01 · Class profile
Who is in the CMU Tepper MBA class
Tepper's class-profile page calls this the Full-Time MBA Class of 2027 and does not state the entry year. We understand it to be the class now in its second year, though Tepper does not say. The page we read shows no newer class profile.
Tepper's heading says 21 countries (its list names 22, including the United States) and 38% international citizens. Its list includes India.
Tepper does not publish a count of Indian students or the share of women on the page we read. It shows 14% military and veterans, which its footnote limits to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
U.S. citizens by race (share of U.S. citizens)
Black or African American
9% Share of U.S. citizens in the Class of 2027, in Tepper's wording (IPEDS standard). Tepper says the percentages add up to more than 100% due to rounding.
Undergraduate majors (share of students)
Share of the Class of 2027, as Tepper's chart groups it. The values were read from a chart embedded in the class-profile page.
Test scores
| Test | Average | Median | Range |
|---|
| GMAT (Tepper labels it 10th Edition) | 707 | 710 | 700 to 740 (middle 80%) |
| GMAT (Tepper labels it Focus Edition) | 659 | 655 | 595 to 715 (middle 80%) |
| GRE Quantitative | 163 | 164 | 156 to 170 (middle 80%) |
| GRE Verbal | 159 | 159 | 152 to 166 (middle 80%) |
| Executive Assessment | 155 | 156 | 152 to 158 (middle 80%) |
Class of 2027. Do not compare the two GMAT editions. Tepper publishes the GRE as separate sections, with no total. It does not publish a minimum score or the share of the class submitting each test on the page we read.
Undergraduate GPA
The Class of 2027 average is 3.33, the median 3.38, and the middle 80% range 2.80 to 3.79.
Work experience
The Class of 2027 average is 5.2 years, the median 5 years, and the middle 80% range 2.7 to 8.5 years. Tepper shows 2.7% of the class with less than one year. Its MBA overview says the programme is designed for two to eight years of work experience.
Programme and campus
The Full-Time MBA is on campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with classes Monday to Thursday from September to May. Tepper's MBA overview gives a 21-month duration and mentions summer internship support.
Where do you sit in this class? Enter your score, experience and profile and see your position and interview risk.
Check my chances02 · Placements
Where CMU Tepper MBA graduates go
$30,000
median signing bonus
83%
of job-seekers offered
Class of 2025, from Tepper's 2025 Full-Time MBA Employment Report, the newest on its employment page (reports for 2025 to 2022 are listed; we found none for the Class of 2026). Figures carry a $ sign and no currency code; we read them as US dollars.
Base salary covers all reporting graduates (104, which Tepper shows as 92.9% of accepted jobs). Tepper's wording is 'average accepted salary' for the mean and 'median base salary'. The range is $54,000 to $207,000. Statistics leave out values where the student entered $0 or did not respond.
Tepper reports the signing or starting bonus separately: 84 graduates reported one, with a mean of $38,610, a median of $30,000 and a range of $4,500 to $217,000. Do not add it to base pay.
Tepper's headline 'Average Total Compensation' is $186,043. It does not define the components of that figure.
Tepper's headline wording is that 83% 'of graduating students' received an offer within 3 months of graduation, and 89% within 6 months. The base is not the whole class: its table counts the graduates seeking employment.
By our reading of that table, 115 of the 139 graduates seeking employment (94 with a first offer by graduation plus 21 within three months after) is 82.7%, which rounds to the 83%. Of all 169 graduating students the same 115 would be 68%. The 115 and the percentage of 139 are our reading of the table, not figures Tepper prints.
Who is counted: 169 graduating full-time MBAs. 139 were seeking employment (71 with permanent work authorization, 68 without) and 26 were not (17 company-sponsored or already employed, 8 starting a business, 1 other reasons). 4 had no recent information.
Of the 139 seeking employment, 88 had accepted a job by graduation and 24 more within three months after. 27 had not reported accepting a job. Tepper collects data within 4 months of the latest graduation date and counts pay for jobs accepted within 3 months of graduation.
Base salary by work authorization
| Work authorization | Reporting | Mean | Median | Range |
|---|
| Permanent | 54 | $149,340 | $150,000 | $85,000 to $207,000 |
| Non-permanent | 50 | $160,792 | $170,000 | $54,000 to $192,000 |
Class of 2025. Tepper defines permanent work authorization as being a citizen or permanent resident of the country of the school.
