Econ Majors Score Well on the GMAT Too!

Abstract:     
Nieswiadomy (1998, 2006) found that economics majors scored well on the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). Since about four times as many economics majors take the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) than the LSAT, the authors address a similar issue, how well do economics majors perform on the GMAT? They find that the average GMAT score for economics majors is higher than that for any other large (2,200 or more test-takers) humanities and arts, social sciences, or business undergraduate major. However, the GMAT's quantitative content makes it not surprising that science, engineering and mathematics majors have higher average scores than economics majors. Most likely, the analytical rigor of economics courses, the broad nature of economics curricula, and brighter students' self-selection of an economics major combine to contribute to their relatively high performances on the GMAT and the LSAT.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 12

Keywords: economics majors, MBA programs, GMAT scores

JEL Classification: A20, A29

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