Oh no! You took the GMAT or the GRE for your application to an MBA program, only to not perform at a level that is competitive — at least, not competitive for your “application bucket”, by which I mean, “not competitive when compared to others with backgrounds similar to yours.”

Don’t panic! Not all is lost!  Many schools allow you to request a standardized test waiver, so that you prove to them in OTHER ways that you can totally handle their rigorous academic program (and not embarrass them in front of their corporate recruiters)…

The list of top full-time MBA programs, and their policies / procedures for test waivers, is below. Often, waivers are more leniently granted for part-time or executive programs… at the very least, part-time / evening or weekend MBAs / EMBA applications also accept the easier (and more “forgiveable”) “EA” (“Executive Assessment”) in lieu of the GMAT, which is a great option IF the schools you’re applying to accept it. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: MOST programs offering waivers ask you to FIRST APPLY FOR THE WAIVER, and then only submit your full application (without a score) AFTER the waiver has been granted.

EXTRA IMPORTANT NOTE: the deadline to request a waiver is often SEVERAL WEEKS BEFORE an application deadline, so if you’re interested in applying for a waiver, try to get THAT in ASAP.

(note that often, the waiver application asks for your RESUME, in addition to other academic proof like your grades, so PLEASE go through the ApplicantLab module on strong resumes FIRST, since liking what they see on the resume will certainly help their feelings of warm goodwill when they decide on granting the waiver)

You can scroll in the embedded chart below, or you can use this URL to access the full file:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Kex0TmVL6WLHBOyqJ5Ccol01RHnCKJvkQ8Z8fyitTuY/edit?usp=sharing