P&Q’s Must Reads: MBA Pay By Occupation & Industry: Here’s How Much You’re Worth

Hello everyone  — Welcome back to Poets&Quants’ Must Reads, a quick, digestible recap of the top business school news, sponsored by CentreCourt, P&Q’s virtual admission events.

I’m your host, Kristy Bleizeffer, and I’ll be highlighting the most important P&Q stories you might have missed. So, let’s get to it. 

No. 1: MBA Pay By Occupation & Industry: Here’s How Much You’re Worth

For many MBAs, a hefty compensation package is the finish line for a  years-long journey. So, what industry and role should one pursue when chasing a target number?

Each year, Poets&Quants breaks down the salary and bonus data from all the top MBA programs by industry and occupation to show who’s getting paid big. This breakdown is now up on our homepage, and you can find a similar breakdown of MBA pay by region in our trending tab.

No. 2: GMAT Test Takers To Harvard Business School May Have To Take An Extra Test 

There’s at least one major casualty of the new, shorter version of the GMAT exam: Applicants to Harvard Business School.

HBS has announced that MBA applicants who submit a GMAT will now have to take an additional 30-minute writing test if they are invited to an admissions interview. 

The Graduate Management Admission Council removed the writing section from its new shorter GMAT exam, and has yet to include a way for applicants to even sign up for the writing test if they wanted to. Other business schools may follow suit, according to reporting by P&Q editor John Byrne.

Meanwhile, the GRE, which has been gaining ground on the GMAT exam in B-school admissions, still has a writing section in its shorter test, making it a more attractive option for some applicants. 

Read more about the GMAT/HBS dustup from our trending tab.

No. 3:  Minorities At The Top U.S. MBA Programs: After 2 Years Of Declines, What Next?

A year after the United States Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, business schools in the U.S. are facing a crisis in minority MBA enrollment.

And while it is unclear what effect the SCOTUS decision had on the 2023-2024 MBA application cycle — if any — it is possible that the worst may be yet to come.

The most current available data from B-schools and U.S. News & World Report shows year-over-year declines in minority enrollment at a wide majority of top-ranked U.S. B-schools. Going back two application cycles, the downturn is even more definitive.

You can read about what this decline could mean for b-schools and b-school applicants now on our homepage.

No. 4: Our Weekly Round Up of  News You Can Use

No matter where you are in your MBA journey, we bring several helpful stories for you this week.

First up: Strengthen Your Quant Profile For MBA Applications. This story, available from our homepage, offers actionable advice for strengthening your numbers game.

Next: Three Misconceptions About The Chicago Booth School Of Business. You can find this story, from our friends MBA Admissions, in our admissions hub.

Finally: How To Get Into A Top MBA Program With A Low Test Score. MBA Coach Scott Edinburgh tells you how to punch up the rest of your application in this article, which is available in our admissions hub.

And, that’s it for this week’s Must Reads recap. 

I also want to alert school seekers to our events tab from our main menu. There, you’ll find all the upcoming admissions events for a range of degrees and programs including full-time and online MBAs, specialized masters, entrepreneurship and more. Registration is free.

Again, I’m Kristy Bleizeffer, and you can join me next week, right here, for a recap of what’s important in the world of business education. Thanks for listening.