Update on GMAT Cheating Scandal

Read on for the information directly from GMAC. Nice initiative taken by Business Week. - Sana

The Graduate Management Admission Council's Peg Jöbst fields questions about whose test scores will be canceled

Recent MBA students and applicants have had lots of questions since the Graduate Management Admission Council won a lawsuit against Scoretop.com (BusinessWeek.com, 7/1/08), a Web site that was allegedly providing live General Management Admission Test questions to VIP subscribers. The students want to know why GMAC never warned them that this service was against the rules. They also want to know whose scores will be canceled and what their ultimate punishment will be (BusinessWeek.com, 7/13/08)>.

Peg Jöbst, senior vice-president of GMAC, recently responded to such questions from the public and from BusinessWeek reporter Francesca Di Meglio during a live chat event. Here are edited excerpts from their conversation:

FrancescaBW: Peg, I thought you could first give us a brief overview of what has happened and the role GMAC is playing in this cheating scandal.

GMACPegJ: Certainly, Francesca. The Graduate Management Admission Council was awarded a $2.35 million judgment by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in a copyright infringement case against the operator of Scoretop.com, a U.S.-based Web site that sold access to questions used on the GMAT exam. GMAC seized the site's domain name on June 20, shut down the site, and obtained a hard drive containing subscriber information.

GMAC goes after those who try to cheat on the GMAT exam, because the council has an ethical responsibility to business schools and students to protect the integrity of the application process. GMAC sued Lei Shi and others who operated Scoretop.com, which offered forums where visitors could share information about the GMAT. The site promoted VIP memberships—$30 for 30 days of access—in which users were encouraged to read and post "JJs," for "jungle juice," the Web site's jargon for live GMAT questions.

FrancescaBW: What can subscribers and users of Scoretop expect to happen next?

GMACPegJ: GMAC is limiting its investigation to those individuals who a) posted GMAT questions they saw on their GMAT exam, and b) posted a message on Scoretop confirming that they saw items from the Scoretop Web site on their GMAT exam. In these instances, GMAC will cancel GMAT scores and notify schools to which those scores were sent.

saurabh_iiita: I have registered as a VIP member, but I never used or saw live questions, etc. What are the implications for me?

GMACPegJ: Based on what you have described, you would not fall into the category of those individuals we are investigating.

sarithababu: Do you have any comments about the pre-September 2006 version of the site and its users, vs. post-September 2006?

GMACPegJ: Our investigation criteria are not tied to versions of the site.

sarithababu: I got that dreaded e-mail. I was a VIP member. I discussed a few questions with no knowledge (still) of whether I am in violation. I am starting school this fall. I have left my job and planned my move. Should I put everything on hold and wait for your verdict on my case? Or go through the ordeal hoping GMAC will clear my name? In a way. it is none of GMAC's business. but this is what is on the minds of numerous students caught up in this mess, so if you can humanely provide response to this, it will be [appreciated].

GMACPegJ: GMAC is limiting its investigation to those individuals who a) posted GMAT questions they saw on their GMAT exam, and b) posted a message on Scoretop confirming that they saw items from the Scoretop Web site on their GMAT exam.

We realize candidates take the process of admissions and preparation for the GMAT very seriously. It is hard work.

For complete transcript, visit http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/jul2008/bs20080727_833217.htm

Scoretop.com shut down?

Shutting Down a GMAT Cheat Sheet

A court order against a Web site that gave away test questions could land some B-school students in hot water by Louis Lavelle

More than 1,000 prospective MBA students who paid $30 to use a now-defunct Web site to get a sneak peak at live questions from the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) before taking the exam may have their scores canceled in coming weeks. For many, their B-school dreams may be effectively over.

On June 20, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted the test's publisher, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), a $2.3 million judgment against the operator of the site, Scoretop.com. GMAC has seized the site's domain name and shut down the site, and is analyzing a hard drive containing payment information.

GMAC said any students found to have used the Scoretop site will have their test scores canceled, the schools that received them will be notified, and the student will not be permitted to take the test again. Since most top B-schools require the GMAT, the students will have little chance of enrolling. "This is illegal," said Judy Phair, GMAC's vice-president for communications. "We have a hard drive, and we're going to be analyzing it. If you used the site and paid your $30 to cheat, your scores will be canceled. They're in big trouble."

Small Advantage to Test Takers

GMAC sued the operator of the site, Lei Shi, for using it to distribute copyrighted GMAT-related materials without GMAC's permission. Shi, who has reportedly returned from the site's base in Ohio to his native China, is under investigation by the FBI, GMAC says. Shi, who did not have legal representation for the GMAC lawsuit, could not be reached for comment.

While the consequences for students may be severe, the advantage they gained by using Scoretop is almost inconsequential. Unlike other GMAT test-prep sites, which use retired questions, Scoretop and others claim to provide access to "live" questions that test takers might encounter when they show up for the exam. Participants on the site would debate the proper answers. But the GMAT uses a computer adaptive format that generates a new test for every user based on responses to previous questions from a stockpile that contains thousands of possible questions. "Even if a site is illegally able to obtain some real questions, it is extremely unlikely that a test taker will see the same questions on the live exam," says Larry Rudner, GMAC vice-president for research and development.

Scoretop has been in operation since 2003. Visitors to the Scoretop Web site before it was shut down would have encountered posts from happy users and a list of "test experiences," users' firsthand reports about the most recent test questions. But on June 23, they found this message from GMAC: "GMAC takes cheating very seriously, especially attempts to obtain access to live test questions in advance of an exam. We also take very seriously any unauthorized distribution of our copyrighted GMAT preparation materials. If you are caught disclosing, accessing, or using 'real' GMAT questions your GMAT score will be cancelled [and] you may be subject to a civil lawsuit or criminal prosecution."

The news about the cheating scandal was the talk of the annual GMAC conference in Chicago over the weekend, where the organization's President and CEO David Wilson described the latest developments for an audience of 700.

It's unclear how individual schools will respond. More than 4,000 graduate management programs use the test as part of the admissions process, but many of those using sites like Scoretop seek admission to the most competitive programs. So the fallout is likely to be limited to top schools.

Several schools, contacted June 23, said it was far too early to determine what fate awaits students or prospective students whose scores are canceled. "It's impossible to say at this point what that means," said Ed Anderson, Duke's associate director of admissions.

Some Scoretop Users May Have MBAs

Joe Fox, director of MBA programs at Washington University's Olin Business School, said a lot depends on what information GMAC can provide about individual students, especially the frequency with which they used the site. "There's an infraction, that's for sure," Fox said. "At a minimum it flies in the face of our code of professional conduct. We could do anything we wanted—from a slap on the wrist to expulsion from the program—and we'd be well within our rights."

Since the Scoretop site has been in operation since 2003, it's possible that students with tainted GMAT scores are in the application process, currently enrolled, or already graduated. For those in the application process, the applicants may be rejected, and for those currently enrolled, expulsion is a possibility.

Several years ago, when a Chinese national was caught taking the GMAT for dozens of prospective students, one Olin student who had the test taken on his behalf was dismissed before he could complete his degree, Fox said. That's a possibility this time around, too. "I think it's fair to say we'll take this seriously," he added. "It could be the end of the line."

Source: Business Week