GMAC Advisor

Fewer US companies plan to hire international business school graduates this year.

For many business school candidates, the investment they make in their graduate management education will be among the most substantial investments they make in their lives. The implication of this fact for school admissions and recruitment professionals is not only that you should have an appreciation for the financial importance of a candidates’ decision to pursue business school, but also that you should have a sense of how various kinds of candidates plan to finance their degree.

In testing year 2017—the period from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017—a greater share of GMAT exams were taken by women than ever before (45%). In fact, over the past five testing years the number of exams taken by women has grown 12 percent. How has this testing growth translated to applicant pools?

Pre-experience business master’s programs are an increasingly big part of global graduate management education. With each passing year, more business schools expand their program portfolios to include more of these programs, and a growing share of candidates tell GMAC Research that they are considering applying to them.

The decision to the invest time, energy, and money needed to complete a graduate-level business degree is likely among the most significant investments many alumni will make in their lives. Knowing all that they know now—considering everything they put into earning their degree and everything they got out of it—would they make the same decision again?