter's thread in "Just finished my gmat" :) and...yes, I believeif you put enough effort on studying and reading the explanations in the OG, you can score 700+. But I would also add that one's GMAT score depends very much on one's background, education, etc. E.g. me - I did only a few Q questions from the OG and scored 51 - but I have studied maths at school... :)

u can always try but I am not sure they will let u use a pen and sheet of paper :) these are the rulez and they are for everyone :)

i did not like them and did only one. Scored 550 or 590 (cannot remember) and started hate tham even harder :)

s.o. in the forum had suggested and I also followed the advice - you can use the GMAT+ materials to creat your own test. Just take 16-18 SC, 3-4 RCs (with 3-4 Qs each) and 10-12 CRs, mix them and you have a ready to take verbal section. You only need and a watch to time it... :) I myself prepared a few new tests...

I have. yes, they help. ppl say that these are real questions - I believe it. Some of them repeat the retired paper tests which u can buy at mba.com or download free of charge in some forums (I am not sure whether u can find them here...)

congrats... advice: when writing a post and have finished it - use ctrl+a and ctrl+c before clicking on "Post Quick Reply" :) Brazil - they just did not deserve to win. I do not like France but football is a game of goals - the team which have scored more goals wins :)

have a closer look at TicTacToe's and CTG's threads in the "just finished my gmat" section. Someone from them has made lots of experiments with GPrep and also made a table with the results - mistakes/score. of course, you never know when you are taking the real gmat...:)

and? why not? :) during my practice with GPrep I once experienced 2 RCs in a row in the first 10 questions. I do think that this is possible also during the exam.

i do not have too much experience with GRE but agree with CTG1983 - it is good to be able to communicate in english if you want to study in the USA but GRE's wordlist is..hm...I suppose that it is difficult for native speakers as well :)