The GMAT™ has long
been used to give business schools valuable insight into a candidate’s
suitability for an MBA degree, but it isn’t a requirement for all programs.
Today, more and more admissions committees are looking at other evaluation
tools for measuring their candidates’ potential. So, for those EMBAs that no
longer require the GMAT™, what are program directors looking at instead?
What is the GMAT™?
If you are only just
getting acquainted with the term GMAT™, it might help to get an understanding
of what the acronym stands for. The Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT™)
is a three and a half hour test (four with optional breaks included) that assesses
a business school candidate on four key areas: Analytical Writing, Integrated
Reasoning, Quantitative and Verbal skills. Tasks involved include analyzing an
argument, multi-source reasoning and graphics interpretation, data sufficiency
and problem solving, reading comprehension, critical reasoning and sentence
correction. As Frank Crooks, Director of the Executive MBA at John Molson
School of Business, Concordia University, says: “the GMAT™helps us assess a
candidate’s ability to deal with quantitative subjects and their aptitude for
writing exams.”
According to Jane
Delbene, Director of Marketing for the Graduate Management Admission Council,
(GMAC), the organization that owns the GMAT™, the test was specifically
designed to help business schools assess and select qualified candidates
wishing to attend graduate business and management programs. “Admissions teams
meet an astounding number of impressive and accomplished professionals every
day, but not all will have what it takes to succeed in the classroom. That’s
where the GMAT™ comes into play,” Delbene says. “The GMAT™ measures a
candidate’s higher-order reasoning skills, which includes analytical and
critical reasoning. These are paramount to success in the business world and
the business school environment. So, regardless of your age, background and
experience, which are factors that cannot be objectively assessed, the GMAT™ is
a reliable and extremely precise indicator to schools that an individual has
what it takes to be successful on a program.”
Additionally, Delbene
says the GMAT™ is an important tool for business schools to compare students
around the world using the same evaluation. “This also assures students their
cohort has been consistently and objectively selected using a standardised measurement
tool,” she says. For Executive MBA candidates who have been out of the academic
world for some time, Delbene adds that taking the GMAT™ is valuable practice
and almost a crash course to help students prepare for what lies ahead.
Value for schools
At The University of
Chicago Booth School of Business, all applicants must submit a GMAT™ score (no
minimum score is required) as part of their application unless granted a
waiver. “GMAT™ scores provide the admissions committee with information about
an applicant’s ability to succeed in an academically rigorous program,”
explains Bernie Zanck Bernie Zanck, Director of Recruitment and Admissions for
the Executive MBA Program - Europe, The University of Chicago Booth School of
Business. “We look at all aspects of a candidate’s background, knowledge and
experience. Senior level managers, usually with 12 or more years of management
experience may be granted an exemption from the GMAT™ requirement. Examples
might include CEOs, Managing Directors, CFOs, and Division Heads.
“A waiver may also be
considered for a candidate whose work experience and training indicate a high
level of quantitative and analytical skill and an ability to apply those skills
to a rigorous and analytical MBA program,” Zanck says. “Examples might include:
Treasurer or Chief Accounting Officer, or a CFA, or a candidate possessing
another advanced degree or diploma in a quantitative field. The criteria above
are not meant to be exhaustive and candidates who believe they are able to
provide evidence of a similar quality not listed are encouraged to speak to an
admissions representative,” he says.
At the University of
Pittsburgh, Katz Graduate School of Business, GMAT™ scores are required for
some candidates applying to the Executive MBA Worldwide Program, including
those with less than 10 years of professional work experience or with an
undergraduate degree in an area with little quantitative coursework.
“GMAT™ scores are one
of the many different tools we use to evaluate candidates,” explains Assistant
Dean, William T. Valenta, Jr. “Compared with other evaluation tools, GMAT™
scores give us a fairly good indication of a candidate’s academic ability.
After all, they will be completing a rigorous program based upon master’s level
coursework. Additionally, the GMAT™ is another opportunity for the best
qualified candidates to separate themselves from the competition.”
A holistic approach
While the GMAT™
provides these three schools with valuable insight into a candidate’s
suitability for their Executive MBA programs, many other business schools
around the globe no longer use the test as a measure for success. So what do
they look for instead? IE Business School is just one of the schools who no
longer require a GMAT™ score of their candidates. “The emphasis during the
admissions process is on the professional experience of each candidate,” says
Natalie Beamer, Admissions Assistant for Premium EMBA Programs. “We focus on
building classes of students who have outstanding career development, an
interest in entrepreneurship, excellent intrapersonal skills and strong
objectives with leadership potential,” she says.
The GMAT™ isn’t
usually part of the selection process at the University of Ottawa’s Telfer
School of Management either. “The Telfer Executive MBA program focuses on
creating a cohort of talented individuals who will both actively contribute to
and benefit f rom the Telfer learning environment,” says program Director,
Sophia Leong. “We do this by judiciously evaluating candidates based on
business talent, personal ambition and organizational responsibility. We follow
a rigorous selection process that brings together the best possible group of
candidates who will foster a high impact, practical and relevant experience. We
use case studies as well as other evaluation techniques to ascertain the
potential candidate’s candidacy. This has allowed us to open the door to a
broader range of Executive MBA candidates who have the experience and capacity
to do the program.”
At the W. P. Carey
School of Business, Arizona State University, EMBA candidates are evaluated on
a variety of components including transcripts, work experience, letters of
recommendation and the admission interview but the GMAT™ is not a requirement.
“Although the W. P.
Carey School of Business recognizes the value of standardized testing in the
admissions process, we feel the breadth and depth of experience that our
applicants bring to the table can be measured in multiple ways,” says Ruthie
Pyles, Director of Admissions and Recruitment for MBA programs.
"Taking a
holistic approach, the committee will not only evaluate the academic strengths
of the applicant, but will also determine the synergies between the applicant
and the strengths and culture of the program. Our executive cohort is extremely
diverse, and it would be difficult to predict if adding this one component
would significantly affect that diversity,” Pyles says.
The holistic approach
is also favoured by the admissions committee at Athabasca University “There
really isn’t one key indicator we use to predict whether or not an applicant
will be a good fit,” says Deborah Hurst, Associate Dean for the Faculty of
Business and Program Director of the Executive MBA. "Significant
management experience is what we’re looking for and we also focus on ensuring
our students are at a stage in their careers where they can truly apply what
they are doing back to their own workplaces. We don’ t just want student s to
learn the theory of leadership; we want them to be leading teams and
organizations as they learn. The GMAT™ can be a good indicator of a student’s
ability to learn at a master’s level, but it ’s not a solid indicator for these
other experiences.”
Alternative testing
At one of the top
business schools in the world, the GMAT™ has been replaced with an in-house
test. Candidates applying to INSEAD’s Executive MBA program no longer need to
present a GMAT™ score (although scores are still accepted), but rather the
results of the INSEAD EMBA test.
Offerend through testprep company Prep-Zone,
the test retains key elements from the GMAT's multiple-choice quantitative and
verbal sections while introducing a mini-case analysis delivered via a
30-minute presentation. Prep-Zone co-founder and INSEAD alum Mícheál Collins
says the test was designed to better align with the skills needed of the
business school’s EMBA program. “We realized that to properly gauge the
preparedness of a candidate, their sense of business should be tested as well
as their cognitive st rengths. Hence we added the case presentation to the test
and removed the essay writing part,” he explains. The INSEAD EMBA test is
administered regularly on each campus and is combined with a panel interview.
Source: TopMBA
