Why reservations about the GMAT?

A frequent point of discussion in this forum is the need to take the GMAT for MBA programs. Seemingly, a number of posters prefer programs with no GMAT requirement.

Why the hangup about taking the GMAT?

I know that taking the GMAT takes time and costs a few dollars - but this seems to be such a minor consideration in pursuing graduate education.

Nearly all AACSB programs require the GMAT - and the best business schools in the US are all AACSB accredited. While non-AACSB programs have a place in the world - I'd encourage readers to go for the best graduate education they can afford and gain entrance. Often this will be an AACSB program. The few dollars and hours that the GMAT consume are a pretty minor price to pay.

Regards - Andy

 

I would certainly agree with this. I would also add that I have had a suspicion (with no evidence to back it up) that it may not really matter how well you do on the GMAT. Many of the DL grad programs we discuss are essentially "open admission" programs as long as you have satisfied the other major admissions criteria. People may steer away from schools that require the GMAT based on their concern that if they score poorly (perhaps based on a history of poor-average performance on standardized tests) they will not be admitted. Perhaps the GMAT is required by the school or the professional accreditation agency but that doesn't necessarily mean that it has any special influence in the admissions process. I don't know if this is true but one thing I do know and that is I don't remember hearing anything about lots and lots of people being turned away from these DL MBA programs due to low GMAT scores. I'd just say, take the test.
Jack

 

I took the GMAT cold and did well enough to be accepted by all the schools I applied to, all AACSB and a mix of both B&M and DL programs. The GMAT is part of the application process, but I also believe other factors weight in too, e.g. your references, essay, GPA, etc. I am glad that I did so because I started my MBA DL and since the school is AACSB I can transfer to these classes to U of Hawaii (who will accept up to 23 Hrs. of transfer credits and they require your transfer credits come from an AACSB school) and finish my degree when I return from Iraq. Since I will be retiring from the Military in a year or two after I return from Iraq, I figured graduating from a B&M program would give me some contacts and the corporations I am interested in applying to actively recruit there. These options would not have been available to me had I not taken the GMAT. In my case taking the GMAT was important as I was transferred to Hawaii, so other educational options became available.

William Parker

 

Andy,

My reason for not taking the GMAT is that I do not believe that an AACSB accredited program offers me anything more than perceived superiority by those that do not concern me. As someone in his fifties I attend DL classes for self enrichment and no longer play the "best school" game, although years ago I did.

As I grew older and looked around I found that in certain select situations where you graduated from did make a difference. In most instances simply having the piece of paper is more than enough. Actually, I’ve found that too often the top executives in a company do not possess graduate degrees nor were the grantor of their undergraduate degrees very impressive in the “best school” world of thought.

If I were once again a young man just starting out and had the necessary funds available then I would agree with you and perhaps take the GMAT, but only to get my foot in the door. Once that foot is in there are many other criteria that will make a person a success or failure and the “best school” is not at the top of the list in my opinion.

 

William,

If I understand you situation most of your career to date has been military and you are wisely taking advantage of all educational opportunities available. I would agree that your decision to take the GMAT was a smart one. In fact I feel that you and all those serving should have the same educational benefits as WWII veterans received.

Good luck and many thanks for serving.

 

I agree, take the tests you need to take, early enough so that if your scores are disappointing, you can re-take or at least address the situation in your personal statement.

 

By the way, does AACSB accreditation depend on the fact whether a b-school requires GMAT as part of the admission process or not?

 

I think I saw in a previous thread a post that claims that AACSB owns the GMAT exam. Sounds like good enough reason to me (if it's true).

 

Good question - Historically, the GMAT (which is controlled by the GMAC (Graduate Management Admission Council)) has been required by AACSB accredited schools. The word "GMAT" isn't in the AACSB standards. However, they require an admisisons policy that is consistent and identifies applicants consistent with the school's mission.

Bottom line - virtually all AACSB schools require the GMAT. Many non-AACSB schools don't require the GMAT - or may only require it in some cases. For example, NSU requires the GMAT for their DBA program, but not for their MBA program. Other schools may require the GMAT for applicants with extremely low GPAs.

I agree with Bruboy that the importance of the GMAT and AACSB may be less for mid-career applicants. I will tell you, however, that complying with AACSB accreditation standards is costly for schools and leads them to make better (at least more expensive) choices on faculty and other matters.

Regards - Andy

 

Something to think about. . .

At a b-school without specialty accreditation (AACSB, ACBSP), the curriculum and quality of an MBA is whatever the faculty and administrators decide is appropriate. External review of the curriculum and program quality is at the discretion of such faculty and administrators.

I'm not saying that programs without specialty acreditation are inferior. But if I'm considering hiring someone with a BBA or MBA from a school I've never heard of, the fact that the school is accredited goes a long way toward answering any questions I have about the quality of the institution and the strength of its curriculum.

