Sneaking Past The Gate

For prospective B-school students, GMAT is the Holy Grail to higher education and a lucrative career. Acing the test requires hard work. But a recent revelation has put a question mark over the authenticity of this time-tested institution.

The scandal came to light in June 2008, when the Graduate Management Admission Council(GMAC)—which administers the GMAT exam—said it had taken action against a test preparation website, www.scoretop.com. It was on this site that 12 test-takers posted "live" questions, which are still used in the actualGMAT exam. Several other students confirmed they saw these questions on their gmat exam.

The gmat uses what is known as a computer adaptive format, generally considered one of the most secure. Each candidate receives different questions based on his/her response to the previous question, making it near-impossible to benefit from such a leak. Larry Rudner, vice-president,R&D, GMAC, explains: "Even if a site illegally obtains some ‘real’ questions, it is extremely unlikely that a test-taker will see the same questions on the live exam." Nevertheless, the 12 candidates had their scores cancelled and have been barred from retaking the test for at least three years. Similarly, 72 others had their scores cancelled for writing messages on the site confirming that they saw the questions on theirGMAT exam.

After tracking this case for several years, GMAC filed a lawsuit to shut down www.scoretop.com, which charged $30 for 30 days access to the "live" test questions. In June 2008,GMAC won a $2.35-million default judgement and took control of the scoretop.com domain and hard drive. This allowedGMAC to identify the test- takers who posted the live questions, many of who had either been admitted or even graduated.

Business schools around the world went into a tizzy, scanning lists of students and applicants tainted by the controversy. At the University of Chicago, the admissions of two students have been cancelled. Ditto for Stanford, where 20 test scores have been cancelled, including 10 applicants who were denied admission and one student who has already graduated.

GMAC contended that "the reliability of the test-taker’s score is less in question than the ethical behaviour of those trying to ‘game’ the system." On the ‘Getting In’ blog, one post raised a pertinent point: "Who knows how many students and now-graduates of B-schools have gotten away with this." The answer to that question will probably never be known.