Industry of the job (share of accepted jobs)
Biotech/Health/Pharma
6.2% Energy/Petroleum/Utilities
3.6% Government/Not-for-Profit
0.9% Share of the Class of 2025 accepted jobs, from Tepper's data PDF (Biotech/Health/Pharma is its Biotechnology/Health/Pharmaceuticals), which counts 112 accepted jobs by industry. Tepper's summary PDF differs slightly (Financial Services 9.9%, Technology 25.1%). This page uses the data PDF.
Function of the job (share of accepted jobs)
Production and Operations
11.7% | Function | Mean base | Median base |
|---|
| Consulting | $177,974 | $184,000 |
| Finance | $143,715 | $141,400 |
| General Management | $123,560 | $130,000 |
| Marketing | $153,517 | $165,000 |
| Production and Operations Management | $145,258 | $142,800 |
| IS/IT | $157,275 | $160,000 |
| Other | $129,200 | $120,000 |
Share of the Class of 2025 accepted jobs; Tepper's function table counts 111. Pay is base salary.
Where the jobs are
Share of the Class of 2025 accepted jobs, in Tepper's U.S. regions. By world region, Tepper shows North America at 97.3% (107 jobs) and Asia at 2.7% (3 jobs), with no jobs in other regions. The U.S. regions above do not break out the whole North America figure.
Top employers
Tepper's summary lists the top 10 employers of the Class of 2025 by number of hires, in the order its summary lists them.
Amazon, PwC, McKinsey & Company, Deloitte, Boston Consulting Group, Republic Services, Google, Jefferies, Ford Motor Co. and Kearney.
How graduates found the job
Of 111 accepted full-time offers, Tepper shows 81 (73%) from school-facilitated sources, including 43 from internship conversion and school sources. 30 (27%) were graduate-facilitated, including 13 from online postings and 7 from personal contacts.
Career support and internships
Tepper's summary says the Masters Career Center ran 3,700 one-to-one coaching meetings and 275 recruiting events in 2024-25, and that its staff include 9 Certified Career Management Coaches.
The summary also has a table headed '2026 | Full-Time MBA Internships'. It shows a mean monthly base of $10,427, a median of $10,053 and a range of $1,500 to $18,750.
03 · Fees and scholarships
What it costs, and how to pay less
$120,798
cost of attendance
These are Tepper's 2026-27 figures in US dollars, the only year published. Tepper's page says rates are evaluated annually and are subject to change, and the 2027-28 rates are not yet published. The programme is four semesters, and Tepper does not print a programme total on the page we read.
Tepper charges $42,093 for Fall 2026 and $42,093 for Spring 2027, which is $84,186 for the academic year.
Tepper's 2026-27 cost of attendance, per academic year
| Cost | Estimate |
|---|
| Tuition | $84,186 |
| Housing | $10,350 |
| Food | $5,176 |
| Books, course materials, supplies, equipment | $1,450 |
| Travel allowance | $3,220 |
| Miscellaneous personal | $10,524 |
| Activity fee | $248 |
| Transportation fee | $302 |
| Technology fee | $490 |
| Health insurance (Fall only) | $3,352 |
| Estimated loan fees (for federal borrowers) | $1,500 |
| Total | $120,798 ($62,075 Fall, $58,723 Spring) |
This is for a standard single graduate student. Tepper gives $131,980 for a married student, $142,230 for married with one child and $152,148 for married with two or more children.
Tepper charges tuition, university fees and health insurance to your student account (you can opt out of insurance with existing coverage), but not housing or food. A laptop, an additional estimated $1,500, is required; students may make a one-time request to borrow up to $1,500 for it.
The application fee is $200, payable online by credit card at submission. Tepper says you can waive it by attending one of its events. It is waived for re-applicants and for Teach for America and AmeriCorps alumni.
Tepper's deposit deadlines are 9th Feb 2027 (Round 1), 20th Apr 2027 (Round 2) and 13th May 2027 (Round 3). It does not state the deposit amount for regular admits on the page we read.
