Updated from original post that was published on 8/6/2020.

If you’ve been checking our website recently, you’re not alone: this is a highly strategic time to earn an MBA! And you may have seen that we offer standardized test waivers. What’s not to love about skipping the GMAT or the GRE? Here are some answers about the process: who’s eligible for a waiver, who’s most likely to get one – and above all, why you should think twice about seeking a waiver unless it’s absolutely necessary.

I can’t stand standardized tests. Why are they required?

We know. Tests are a pain. But scores such as those from the GMAT and GRE show if you have the quantitative abilities to shine at Rice Business. And remember, even if you qualify for a waiver, you’ll have to make a compelling case for your skills in other ways. On the other hand, a test score in our range quickly and definitively says: yup, you’re Rice Business material.

Tests also show more than quantitative chops. It takes time, work and money to take a test. To us, this translates as commitment. Rice Business chooses – and rewards – committed learners. 

Tests also do a lot more than help you get in. GMAT scores matter when we give out scholarships. And once it’s time to job-hunt, employers in industries like consulting and investment banking will ask for test scores, so you may need to take the test anyway. In other words, there’s no easy way out. Rice Business is fast-paced and rigorous – and so is the business world. Tests are an efficient way to show your strength.

Do you look at waiver holders differently for MBA admissions?

No, we do not view applicants with test waivers differently. However, if you are approved for a waiver, your application package will contain one less component for evaluation. Be sure to include meaningful data, details, and information that will add value to the assessment of your application in lieu of a test score.

So what are the requirements to earn a waiver?

If you're applying to our MBA programs and want to be considered for a waiver, you need a minimum of three years of work experience and at least one of the following: 

1. A bachelor's or master's degree, with strong academic achievement in a STEM or quantitative subject area
2. A terminal degree (e.g. MD or PhD)
3. A quantitative professional certification (e.g. CPA, CFA)
4. Other graduate level standardized test scores showing strong quantitative skills (e.g. MCAT)

Why should I know all this before seeking a waiver?

Because waivers are hard to get! And skipping a test now may not save you from having to take the exact same test later. We don’t want you to spend your time seeking a waiver when you could boost your chances of acceptance by taking a test. At Rice Business, we’re big believers that the harder you work, the luckier you’re going to get. 

Target Retirement Funds are touted as a simplified investment option for people saving money for their golden years, but Rice University researchers have discovered retirees can be shortchanged by a curious behavioral phenomenon known as “zero bias.”

These funds, also known as TRFs, are built based on a goal retirement year, with choices ending in either a zero or a five (such as 2030, 2035, 2040 or 2045). As it turns out, investors are more likely to select funds labeled with years ending in zeros rather than fives.

“Zero bias” can affect how much money people have for their retirement, according to new research from Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business.

The study, based on an analysis of data from 84,600 investors and published this month in the Journal of Consumer Research, found that people born in years ending in eight or nine tend to choose TRFs for retiring at age 60, while those born in years ending in zero, one or two tend to project retiring at 70.

Those choices can significantly lower or increase retirees’ wealth by altering contribution amounts and exposing investors to risk incompatible with their age profile, according to study author Ajay Kalra, the Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Marketing at the Jones School, and co-authors Xiao Liu of New York University and Wei Zhang of Iowa State University.

“Zero bias” is particularly costly for people who are risk-averse and select later TRFs, but it benefits risk-averse consumers who choose early TRFs, according to the paper.

“The preference for zero-ending TRFs implies that some individuals intend to retire either at the age of 60 or 70, rather than 65,” the authors wrote. “The bias is consistently evident for people born in the 1950s through the 1980s.”

The authors said it is more common for investors to round up than round down.

“We find that the ‘zero bias’ affects investors in two substantial ways,” they wrote. “First, it may lead to an investment portfolio with an incompatible level of risk. Second, the choice of the TRF appears to impact the amount people contribute towards their retirement savings.”

The authors argue that this may lead people to believe they have more time to build their investment portfolios, significantly lowering the total wealth accumulated by retirement – especially for those born in years ending in zero, one or two and who select a TRF past 65. The bias also hurts retirees born in years ending in eights and nines and who are more likely to select TRFs with earlier target years.

“Our simulations find that approximately 34% of people born in eight- or nine-ending years select early TRFs, and all of them end up financially worse off,” the authors wrote. “On the other hand, about 29% of people born in years ending 0-2 select later TRFs and end up better off except for those who are risk-averse,” the authors wrote. “In general, the losses of those selecting the mismatched TRFs (inconsistent with retiring at 65) are greater than the gains.”

For more research and insights, visit the Rice Business Wisdom website at https://business.rice.edu/wisdom.

