Admission Requirements

How much work experience is required for the Sawyer Business School graduate programs?

The College of Arts and Sciences has no requirement for work experience prior to admission.

The work experience required for the Sawyer Business School differs from program to program. The GDPA, MPA, and MHA programs have no work experience requirement. The Global MBA program strongly recommends at least three years of work experience, and the Executive MBA requires at least seven years of experience, preferably in a leadership role. The MBA program prefers students who have at least one year full time work experience or the equivalent thereof.

One year of post-baccalaureate, full-time work experience is recommended for all graduate programs. Work experience can teach things that no university can, and make the student better prepared to think critically about how what they learn can be applied. Internships, co-op placements, and military experience all count towards the work history requirement.

What tests do I need to take to apply?

College of Arts and Sciences students are generally required to take the GRE or MAT.

Most students for the Sawyer Business School will take the GMAT or GRE. Students applying to joint degrees with the Law School (such as the MBA/JD) can take the LSAT (required for the law school) rather than the GMAT or GRE. For all programs, it is recommended that you look in-depth at the specific program information. Various testing waiver programs exist; please visit the webpage for your program of interest for more information on policies and criteria for waivers.

What are the minimum test scores for English?

TOEFL (paper-based) 550
(computer-based) 213
(IBT) 80, each subscore on the test must be at least 17
IELTS 6.5, each subscore must be at least 6.0

What are the minimum test scores for the other standardized tests?

Suffolk University does not have minimum test scores for standardized tests and uses a variety of tools to assess the candidacy of an applicant. Test scores are only one of these tools. The average test scores for each test are listed below. Based on the competitiveness of a program, test scores for each program may be significantly higher than the scores listed here.

GRE 500
MAT (old scoring system) 46
(new scoring system) 396
GMAT 500-540
LSAT 157

What are the minimum GPA requirements?

As mentioned above, Suffolk University uses many different tools to assess the candidacy of an applicant. GPAs are only one of these tools, and thus the "minimum" is only a guideline. Based on the competitiveness of a program, the GPA for each program may be significantly higher than the 2.75 general minimum. For those intending a joint degree with the law school, the median GPA is 3.3.