Scholarships and fellowships
| Scholarship | What you get and who it is for |
|---|
| Tepper School MBA Scholarship | Tepper says all full-time and part-time MBA students are considered at the time of admission, based on the overall strength of the application. A separate scholarship application is not required, and recipients are advised when accepted. Applying with a test waiver does not affect eligibility. |
| Forte Fellowship | Funded by Tepper. Exceptional candidates are selected through the admissions process, and it is open to all qualifying students regardless of sex or gender identity. Benefits include workshops, conferences and networking. |
| Consortium Fellowship | For members of the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, who are eligible for merit-based scholarships 'ranging from $10,000 to Full-Tuition'. Tepper says Consortium Fellows receive the merit-based full-tuition scholarship. You apply at cgsm.org. |
| Reaching Out (ROMBA) Fellowship | Requires a minimum merit scholarship of $10,000 per year from Tepper. The designation does not increase the scholarship, and it is open to anyone. |
| James R. Swartz Leadership Scholarship | For a first-year MBA student with 'an outstanding record of personal and professional achievement' and exceptional leadership potential. |
| Spellman and McGrath Scholars Fund; Booz and Company Scholars Fund | The Mary Anne Spellman and Jack McGrath fund is a two-year scholarship awarded biennially to a first-year student. The Booz and Company fund gives partial-tuition scholarships to academically and professionally successful students with leadership skills. |
| Marc and Sally Onetto Graduate Fellowship | Preference to students from any of the 27 EU countries and francophone Africa. It needs an application: a one-page essay, 'Why I Should Receive the Marc & Sally Onetto Graduate Fellowship'. |
| David A. Tepper Scholarship Fund | For students with potential to be leaders in finance, with preference to applicants from Pennsylvania or New Jersey. |
| Angel G. Jordan and Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber Fellowships | For outstanding incoming full-time MBA students. There is no additional application: applicants are reviewed during admissions and notified with the acceptance. |
| Murat Ozyegin Fellowship | Up to $30,000 for a qualified full-time Turkish student with extreme need, for the first year. It needs a one-page essay, 'Why I Should Receive the Murat Ozyegin Fellowship', and a release statement. |
| Teach for America and AmeriCorps alumni | At least a $10,000 Tepper scholarship, reviewed at admission with no separate application. The $200 application fee is waived. |
| Veterans | Tepper participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program, which for veterans needs 100% Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility (it also covers some active-duty members and transferred entitlement), and says participation level may vary annually. It also points to the DoD SMART Scholarship-for-Service, with applications open 1st Aug to 1st Dec each year. |
Scholarship decisions come with the admission decision. Tepper does not publish the share of students receiving a scholarship or an average award on the page we read.
Loans and proof of funds
Tepper's pages send you to CMU's Student Financial Aid Office and The HUB for financial aid. On the page we read, Tepper does not describe loan amounts, terms or loan options for international students.
Tepper asks international applicants to 'verify financial resources equal to the total cost of tuition and living expenses for the duration of the program', and says the visa authority requires proof of funds for both years of study.
Could your profile earn a scholarship? Check where you stand before you apply.
Check my chances04 · Rounds and deadlines
Which round, and by when
Tepper's application portal lists the Full-Time MBA with Term of Entry Fall 2027 and lists Rounds 1 to 3, then "Round 4/5 (after March 3, 2027)". Tepper's other pages give dates for Round 4 and Round 4 Final, so there are two Round 4 cards below: 5th May 2027, and Round 4 Final on 15th Jun 2027. The tags on the cards (closed, open now, later deadline) are our own reading of each deadline against today's date, not Tepper's statement of when a round is open.
Round 130th Sep 2026
- Interviews:
- Invitations begin within one week of the deadline
- Decision:
- 9th Dec 2026
Round 28th Jan 2027
- Interviews:
- Invitations begin within one week of the deadline
- Decision:
- 10th Mar 2027
Round 33rd Mar 2027
- Interviews:
- Invitations begin within one week of the deadline
- Decision:
- 22nd Apr 2027
Round 45th May 2027
- Interviews:
- Invitations begin within one week of the deadline
- Decision:
- Rolling
Round 415th Jun 2027 (Round 4 Final)
- Interviews:
- Invitations begin within one week of the deadline
- Decision:
- Rolling
Round 4 Final has a deadline of 15th Jun 2027, with rolling decisions. The application fee is $200 in every round. Tepper does not publish an application opening date or a time of day for deadlines on the pages we read.
