Role of Standardized Test Scores in MBA Admissions Evolves

During the 2020-2021 admissions season, many MBA programs introduced flexibility into their admissions process by waiving the GMAT/GRE requirement. And just last month, UVA’s Darden announced that it would extend its test-optional policy into the upcoming admissions cycle. The school’s current policy allows for students to submit GMAT/GRE or alternative test scores (including the LSAT, MCAT, or Executive Assessment). But students also have the option to request a waiver based on a provided alternative indicator of academic, personal, or professional achievement, which could include previous ACT/SAT scores.

Last year, Darden received around 1,300 waiver requests and admitted approximately 13 percent of the incoming class via test waiver. School representatives believe that the policy created a more equitable standard for admission while also “attracting a more diverse group of candidates.” Darden’s head of admissions, Dawna Clarke, also noted that Darden is employing data analytics to better understand student success and inform future policy decisions. Describing early results from Darden’s internal analysis on factors that are predictive of success in the first-year MBA curriculum, Clarke said, “Surprisingly, we found the verbal GMAT correlated more than the quant GMAT. The GPA correlated more than the GMAT. We found a correlation between SAT and ACT scores. And we found a correlation even with the interview. The interview was predictive of academic success… We are currently doing analytics for the first-year class to see how those people who opted to submit an alternative test or none at all are doing and that will help drive our policies.”

While it remains to be seen how other schools will address the GMAT/GRE requirement, the Wall Street Journal recently published an article describing a parallel decline in the role of standardized test scores in post-MBA recruiting. Historically, top consulting firms, McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain, as well as reputable investment banks were thought to rely on the test scores as a filter for job applicants. This is changing. “I don’t mind one bit that campuses are waiving the GMAT requirement,” says Keith Bevans, a partner who leads recruiting at Bain, “Business schools are admitting a much broader range of talent, and I expect to find strong candidates this fall in places I wouldn’t normally see them.” He notes that while Bain still collects standardized test scores, they are not held against prospective employees, but rather incorporated into an internal analysis, which has found that higher scores do not always equate to higher productivity at Bain. Similarly, Danielle Bozarth, the lead partner for North America recruiting at McKinsey, also points out that MBA programs’ deprioritizing of test scores, “is aligned with our recruiting approach that [tests] are one of many ways to help assess a person’s skills or knowledge. We look for people who are good problem-solvers,” of which, she points out, there are many indicators.

While the role of standardized test scores is changing, prospective and current MBA students should carefully consider the entirety of their resume before determining whether to submit, or omit standardized test scores. We recommend thinking through the following questions:

• Are you a particularly strong, or weak, standardized test taker? Providing MBA programs and future employers with high scores on the GRE/GMAT will be beneficial even if they are considered a small component of your larger story.

• Do you feel that your GPA and academic credentials adequately reflect your capabilities as a student? If you have a weak GPA or other “soft” academic credentials on your resume, you may want to bolster these scores by taking the GMAT or GRE. This will give you the opportunity to showcase your ability to compete in a rigorous analytical and quantitative environment, and also prove your verbal competence.

• Does your resume include experiences that directly speak to your ability to critically assess complex situations under pressure and problem-solve? This could include success in case competitions, a role on the debate team, awarded scholarships or fellowships, and professional certifications, etc.

• Do you have any exceptional experiences that set you apart from other applicants by demonstrating a high level of skill, determination, and/or a commitment to success? For example: a role on a highly competitive sports team, a successful entrepreneurial venture, and/or documented professional success at a highly regarded company.

UNC Kenan Flagler Provides Alumni with Strategies to Avoid Post-MBA Burnout

Earlier this month, the Financial Times published an article on workplace wellbeing and burnout. The article included the results of a reader survey on how employers support employees’ mental health. Two-thirds said that their work had a somewhat to extremely negative effect on their health. Forty-four percent said that they did not think their organization took mental health seriously and half said that they either didn’t know where at work to go or had nowhere to go if they needed support. While the survey respondents were self-selecting, the results show a significant issue with employer support of mental health, including stress, burnout, anxiety, and depression.

