As a new application season gets underway, I always look forward to seeing the first applications come through. Every application offers a glimpse into the impact each applicant could have on the collaborative learning environment that makes the Weekend Executive MBA experience transformative.

Every year, our team takes a close look at our application to make sure we’re asking the right questions and giving applicants meaningful opportunities to demonstrate what matters most: their readiness for the academic experience, their potential to contribute to the cohort, and the ways they will strengthen the Fuqua community.

No single application component tells the whole story. It’s the combination of experiences, achievements, and aspirations that helps us understand who an applicant is and how they’ll contribute to the class.

This year, we’ve made a few updates to the 2026 Executive MBA application designed to help us better understand those qualities. Here are two updates you’ll see in this year’s application and what we’re hoping to learn through them.

A New Approach to Demonstrating Quantitative Readiness

The biggest change: standardized test scores are no longer required to apply to the Weekend Executive MBA program.

Applicants may still submit GMAT, GRE, or Executive Assessment scores if they think doing so will strengthen their application, but that’s entirely optional, and we have no preference among the three. There’s no minimum score requirement either.

The question we hear most often is some version of: If a score isn’t required, how will you assess quantitative readiness?

The truth is, we’ve always taken a broader view of quantitative preparedness than a single exam score can capture. Strong candidates come to Fuqua from a wide range of academic and professional backgrounds, and many demonstrate analytical ability every day through budgeting, forecasting, financial analysis, resource allocation, performance measurement, or data-driven decision making at work.

To make it easier to show that, we’ve added a dedicated Quantitative Readiness section to the application. Applicants should use it to highlight how they apply quantitative thinking in their current or recent role, relevant coursework, certifications, online learning, or independent project work. We’re not looking for everyone to have followed the same path. We’re looking to understand how an applicant built the skills that will help them succeed in the analytical parts of the program.

In some cases, the Admissions Committee may still ask for additional quantitative evidence before making a final decision. For most applicants, though, the combination of academic history, professional experience, and this new section helps us understand an applicant’s preparation in a broader context.

A New Essay Prompt About Supporting Others

We’ve also updated one of our essay prompts.

As we reviewed our application, we realized we wanted a better way to understand how applicants have invested in the success of others throughout their careers. This year, applicants will respond to:

“How have you supported the success of others in a professional setting, and how will you reflect the spirit of Team Fuqua as a WEMBA student?”

If you’ve spent any time researching Fuqua, you’ve come across the phrase Team Fuqua. Collaboration is a value at a lot of business schools, but here it runs deeper. It’s a commitment to supporting one another, contributing to the success of the broader community, and leading with both ambition and generosity.

Students in the Weekend Executive MBA program spend 22 months with the same cohort, and those relationships often become one of the most meaningful parts of the experience. So we place real value on candidates who lift up the people around them. Leadership matters, of course, but so does the ability to mentor, share credit, build trust, and help a team get somewhere it couldn’t get alone.

The strongest responses won’t be broad statements about teamwork. They’ll be specific: a moment an applicant helped someone grow, succeed, or reach a goal they couldn’t have otherwise reached.

What Hasn’t Changed

The application evolves a bit each year, but what we’re looking for doesn’t: candidates ready to succeed academically, eager to contribute to the classroom, and committed to their classmates and the broader Fuqua community. These updates offer a couple more ways to show us that.

I hope these updates give you a clearer understanding of what we’re looking for, and I look forward to seeing your application come through.