Applying to an MBA with no GMAT

How do you find MBA programs with no GMAT requirement?

1. Find the program’s admissions or requirements page, not a ranking or a third-party list.
2. Look for the words it uses: test-optional, test waiver or no test required. They don’t all mean the same thing.
3. Read the conditions, such as years of work experience or your grades, and whether the waiver is automatic or something you apply for.
4. Check the same page for scholarships. A program can admit you without a score and still use one for funding.

The same check applies to online MBAs and to business master’s programs, such as master’s in accounting.

A test waiver isn’t a fee waiver

A GMAT fee waiver pays for the exam itself. Only schools give them out, to candidates they judge to be economically disadvantaged, and it covers one exam with five score reports. A school’s test waiver means you can apply with no score at all.

Other tests that can stand in

Almost all business schools now accept the GRE as well as the GMAT, GMAC says, so a program that wants a test score may take either.

GMAC also runs the Executive Assessment: 40 questions in 90 minutes, scored from 100 to 200, and accepted by over 300 programs at more than 130 schools. GMAC says it isn’t only for executive MBAs: schools also accept it for full-time, part-time, hybrid and online MBAs and for master’s programs. GMAC says most candidates prepare in under four weeks.

When a GMAT score still helps

A score can matter for funding even where it isn’t required for admission. Our good score page has what GMAC’s article says about scholarships tied to GMAT scores.