 The article warns us that the problem runs across sectors, but may be particularly relevant to graduates of law, business, and medical schools; the authors note that “Fields such as law, finance, and consulting seem particularly prone to intense, demanding workplace cultures, but the issue affects people in all sectors. One doctor dies by suicide every day in the US.” Similarly, Blind, an anonymous social app for tech employees, surveyed its users in May 2018 and 57 percent of the 11, 487 respondents said that they were burned out. Only five of the 30 tech companies represented had an employee burnout rate below 50 percent, and 16 of the companies had a burnout rate higher than the average (57 percent). Later surveys, also by Blind, found that 52 percent of tech workers responded that they do not have a “healthy work environment” and that 39 percent of tech workers said they were depressed.

The FT survey also found that reasons behind burnout clustered into four themes: overwork, cultural stigma, pressure from the top, and fear of being penalized. The article suggested that many experts point to an epidemic of overwork resulting from the common expectation that employees be available and responsive to client needs 24/7. “In his book, Dying for a Paycheck, Stanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer posits that this crisis is getting worse over time, amid stagnating wage growth and an increasing reliance on the gig economy. ‘We are on a path that is completely unsustainable,’ Pfeffer says. ‘The CDC [Centers for Disease Control] tells you that chronic illness is 86 percent of the $2.7tn US healthcare spend. Many come from stress-related behaviours. If you’re going to solve the healthcare cost crisis, a piece of that solution has to go through the workplace.’”

In an acknowledgment of the intense positions that many post-MBA graduates find themselves in, Robert Goldberg, an affiliate UNC Kenan-Flagler faculty member, recently led an interactive session for UNC alumni to build awareness of and strategies for preventing burnout.

First, Goldberg encouraged alumni to explore various “energy zones” which, described below, he adapted from The Power of Full Engagement (Loehr & Schwartz, 2003).

• Performance zone: Passionate, enthusiastic, engaged, optimistic, alive, challenged, and absorbed

• Survival zone: Anxious, impatient, angry, irritable, defensive, fearful, and frustrated

• Burnout zone: Hopeless, exhausted, sad, discouraged, lost, empty, worried, and depleted

• Recovery zone: Calm, peaceful, grateful, relaxed, receptive, relieved, rested, and renewed

Goldberg said that to stay in the performance zone, you must enter the recovery zone before you enter burnout. As such, those in intense professions may need to spend time recovering every working day. This can be done using various energy management techniques, including physical (stepping away from the desk at regular intervals), mental (prioritizing competing demands), emotional (feeling valued and appreciated), and spiritual (connecting work to higher purpose). 

Finally, Goldberg addressed the importance of “personal resilience” to maintain strong performance, defining resilience as “the ability to become strong, healthy, and successful after something bad happens.”

Goldberg shared the following five factors, summarized below, for building resilience capability:

• Perspective: Take some space to view a situation, accepting the negative aspects and finding opportunities. “Recognize what can be changed and what can’t.”

• Emotional intelligence: Become present in your emotions and name what you’re feeling. Don’t feel guilt or shame over the emotions that you experience, but give yourself time and space to process them.

• Purpose, values, strengths: Be aware of the purpose that you find in your work, and how it relates to your larger moral compass. Use this awareness to stay centered during chaotic times.

• Connections: Form relationships with your friends and colleagues and give and receive support from this network.

• Managing physical energy: Take care of yourself. Exercise, eat well, and have hobbies and activities to engage in apart from your work.

Graduate students, particularly within business, law, and medical school, may want to consider incorporating these strategies into their lives now. Building healthy and sustainable stress management habits, within the hectic graduate school environment, will be good preparation for managing career stress, avoiding burnout, and maintaining wellness in the future.