Executive Assessment Test for EMBA Programs

On March 2016 GMAC introduced a new admission test – Executive Assessment – which will replace the GMAT/GRE in the admission process to MBA and EMBA programs. The Executive Assessment was specifically designed for busy, mid-to-late career professionals, and it has been developed and launched in partnership with leading business schools from around the world.

Many graduate business programs accept the assessment as part of the application process. It will help you identify what skills you most need to strengthen to be confident in your readiness for business school.

Schools use the results as a factor in determining your readiness for their program. Schools may also offer suggestions for closing gaps prior to beginning the program.

The new test helps schools understand:

  • Your business school readiness
  • Your reasoning skills
  • What areas you need to strengthen before – or during – business school
  • How you compare to other candidates

During the assessment, the candidate is measured on the skills that are critical both at work and in an EMBA program such as higher order reasoning, critical thinking, analysis, and problem-solving.

What makes the Executive Assessment suitable for both business schools and Executive MBA candidates is its relevance. It is relevant to executives in terms of its content – much more focus on critical thinking, analysis and problem solving, much less on pure mathematics and grammatical structures – as well as in the amount of time needed for the test. There is no preparation required, and the test takes only 90 minutes. Exhaustive preparation is not required, but we do suggest you familiarize yourself with the question formats and practice each question type.

The assessment is composed of three sections: Integrated Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, and Quantitative Reasoning, totaling 40 questions. Each section has specific types of questions that are unique to that section.

The Executive Assessment measures business skills and program readiness through higher-order reasoning, such as reading comprehension, critical thinking, analysis, and problem-solving. Candidates will use basic English-language and math to demonstrate their ability to reason in three (3) 30-minute sections:

  • Integrated Reasoning (12 questions)
  • Verbal (14 questions)
  • Quantitative (14 questions)

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The Executive Assessment does not include scheduled breaks. If you take an unscheduled break at any time, the assessment timer will not be stopped. If you are taking any break, you MUST receive permission from the test administrator prior to accessing personal items that have been stored (with the exception of comfort aids, medication, and food, which you may access without permission). Personal items that cannot be accessed during any break include (but are not limited to) mobile phones, music devices, test notes, and study guides. You are not allowed to leave the building during a break.

The assessment uses multi-stage adaptive design, which is similar to computer adaptive testing. Like computer adaptive testing, questions are interactively selected based on your previous answer, but rather than selecting individual questions at a time, groups of questions are selected, building a test that is most relevant to each individual’s performance level.

Test results are received for each section of the assessment: Integrated Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Verbal Reasoning, and a Total result, which is derived from your results on the three sections. Integrated Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Verbal Reasoning use a scale of 0 to 20. The total scale ranges from 100 to 200. Results will be presented on your screen at the end of the assessment. You will receive a printout of your results to take with you upon departing the test center. Schools will only have access to the specific instances of the Executive Assessment results that they have been selected to receive by the candidate. Results are valid for five years and available for reporting for up to 10 years. Results more than 10 years old are not available.

Because you can only take the Executive Assessment a limited number of times, GMAC does not allow you to cancel your scores. If you do not want your scores sent right after your completed appointment, it is recommended not to select any schools/programs prior to your appointment – you have to login to your profile and select your schools/programs after your appointment.

The assessment is delivered year-round in more than 600 Pearson VUE test centers around the world. The cost to take the assessment is US $350 globally. The test can be taken up to two times. You can register for the 2nd test 24 hours after completing your first attempt.

Taking the test at home – The Executive Assessment Online is open to all test takers. If test centers in your location are open and you feel safe accessing a test center facility, you are encouraged to do so.
The Executive Assessment Online has the same test content and structure as the Executive Assessment that is delivered in test centers. If you have been preparing to take the Executive Assessment in person, you can feel confident in continuing your online practice with the Executive Assessment Official Practice materials, as that preparation is entirely relevant to the online, proctored experience.

Full time MBA programs that accept the EA:

  • Alliance Manchester Business School
  • Amsterdam Business School
  • Baruch College Zicklin School of Business
  • Belmont University Massey Graduate School of Business
  • Case Western University, Weatherhead School of Management
  • Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business
  • Columbia Business School
  • Duke University Fuqua School of Business
  • EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey
  • ESMT Berlin
  • Reutlingen University ESB Business School
  • Fordham University Gabelli School of Business
  • Georgetown University McDonough School of Business
  • University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business
  • MIT Sloan School of Management
  • University of Nevada, Reno
  • New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business
  • Quantic School of Business & Technology
  • Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business
  • Rutgers Business School
  • University of Rochester Simon Business School
  • Stanford MSx
  • Texas Christian University, Neely School of Business
  • The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business
  • The University of Toledo College of Business and Innovation
  • University of Victoria Peter B. Gustavson School of Business
  • Valparaiso University College of Business
  • Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management
  • University of Virginia Darden School of Business

EMBA programs that accept the EA:

  • Asia School of Business
  • American University in Dubai
  • Baruch College Zicklin School of Business
  • Belmont University Massey Graduate School of Business
  • University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business
  • Binghampton University
  • Boston University Questrom School of Business
  • Case Western University, Weatherhead School of Management
  • Cass Business School, City University of London
  • University of Colorado Boulder Leeds Business School
  • China European International Business School (CEIBS)
  • Chapman University Argyros School of Business and Economics
  • The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
  • Columbia Business School
  • Concordia University
  • Copenhagen Business School
  • Cornell University Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management
  • Duke University Fuqua School of Business
  • Erasmus University, Rotterdam School of Management
  • ESADE Business School
  • ESMT Berlin
  • Fordham University Gabelli School of Business
  • Georgetown University McDonough School of Business
  • HEC Paris
  • The University of Hong Kong
  • IE Business School
  • IESE Business School
  • Imperial College Business School
  • INSEAD
  • Iowa State University Ivy College of Business
  • University of Iowa Tippie College of Business
  • The Lisbon MBA Católica|Nova
  • London Business School
  • Maastricht University School of Business and Economics
  • McGill & HEC Montreal
  • MIT Sloan School of Management
  • Monash Business School
  • Nanyang Business School
  • Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management
  • University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business
  • New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business
  • University of Oklahoma Gene Rainbolt Graduate School of Business
  • The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business
  • University of Oxford Saïd Business School
  • Quantic School of Business & Technology
  • Queens University, Smith School of Business
  • Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business
  • Rutgers Business School
  • Sabanci University School of Management
  • Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business
  • Seattle University Albers School of Business and Economics
  • Singapore Management University
  • Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business
  • SP Jain School of Global Management
  • Texas Christian University, Neely School of Business
  • Trinity Business School
  • Tsinghua-INSEAD
  • UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School
  • University of Calgary Haskayne School of Business
  • University of Hawaii at Manoa, Shidler College of Business
  • UC Irvine Paul Merage School of Business
  • UCLA Anderson School of Management
  • The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School
  • University of Alberta Alberta School of Business
  • University of Cambridge – Cambridge Judge Business School
  • University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management
  • University of Nevada, Reno
  • University of Pittsburgh
  • University of San Francisco School of Management
  • The University of Toledo College of Business and Innovation
  • University of Washington Foster School of Business
  • University of Wisconsin Madison
  • University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Lee Business School
  • The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business
  • University of Virginia Darden School of Business
  • Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management
  • Vlerick Business School
  • Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
  • WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management
  • WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business)
  • Yale School of Management
  • York University Schulich School of Business