Update from Elaine Conces, VP of Graduate Programs
COVID-19 started forcing university classes to go online around March 2020, but this did not deter people from applying. In the time period prior to September 14, 2020 (roughly corresponding to Round 1 deadlines for 2021 admission), 75% of U.S. full-time two-year MBA programs reported that they were receiving more MBA applications than they had the previous year.* (To compare, in 2019, 73% said that applications were in decline.)
I had predicted a surge for Round 2, but I thought Round 1 might be slow – potential applicants might hesitate to leave their jobs in a turbulent pandemic year. I was wrong. As U.S. layoffs reached a historic high of 8.8% that March and continued on at 6.9% in April, some of my newest clients had just become unemployed.** I had more clients applying to reach Round 3 deadlines than ever before, especially as schools wisely extended their deadlines into the summer, and other clients submitted their applications well before Round 1 deadlines.
It wasn’t just top-ranked schools reporting more applications coming in: lower ranked and unranked schools also experienced a surge, as did one-year MBA programs, weekend and flex programs, executive MBA programs, online MBAs, and other business masters’ programs. It seemed that lots of people had decided to ride out the storm at school. Something else was going on as well. Most of my clients, employed and unemployed alike, told me that they were stuck at home and using the time to finally get their MBA ambitions moving.
When the doors of test centers abruptly closed, the makers of the standardized tests, GMAC (GMAT) and ETS (GRE) moved quickly to offer the exams online but ran into issues involving technology, live proctoring, and test-taking policies (e.g., was scratch paper to be allowed). Even after these issues were semi-satisfactorily resolved, certain test-takers remained at a disadvantage due to faulty or limited Internet connections, old computer equipment, and lack of the required private space for test-taking. In countries like India, COVID-19 remained a constant, omnipresent threat, keeping test centers closed longer.
For disadvantaged applicants, test-optional business schools became the only option … but many other applicants were strongly tempted by the thought of not having to attempt the difficult grad school exams. These applicants were able to take a test online, or here in Austin they could even schedule a test center date, but they kind of didn't want to.
For the MBA applicants who decided to skip the GMAT, that window of opportunity closed quickly. Within the next two years, business schools and the GMAC (maker of the GMAT) had adapted, and most MBA programs decided that a GMAT or GRE score was an essential predictor of student success.
*2020 Application Trends Survey by GMAC: 325 schools offering 525 MBA programs participated in the survey – 204 schools were based in the United States, representing 372 MBA programs.
**U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
