| Does the GMAT need to evolve?
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| 9/27/2008 |
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Robert Sternberg, dean of arts and sciences at Tufts University, made an interesting comment on standardized tests like the GMAT. “The testing companies are stuck on what they have been doing for 100 years and unless they are pushed they won’t change for the next 100 either. It is depressing,” he said. “If physics or biology or medicine were the same today as 100 years ago, just think of where we would be.”
Sternberg belongs to the school which thinks tests like the GMAT and the GRE are woefully inadequate in predicting the quality of student enrolled in MBA programs. He believes that questions asked in these tests should be more targeted towards measuring practical intelligence and common sense.
Sternberg conducted an experiment with U. of Michigan business school, where applicants were required to ask answer questions in addition to the GMAT. An example of such a question: “You are a management consultant working for a newspaper that is struggling to gain new subscribers and is entering the world of electronic media. Materials provided: Memos pertaining to a potential union strike, summary of an evaluation of the web-based paper, and the newspaper’s third quarter financial report.” The evaluation of applicants was based on problem definition and the proposed solution.
In a paper he subsequently wrote, Sternberg reported that the above methodology was a better predictor of the quality of MBA admits than the traditional predictors: GMAT scores and undergraduate grades.
More here. |
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