Well, when an article like this comes out, a lot of people will make ILLOGICAL conclusions based on the information given. The GMAT exam actually tests you on these very types of logic. If you fall for these logic questions, you will be be penalized on the GMAT exam!

Many people see the headlines with the word “Terrorist” and “Pakistani American” and automatically stereotype and become paranoid about any interaction with a Pakistani American. You cannot illogically conclude that any MBA graduate has the potential to be a terrorist. Nor can you conclude that any Pakistani American is likely to be a terrorist.

On the GMAT Critical Reasoning section, you will be given “background information.” Let the headlines of these terrorist related news articles on Faisal Shazad serve as your background information.

Then the GMAT guys might mention some hypothetical situation—either as part of the question or as a potential answer choice:

Now, of course common sense tells you that you should use extra precaution based on facts from the past. In this case, the fact is the suspected terrorist is a Pakistani American. So using extra precaution going forward makes sense.

However, be careful of keywords like “MUST” in critical reasoning questions. Reread the sentence above:

“”If a dark skinned, Pakistani American male adult were to walk through a heavily populated city like Washington, D.C., then the counter terrorism unit must order Jack Bauer to take him down.”

Notice answer choices with the word MUST tend to be red flags!

If you ever see anything that is potentially offensive to any racial/ethnic/social group on the GMAT exam, you know that answer choice is no good. In a way, spotting these kinds of inappropriate logic fallacies will help you eliminate answer choices quickly on the GMAT critical reasoning.

What should the filename of my resume be?

Good question. This is often overlooked, but it does make a difference!
Most candidates will give the following filenames to their resume:

• “John Doe – 091009.doc”
• “Resume – bschool.doc”
• “resume for harvard Fall 2010.doc”

This is NOT what you should do. Sure, having the “091009″ system is good for your own personal tracking system to keep track of which dated version you saved on–091009 –September 10, 2009. However, business schools do NOT want to see this.

Let’s look at what is good from the above. The John Doe part is good. Why? Putting your name in the filename immediately brands you as a unique candidate. One thing you should know about the entire MBA application process is that branding is everything. If you do not brand yourself, you will be just like the thousands of other generic guys who give their resume the name: “resume091009.doc”

Brand yourself! Put your name there and attach the name of the company you worked at for 4 years. You can even put the name of the school you are applying to–it gives a slight impression that this particular resume was specially customized for the school–rather than just being your generic resume that you hand out everywhere.

• Notice the name “John Doe” is in the beginning. You can also put the word resume in the beginning like this: “Resume – John Doe – Goldman IB – Harvard R1 2010.doc”
• Notice “Goldman IB” utilizes the recognized brand name in the title.
• Notice “Harvard R1 2010″ indicates this resume was customized for Harvard. And R1 signifies that the resume was submitted as part of Round 1 in the application process (as opposed to Round 2 or Round 3).
• Without even opening your document, the admissions director will already know who you are and what your general trajectory is. They know your name. They know the name of the firm that you probably spent a good portion of your career at and they also know which application round you belong to.