To understand the countries that are popular among 2012 Graduate Business and Master’s Degree aspirants, we compared the GMAT score-sending pattern in 2012 with the 2008 trends. Remember, 2008 was a challenging year, and applicants adopted different strategies depending on the industry that they belonged. Finance sector was severely impacted, and applicants with interest to pursue Masters in Finance, Accounting or specializing in Finance after MBA, chose to apply to MBA program in 2008 as a hedge against poor market condition for Finance professionals.
The top Six Destinations for Graduate and Master’s Degree Programs remained the same
1. United States
2. United Kingdom
3. Canada
4. India
5. France
6. Singapore
The major changes that happened in the four years have been the bottom four in the top 10 list.
7. Hong Kong (8)
8. Netherlands (10)
9. Spain (9)
10. Germany (NA)
For 2012, Germany entered the top 10 list. Netherlands saw increase in demand for its Master’s program with the ranking improving from 10th in 2008 to 8th in 2012. Hong Kong was another beneficiary with a slight improvement in its ranking from 8th to 7th position.
United States continues to be the number one destination for Graduate and Master’s program with 630406 GMAT scores sent in 2012. Although the number of GMAT scores sent has increased across destinations, US have slightly lost out on the market share.
The increase in volume seen in GMAT Score report is primarily contributed by increased demand for Master’s program. In fact, the demand for MBA programs around the world has been going down for the past five years. Tough job market and low attrition rate are two major reasons for this trend. Even with a specialized MBA program, aspirants are not confident about career acceleration.
Let us compare 2008 vs. 2012 Graduate Programs and Master’s Program Destinations
About the Author
I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.
My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.
I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.
The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.
Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.