Last month’s inaugural GMATCH Virtual MBA Fair helped bring together 1,750 prospective MBA applicants from 136 countries around the world with representatives from dozens of the world’s top business schools, the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), which hosted the event, reported last week.
“The fair accomplished exactly what we were hoping it would,” Rebecca Loades, GMAC’s director of market development for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said in a statement. “It allowed students to virtually go places they otherwise wouldn’t have gone and to meet schools they otherwise would not have met,” she continued.
Indeed, the online event gave prospective applicants from around the world a chance to converse with admissions officers from 56 different schools and take part in interactive panel sessions with students, alumni and admission staff regardless of their location. “One student, from Saudi Arabia, went so far as to tell us that the whole experience felt ‘real,’ and that the fair connected him with programs that he would never have imagined were accessible or available to him,” Loades continued.
Clear Admit’s own Graham Richmond delivered one of the fair’s virtual discussions panels, on getting into business school. Other panel discussions addressed topics such as how best to prepare for the GMAT exam and how the MBA can help individuals gain an edge in a competitive job market.
“We’re excited to take part in the GMATCH fair to interact with potential students we wouldn’t have the opportunity to meet in a live setting,” Stacey Dorang, assistant MBA admissions director at the Smeal College of Business at Penn State University, said in a statement. “The virtual environment literally opens up a world of information to prospective MBAs and gives them access to schools that could be a great fit for them that they might not otherwise even know exist.”
GMAC, which owns the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT), organized the GMATCH fair. Students and school officials who participated in the fair were particularly impressed by GMAC’s use of multimedia technology to foster the exchange of information, according to survey responses following the event. More than a third of participating students spent at least two hours at the fair, GMAC reports.
Business schools, for their part, shared in follow-up surveys that the event provided an excellent and cost-effective way to access and market to international students. Nearly all business schools who participated in the follow-up surveys said they would like to participate in future GMATCH events, according to GMAC.
For more on the GMATCH Virtual MBA Fair, click here.
Read the full article: GMATCH Virtual Fair Draws 1,750 Prospective MBA Applicants from 136 Countries
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