Wharton | Mr. European Finance
GMAT 740, GPA 3.3-3.7 range - Second Class Honours
Harvard | Ms. Social Do-Gooder
GRE 330, GPA 3.14
Columbia | Mr. Retail Consultant
GRE 337, GPA 2.9
Wharton | Ms. Woman In STEM
GMAT N/A, GPA 3.68
Ross | Mr. Global Finance Consultant
GMAT 730, GPA 2.88
SDA Bocconi | Mr. Auction King
GMAT 730, GPA 3.6
Stanford GSB | Mr. Lucky Loggie
GMAT 750, GPA 3.29
Harvard | Mr. PM Looking For Something New
GRE 330, GPA 3.71
Harvard | Mr. International Business
GMAT 750, GPA 3.3
Berkeley Haas | Mr. Brainiac
GRE 330, GPA 3.71
Tuck | Ms. Ballerina
GRE 640 on practice test, GPA 3.8
Kellogg | Mr. Baseball Analytics
GMAT 720, GPA 3.62
Duke Fuqua | Ms. Sustainable Food Manufacturing
GMAT 710, GPA 2.94
Harvard | Ms. Community Engagement
GRE 320, GPA 3.4
MIT Sloan | Mr. CPG Senior Manager/ Climbing Enthusiast
GMAT 720, GPA 3.6 (Top 5%)
Stay informed.
Sign Up!
PQ Logo
Featured Schools
NYU Stern logo
Search for:
Toggle navigation PQ Logo
Today's Featured Schools
Featured Schools
NYU Stern logo
  • Search for:
  • Sign In
  • Register
  • News
    • MBA News
    • Case Study: Industry Newsletter
    • Archives By Category
  • Rankings
    • Rankings Home
    • Poets&Quants Top 100 MBA Ranking
    • Poets&Quants International Top 50 MBA Ranking
    • Poets&Quants Best Online MBA Ranking
    • Best MBA Programs For Entrepreneurship
  • Schools
    • MBA Programs
    • Cornell Johnson MBA Handbook
    • Executive MBA Programs
    • Online MBA Programs
    • Specialized Masters Programs
    • BU Questrom
    • Kelley Direct Day In The Life
    • Insider’s Guides to the Top Business Schools
    • School Videos & Deep Dives
  • Admissions
    • MBA Admissions News & Advice
    • MBA Admissions Consultant Directory
    • MBA Game Plan With Fortuna Admissions
    • Handicapping Your MBA Odds
    • Calculate My MBA Odds
    • Podcasts By P&Q
  • Financing
    • Financing Your MBA
  • GMAT / GRE
    • Test Prep Advice & News
    • Target Test Prep
  • Students
  • Jobs
  • EMBA
  • Online MBA
  • Masters
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Home
  • News
    • Case Study: Industry News
  • Rankings
    • Top 100 MBA Ranking
    • Top 50 International MBA Ranking
    • Top Programs For Entrepreneurship
    • Top Online MBA Ranking
    • All MBA Rankings
  • Schools & Programs
    • MBA Programs
    • Cornell Johnson MBA Handbook
    • Executive MBA Programs
    • Online MBA Programs
    • Specialized Masters Programs
    • BU Questrom
    • Kelley Direct Journal
    • Insider’s Guides To Top Schools
  • Admissions
    • Admissions News & Advice
    • Admissions Consultant Directory
    • MBA Adventure With Fortuna Admissions
    • Handicapping Your MBA Odds
    • Calculate My MBA Odds
  • Financing
    • Financing Your MBA
  • GMAT / GRE
    • Test Prep News & Advice
    • Target Test Prep
  • Students
  • MBA Jobs
  • Executive MBA
  • Online MBA
  • Specialized Masters
  • Events
  • Videos & Podcasts
  1. Home
  2. Admissions News & Features
  3. Sponsored Blogs: Insights & Advice From MBA Admissions Consultants
  4. 2020 Business School Application Trends

2020 Business School Application Trends

by: Karen Marks, president and founder of North Star Admissions Consulting on January 30, 2020 | 3,567 Views
January 30, 2020
    • Copy Link
    • Share on Facebook
    • Share on Twitter
    • Email
    • Share on LinkedIn
    • Share on WhatsApp
    • Share on Reddit

Another business school application cycle is winding down, and people are starting to craft their candidacies for the next early rounds. Here are my predictions about business school application trends.