“When the fire chief asked for a three-year fleet study, I was able to apply concepts from my analytics class and give him everything he needed. He said, ‘I can see your MBA is paying off already.’ I really hope to keep applying what I’m learning in class and from my cohort so the fire department can be more efficient, more fiscally responsible. It doesn’t have to be done the same way it’s always been done. You can ask why. When you have the language of business behind you, you can ask the right questions and come up with the right answers.”

Shortly before Hurricane Harvey, Ruy Lozano, a 20-year veteran of the Houston Fire Department, was promoted. The former paramedic, high-rise firefighter and bilingual public information officer was appointed assistant fire chief in charge of the resource management division. That meant he oversaw the department’s infrastructure — 93 fire houses and a fleet of about 300 vehicles, including 88 fire engines, 38 ladder trucks and 100 ambulances. He was also in charge of the procurement of equipment, budgeting and strategy. During Hurricane Harvey, he had to give the chief constant updates. “I had been in the position about a month. We lost fire trucks, fire stations and equipment. There was so much damage. I thought, how do we recover? You have to have a procurement plan. It’s so important to master your business processes. I knew immediately I had to get an MBA.” 

“My goal is twofold. Professionally, I would like to become involved in hospital administration to be able to effectively apply my medical training, entrepreneurial experience and newly acquired business knowledge to improve health care in a more acute and complex setting. Personally, my aspiration is to create a nonprofit organization, one that works to improve the health and better the lives of families in resource-poor communities globally.”

After seven years, Victoria Hopkins ’20 sold her urgent care clinic, accepted an offer with the U.S. medical staff stationed outside of Seoul, South Korea and joined the inaugural cohort of the MBA@Rice program. Born in Pusan, South Korea, Victoria came to the U.S. when she was three. Before starting medical school, she returned to work as an English teacher and discovered her Korean cultural heritage. Now she has the opportunity to share this with her husband and children when they move to South Korea this fall. “The new online MBA program at Rice allows me to learn while living abroad in Asia with my family. I couldn’t do it otherwise.” Victoria earned her B.A. and M.D. at Brown University and an M.P.H. at Harvard School of Public Health. She is one of 26 students in the new online program. 

“I decided to pursue my MBA because I want to bring the knowledge and skills I attain in business school back to the fight as a strategic leader in the Army.”

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Casey Sherrod was only 12 on Sept. 11, 2001, but she remembers seeing soldiers enlist to fight in the War on Terror and feeling reassured that they would make the world safe again. “In my eyes, soldiers were real-life superheroes, and I wanted to be just like them,” she says. That’s why she joined the Army ROTC at the University of Houston, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies. A year after graduating, she deployed to Afghanistan as a platoon leader. Now a captain, Sherrod has spent the past two years as commander of the largest Army recruiting company on the West Coast. But she’s always wanted to come back home to Houston — and now she has the opportunity to study at Rice Business while still on active duty; the Army is covering her tuition. “It’s part of a program the Army offers officers in order to educate and retain their leaders. When I graduate, I will return to the operational Army as a strategic leader in either human resources, acquisitions or recruiting. My goal is to ultimately retire from the Army and return to Houston as a leader in the business community.”

“What drew me to Rice was the small, tight-knit community and the entrepreneurship program. My lifelong dream is to start my own company one day, and I knew that Rice Business could help me do that.”

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For Doug Fiefia, whose parents immigrated from Tonga in the 1970s, the diverse community at Rice Business is one of its best features. His family agrees. In fact, when he told his mother about the school’s Rice Around the World Partio, she flew to Houston from Utah — along with Fiefia’s grandmother, brother, sister, brother-in-law and nephew — to cook up authentic Tongan cuisine and perform a traditional song. “In the Tongan culture, family is everything,” Fiefia says. His Rice Business family has been supportive as well. He credits the school with helping him secure a coveted position as an intern this summer at Google’s headquarters, where he helped the Google Ads team develop a new sales strategy. It was a great opportunity for Fiefia, who hopes to work at one of the big tech firms after earning his MBA, and it came about in part because Rice Business is a member of The Consortium, a nonprofit alliance of businesses and business schools dedicated to helping minorities become a part of business education and corporate leadership. “I first met with Google at the Consortium orientation program, and through networking and successful interviews I was lucky enough to receive an offer,” he says.

“One thing I’ve learned here that I didn’t expect was the importance of soft skills, like team dynamics and communication. It’s not just what you work on, but with whom you work and how you work together.”

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The McNair Scholar at Rice Business, Adrian Trömel wants to help bring new medical technologies to market. His master’s thesis at EPFL in Switzerland — where he earned an MS in materials science — involved building bioabsorbable heart valve scaffolds. Rice Business was a logical next step. “Rice was already on my radar for its renown in the field of materials science, as was the Texas Medical Center. And it made sense to go somewhere with a reputation for outstanding entrepreneurship,” he says. The fact that his father had earned an MBA at Rice was only one factor in his choice.