Tepper says it begins to invite applicants to interview within one week of the application deadline, and an invitation may arrive any time before the decision notification date. It does not publish fixed interview dates.
Deposit deadlines are 9th Feb 2027, 20th Apr 2027 and 13th May 2027 for Rounds 1 to 3, and rolling after. Tepper prints the Round 2 deposit date with the year 2026; this page reads it as 2027, since the decision comes in Mar 2027.
Tepper says Round 3 is the final round that international applicants can apply in for the full-time programme.
Not sure which round to aim for? We look at your file and tell you.
Check my chances05 · Clubs and activities
Life outside class
Tepper's MBA overview says '40+ student clubs'. Its club directory, which also includes MS and part-time groups, shows 53 results under Tepper Graduate Organizations. The grouping below is ours, and the activities are as each club's directory entry describes them.
What some clubs do
| Club | What they do |
|---|
| Graduate Finance Association (GFA) | Co-curricular programming through WSP and corporate-finance and investment-banking training sessions; information sessions, guest speakers and alumni mentorship; recruiting coaching and one-on-one mentorship with a second-year MBA. |
| Consulting Club | Recruiting related firm and company events; interview preparation, with second-year MBAs as mentors and coaches. |
| Tepper Capital Management (formerly Alpha Asset Management Club) | Sends teams to investment competitions against other top MBA programs; real-life investment experience through the Tepper Opportunity Fund the club manages; regular meetings on investments and market topics. |
| Business and Technology Club | Lunch and Learns on the tech industry; case competitions and treks; one-to-one mentorship. |
| Marketing Club | Skill-building workshops (brand management, digital marketing, interview prep); alumni, employer and guest-speaker connections across marketing roles. |
| Operations and General Management Club (OGM) | Ops Boot Camp and case workshops; treks and a speaker series; internship and full-time recruiting prep for operations. |
| Healthcare Club | Industry-breakthrough sessions; recruiting guidance; access to industry alumni. |
| Energy and CleanTech Club | Speaker events and site visits; networking with CMU energy alumni; events with CMU's energy-related academic programs. |
| Graduate Entrepreneurship Club | Mentorship and strategic networking in the entrepreneurial ecosystem; cross-program collaboration and competitions; engagements with companies, VCs and speakers. |
| DART (Defense, Aerospace, Robotics and Tech Club) | A board-organized Seattle Trek; a board-led Dual Use Summit convening leaders across defense and commercial innovation; employer engagement, speaker events and company visits. |
| Data Analytics Club | Bridges gaps in the MBA curriculum with real management applications; covers industry-shaping data topics and promotes members for data roles. |
| Net Impact Club | Hands-on projects, workshops and case competitions in ESG and social impact; networking with impact-driven firms and alumni. |
| Tepper Real Estate Club | Educational resources, workshops and activities on commercial and residential real estate; learning from industry professionals and CMU alumni. |
| Asian Business Association | Club events at member discount; a mentor-mentee program; professional and leadership development. |
| South Asian Business Association (SABA) | Member-only professional events; member-only social events; reduced-price tickets to open events. |
| Black Business Association Club | Recruiting workshops and National Black Prep; networking opportunities; Pittsburgh volunteer initiatives. |
| Latin American Business Club (LABC) | Latin American events in Pittsburgh; alumni and Latin American leader networking; community service and diversity-recruiting support with Admissions. |
| Tepper Women in Business Club (TWIB) | Mentorship (MBA only); professional development; community volunteer events. |
| Out&Allied | Speaker panels and preparation for the ROMBA Conference; a free ticket to Pink Party, its signature event; partnerships to advocate for inclusivity. |
| Tepper Veterans Association | Professional development, mentorship and career transition support; networking with classmates, alumni, employers and veteran-focused organizations. |
| Graduate Business Association (GBA) | Tepper's elected student government of 12 members; oversees committees including the Admissions Committee and the Tepper Mentorship Program; coordinates distribution of school funds to GBA-recognised clubs. |
Also in the directory
Media and Entertainment Club; Organizational Leadership Club; Adam Smith Society; Pro Bono Consulting; Tepper Ventures; African Business Collective (ABC); Jewish Business Association; Christian Business Association; Consortium for Graduate Study in Management (Tepper chapter); Brewmeisters Club; Tepper Wine Club; Culinary Club; Tepper Games; Tepper Golf Club; Tepper Soccer Club; Tepper Racquet Club; Tepper Outdoor Adventure Club; Tepper Basketball Club; Tepper Volleyball Club; TepperCARES; Tepper Parents Club; Tepper Partners Club.
