Is GMAT Mandatory For MBA In Canada?

As a recent graduate, I’m wondering “is GMAT mandatory for MBA in Canada?” My friends at the University of Toronto did tell me that it was. And I also heard from a couple of guys in Houston who also have completed their GMATs and now work for big-name companies (although one is unemployed). But I didn’t hear anything on the “mandatory” part.

So then, I looked into this myself. And boy, was I surprised! It is a test that many people take when they go to graduate business school to get an MBA, but is rarely required by the government in any way. In fact, there’s even an argument that the GMAT is a “soft” test, because you don’t really have to analyze the material. You just have to assess your ability to solve problems.

And I suppose that’s the idea behind the whole thing. They want to see if you’re able to learn what you need to know without having to invest the time to get educated on the material. And in theory, that sounds good, right? That means that if you’re not going to spend four years getting educated in GMAT study materials, shouldn’t you be able to take my GMAT examination online for free? And isn’t that a better solution than paying for class materials and taking a test when you’re already in the workforce?

In my opinion, I think that it is probably “not” necessary for a person to take my GMAT examination online. The reason I think so is because of the nature of the test. It’s a multiple choice test, with lots of questions about specific topics that are only answered by a psychologist, and they are given at random. Psychologists don’t come very often, if at all, so it wouldn’t make sense for them to be giving out these tests, and it would make sense for you not to pay to take a psychology exam when it comes to your MBA.

But you should definitely look into this if you have an opportunity, or if you’re in Canada. In the U.S., they do have a requirement that you take GMAT and pass it within a certain amount of time in order to get your license. But within that time frame, no one is really going to be holding you personally accountable for taking and passing it. So, it might be a nice alternative for you if you can go ahead and just go ahead and sit the course out.

Another reason that I think is it not mandatory for MBA in Canada is because time is a huge issue here. If you go into a school and sit for three years, you’re going to take four years just on GMAT. And then after that you will need to take a year of clinical training, plus an additional year of refresher courses, plus a whole bunch of other classes that you don’t even care about. And that’s all before you even get started on your actual degree.

So the answer to the question is GMAT is not mandatory for MBA in Canada depends on what kind of education you’re going for. If you’re going to get your bachelor’s degree from a traditional school, then all of this isn’t necessary. However, if you’re going for an online school, or a distance learning school, then yes, there is a requirement to take the GMAT. And you also need to take a certain number of credits for it, plus a certain number of hours in GMAT study courses.

If you have an option between going into a traditional college and one of those online options, which one do you think is more advantageous? I would say that in general the people who do their MBA in Canada through an online program are the ones that do really well. Because they are able to take all the required courses online and still get good grades, and they can go back and take some more if they feel they may be lacking on one area. Many times people get a second or third degree because they wanted to, rather than because they had to.