MBA Career Progression: B-Schools Withdraw Acceptances Due to GRE Cheating Scandal

Last Updated on May 2, 2024 by Robert C. Hoopes

Business schools in the United States have recently overturned acceptances for several African MBA candidates after suspicions of cheating on the at-home GRE test. Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business and the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management have confirmed rescinding favorable admission decisions for candidates from Nigeria and Ghana.

At least three candidates who had been accepted to Ohio State’s Fisher College had their offers revoked due to testing irregularities. As a result of the cheating scandal, Ohio State has decided to no longer accept at-home GRE test scores.

The issue has caused some schools to rescind multiple acceptances for smaller cohorts due to the security breach. This comes at a time when the GRE has been gaining market share over the GMAT exam and MBA applications have been declining.

Despite this setback, Educational Testing Service (ETS) maintains that it has taken significant measures to combat test fraud and takes the issue seriously. The organization records and monitors every at-home test session by a human proctor to prevent cheating.

In one instance, Indiana University’s Kelley School had to cancel a GRE score for a waitlisted Nigerian student during the admissions cycle. Schools facing challenges in domestic enrollments may have more incentive to be lenient in their admissions process.

Overall, the incident highlights the importance of maintaining integrity in the application process for MBA programs, as well as the ongoing battle against cheating in standardized testing.