“We know the scores will be different from the old [GMAT] format, so we’ll be mainly looking at where you stand within the distribution.”
– Agnes Mak (Assistant Director, Recruitment & Admissions, Toronto Rotman MBA)

“The range we disclose about the GMAT is between 580-750, and for GMAT Focus, 545-715. They are not about minimum or maximum scores. You can understand them just as a guideline. And because of our holistic view to look at each application, we discourage applicants from giving up just because of one component of an application, such as a standardized test.”
– Tomofumi Nishida (Deputy Director, Asia, MBA Admissions, IESE)

How are top business schools using the GMAT Focus exam, which will replace the GMAT in January 2024? What do you need to score and on which sections? Do schools prefer the GMAT, GMAT Focus, or GRE?

Darren asks Admissions Directors from two top schools – Toronto Rotman (#1 in Canada by the Financial Times) and IESE (#1 in Spain by the Financial Times) – tough questions about the GMAT Focus test and GRE. Listen on to get your GMAT Focus questions answered and to understand how top b-schools use standardized test scores when making admissions decisions.

Topics

• Introduction (0:00)
• Toronto Rotman MBA – Agnes Mak (4:20)
• IESE MBA – Tomofumi Nishida (30:20)

About Our Guests

Agnes Mak is the Assistant Director, Recruitment & Admissions managing the East Asia region for the Full-Time MBA program at the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management. She has over 20 years of professional experience in higher education and business advisory. Prior to joining the University of Toronto, she was a Partner at KPMG Canada and held numerous leadership roles to attract and promote international talent.

Tomofumi Nishida is Deputy Director (Asia, MBA Admissions) for IESE Business School, where he has been since 2016. Prior to IESE, Tomo worked for NTT DOCOMO as a strategic investment analyst and account manager in corporate sales. Tomo got his B.A. in Occidental History from the University of Tokyo and MBA from IESE.

Show Notes

• #106 The GMAT Episode
• Toronto Rotman MBA
• IESE MBA
• Get Feedback on Your Profile from IESE MBA Admissions Team
• GMAT Focus Exam
• Executive Assessment (EA) Exam
• GRE Exam

GMAT Focus vs. Executive Assessment Exam

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