GMAT Waiver Online MBA Programs - Eligibility & Accredited Business Schools

A master of business administration (MBA) is considered an essential qualification for those seeking a career as a business owner, executive, or manager. This graduate-level degree can provide students with a vital skill set applicable throughout their working lives. By illustration, the author of a report in the Harvard Business Review broadly declares that earning an MBA means earning future-ready skills, exploring new industries, accelerating career paths, and expanding and diversifying networks.

Of course, MBA programs can be difficult and time-consuming, especially for students who travel to and from a college campus. That said, many MBA programs are now available online, established to meet the needs of working professionals seeking a more flexible schedule. In addition, because an MBA program can be grueling, some graduate students find solace in the face-to-face support provided by other students. Distance-based MBA students, by contrast, must be highly self-motivated and comfortable receiving support virtually rather than in person.

For some students, one of the most challenging parts of the application process is preparing for or taking standardized tests, either because said students don’t test well or because they don’t have the time to prepare adequately. Conveniently, there are several online MBA programs with “GMAT waiver” options these days—especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. A program that offers a GMAT waiver offers a conditional waiving of the GMAT requirement for qualified applicants.

Consider, for example, East Carolina University, which offers a GMAT waiver. In this case, the school waives the GMAT requirement for applicants who meet the criteria for one or more of the following five pathways:

  • Business expertise: five or more years of professional experience and an undergraduate degree
  • Advanced degree: completing an advanced degree that required an entrance exam (GRE, LSAT, etc.)
  • College of Business graduate certificate: completion of a certificate with a GPA of 3.0 or higher
  • Graduate of the ECU Honors College: for alumni or soon-to-be graduates
  • Beta Gamma Sigma: induction into this exclusive business honor society

If applicants meet one or more of the criteria above, they do not have to provide ECU with their GMAT scores as part of the application process. For all practical purposes, this means they would not need to sit for the GMAT exam at all unless other business schools to which they were applying required it. Not every school offering a GMAT waiver will have the same criteria as ECU.

Some, for instance, allow students whose undergraduate grade point average (GPA) meets or exceeds a certain threshold to apply without submitting their GMAT scores. Students are advised to check the specific GMAT waiver criteria for each program to which they are applying.

Note that a GMAT waiver should not be confused with a “GMAT fee waiver,” which waives the GMAT exam fee for eligible students but does not waive the requirement to submit GMAT test scores when applying.

A list of select online MBAs with GMAT waivers and four reputable professors who teach in such programs follows.

Featured GMAT Waiver Online MBA Programs
George Mason University Online MBA View Full Profile
University of California, Davis Online MBA (MBA@UCDavis) View Full Profile
Lamar University Online MBA - General View Full Profile
UNC Pembroke Online MBA View Full Profile
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Becca Brewer, MEd
Becca Brewer, MEd
Writer

Becca Brewer is building a better future on a thriving earth by healing herself into wholeness, divesting from separation, and walking the path of the loving heart. Previously to her journey as an adventurer for a just, meaningful, and regenerative world, Becca was a formally trained sexuality educator with a master of education.

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