India is the second-largest test location for GMAT

David A. Wilson, President and CEO, Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which conducts the GMAT tests that most US business schools use to decide admissions, was in India recently on a business trip. Excerpts from an interaction with BT's Rahul Sachitanand.

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of GMAT takers in India making it the second-largest test location outside the US for GMAC. The number of GMAT tests taken in India has actually tripled in five years and the average score in India (562) is 23 points higher than the global average. Perhaps more than any other country, India places a heavy premium on higher education.

There is a rapid spread and overall improvement of management education globally, beyond the stranglehold of American Ivy League colleges. This explains why there has been a churn in the list of top three or four foreign B-schools to which GMAT scores from India are sent. In 2005, it was Harvard, followed by Stanford and University of Pennsylvania. In 2009, it was National University of Singapore, INSEAD and London Business School.

We have only two institutions (IIM-B and ISB) recognised by GMAC in India and we need to expand that base as more western colleges seek tie-up with institutes here. We want to expand our test centres and network and we'll soon have our own office here to better coordinate our presence in India.