 

It was the RA Southern Association of Colleges and Schools that said some of Florida Atlantic University's (AACSB) Business School instructors were not good enough, not the AACSB.

http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13277

Otherwise, I agree with Andy. Before I began to research MBA programs I took the GMAT. I wanted to know what programs I would be eligible for as I did my research. I did well enough to get into most of the programs I looked into. I decided on NCU simply because it fits my needs at this point in my life.

If I was in my 20-30s and\or with limited business experience then I would have tried for the best AACSB school I could possibly get into. The University of Florida program would be the one I would be trying to get into if I was the above now.

No-how-no way would I let the GMAT be a stumbling block or an intimidation factor. If I didn't do well the first time I would have tried again!


Just my opinion

 

If you're hiring a professional with a proven track record spanning a period of 10-20 years how pertinent is the degree? If the candidate graduated from a reputable local school would you need to check any further even if it did not have AACSB or some other business accreditation?

To be honest I'd never heard of AACSB or any other business accreditation until reading this board. Since my new awareness I find myself asking many people (managers, HR personnel) if they'd heard of AACSB, ACBSP, or IACGE and I haven't found one yet. They do know of local schools such as Centenary, Fairleigh Dickinson, Rutgers, New Jersey Institute of Technology, all considered locally reputable. One does not have any business accreditation and I haven't found anyone that knows which one or cares.

You also seem to have left out the IACBE accreditation that was founded by the same person who founded the ACBSP, Dr John Green.

 

I'd agree with you Andy, that taking te GMAT is a small price to pay. I took the GMAT and I have lived to talk about it.

I think some of the issue with many people here(on DI) or actually in DL overall is that most people are a little older than the more "traditional" students and they have more responsibilites.Working and going to school some times can be a tough undertaking if you add studying for the GMAT also it can almost be overwhelming.
My advise to anyone contemplating going to B-school is to finish their degree before taking the test studying for school and the GMAT is crazy if you also work.

The other issue too is that schools make it easy to bypass the GMAT requirement.I can think of two school off the top of my head that are AACSB accredited and waive or don't require the GMAT for admission is you meet other criteria(University of Wyoming and Texas A&M-Commerce). I must also note though that Texas A&M-Commerce does request GMAT scores although they waive the requirement.

I know of no AACSB school that does not require the GMAT of at least a portion of thier B-school students.

All that being said it is interesting to note that Harvard Business School did not require the GMAT for admission for 11 years and only reintroduced it for admissions in September of 1997.

In anycase if you are thinking about B-school take the GMAT! The worst you can do is have to take it over.

 

I agree with you 90%.

For a professional with 10-20 years of professional experience, the degree should not be an issue unless required by the firm's contracts, professional licensing, or representations the firm may have made to the public about the education of their employees.

My reservations (10%) are in those cases where the individual's degree is in a differenct area from his/her professional experience and the position is in the area of the degreee. In these cases, I would want to know something about the quality of the institution.

My original comments were based on an unstated assumption of a entry-level or lower-level position where the primary qualification of a candidate is their degree rather than their experience. While I agree with you that it is less of a factor where the institution is local (employer's KNOW the local schools' reputations), I believe that accreditation is a factor when the school is not well-known.

I've taken graduate business courses at a small non-business-accredited, but RA B&M school that were just as rigorous as the courses I've taken at AACSB institutions. Locally, the non-business accredited school's MBA is well respected. But outside the local area, potential employers' tend to discount the quality of programs with which they are not familiar. Accreditation is a way of dealing with this problem - it provides a comfort factor.

There are national companies that have policies that the local offices of firms can only particpate in formal recruiting programs at accredited business schools (They may still hire individuals from other schools that come to their attention, with justification).

ALL of the NJ schools you cited have business accreditation. F-D, Rutgers and NJIT are AACSB-accredited. Centenary is IACBE accredited, an appropriate business accreditation for its size and mission.

 

Interesting that you were the only one of many that knew that Centenary was IACBE accredited. I thought that it wasn't business accredited at all despite being a 130 year old school.

What you may find interesting is that Centenary visited my current employer selling their CAPS program. At the time I was attending Capella. There were three Centenary representatives giving the presentation, the thrust of which was their MBA program. Being the degreeinfo.com reader that I am I posed the question "is your program accredited"? The three looked at each other wondering if one of them knew what I was talking about. My fellow workers in attendance also had puzzled looks on their faces as did the HR person. My point is the three had been giving this presentation for awhile and apparently had never been asked that question.

I offered more information asking "I mean is the MBA program AACSB, ABCSP, or IACGE accredited"? The final response was that they didn't know what I was talking about, but they would find out. Well I never pursued it because the tuition was too high and I had decided on Bellevue by then. I based my knowledge on Centenary not being accredited by their representative's response. Thanks for correcting me.

The exchange with Centenary representatives occurred last May and helped to accentuate the lack of importance that accreditation carries, at least in my mind.

 

I don't understand the hang up either. I took the GMAT and didn't think it was overly stressful or an unreasonable step to take for admission to grad school