21% growth in GMAT applications despite the pandemic situation

The number of GMAT applications for global business education in The United States and several other countries witnessed a 21% growth for the 2020 cycle, a time when the coronavirus pandemic was gripping various parts of the world and a negative growth trend in applications was seen in 2019.

What is GMAT?

GMAT stands for Graduate Management Admission Test which is a computer adaptive test intended to assess certain analytical, writing, quantitative, verbal, and reading skills in written English for use in admission to graduate management programs. It can be taken up to five times a year but no more than eight times total. Attempts must be at least 16 days apart.

Effect of the pandemic on B-School hiring

The adverse conditions created because of the COVID-19 pandemic affected business school hiring. B-Schools from Canada, Europe, US recruited more domestic candidates in an attempt to allot more budget for online teaching rather than travel. With the new Biden administration in the US, it is expected that changes in policies will attract more Indian students to opt for US management education.

The president and CEO of Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), Sangeet Chowfla said, “In the second quarter of 2020, we saw a lot of concern on study, travel restriction, visa availability. In 2020, application to US business schools actually grew to a record amount of almost 21% and obviously, the biggest growth was domestic (29%). There was lower growth in international applications, but there was still growth by about 14%. We saw similar pictures for business schools in Europe and Asia”.

Key reasons for the earlier decline in international students

The yield rate which is the number of the gap between the people who actually joined and people who were offered had declined because some international students chose to defer into the next year.
A decline in applications domestically was observed in places like India & China maybe because the candidates are putting their plans on hold.

Impact of accelerated hiring of MBAs on applications

A survey by the GMAC council indicated that the corporates are planning to accelerate the hiring of MBAs by 88% as they are focusing on new markets, new products, and new segments and they value strategic thinking skills.

The IMF forecast for the growth of the next fiscal year for India is in double digits. So in order to manage this growth companies are looking for MBA graduates.

At last Mr, Chowfla summed up by saying, “2020 was a year of unprecedented turmoil, both due to COVID and the highly restrictive policies implemented by the previous U.S. administration. The most important change we are seeing is that of students. Liquidity. In the first week, President Biden sent a new immigration bill to Congress. From a student’s perspective, three or some combinations of these issues – student visa availability, employment, work experience, And very importantly, earn in the United States to repay loans and H1B visa programs that allow for long-term OPT (Optional Practical Training) stays in the United States for 12-18 months. President Biden said in the United States. It gave a kind of signal that it was open to foreigners coming to Japan and open to immigrants.“

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