>More takers for GMAT

>The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), an assessment for business and management programmes, is now accepted by more than 5,000 programmes, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which owns the GMAT. This marks a 31% jump from the 3,800 programmes that used the GMAT score till five years ago. Much of the growth is due to increases in usage by programmes in Asia and Europe.

“The dramatic growth in programmes that rely on the GMAT as a critical part of the admissions process is a strong testament to the validity, reliability and security that have been the hallmarks of the GMAT,” said Dave Wilson, President and Chief Executive Officer, GMAC. “We are meeting this increasing demand by continually expanding our extensive global network of test centres, where candidates can sit for the GMAT nearly any day of the year,” he added.

With GMAT usage going up across the world, there is also a rise in the number of schools seeking GMAC membership and access to its market research and professional development programmes. GMAC recently added to its list of member schools, which includes top institutions such as Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, London Business School, Wharton School, Indian School of Business, INSEAD and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

New developments
With 17 new members since December 2010, the total membership in GMAC stands at 200. More than 75% of the latest members are based outside the US, including six in Asia and Australia. With its test administrator and developer, Pearson VUE and ACT, respectively, GMAC has been innovating with the GMAT and the use of technology.

Among the developments are: New “Integrated Reasoning” section of the GMAT to be introduced in June 2012; the number of GMAT centres has grown 37% in the last five years, from about 400 in 96 countries in 2006 to more than 550 in 110 countries in 2011; and GMAC now has offices in London, New Delhi and Hong Kong, developing specific programmes and initiatives tailored to schools and test takers in those markets.

New members
The 18 member schools admitted since December 2010 include India’s Great Lakes Institute of Management, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, NMIMS University, and S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research.

Source: Hindustan Times, May 4, 2011