Clubs change what they run each year. Check Tepper's directory for the current list.
06 · Process
From application to decision
Create your application recordBefore you apply
Create an application record on Tepper's portal, which Tepper calls free and quick. You then get an email to set up your account and complete the rest of the application.
Submit by the round deadline
The application has a form (about 30 minutes), a current resume, one written essay, one video essay, one professional recommendation, unofficial transcripts, a GMAT, GRE or Executive Assessment score or an approved waiver, an English test score if it applies, and the $200 fee.
Upload supporting documents on the application status page. Tepper asks for official transcripts only after admission.
Interview, by invitation
The evaluative interview is by invitation only and required. It is with a member of Tepper's MBA Admissions team.
An invitation may arrive any time before the decision notification date.
Decision
Tepper releases decisions on the round's decision date and advises scholarships with the acceptance. Admitted students pay a deposit by the round's deposit date.
Tepper says it verifies information through Re Vera, a third-party company, for all candidates who accept an offer. The pages we read do not describe a waitlist stage.
07 · What you need
What goes into the application
1. Eligibility
Tepper asks for a four-year bachelor's degree from an accredited US college or an equivalent foreign degree, and one semester of college-level calculus at a grade of B or better. Without it, you take Calculus Fundamentals before matriculation. The application page states no minimum work experience; the programme overview says it is designed for two to eight years of work experience.
2. Test score
Tepper requires one of the GMAT, GMAT Focus, GRE or Executive Assessment, regardless of academic or work background, unless it approves a waiver. It handles waivers case by case. Scores are valid for five years at submission, and Tepper accepts in-person and online versions. The school codes are GMAT and Executive Assessment Full-Time MBA 69H-XH-99, and GRE 4883.
Tepper says it uses your highest overall score from one test date and does not use a superscore as the official score. It also says its team reviews all submitted scores holistically.
3. English test
You send a TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo score unless your bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree, was taught solely in English. Tepper recommends TOEFL 25 per section (iBT), IELTS 7 overall and in each band, or Duolingo 120. TOEFL and IELTS scores are valid for two years, and online TOEFL and IELTS are accepted. The TOEFL code is 2074.
4. Essays and video
These are Tepper's prompts for the current cycle. The written essay is required of all applicants except college seniors, at a maximum of 500 words, and you choose one of two prompts. Tepper says it has no preference between them.
Essay, option 1 (required, choose 1 of 2, maximum 500 words)
At the Tepper School, we value leaders who can make confident decisions when facing complexity and uncertainty. Tell us about a time when you had to take action without having all of the answers. How did you navigate the situation and what was the outcome?
Essay, option 2 (required, choose 1 of 2, maximum 500 words)
The Tepper School of Business is committed to helping students reach their full potential by supporting their professional and personal transformation. How do you hope to transform, both professionally and personally, during your time in the program? Please describe your development goals and steps you plan to achieve them.
Essay, video: Goals (required, up to 2 minutes)
Please describe your post-MBA career goals.
For the video, Tepper suggests you be specific. If you have no companies yet, say what interests you about the industry, company or functional role. Share the criteria you use to evaluate opportunities, and how the goal relates to your long-term career plan.
Optional essay (optional, no word limit stated)
Use this essay to convey important information that you may not have otherwise been able to convey. This may include unexplained resume gaps, context for recommender selection, etc.
Tepper says re-applicants should use the optional essay to explain how their candidacy has strengthened since the last application.
5. Recommendation
Tepper requires one recommendation, ideally from a supervisor, current or previous. It says anyone who can speak to your professional work experience in detail would be appropriate. It is submitted through the GMAC Common Letter of Recommendation. Tepper does not print the questions on the page we read, and states no separate recommender deadline.
6. Other documents
Your resume should be 1 to 2 pages in a standard 12-point font (Times New Roman or Arial), with the month and year for the start and end of each position. For transcripts, send unofficial copies from all undergraduate and graduate institutions, not web or portal transcripts, showing the degree name, conferral date and grading scale. Include an official translation if they are not in English. Official transcripts come only after admission.
