What Application Trends Mean for You

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A snapshot of business school application trends for 2012 shows schools are making more program options available to you and recruiting an ever broader mix of candidates.

What Does this Mean for You?
Based on recent GMAC research, conducted in June 2012, a greater share of all programs—MBA, master’s, and PhD—that responded (51%) saw higher volumes of applicants for the incoming 2012–2013 class compared with last year.

For you, this means classes for nearly all MBA and master’s programs in 2012 may be a little larger than previous years, but schools are holding academic standards as high as ever for you and your classmates. The vast majority (90% and upwards) of MBA programs and specialized master’s programs said the academic qualifications of this year’s class were equal to or stronger than those of the 2011 applicant pool.

Applicant Profile by Program Type and Years of Work Experience

Applicant Profile 2012

Source: GMAC, 2012. Application Trends Survey Report


Five Facts About Who's Applying

  • Applicants to EMBA programs had the most work experience and tended to be 31 years or older
  • Full-time MBA programs had the greatest proportion of foreign (by citizenship) applicants
  • More women applied to flexible and online MBA programs than to other types of MBA programs
  • Flexible MBA programs had the largest proportion of applicants who were 25 years or younger
  • Between 85% and 95% of MBA programs said that applicants in 2011 were either more qualified than or had the same qualifications as applicants in 2010

Full-Time Programs Remain Competitive
The average number of applications to full-time programs—666 applications per program—is the highest among all MBA programs. Program selectiveness remains as competitive as ever—acceptance rates held steady at 47%.

Part-Time and Flexible Programs Are More Accessible
In 2011, acceptance rates were 73% for part-time programs and 67% for flexible programs, making these options much more accessible.

EMBA Programs Are Small
On average, EMBA programs received an average of 81 applications and had a 74% acceptance rate.

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