An apparatus and method for selecting an effective channel in a multi-user MIMO system are provided, in which a receiver receives pilot signals from a transmitter, determines channel information indicating an antenna offering the best quality among a plurality of antennas using the pilot signals, and generates feedback information with the channel information, and the transmitter receives feedback information from a plurality of receivers, generates a channel matrix using the feedback information, and transmits data simultaneously to the plurality of receivers using the channel matrix.