  • Only Applying to More Selective Schools

In general, applicants are winnowing their lists and often applying exclusively to the most selective schools. There is also a renewed focus on rankings, with many candidates refusing to consider programs outside of the “M7.” This business school application trend is likely fueled in part by recent stories that have highlighted the decline in business school applications, leading people to believe that top tier schools are more accessible than in years past. (In my opinion, in reality this isn’t the case, as the average candidate is still exceptionally well qualified.) Nevertheless, the perception is that HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Sloan, etc. have drastically lowered their numeric standards, causing people to create narrow target lists.

  • Prioritizing Cost

Applicants are also being very conservative when they calculate the potential return on investment. Increasingly, candidates are reluctant to matriculate without scholarships, even to top schools. This is especially true for people in well compensated jobs who see their supervisors excelling without MBA’s. This was always true to some extent, and ROI is a factor for the majority of applicants. However, the decline in applications, coupled with the well-publicized fact that many of the top 15 schools have recently increased their scholarship budgets, is creating a bigger pool of students who won’t consider enrolling without merit aid.

  • Taking the GRE or the Executive Assessment

Good news for those of you who struggle with the GMAT: there are now more options than ever. As I’ve written before, there are compelling reasons to take the GRE, which has been widely accepted for many years. New this past cycle is the introduction of the Executive Assessment as an option for applicants to the full-time program at NYU. (The Executive Assessment is a shorter, by most reports easier, version of the GMAT, that has historically been accepted by some part-time and executive programs.) Expect more full-time schools to follow NYU during the upcoming business school admissions cycle by including the Executive Assessment as a valid testing option.


Karen has more than 12 years of experience evaluating candidates for admission to Dartmouth College and to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Since founding North Star Admissions Consulting in 2012, she has helped applicants gain admission to the nation’s top schools, including Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Wharton, MIT, Tuck, Columbia, Kellogg, Booth, Haas, Duke, Johnson, Ross, NYU, UNC, UCLA, Georgetown and more. Clients have been awarded more than $47 million dollars in scholarships, and more than 98% have gotten into one of their top choice schools.

Comments or questions about this article? Email us.

Trending

Has ‘The Window’ Reopened? Acceptance Rates, Yield & More At The Top 50 U.S. MBA Programs

Poets&Quants 2022-2023 MBA ranking

Poets&Quants 2022-2023 MBA Ranking: A Surprising Change At The Top

Average GRE Scores At The Top 50 U.S. MBA Programs

Meet Columbia Business School’s MBA Class Of 2024

Tagged: Karen Marks, mba admissions consultant, MBA application trends, North Star Admissions

Post navigation

Previous Article: The Willamette MBA In 60 Seconds
Next Article: Is This The World’s Best Master’s In Management?
  • Stay Informed. Sign Up! Login
    Logout
    Follow Us
  • Sponsored Blogs
    Melissa Jones, Fortuna Admissions

    Two-Year vs. One-Year MBA Programs: Which One Is Right For You?

    by Melissa Jones, Fortuna Admissions (5 days ago)
    Caroline Diarte Edwards

    10 Tips On How To Pay For Your MBA

    by Caroline Diarte Edwards, Fortuna Admissions (2 weeks ago)

    Positioning Extracurriculars On Your MBA Application

    by Heidi Hillis, Expert Coach at Fortuna Admissions (3 weeks ago)

    Top Tips For Applying To Stanford Graduate School Of Business

    by Matt Symonds, Co-Founder and Director of Fortuna Admissions (4 weeks ago)
  • Advice and Articles
    • How To Use Poets&Quants MBA Admissions Consultant Directory
    • How To Select An MBA Admissions Consultant
    • MBA Admission Consulting Claims: How Credible?
    • Suddenly Cozy: MBA Consultants and B-Schools
    • The Cost: $6,850 Result: B-School

Our Partner Sites: Poets&Quants for Execs | Poets&Quants for Undergrads | Tipping the Scales | We See Genius

About Poets&Quants | P&Q News Archives | Privacy Policy | Advertising & Partnerships | Editorial | Contact Us | Sign In / Register

Copyright© 2023 Poets&Quants, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Website Design By: Yellowfarmstudios.com