The Business School announced this week that it will incorporate standardized testing into its admissions criteria.

Dean of the Business School Kim B. Clark '74 said the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) will be required for those applying for admission beginning in September 1997.

Harvard Business School had been the only major MBA program to exclude standardized testing from its admissions portfolio.

Clark said in an interview yesterday that a major overhaul of the GMAT prompted him to support inclusion of the test in admissions criteria.

"If they hadn't changed the test, we would not have changed the standards," Clark said.

The Graduate Management Admissions Council recently announced that as of October 1997, the GMAT will no longer be a written exam. Instead, the test will appear in a computer format available year round by appointment.

In addition, the council recently added a writing skills section to gauge candidates' analytic expression. Development of this ability has long been a focus of the Harvard Business School program, Clark said.

Jill H. Fadule, director of admissions at the Business School, said that the council will work with Harvard to ensure that the test measures those qualities essential to business leadership positions.

While the move comes early in Clark's tenure and on the heels of last year's curriculum overhaul, the dean maintained that he is not trying to alter the Business School's philosophy.

In fact, Clark said that his predecessor, John H. McArthur, is supportive of the initiative.

Many students at the Business School said they are receptive to the changes.

Masa Marumo, a second-year student at the Business School, said the new GMAT requirement is fair, particularly since he believes that few People in his classes have "a keen sense in numbers."

Other students said the changes were positive.

First-semester student Huaidong Wong said Harvard's position in Business Week's rankings of business schools might improve now that the school requires a standardized test.

The Business School has faced declining rankings in the national publications during the last few years despite the high placement rate and salaries of graduates