Origins of the GMAT

In the 1950's with the emerging popularity of business degrees the major business school were facing a problem as they had to agree upon standards of measuring the fit between their organisations and the students. As a result, nine schools took the lead and created a association that had the goal of creating a standarized test that evaluates the capabilites of the applicant.

This predecessor of the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) tested several thousand students in the first years of existance. Nowadays, more than 200,000 people take the test every year.