Join us for an MBA workshop: 5 Questions You Need to Answer in Your B-school Application

August 21st, 2010

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.

How to decide between different types of MBA programs

August 20th, 2010

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:

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How to ace the SAT Improving Sentences section without turning your brain to mush

August 19th, 2010

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:

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Natalie & Kristy's Campus Tour!

August 18th, 2010

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

U.S. News Best College Rankings & Knewton SAT Prep Team Up

August 17th, 2010

SAT Prep on U.S. News

U.S. News logoEvery 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.

To factor or to FOIL: dividing by zero on the GMAT

August 16th, 2010

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:

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GMAT How To's: How to practice when you're not doing practice problems

August 13th, 2010

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:

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What to Read for the SAT and Beyond

August 12th, 2010

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 Read the rest of this entry »

When Taking the GMAT, Know When to Move On

August 11th, 2010

No one likes to admit defeat.  Whether you’re taking a test, playing a competitive sport, making a bet, or engaging in any other activity that requires a demonstration of skill, you want to do your best.

We live in a culture that fosters competitiveness, and there are few environments that encourage competition to the degree that the business world does.  So if you’re taking the GMAT, you most likely have a bit of that Type-A spark.  And as such, you don’t want to accept any kind of failure.

Refusing to quit can be useful when you’re the founder of a company or an Ultimate Fighting Champion, but it can seriously hurt your GMAT score. Here’s how.

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How to identify assumptions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning section

August 10th, 2010

This post was written by Kristen Kennedy.

On the LSAT Logical Reasoning section, an assumption is something in an argument that is not stated outright, but must be true for the argument to be valid. In other words, it is an idea that the author takes for granted when forming his/her argument.

So if assumptions aren’t stated outright in arguments on the LSAT, how are you supposed to identify them in Assumption questions? Here are the steps you should take first.

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