9) Those GMAT & GRE Scores

Something happened on the way through the pandemic: standardized tests became much less useful in MBA admissions. 

Of the 27 MBA programs that are ranked in the Top 25 by U.S. News this year, only eight required a standardized test. That means 19 either grant test waivers or are completely test optional.

Test waivers are now possible at Chicago Booth, Dartmouth Tuck, NYU Stern, Virginia Darden, Michigan Ross, Cornell Johnson, and Carnegie Mellon Tepper. Schools that told U.S. News their MBA programs are now test optional include MIT Sloan, UCLA Anderson, Vanderbilt Owen, the University of Washington Foster, and Georgia Tech’s Scheller, among others.

Most of these highly selective MBA programs grant waivers on a case-by-case basis. They examine undergraduate transcripts and work histories to determine whether a person has the quantitative skills necessary to get through their core curriculum without difficulty. At Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, 28% of the newest entering class of full-time MBAs had GMAT scores, 17% had GRE scores, and 55% applied with test waivers.

While we still believe that a GMAT or GRE score is a valuable indicator of admissions quality, the underlying data published by U.S. News should give serious pause to anyone. 

That leading institutions no longer rely heavily on test scores speaks volumes about the declining importance of such metrics in MBA admissions. Nevertheless, U.S. News continues to assign test scores the same weight in its ranking methodology (13%) as the employment at three months after graduation—a choice that seems increasingly out of step with current admissions trends.

10) The Rankings’ Winners & Losers

Like it or not, there can be a fair amount of volatility in annual MBA rankings. Some 22 business schools fell or rose by double-digits this year. So while the champagne corks popped at a number of schools; an equivalent number of institutions would have preferred not to even acknowledge this year’s list.

The topsy-turvy nature of the U.S. News MBA ranking is evidenced by the dramatic increase by American University’s Kogod School of Business. The school’s full-time MBA program jumped 27 places, more than any other program, to rank 58th this year from 85th a year earlier. The fuller roller-coaster story can be told by looking at the school’s rankings over the past five years. A mere two years ago, this program ranked 122nd. Then in 2022, it ranked 76th. Five years ago, in 2020, Kogod placed 99-131.

What’s behind the school’s ascendance? On a relative basis, Kogod improved its standing in the peer assessment survey, earning its highest ranking–2.9–in at least the last seven years. The increase can be attributed to the leadership position the school has staked out in the fields of AI and sustainability as well as some high-profile faculty hires and record fundraising. Substantially improve career outcomes also helped. Some 85.2% of its MBA grads were employed three months after graduation last year. That’s a better employment rate than Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, and Yale.

All rankings share one unpredictable element. It’s the maxim that what goes up must come down. This year 11 full-time MBA programs suffered a double-digit fall in their ranking. The steepest decline was at the College of William & Mary. The MBA program at its Mason School of Business lost 21 places to rank 61st from 40th last year.  Mason wasn’t the only school to drop that many positions. St. Louis University also lost 21 spots to fall outside the Top 100, dropping to 118 from 97th.

DON’T MISS: THE FULL RANKING RESULTS or HOW U.S. NEWS RANKS THE TOP B-SCHOOLS BY SPECIALIZATION IN 2025