NYU Stern School of Business is joining the swelling ranks of business schools accepting the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) for admissions. Students applying to Stern’s full-time and part-time MBA programs will be allowed to submit either GRE or Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) scores for admissions during the fall 2010 admissions cycle, the school announced today.
Just a few weeks ago, I wrote a story about how a growing number of top business schools are now allowing students to submit the GRE, including most notably heavy-hitters like Harvard Business School, Stanford Business School and MIT Sloan School of Management. Most recently, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School announced they plan to allow students to submit the GRE for admissions next fall.
Admissions officers from those schools told me that the move is part of an effort to attract a younger and more diverse applicant pool. This seems to be the case for Stern as well.
“This move ensures that our business education is even more accessible to high quality applicants from all professional backgrounds, all around the world,” says Anika Davis Pratt, Stern’s assistant dean of MBA admission. “Now applicants weighing post-graduate program options won’t need to study for and take an additional exam, should they choose business school as their next step.”
Pratt also says the decision to accept the GRE fits in well with the school’s diversity goals. Stern – ranked fifteenth in the 2008 BusinessWeek ranking of full-time MBA programs – has a strong record for diversity, boasting one of the highest percentages of women MBA students and minority students among the top business schools. This fall, women will make up 39% of the 2009 admitted full-time class, while minorities will make up 14% of the pool.
“In keeping with Stern’s long-standing commitment to diversity, accepting GRE test scores is a natural step for us,” Pratt says.
Readers, do you think that more schools will start accepting the GRE in the next few months? Do you like the idea that schools are giving students more options?
Read the full article: NYU Stern Plans to Accept the GRE for Admissions