Scoretop VIP account - Is it worth it?

[vnf]

Hi mọi người,

Mình sắp thi GMAT. Thấy trên scoretop quảng cáo cái VIP Membership của nó. Có đáng bỏ ra 30$ để mua cái này không? Please advise!

Thanks,

[ncmkhoa]

Cái này thì em Lê vào cho advice là tốt nhất đấy.

[little.nemo]

Anh Khoa có trí nhớ tốt nhỉ :)

Hằng, chị có comments về vụ scoretop ở đây rồi mà:

http://www.vnmbahelpnetwork.com/showthread.php?p=4939#post4939

GMAT preparation:

www.scoretop.com

Trang này có rất nhiều thông tin về gmat và có bán VIP account. Tôi có mua thử để xài rồi, nếu bạn không ngại spend khoảng $30 cho 1 tháng sử dụng thì mua, còn thì không cần thiết, cũng chẳng có gì đặc sắc lắm, chủ yếu là mấy chú vừa thi xong về post lại mấy cái đề để bà con thi sau hy vọng trúng tủ thôi. Mà vì các chú post lại theo trí nhớ nên đề cũng lung tung lắm.

Mà hồi đó chị cũng có share cho em xài thử rồi mà...

[thuonghuyen]

Mình sắp thi GMAT. Thấy trên scoretop quảng cáo cái VIP Membership của nó. Có đáng bỏ ra 30$ để mua cái này không? Please advise!
----> Bác hỏi lại bác Hường (thuong1) xem cái account VIP mà bác Hường giữ còn active ko ah? Nếu còn thì bác có thể mượn của bác ấy.

[thuong1]

Chi Lê mua nhóm em dùng hộ đấy chứ. Hằng thích thì rủ một vài bạn cùng share chi phí cùng khai thác account cho vui. Ko biet vip account của scoretop bây giờ thế nào, nếu vẫn chỉ có mấy bài set tests và giải phần GmatPrep thì có lẽ ko cần thiết lắm. Hằng vẫn có thể lượm lặt từ bạn bè mà.

[verbena]

Anh Khoa có trí nhớ tốt nhỉ :)

Hằng, chị có comments về vụ scoretop ở đây rồi mà:

http://www.vnmbahelpnetwork.com/showthread.php?p=4939#post4939



Mà hồi đó chị cũng có share cho em xài thử rồi mà...

Em cũng có biết chút về cái này để em share cho chị Hằng nhé. Hope it helps. Em đã từng xài qua loại VIP account như chị Lê. Nhưng theo em biết khoảng tháng 9-10/2006 scoretop dính dánh gì đến luật bản quyền của mấy câu đề thi họ post trên trang web nên phần VIP membership tạm ngưng hoạt động 1 thời gian. Sau đó đầu tháng 1/2007 họ activate lại cái VIP membership này nhưng hình thức đã thay đổi. Nghe đồn là không còn post những trong đề thi như trước nữa mà là do thành viên (những người kỳ cựu trong GMAT 700 club) nghĩ ra.

"New VIP membership has openned today!

In the new service, we will provide our own math/Verbal practise questions(fully owned by Scoretop, not copyrighted of anybody else!) written by our 780+ tutors, with explanations to those questions posted on a daily basis. By practising these questions, members definitely can improve their skills.



In the mean time, vip members are free to bring in any GMAT questions in doubt into the following sessions for discusssions, our tutors will try to participate those discusssions and help you with those questions. If the questions you have are in other languages, we will also try to translate them and answer for you as well."


source: http://www.scoretop.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12066&PN=1

Cái new VIP account này em chưa xài nên ko feedback được gì cho chị Hằng. Nhưng em biết trong forum mình hình như có 1 anh đã xài thử new VIP account này. Em không tiện nói tên ở đây. Nên nếu anh ấy thích anh ấy sẽ tự vào give chị Hằng advice ;)

[vnf]

Thanks mọi người nhé! Chả là tò mò cái Scoretop VIP có gì hay ho lắm không thôi, chứ còn chỉ có test sets & GMATPrep thì mình chẳng mua :)



Mà hồi đó chị cũng có share cho em xài thử rồi mà...

