GMAT Cheating Scandal....GMAC to Answer Questions

Posted by: Louis Lavelle on July 17, 2008

As everybody knows by now, the publisher of the GMAT, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), has shut down the Scoretop.com test prep Web site and is trying to determine if users improperly posted or accessed “live” test questions there. GMAC has said it will cancel the scores of anyone who used the site to cheat, or who violated the terms and conditions of the test. If that happens, applicants could be rejected, current students expelled, and graduates stripped of their MBAs. To say people are freaking out about this is an understatement.

BusinessWeek has asked GMAC to take part in a live chat on our web site to answer questions from the thousands of Scoretop users who are worried about their futures, and GMAC has agreed.

On Wednesday, July 23, at 1 p.m., Peg Jobst, a GMAC senior vice president, will take questions from all concerned. Details about how to access the chat will be posted shortly on the the b-schools channel at http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/. It's best to show up about 10 minutes early. If you can't attend, we'll be posting a transcript of the chat a day or two after the event.

Francesca DiMeglio, BW's b-schools community manager and reporter, will be your host for the chat--many of you already know her from her work moderating the BW MBA forums.

Jobst is the GMAC officer responsible for the GMAT. She oversees research and development, product and services, and GMAT operations. Before joining GMAC, she was a CPA at Ernst & Young, American Institute of Public Accountants, and Arthur Young & Co. She has a BBA from the University of Texas, Austin, and is a CPA in the state of Texas.

I urge all of you who are concerned about how the GMAC investigation will unfold, and what it means for your future, to take part in this important chat. It's a chance to get your questions answered, and to convey some of the concerns that you have expressed on this blog, in the MBA forums, and in the story comments over the last few weeks.