Michigan Ross Online MBA Overview

We seek diversity in the professional backgrounds of our admitted students, just as we do in other parts of our applicants’ profiles. No one industry or field is favored over another. We are more interested in your contribution to the group or organization.

The GMAT or GRE is a required component of our application and candidates are encouraged to submit a test score. However, we offer limited test waiver opportunities (see below). Candidates with eight or more years of professional post-collegiate work experience may submit the Executive Assessment (EA) instead of the GMAT or GRE. 

Test Waiver Options

Michigan Ross may grant a standardized test waiver to a small pool of experienced, academically, and professionally high-performing candidates.

The Online MBA program at Ross is academically rigorous and admission is competitive. If you are considering applying for a waiver through the application, please examine your candidacy in terms of both academic and professional accomplishments.  A few things to consider:

• The Admissions Committee grants waivers on a case-by-case basis after considering individual credentials.
• Quantitative ability is a prime requirement for waiver eligibility.  This is mainly demonstrated by graduate-level quantitative courses and/or certification.
• Your application must be complete before your waiver request is reviewed.  This includes essays and a letter of recommendation.
• Test waiver decisions will be communicated within 10business days of the date of application completion. The decisions of the Admissions Committee are final.
• A granted waiver does not guarantee admission.
• If you are not granted a waiver but would still like to be considered for admission, you can do one of the following: submit a GRE or GMAT score, EA score if you have eight or more years post-collegiate work experience, or successfully complete the Quantitative Readiness course.
• Please note that a high GMAT or GRE score is a helpful data point in deciding merit-based scholarship distribution.  Some industries may take test scores into account when considering job candidates. 

All applications submitted after April 1, 2022 are subject to currently published waiver guidelines.

Please read our Application Requirements page to learn more.

You should choose a recommender who can comment in depth on your professional performance and work product and provide relevant examples — preferably your direct supervisor.

We recognize that you may not wish to inform your current supervisor about your plans to pursue an MBA. If that is the case, you should choose an alternative recommender such as a former manager, client, or a supervisor from an extracurricular organization. If you do not choose your current supervisor as a recommender, you should explain the reasons for your alternate choice in the optional essay.
Since we use the recommendation to learn about you as a working professional, recommendations from former professors do not tend to be effective.

As much as possible, course material and other content are similar between all Ross MBA programs. Students will take the same required core courses and complete the same number of credit hours (57). The underlying difference is the format/timing in which the course material is delivered.