The Graduate Management Admission Test, better known by its initialism GMAT is a standardized test for determining aptitude in business management studies, and has been administered by ACT, Inc. since January 2006, having taken over from Educational Testing Services (ETS). The GMAT is required by most accredited US and Canadian MBA programs and some non-US MBA programs (such as INSEAD & International Institute for Management Development).
Most MBA programs use the GMAT score as one of many criteria for admission. Although there is no clear-cut formula for admissions to business school, the importance of the GMAT score can not be overstated. For the top global schools, a fairly high score (at the very least in the upper 600s) is generally required for the prospective student’s application to even receive serious consideration, while for other schools hoping to improve their rankings in the major publications (e.g. U.S. News, BusinessWeek, etc.), a higher score is generally enough to almost ensure admission, provided the candidate has performed reasonably well on the other admissions criteria.
Although a candidate’s performance on the test will go a long way towards determining whether or not he or she is admitted to his or her school of choice, these other admissions criteria also play a pivotal role. The GMAT is one of many factors schools use when reviewing applications for admission; it is typically balanced with work experience, application essays, an interview, and, somewhat less important, college or university GPA.
As of April 22, 2006, the fee to take the Graduate Management Admission Test® (GMAT®) is U.S. $250 worldwide.
For more on GMAT visit: www.mba.com