7. If you need a visa
Tepper says international applicants will need a student (F-1) or exchange (J-1) visa, and that the visa authority requires proof of funds before it is granted, and gives the Office of International Education as the contact for visa questions. Re-applicants who applied within the last year use the same login, some information carries over, and the application fee is waived.
08 · What Tepper wants
How Tepper reads your file
Tepper says its admissions process is designed to understand who you are, what drives you and how you will contribute to the Tepper School community. It takes a holistic approach, reviewing your goals, background and accomplishments to evaluate your fit for the Full-Time MBA.
| Tepper looks at | In plain words |
|---|
| Goals, background and accomplishments | Tepper says it reviews these together to judge your fit for the programme. It says the admission decision is based on a holistic review of the application. |
| Decisions under complexity and uncertainty | Essay option 1 says Tepper values leaders who can make confident decisions when facing complexity and uncertainty, and asks about a time you acted without all the answers. |
| Professional and personal transformation | Essay option 2 says Tepper is committed to supporting students' professional and personal transformation, and asks for your development goals and the steps you plan to take. |
| Teamwork, leadership, success and failure | Tepper says the interview uses a behavioural technique to review specific experiences and behaviours in an attempt to predict potential for success, with interest in your skills and perspectives on these four. |
| Test scores | Tepper says its team reviews all submitted scores holistically. |
Tepper does not publish a weighting for the parts of the application on the page we read.
See how your file reads against what Tepper looks at before you spend weeks on the application.
Check my chances09 · Interview questions
What candidates say Tepper interviewers ask
These are the five types of question candidates say they are asked, based on candidates' own accounts of their Tepper interviews from 2021 to 2025. Nobody gets a fixed list. The tag says how likely that type of question is: high means it comes up in close to half of candidate accounts or more, medium in roughly a quarter to just under half, and low in fewer than a quarter.
| Topic | Chance | How it is usually asked |
|---|
| Why Tepper, and how you chose schools | HIGH | For example, candidates describe being asked: “Why Tepper, and what criteria did you use to choose the schools you applied to?” In later years the school question often came as the criteria you used to choose a programme. |
| Your one-minute pitch | MEDIUM | For example, candidates describe being asked: “Give me a one-minute pitch about who you are.” Some interviews open with a timed one-minute pitch about yourself. An opening like 'tell me about yourself' is more common than an explicitly timed pitch. |
| Teamwork and leadership stories | HIGH | For example, candidates describe being asked: “Tell me about a time you used a strength to help your team.” Candidates also describe questions on a strength used for the team and a time you learned about someone different. |
| Diversity, inclusion and working with people unlike you | HIGH | For example, candidates describe being asked: “What does diversity, equity and inclusion mean to you, and how have you acted on it?” Candidates say this was asked as a diversity, equity and inclusion question in 2023 and 2024, and as changing cultures or working with different people in 2025. |
| Conflict, disagreement or convincing others | MEDIUM | For example, candidates describe being asked: “Tell me about a time you disagreed with a supervisor.” |
Candidates also report questions on why an MBA and why now, short- and long-term goals, a failure or plan that went wrong, and follow-ups from your resume. They also say you are asked what questions you have and whether anything is missing from your application.
The group of accounts is modest in size and none are from the 2026 cycle, so treat the tags as direction only. Accounts are recalled from memory, and almost all describe a friendly interview, which may partly reflect who chooses to share.
