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Letters Re-Examining Intelligence In the article "Examining Intelligence," which appeared in the January issue of BizEd, Robert J. Sternberg discusses ways to improve standard- ized admissions tests. My colleagues and I at the Graduate Management Admission Coun- cil—which provides the GMAT exam—encourage such research and even help fund promising ideas. Sternberg's research contributes to our understanding of intelli- gence. But he simply does not yet have the evidence to demonstrate that the small-scale version of the business school assessment he pilot- to compare applicants whose academic and personal back- grounds may vary widely. It has been designed from the ground up to assess the critical thinking skills that business school faculty have identified as the skills they expect of incoming students. ed with the University of Michi- gan is up to the task of accurately, effectively, and repeatedly sizing up potential candidates. On the other hand, the continu- ing success of the GMAT exam builds on more than 50 years of research and experience. We believe the GMAT is a powerful component of the admissions process because it provides an objective, bias-free way We recently completed a sum- mary of 273 program-level validity studies involving more than 40,000 students from around the world. This analysis underscores that the GMAT exam is an exceptionally good predictor of how well a stu- dent will perform academically in the core business school curriculum. Another prerequisite skills survey was launched last fall. Several large studies have repeatedly shown that the GMAT contains questions that are reliable, valid, and not read- ily coachable. Our rigorous test development process assures that each person's score is comparable to every other person's score, regard- less of their backgrounds. We heartily agree with Stern- berg's assertion that standardized tests should not be given more weight than they deserve. Admis- sions personnel do supplement the GMAT information with subjective measures, such as interviews, per- sonal statements, and their profes- sional judgment, to fully evaluate each applicant's potential to succeed in their programs. Lawrence M. Rudner Vice President for Research and Development Graduate Management Admission Council McLean, Virginia Editor, Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation 8 BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2006