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Akil Bello, a test prep industry veteran and co-founder of Bell Curves LLP, presented a session on how test-taking strategies vary among underrepresented minority groups at the Graduate Management Admission Council’s Annual Industry Conference in San Diego. Bello noted that nearly 70 percent of African American prospective students in GMAC's mba.com Registrants survey are women, and approximately 40 percent are 31 or older. "How many of you want to take a math test?" he asked.
Bello, whose clientele in Manhattan, NY, is almost all African American, explained that compared with white and Asian American GMAT test takers, African American and Hispanic test takers are generally older and more likely to have families, and they are more likely to be female. These factors, coupled with data showing that men have higher average scores than women in almost every sub group, do a lot to explain why underrepresented minorities have lower average scores on the GMAT exam, he said.
GMAC's mba.com Registrants Survey, which asks potential students where they learn about business school, shows that African Americans are less likely than whites and Asian Americans to get information from friends and family, co-workers, and employers, and they are more likely to get information from school websites, publications, or admissions professionals, he said. "They find out more from objective sources, not from a mentoring perspective."
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