10 · Interview experience
What the interview is actually like
What Tepper says
| Topic | What to expect |
|---|
| Required, by invitation | Tepper says the evaluative interview is by invitation only and required. |
| Who interviews | A member of Tepper's MBA Admissions team. |
| When you hear | Tepper begins to invite applicants within one week of the application deadline. An invitation may arrive any time before the decision notification date. |
| Style | A behavioural interview, to review a candidate's specific experiences and behaviours in an attempt to predict potential for success, with interest in teamwork, leadership, success and failure. |
| Preparing | Tepper suggests you clarify your short-term goals and your transition plan. |
| Not published | Tepper does not state the length or the mode (online or in person) of the interview on the page we read. It also does not publish interview dates or say whether the interviewer reads your file. |
What candidates report
| Topic | What to expect |
|---|
| Mode | Almost all accounts describe a video call. One or two describe an interview on campus. |
| Length | Only a minority of accounts (about a quarter) give a length. Those describe about 30 minutes, with about 20 to 25 minutes of questions and 5 to 10 minutes for yours. One interview booked for 45 minutes ran to about 70. |
| Running order | A short opening, often a 'tell me about yourself', sometimes a timed one-minute pitch, or a walk through your resume. Then why an MBA, why now and why Tepper, goals, a run of 'tell me about a time' questions, and finally anything not in your application and your questions. |
| Tone | Warm, relaxed and conversational. Candidates say the interviewer put them at ease, listened, took notes and commented on their answers. Nobody describes pressure or trick questions. |
| Your file | It changed over time. In 2021 and 2022 candidates were told the interviewer had only the resume. In 2023 and 2024 several say the interviewer had read the whole application and asked follow-ups on it. |
| Surprises | How conversational it was, and in one case how long it ran. Being asked how you chose schools was new to several candidates, and the diversity question caught some who had prepared only for teamwork. |
Based on candidates' own accounts of interviews from 2021 to 2025, with none from the 2026 cycle. Details come from memory, and year-to-year differences are signals, not findings.
11 · FAQs
Questions students ask about CMU Tepper MBA
Do I need a GMAT or GRE for the Tepper MBA?
Tepper requires one of the GMAT, GMAT Focus, GRE or Executive Assessment, unless it approves a waiver, which it handles case by case. Scores are valid for five years. For the Class of 2027 it shows a GMAT average of 707 (labelled 10th Edition) and 659 (labelled Focus Edition), and GRE Quantitative 163 and Verbal 159. It does not publish a minimum score on the page we read.
How much work experience do I need?
The application page states no minimum. Tepper's MBA overview says the programme is designed for two to eight years of work experience. The Class of 2027 average is 5.2 years, with a middle 80% range of 2.7 to 8.5 years.
What are the essay prompts and limits?
Tepper asks for one written essay of a maximum of 500 words, chosen from two prompts: one on taking action without all the answers, and one on professional and personal transformation. It also asks for a video essay on your post-MBA career goals, up to 2 minutes, and has an optional essay. The exact wording is in section 07.
How many recommendations do I need?
Tepper requires one recommendation, ideally from a supervisor, current or previous. It is submitted through the GMAC Common Letter of Recommendation, and Tepper states no separate recommender deadline.
How does the Tepper interview work?
Tepper says the evaluative interview is by invitation only and required, with a member of its MBA Admissions team. Invitations begin within one week of the application deadline and may arrive any time before the decision notification date. Tepper describes it as behavioural, on teamwork, leadership, success and failure.
Is the Tepper interview online?
Tepper does not state the mode on the page we read. Candidates' accounts from 2021 to 2025 describe almost all interviews as video calls, with one or two on campus.
Which round should I apply in?
Round 1 closed on 30th Sep 2026, with decisions on 9th Dec 2026. Round 2 closes on 8th Jan 2027 with decisions on 10th Mar 2027, and Round 3 closes on 3rd Mar 2027 with decisions on 22nd Apr 2027. Tepper says Round 3 is the final round for international applicants. The timeline on this page marks each deadline against today's date; that is our calculation, and Tepper's Round 4 Final is on 15th Jun 2027.
How much does the Tepper MBA cost?
For 2026-27, Tepper's tuition is $42,093 a semester, which is $84,186 for the academic year, in a four-semester programme. Its estimated cost of attendance for a standard single student is $120,798 per academic year. The 2027-28 rates are not yet published. The application fee is $200.
Can I get a scholarship?
Tepper considers all full-time and part-time MBA students for the Tepper School MBA Scholarship at the time of admission, with no separate application. Several named fellowships exist, and the Consortium Fellowship ranges from $10,000 to full tuition. Tepper does not publish the share of students receiving a scholarship on the page we read.
What are the pay and jobs like after Tepper?
For the Class of 2025, Tepper reports a median base salary of $160,000 and a mean of $154,846, with a median signing bonus of $30,000, in a report that prints $ with no currency code. By function, 35.1% of accepted jobs were in consulting and 19.8% in finance. Tepper's headline wording is that 83% 'of graduating students' received an offer within 3 months of graduation. Its table counts the graduates seeking employment: by our reading, 115 of the 139 seeking employment (94 by graduation plus 21 within three months), which is 82.7%. Of all 169 graduates it would be 68%.