Last week, I was at an MBA fair in NYC. There was a featured speaker who was a recent HBS grad. She shared her experience at the school and answered questions from the host and audience.
When she got to a question about her test-taking experience, the laughs and excitement faded.
She described how difficult it was for her to prepare for the test while working full-time. She candidly shared her struggles with sticking to a schedule and committing to a test prep program. Ultimately, she pulled through, and after taking the GMAT six times, she got a score she was happy to apply with.
Struggling with the GMAT may not be your story. But if it is, I hope you are encouraged to continue pushing forward with your test prep. Your target score may be a few tries away.
And if the GMAT/GRE is just not in the cards for you right now, you have some options. Several fantastic business school programs offer test waivers to candidates who meet specific requirements.
Here are 13 of them.
Resources
+ MBA Program Stats here. *now includes upcoming admissions events by school*
+ MBA Program Deadlines here.
13 Top Business Schools Offering Test Waivers
Generally, schools will grant waiver requests to candidates who can demonstrate their quantitative abilities through alternative evidence. This can include a rigorous undergraduate course load, qualifications like the CFA, additional quantitative coursework, and professional experience.
Some schools also have a minimum work experience requirement.
The list below is current for the 2023-2024 application cycle. You can find specific requirements on each of the school’s websites. And you can use the MBA Program Stats sheet to compare these schools against other criteria like ranking, class size, average GPA, etc.
1. Michigan Ross
2. NYU Stern
3. UVA Darden
4. Cornell Johnson
5. USC Marshall
6. Emory Goizueta
7. CMU Tepper
8. UT McCombs
9. UW Foster
10. Indiana Kelley
11. UNC Kenan-Flagler
12. Georgetown McDonough
13. Vanderbilt Owen
Note: Dartmouth Tuck introduced waivers for laid-off workers applying Round 3 this year. Although the school has yet to explicitly communicate if waivers will also be available for this current application cycle, the online application still reads, “If you were granted a test waiver, you do not need to input a test score. Please click continue to move to the next segment of the application.”
3 Scenarios Where You Should Take The GMAT/GRE
All things being equal, it is in your best interest to commit the time, effort, and retakes needed to score your best on the GMAT/GRE.
And there are three situations where requesting a waiver would likely hurt your candidacy. These are scenarios where having a great test score supplements a weakness in your profile.
If any of these apply to you, you may not even qualify for a waiver, and if you do, consider not taking it and taking the GMAT/GRE instead.
1. You had a low undergraduate GPA.
2. You had a non-quant undergraduate major (non-science, engineering, economics, mathematics, finance, accounting).
3. Your work experience has been in a non-quant field.
The admissions committee wants to admit students who can handle the academic rigor of their quantitative MBA programs.
You want to show them that you can.
I hope this has been helpful! Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
For further support, you can:
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Cheering you on,
Aniekeme
