The Bloomberg Assessment Test (BAT), a standardized exam open to all undergraduate and graduate students, was held on Jan. 30 in the Nitery Theater. The free test, offered by the Bloomberg Institute, is a multiple-choice exam on finance knowledge and job-related skills. The results are available to over 20,000 financial employers.
Stanford’s chapter of Lambda Theta Nu, a Latina-interest sorority, organized the test. The sorority’s chapters receive donations for their philanthropic goal– in the Stanford chapter’s case, Latino literacy– from the Bloomberg Institute based on the number of students who take the test.
“On campus here, we have a partnership with Bloomberg Institute,” said Anahi Gonzalez ’15, president of Lambda Theta Nu’s Stanford chapter. “We host the Bloomberg Assessment and they provide us 10 dollars to our scholarship fund for everyone that takes the test. For every person that registers but does not take the test, we receive a dollar. It’s really awesome and the company gives us money even though the students don’t pay for the test that they take.”
The BAT tests knowledge of economics, corporate valuation and investment management as well as job-related skills and activities such as analytical reasoning, verbal skills and math skills. According to the testing website, the BAT is meant to connect students with employers while effectively matching talents to available positions.
The sorority publicized and ran the logistics of the assessment on its own, receiving support only from sorority sisters in San Jose and the Bay Area as well as from the Multicultural Greek Community Counselor.
According to Gonzalez, anywhere from 20 to 50 students take the exam every year. Although an independent proctor came in to help administer the three-hour exam last year, Gonzalez proctored the exam herself this year. The online exam was made possible because the Bloomberg Institute provided iPads for the test.
Tiffany Huoth ’13, a management science and engineering major, was one of the test takers.
“I took it because it sounded interesting how you could find the potential employers through this test,” she said. “You can also figure out where you’re at since this test basically tests your knowledge in all these areas. You could find out where you stand through a class, but you might fail that, but this test gives you an opportunity to know that without the need to study and where you stand naturally.”
According to Gonzalez, the partnership between the Bloomberg Institute, Lambda Theta Nu and Stanford students is beneficial to all parties.
“I wasn’t the one that Bloomberg Institute originally reached out to, but we hosted the test last year as well,” she said. “But I think they originally reached out to us because they saw bringing the test to Stanford as a good opportunity, which says something good about our campus. Lambda Theta Nu is fortunate to be able to work with them while we help [to] give funding to students.”