Answer: C

The average of the three numbers is 44, so they must add up to 132.

We know the median is 42, so the numbers, arranged in order, look like:

x, 42, y

We want the smallest number that the largest number can be, meaning, we want the smallest value of y.

To get the smallest value of y, we need x to be as large as it can be.  42 is the median, which means it’s in the middle, but it does not mean that the largest x can be is 41.  x can be 42 as well.  If that is the case, then 42 + 42 + y = 132, or y = 48.

The average of three positive integers is 44 and the median is 42.  What is the least possible value of the greatest of the three numbers?

A) 6
B) 42
C) 48
D) 89
E) 128

You have taken a course, studied hard and finally “nailed” the GMAT. However, you soon learn that your score on the Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA), the essay portion of the GMAT, is low. Is it time to panic?

In short, the answer is… no! While we always encouraged candidates to try as hard as they can on the AWA, the truth of the matter is that we have never been told by an admissions officer, nor has a candidate been told in a feedback session, that the AWA score was a factor in an admit/reject decision. Generally, the AWA is not used to evaluate candidates, but to detect fraud.

If, hypothetically, you had tremendous difficulty expressing yourself via the AWA essays, but wrote like a Pulitzer Prize winning writer in your application essays, the school would get suspicious and begin to compare the two. Not to worry — the schools are not punitive and are not acting as fraud squads. It is expected that your AWA essays will be unpolished, so no one will be seeking out your file if you did your best in both areas. However, in cases of enormous discrepancies between the two, the AWA serves a purpose.

So, if you did well on the GMAT and have a low AWA, it is a shame, but it is not going to be THE difference. Rest easy….as long as you wrote both!

Example 1: Historical

“When I graduated from NYU with a Finance Degree, I eschewed Wall Street and pursued my own distinct path; I opened a flower shop in midtown New York, never imagining the challenges I would face as I strived to bring in new customers and locate products around the world. With time, I learned to advertise selectively (on billboards in local office buildings) and developed relationships with suppliers, particularly one in Peru, with whom I obtained an exclusive on Heliconia flowers. After one year, we started to specialize in foreign flowers and, with a niche identified, we developed a strong client base. My firm stabilized and I was no longer bleeding cash to support my 11 employees; we were cash flow neutral and contemplating a new location.” This introduction, which is historical in nature, is very direct and informative, but involves very little drama or emotion. To be more effective, the writer might instead consider positioning him/herself as “the hero” and drawing the reader in with some anecdotal tension.

Example 2: Anecdotal

“My hand quivered as I signed a lease for 1,000 square feet of retail space in midtown New York. Two months later, I flung open the doors to my flower shop and was stunned when I did not make a sale until my third day. Admittedly, I began to question the wisdom of entrepreneurship and wonder if I should have joined my peers from NYU’s finance program as an Analyst on Wall Street. However, each day, a trickle of customers came in, and more often than not, they commented on the colorful and rare flowers in my window, like the Peruvian Heliconia, exclusive to my shop. Within weeks, I had core customers picking up scheduled orders and referring friends; I bolstered this ‘word of mouth’ with select advertising on electronic billboards in the four 50-story office towers surrounding the shop. Soon, I noticed a surge of customers and was no longer bleeding cash. After one year, we were cash flow neutral, and I was even contemplating another location.” In this version, the same information is conveyed, but the tension inherent in the “quivering hand” and the empty store act as a “hook” that draws the reader in. By taking this more personal, emotional and indeed anecdotal approach, the writer allows the reader to identify with his/her struggle and thus maintains the reader’s interest.

Again, this is not a case of right or wrong. Each candidate should decide what works best in his/her own essays.

The ranking popularity began in 1988 when BusinessWeek first published its ranking in the popular press…and other major publications began to follow suit.  Business school deans are mixed on the value of the rankings, understanding that they have significant public relations value, and yet also realizing that there are ways to emphasize different subjective criteria in order to climb in the rankings, which may have little to do with the quality of education.  Various proposals suggesting criteria like alumni happiness levels at various points after graduation, or employers’ happiness with hires from the schools are floated, albeit with little chance of being implemented.

The bottom line is, whatever your opinion is of rankings, the most important way to assess whether a program is right for you is not to look at where it lands on various lists, but to do your research thoroughly and determine which program has the best fit…for you.

We encourage MBA candidates to carefully consider their community experiences in the same way that they would examine and evaluate their professional or entrepreneurial opportunities. Although people can sometimes make mistakes in their career paths, most gravitate toward areas where they can excel, justifiably to further their own interests.  So, for example, if you do not enjoy one-to-one interactions, you likely would not consider a position in sales, because you could never thrive in such a position. In contrast, if working in sales were to bring out the best in you, you just might earn promotions, think of new sales techniques, train others, etc. Stories develop as a by-product of performance.

So, in community service terms, if you have always enjoyed a particularly close relationship with your grandmother and want to share this kind of positive experience with others, you might decide to volunteer to spend time with seniors at a retirement home, where you would naturally be predisposed toward success. If you were quite passionate about your work there, you just might get others involved, expand the volunteer program at the home, take greater leadership in the program and more. However, if you are not that passionate about the elderly, but there is a retirement home on your block, no matter how convenient it would therefore be to volunteer, it would likely be a mistake for you to do so, because you would lack the spirit of commitment/adventure necessary to ensure that your story materializes.

So, whether you are already committed to an activity or just considering becoming involved in one, you should carefully determine whether or not you have the spirit necessary to truly commit yourself to your chosen cause and make an impact. If all you can commit to is merely putting in the hours, you will only be wasting your time.

“In ascending the corporate ladder, a manager with an MBA will be able to move faster than a manager who lacks an MBA.” (23 words)

versus

“In ascending the corporate ladder, managers with MBAs will be able to move faster than managers who lack MBAs.” (19 words)

As you can see, the same idea is presented in both sentences, but one sentence has four words fewer than the other. Given that essays include dozens or even hundreds of sentences, pluralizing wherever possible is helpful in meeting word count requirements.