As the new application season is upon us, our Admissions team is excited to start meeting the applicants who will make up our next Weekend Executive MBA class. Our goal every year is to streamline the application process while still ensuring ample opportunities for applicants to highlight their unique strengths, skills, and experiences. In that spirit, I’m excited to share a few updates to the 2023 – 2024 application.

Standardized Testing Options

Fuqua will accept the new GMAT Focus and revised GRE exam scores, and will also continue to accept the standard GMAT and GRE, as well as the Executive Assessment. The new test formats will both offer shorter formats with different options for score reporting, feedback, and question formats. As always, we have no preference for which test score a candidate submits and encourage them to choose the test that is the best fit for them.

As in the past, we provide test waiver opportunities for applicants who meet specific criteria. The waiver request process is straightforward with instructions found on the application.

Short Answer Questions

The short answer portion of the application can oftentimes be the most time consuming, but it tells us what our applicants value and how they think beyond what’s reflected in their academic history or resume. We received A LOT of positive feedback from applicants last year about our 5 Random Things prompt—not to mention it was a highlight for our team too! To give this year’s applicants even more space to have fun with this exercise in self-reflection, we decided to increase it to 10 Random Things.

This year we also updated our second short answer question to give applicants a choice between two prompts to answer. Applicants can choose to write about a favorite team success story or the ways they aim to make an impact at Fuqua. A best practice for any of our short answer prompts is to do your research. Let our team connect you with students or alumni, schedule a chat with an admissions counselor, and attend an event to be able to articulate why you believe Fuqua is the right place for you.

Resume

Because our working professional applicants often have substantial work experience, they can struggle to condense professional milestones into a one-page resume. This year, applicants are welcome to submit a resume of up to two pages and can use one of our resume template guides for reference—just ask our team.

A general rule for resumes is to limit each page to 10 years of work experience. Applicants should tailor the experiences they share and focus on readability—keep it simple! Remember, the purpose of a resume is to sell yourself to the audience receiving it, and in this case, it’s our Admissions team.

Interview

The last few years presented several challenges in offering in-person application interviews, so I’m thrilled to share that in addition to virtual opportunities, applicants can also opt to interview in person on campus. Applicants can either meet with an admissions representative throughout the week or over a weekend during an Open House. The admissions committee has no preference for the interview format you choose but that you are polished and prepared either way.

We hope these changes will make it even more enjoyable for candidates to provide their strongest application and we look forward to getting to know each of them.