Mà hồi đó em cũng chỉ để đó ngó chơi thôi à .... cá bé :D

[verbena]

Thanks mọi người nhé! Chả là tò mò cái Scoretop VIP có gì hay ho lắm không thôi, chứ còn chỉ có test sets & GMATPrep thì mình chẳng mua :)




Mà hồi đó em cũng chỉ để đó ngó chơi thôi à .... cá bé :D

Ôi, chị ơi, chị mua set tests làm gì, trong forum mình hình như mấy anh chị học GMAT ở ngoài HN cũng có 31 cái set tests đó mà

[ChickenSoup]

Ôi, chị ơi, chị mua set tests làm gì, trong forum mình hình như mấy anh chị học GMAT ở ngoài HN cũng có 31 cái set tests đó mà
Chị Thảo ơi, em đang chuẩn bị thi nên đang làm test sets nè, đáng tiếc em tìm hoài mà chỉ có 9 cái tests. Anh, chị, bạn nào có nhiều hơn thì share cho em với!
Thanks nhiều ;)
PS: Mà có phải các anh chị đang đề cập đến test code của GMAC không ý nhỉ?

[verbena]

Chị Thảo ơi, em đang chuẩn bị thi nên đang làm test sets nè, đáng tiếc em tìm hoài mà chỉ có 9 cái tests. Anh, chị, bạn nào có nhiều hơn thì share cho em với!
Thanks nhiều ;)
PS: Mà có phải các anh chị đang đề cập đến test code của GMAC không ý nhỉ?

Em ơi, đống test sets đó chị để trong cái laptop ở nhà ở VN rồi. Sorry em, ko giúp em được rồi.

[Lamnt]

Hi`, bọn GMAC đang kêu là cầm được danh sách VIP account rồi gửi đến các trường đấy :D. Mà chắc không sao :D, Việt Nam đa số mượn thẻ thanh toán thôi :D

[ts3]

A message from the Graduate Management Admission Council® (GMAC®)
Owner of the GMAT® Exam

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. GMAC® constantly patrols the Internet for:

* Sites that claim to sell or distribute purportedly “real” GMAT® questions.
* Unauthorized copies of our official study guides and supplements, GMATPrep® software, and other GMAC® products.

If you are caught disclosing, accessing, or using "real" GMAT® questions:

* Your GMAT® scores will be cancelled.
* You will not be allowed to take the GMAT® exam again.
* Business schools will be notified.
* You may be subject to a civil lawsuit or criminal prosecution.

You are responsible for making sure your preparation materials don’t violate our intellectual property rights. In other words:

* Do not purchase, request, or share materials that claim to be “real” GMAT® questions in any form.
* Do not download GMATPrep® software from anywhere but www.mba.com, where authorized GMATPrep® software is available for free.
* Do not request or distribute pirated software or books such as the GMAT® Paper Tests, GMAT FocusTM or the Official GMAT® Guide.


GMAC làm căng quá nhỉ. Xét theo khuyến cáo của GMAC thì những ai vô tình post real question lên diễn đàn để share experience thì cũng bị ghép tội "Disclosing" rồi.
Việt Nam toàn dùng piracy book & software, không biết tương lai GMAC làm căng thì thế nào nữa.

[1u29]

GMAC làm căng quá nhỉ. Xét theo khuyến cáo của GMAC thì những ai vô tình post real question lên diễn đàn để share experience thì cũng bị ghép tội "Disclosing" rồi.
Việt Nam toàn dùng piracy book & software, không biết tương lai GMAC làm căng thì thế nào nữa.

