Most business schools accept GMAT test results for admissions to a Masters level program.
The Graduate Management Admission Test, or GMAT, is a post-secondary standardized test implemented by the Graduate Management Admission Council. Graduate level business schools utilize the GMAT as one of the admission factors in accepting candidates into graduate school. However, the GMAT has come under scrutiny, not over its testing methods, but how the test has been implemented with respect to the criteria for acceptance. Various scandals have harmed the reputation of the GMAT as a central admissions tool.
Cheating
Over recent years many private companies or hackers have been able to access questions that are on the GMAT exam. "The Wall Street Journal" published an article in 2008 after more than 84 applicants to business schools across the country had their applications canceled when it was discovered they bought services from a website that hacked into the GMAT database and sold questions from the GMAT.
Incomplete Assessement
The GMAT has become such a staple to applying to graduate level business schools that the test may be unfairly weighted. There are assumptions by test takers that the high scorers on the GMAT will gain acceptance into the top business schools. However, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the central accrediting body of business schools across the world, argues that students must invest in their undergraduate education more so than in their GMAT scores as the main criteria for graduate study. To that end, relying on a good score on the GMAT serves an asset only if your undergraduate work is also above par.
GMAT Age Bias
The nature of the GMAT is focused on the latest business ideas found in academia and in worldwide trends. The GMAT is also a computer-based exam, where the student takes the exam in a regional GMAT computer lab. Arguably, older adults who are savvy with the basic principles of business or have years of experience in business might not do well on the GMAT if they are not up-to-date with what is being taught in schools. The older applicants years of experience might seldom be considered during the graduate school application process, specific to the GMAT scoring.
New Trends
Many schools, sometimes non-explicitly, will take other graduate level examination scores either with or without GMAT scores. The business schools at Stanford University, John Hopkins University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology only accept the more generic Graduate Record Examination, or GRE, for their graduate school admissions. The journal, "Inside Higher Ed," makes the argument that schools have realized that the GMAT, which mostly tests on the same material as the GRE, does not exclusively need to be part of the business school admission process.
Tags: business schools, graduate school, business schools across, GMAT scores, graduate level, Graduate Management, Graduate Management Admission