This Top MBA Program DOUBLED Its Apps — And Enrolled 53% Women

Many top business schools are reporting big jumps in the volume of applications they received to join this fall’s class.

None has reported the kind of increase reported at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.

The Olin School grew its MBA class by 25% to more than 100 students this year and enrolled more than 50% women for the first time in program history on the strength of an incredible 99% increase in applications. The school also hit 10-year highs in test averages. At the same time, its acceptance rate dropped by 10 percentage points, to 18% from 28%, lowest in a decade.

WASHINGTON OLIN MBA ACCEPTANCE RATE & APPS FOR THE LAST 3 CYCLES

Year	Selectivity/ Admit Rate	App Volume
2023-2024	18%	1,603
2022-2023	28%	806
2021-2022	26%	701

Source: Olin Business School

---

‘THIS CLASS PROFILE IS EXTREMELY STRONG’

Other top B-schools in the U.S. and Europe have reported a big jump in MBA applications in 2023-2024 — many of them big enough to erase years of declines. At Harvard Business School, MBA apps were up 21%; Yale School of Management was up 21.5% and Dartmouth Tuck School of Business was up an incredible 36%. Duke Fuqua was up nearly 16% to an all-time app record, which helped the school achieve gender parity for the first time ever. In Europe, Spanish B-school IESE reported a 16% jump in apps that fueled its enrollment of the biggest-ever class in the school’s 60-year history, as well as the most women in its history: 40% of the class.

Just as importantly for the U.S. schools, they kept their diversity benchmarks from collapsing despite the gutting of affirmative action by the U.S. Supreme Court in summer 2023. Even there, defying the political headwinds, Washington Olin had among the best admission cycles of any schools that have so far reported their data: At 34% under-represented minorities in the class, the Olin School matched its levels from fall 2023, staying at a historic high for the school.

“This class profile is extremely strong,” says Evan Bouffides, senior associate dean of graduate programs. “We hit Olin records on many important dimensions, including test scores, undergraduate GPA, and selectivity. As importantly, we achieved historic highs related to gender and racial diversity. Our large application volume — about double that of last year — allowed us the opportunity to recruit a tremendously talented class. We couldn’t be happier with this phenomenal group of students.

“Olin strives to welcome diverse classes across a variety of dimensions including gender. We’re thrilled that our larger application pool this year allowed us to recruit a class comprised of 53% women and 34% historically underrepresented students of color.”

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY OLIN BUSINESS SCHOOL MBA CLASS OF 2026: BY THE NUMBERS

Stats	MBA Class of 2026
Class Size	103
Women	53%
International	44%
Countries Represented	27
URM	34%
U.S. Minority	49%
GMAT Average	706
GMAT Range	550-780
GRE Quant Average	164
GRE Quant Range	148-170
GRE Verbal Average	163
GRE Verbal Range	155-170
Undergrad GPA Average	3.53
GPA Range	2.7-4.0
Years Work Experience	4.4
Undergrad Major	Business/Economics 35%, Natural Science, Engineering & STEM 36%, Humanities/Social Sciences 25%, Other 4%
Pre-MBA Industry	Healthcare 15%, Financial Services 15%, Tech 12%, Manufacturing 9%, Consulting 6%, CPG 6%, Education 6%, Military 6%, Government/Nonprofit 9%, Media/Entertainment 3%, Real Estate 3%, Other 8%

Source: Washington University

---

SOMEONE WITH A 550 GMAT GOT INTO OLIN

Among several impressive metrics in the MBA Class of 2026, Olin’s new batch of students achieved the highest Graduate Management Admission Test average in a decade at 706, with a range from 550 to 780. Students’ Graduate Record Exam scores — 164 Quant and 163 Verbal — also represent a 10-year high, and the class undergraduate GPA average of 3.53 is just under last year’s 3.6.

The class is 44% international, down from 51% last year, but includes representatives of 27 countries, up from 19. Fifteen percent of the incoming class comes from a healthcare background, with another 15% from financial services, and 12% from tech.

Washington Olin currently ranks 28th in Poets&Quants‘ aggregate ranking of U.S. MBA programs. The Missouri B-school is 26th in the latest U.S. News ranking, 33rd in Bloomberg Businessweek, and 49th in The Financial Times’s global ranking. Washington Olin has ranked No. 1 for five straight years in P&Q‘s ranking of the top entrepreneurship programs.

“There’s a lot of momentum at Olin,” says Mike Mazzeo, dean of the business school at Washington University in St. Louis since January 2024. “We’re building on a solid foundation of amazing faculty, research-based academics, and collaborative relationships in the St. Louis community. This impressive MBA class perfectly represents our exceptional Olin students. As graduates, they will go on to lead organizations in St. Louis, across the country, and around the world.”

DON’T MISS MEET WASHU OLIN’S MBA CLASS OF 2025