Em ơi lại có khái niệm "vô tình" nữa hả em. Ai đi thi chẳng biết là việc post lại câu hỏi trong đề thi là hoàn toàn bị cấm, cái này họ nói rõ trong lúc em đi thi rồi. Đi thi về post xong lại bảo mình vô tình.
Còn việc dùng book và software là bên copyright, cái này cũng chả kiện cáo nhau mãi. Nhưng cheating là việc khác, và cái này thì GMAC có toàn quyền. Điểm số Gmat dựa trên giả thuyết là mọi người đều có không có access vào live question hết, nên nếu như giả thuyết đó không đúng thì họ có quyền cancel điểm thi, cái đó không thể trách họ được.
Chị nghĩ như ntrung nói đúng, ở nhà mình môi trường quá thiếu ý thức nên mọi người coi việc cheating.. hồn nhiên quá. Bên này mọi người sẽ thấy họ nghiêm khắc đến mức độ nào. Bài viết assignment bình thường mà copy and paste là fail, mượn bài thi của sinh viên thi trước là bị đuổi khỏi trường. Cũng 1 phần vì họ làm gắt gao thế mà các kỳ thi chuẩn của họ cũng như bằng cấp của họ được công nhận phần lớn trên thế giới.

[olive82]

GMAC đã có câu trả lời chính thức về vụ Scoretop.

GMAT Cheating Scandal: Answers from GMAC
Posted by: Louis Lavelle on June 30
The long-awaited GMAC FAQ, answering questions about the ongoing GMAT cheating scandal, just arrived. It addresses many of the questions that have been raised on this blog, in our MBA forums, and in comments left in the stories themselves. But I suspect a lot of people who used the scoretop site will be disappointed. There are no firm answers about when scores will be canceled, or exactly how GMAC will decide whether an individual’s conduct on the scoretop site warrants cancelation of his/her scores.

For those of you just learning about this story, allow me to recap. As the result of a $2.3 million copyright infringement judgment that GMAC won against the Scoretop site, it was able to shut the site down and obtain a hard drive containing subscriber information. There are about 6,000 names on the hard drive, all of them folks who paid $30 for 30 days access to a VIP section of the site, where GMAC says live test questions were available for one and all. Since these are questions that subsequently appeared on the test, these subscribers in effect had a sneak peak at the test. GMAC is now analyzing the hard drive and plans to cancel scores for any subscribers for whom there is “compelling evidence” that he/she violated GMAC policy.

Okay, now that you’re all caught up, GMAC’s FAQ is after the jump. This is entirely a GMAC product-BW had nothing to do with choosing the questions. A couple of interesting things that GMAC did answer: how could scoretop users have known the questions were live (short answer: you had to be blind not to know) and why it took so long to shut down the site (short answer: the feds made us do it). Read on…

Background: 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 June 20, shut down the site, and also obtained the computer hard drive containing subscriber information.

Q. Why did GMAC file the suit against Scoretop.com?
A. 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, a Web site that offered forums where visitors could share information about the GMAT. The site promoted VIP memberships─$30 for 30 days’ access ─ in which users were encouraged to read and post “JJs,” or live GMAT questions. “JJ” stands for “jungle juice,” or “jijings” – slang words for “the real thing.” GMAC’s investigation of the Web site revealed that some of the JJs contained real GMAT items.


Q. Is GMAC going to cancel scores? How long will it take?A. GMAC’s initial focus is on those who disclosed live questions to Scoretop. If, as part of this investigation, there is compelling evidence of a test taker knowingly violating GMAC policy, GMAC may cancel GMAT scores and notify recipients of the cancellation. It is too soon to say how long the investigation will last, but GMAC will keep schools and students informed throughout the investigation.

Q. Some students who visited Scoretop say the site claimed the questions were written by tutors and that they did not know the questions were live. How should they have known?
A. Scoretop promotions and numerous postings on the site touted the benefit of VIP membership as having access to live questions. Students who accessed the site but did not pay for VIP memberships did not have access to “JJs” and therefore have nothing to worry about. However, when evidence indicates a test taker paid for VIP membership, sought and obtained live GMAT items, GMAC may cancel the test taker’s score and notify schools of the cancellation.

