GMAT Cheating Scandal...Oooh, No You Didn't!

Many of you, like myself, who have high hopes of joining the ranks of the Class of 2011 at top B-schools are probably studying profusely for your GMAT in preparation for R1/R2 deadlines. Last night, as I racked my brain with data sufficiency questions, I came down with this nasty feeling in my guts like I was going to hurl GMAT at any moment. Needless to say, I went to bed with this queasy feeling in my stomach, lulled to sleep by incessant thoughts of how much more studying I could possibly endure for the next 2 months. I haven't set my GMAT date yet, but plan to take the dreaded exam by late August after my MGMAT course. I'm sure many of you share my sentiments and as such, the thought of getting your hands on live test questions may have wandered into your mind now and again. Well, you might want to rethink those thoughts b/c in the end, it will bite you in the A$$! Case in point:

There's huge buzz circulating on sites like Clear Admit and Business Week in regards to the GMAT cheating scandal that was recently uncovered. Apparently, a site called Scoretop that's been in operation since 2003 has been leaking "live" questions to its subscribers. Now, I'm not sure how this works b/c the GMAT is a computer-adaptive exam and it spits out questions from its vast storehouse based on your previous answer, but either way, it sure sucks to be anyone who's going to be caught up in this mess. This just makes me think twice (no, maybe thrice) about joining forums and online sites that claim to do great things to help you ace the GMAT. I know there might be those who may have haphazardly subscribed to Scoretop w/o even realizing that they were attempting to cheat the system, so my heart goes out to you. But for the rest of you, you know what you did....karma sucks and I'm a firm believer that what comes around will inevitably go around and when it does, you better watch out. GMAC plans to obtain the names of all Scoretop subscribers and have their test scores canceled, their schools notified, AND (here's the kicker) the student will not be permitted to take the test again...OUCH! Talk about a dream deferred...this is a dream denied! More to come in regards to how the top B-schools will be responding to this scandal...I can't wait!

Wow...who would have thunk it? Business and ethics do intersect! There is an ethical code of conduct involved in everything we do and if you attempt to circumvent the system, well, shame on you, esp. since so many of us are working up a sweat trying to study and do things the right way to earn a well-deserved GMAT score. So, for all you crazed, die-hard, study-like-your-depended-on-it B-school-bound nuts out there, I applaude you and wish you the very best in your B-school endeavors! Good luck..we'll get there soon!