Q. How can students know what test prep material is legitimate and what’s fishy? A. Any test preparation organization advertising “real GMAT items” is guilty of lying, stealing or both. In preparing to take the GMAT test, potential test takers should steer clear of these organizations as they can be harmful to their future. There are many reputable test preparation organizations available that do not make these claims.

Q. When do test takers agree to comply with GMAC policy about accessing or discussing GMAT questions?A: VIP members shared and/or had access to GMAT content, violating the terms they agree to when they register for the test and the agreement they signed at the testing center. Rules prohibiting improper or inadvertent access to test content, which test takers agree to when they register for the test, are described in the terms and conditions of the GMAT Information Bulletin. Test takers are reminded of their obligations and agree not to access or share test content in the Testing Rules & Agreement and the Non-Disclosure Agreement at the testing center before they take the exam.

Q. How much did people gain from accessing the questions?
A. Probably very little. The reliability of the test taker’s score is less in question than the ethical behavior of those trying to “game” the system. Even if a site is illegally able to obtain some “real” questions, it is extremely unlikely that anyone accessing the site will see the same questions on the live exam. The GMAT, a computer adaptive test, has a bank of thousands of questions.

Q. Did GMAC change the test as a result of the items exposed on Scoretop?
A. GMAC had been following Scoretop for some time and had removed the live questions found on the site from the GMAT question bank. No further changes need to be made at this time. The GMAT exam is continually monitored and reviewed.

Q. The Scoretop Web site has been up for a few years, so why did GMAC wait so long to pursue it?
GMAC worked with the FBI for several years documenting the evidence necessary to take action. During that time, Lei Shi was warned repeatedly to stop posting live questions to the site. Ultimately, while the FBI continued its investigation, GMAC decided to try to shut down the site via a civil suit, which was filed in June 2007. GMAC announced the ruling on June 20, as soon as it gained control of the Scoretop.com domain and hard drive.

Q. Is GMAC going to pursue other Web sites?
A. Yes, GMAC is always looking at sites for possible violations of its intellectual property and will continue to investigate all Web sites that claim to post GMAT questions.

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/blogs/mba_admissions/archives/2008/06/gmat_cheating_s_2.html

[little.nemo]

Trường mình vừa thông báo đang điều tra 3 chú bao gồm cả current và ex-students về vụ scoretop này.

[Cuongdk]

Vụ này bắt đầu có điều tra rồi:
http://www.businessweek.com/print/bschools/content/sep2008/bs2008099_235708.htm
Nearly 100 Would-Be MBAs Nailed in GMAT Scandal
The scores of 84 MBA seekers are canceled after they were found to have peeked at test questions. Some have already enrolled or graduated

by Louis Lavelle

The GMAT cheating scandal that has roiled the business school world for nearly three months, threatening to shatter the dreams of thousands, ended this week with more of a whimper than a bang. The exam administrator voided the scores of just 84 test takers and is allowing the vast majority of them to retake the exam immediately. At least some of the voided scores belong to students who have either already been accepted to business school or have graduated.

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which operates the GMAT test worldwide, said Tuesday that its investigation is over and that all test takers with canceled scores have been notified. GMAC has also notified more than 100 business schools that received the now-canceled scores—schools that are struggling to decide what to do about current students or graduates cast into admissions limbo by GMAC's decision. Some of the test takers had sent results to more than one school.

Few top business schools were spared. At No. 1-ranked University of Chicago, two students enrolled for fall admission were among those whose scores were canceled. GMAC's notification leaves the school just two weeks before the start of classes to figure out what to do. "We have professional standards and there has to be a discussion here if what happened was a violation of those standards," said Stacey Kole, deputy dean for Chicago's full-time MBA program.

Scoretop's Hard Drive Examined

The cheating scandal erupted in June, when GMAC announced that it shut down a test-prep Web site, Scoretop.com, that it had successfully sued for copyright infringement after discovering that it was posting "live" GMAT questions. Unlike the retired questions used by legitimate test-prep publications and services, the "live" questions on Scoretop were still in use on the GMAT exam. While the operator of the Scoretop site had already left the U.S. to return to his native China, thousands of Scoretop users were left worrying that their hopes of getting an MBA would be derailed by GMAC's probe.

GMAC officials said Sept. 9 that the organization has analyzed data on more than 6,000 subscribers contained in a Scoretop hard drive obtained after it shut down the site. GMAC correlated the information with its own testing records—including the actual exam questions answered by individual test takers—to identify individuals who used the site to break GMAC rules. (See the GMAC statement on probe results.)

In all it found 72 test-takers who had access to live questions on Scoretop, and another 12 who posted questions to the site from memory after taking the test. The 72 who accessed live questions will be permitted to retake the exam immediately; the 12 who posted questions will not be permitted to retake the exam for a minimum of three years. In all, GMAC canceled 569 score reports sent to business schools on behalf of the 84 individuals.

Students' Mixed Reaction

GMAC President David Wilson said the total number of test takers affected is far smaller than Scoretop's subscriber base because the trail of evidence needed to warrant score cancelation just wasn't available for the vast majority of users. GMAC meted out harsher punishment to those who posted live questions because, in GMAC's view, they committed the far more egregious offense: theft of intellectual property. "Posters are taking our material and for the first time, putting it on a public site," he said. "They were involved in stealing our material."

Efforts to reach Scoretop users whose scores were revoked were unsuccessful, but reaction to the news of the canceled scores on BusinessWeek's "Getting In" blog appeared to be evenly split between those who applauded GMAC's actions and those who thought it didn't go far enough.

"Hope GMAC…didn't punish anyone [who was] innocent," wrote one commenter. "People's lives are at stake here."

Wrote another: "Excellent work by GMAC, but more could have been canceled. Shows cheating, fraud, bribes won't work in the Western universities…."

For schools that received tainted scores, the job of reconciling the applicants' behavior with their own institutional standards and meting out appropriate punishment—or none at all—has just begun. For some programs—including Columbia University, Harvard University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, there is no action to be taken because the questionable scores reported by GMAC were submitted by individuals who either never formally applied or were rejected.
Applying the Honor Code

For other schools, though, the problem is more difficult and may not be resolved for weeks. At the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, officials are reviewing the list of tainted scores to determine if any belong to current students or graduates. The school's honor code prohibits cheating—defined as "any attempt to gain an improper advantage over other students in an academic setting"—and Dean Robert Dolan said he's prepared to enforce it.

"We will take any proven violations of either GMAT testing policies or our school's honor code with utmost seriousness," Dolan says. "If any of the test takers identified by GMAC are current students at Ross, or have been granted a degree, we will contact those individuals and pursue each case in a manner consistent with the school's honor code and disciplinary procedures."

At Stanford University, 20 scores have been canceled, including those of 10 applicants who were denied admission and one student who has already graduated. Derrick Bolton, director of MBA admissions, said if any of the 10 rejected applicants reapplies to Stanford, the school will require a detailed explanation about what the person did and why. The graduate in question will meet with the dean to discuss the situation, but no additional information was available regarding any penalties the school might be considering.

Expert: Doing Nothing Is Not an Option

"We are disappointed by the actions of any individual who knowingly violated GMAC policy," Bolton said. "As an educational institution, we would like those involved to learn from this incident. Those whose scores GMAC canceled will learn from that outcome, of course. We hope that they also might learn from the experience by reflecting on their actions and taking ownership for their errors, then sharing those explanations and insights with us."

Donald McCabe, a management professor at Rutgers Business School who has done extensive research on academic cheating, said each school must decide for itself how to handle the tainted scores, but that doing nothing is not an option. "If they're convinced the GMAC evidence is solid, I think they need to do something," says McCabe. "I'm not of the school of thought that we let them all off scot-free."

If the schools do take a tough stand, will it affect the behavior of future business school applicants? McCabe, whose research has shown more self-reported cheating among business students than in any other major, thinks it will. "That's one of the few ways I see a real positive coming out of this," he said. "I hope something gets done because it will send a message—and in the case of business, you need to send a message more than in most disciplines."