MS Accounting Admissions Guide

GMAT is only required at the request of the program director.

To apply for the Isenberg MS in Accounting program we prefer you take the GMAT. However, if you have already taken the GRE, it will be accepted. If you take the GRE your score will be converted to a predicted GMAT score. Please refer to the GRE Comparison tool at www.ets.org to learn more.

School Code: Isenberg UMass Amherst - 3917

GMAT Waiver

Applicants that meet any of the following criteria will be granted a GMAT waiver, and should submit their applications without a GMAT score:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college/university with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
• Graduate degree or advanced degree from an accredited college/university.
• Passed each of the four sections of the CPA exam.

Note: the above GMAT waiver criteria applies to MS in Accounting only, not other graduate programs.

• For those students who’ve earned an Undergraduate and Master’s Degree outside of the U.S.: To be considered for a GMAT waiver an official course-by-course evaluation (listing grades and overall GPA) will need to be submitted from an approved NACES evaluation service provider.  Applicants commonly use WES or ECE.  Along with your evaluation, you will also need to submit official transcripts/marksheets from your institution or notarized “true & attested” copies of originals are also accepted upon submission via U.S. mail.   

Yes, you will have met the educational requirements for CPA certification inMassachusetts. . To find out what the requirements are for your state, go to https://nasba.org/stateboards/.

The program is meant to be flexible and to meet the needs of our students so the length it takes to complete is really up to you.  Many students choose to complete the degree in two semesters by starting in either the spring or summer.  If you begin in the spring, you can be done at the end of the summer.  You can also spread the classes out over a longer timeframe if you are working full-time or have other commitments. 

If your transcript is not in English, you must send us a certified translation of your official transcript from every non-U.S. undergrad and graduate school attended. Notarized and true attested copies of original academic documents are also accepted.

School Code: Isenberg-UMass Amherst – 3917

English Language Proficiency Requirement
If your native language is not English, and you are not a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident, you must submit your scores from a standardized English Language Proficiency Test in addition to your other required application materials (unless you meet one of the waiver conditions listed below.)

The University of Massachusetts Amherst Graduate School accepts the following:

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition
International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
Duolingo English Test
Pearson Test of English (PTE Academic)

For admission to the Isenberg MBA, MS in Business Analytics, and MS in Accounting, the minimum scores for admission are as follows: the minimum combined TOEFL score is 100; the minimum IELTS Academic combined score is 7; the minimum Duolingo English Test overall score is 120; and the minimum PTE Academic overall score is 68. Please note, when reviewing an application, the UMass Amherst Graduate School does not superscore language tests (e.g. we do not accept the ETS MyBest Score set).

For admission to the Isenberg MFin in Alternative Investments, the minimum scores for admission are as follows: the minimum combined TOEFL score is 80; the minimum IELTS Academic combined score is 6.5; the minimum Duolingo English Test overall score is 105; and the minimum PTE Academic overall score is 68. Please note, when reviewing an application, the UMass Amherst Graduate School does not superscore language tests (e.g. we do not accept the ETS MyBest Score set).

Sending Your Scores

Official test scores must be transmitted electronically from the test agency to the UMass Amherst Graduate School. Scores are valid for two years from anticipated date of entrance.

Send us your TOEFL Scores: Add us as a score report recipient through your ETS account.  The Institutional Code for the University of Massachusetts Amherst is 3917.

Send us your IELTS Academic Scores: Contact the test center where you took IELTS and request that your test scores be transmitted to the e-download account for the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Send us your Duolingo English Test Scores: Add us as a score report recipient through your Duolingo account.  Look for the University of Massachusetts Amherst Graduate School in the list of institutions.

Send us your PTE Academic Scores:  Assign your scores to the University of Massachusetts Amherst through the PTE portal.

Waiver Conditions

Your standardized English Language Proficiency Test requirement may be waived if one of these conditions exists:

• You have citizenship of Australia, Botswana, Canada, Caribbean English speaking countries, Dominica, Gambia, Ghana, Great Britain, Guyana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Scotland, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, West Indies, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
• You have earned a college or university degree in the United States or in one of the countries listed above.
• You have earned a degree from the American University in Beirut, American University in Bulgaria, American College of Greece, Bogazici University in Turkey, RIT in Dubai, NYU Abu Dhabi, or NYU Shanghai.
• You are currently enrolled as a full-time student who will have completed two academic years of college/university coursework in the United States prior to the date of anticipated entrance at the University of Massachusetts.
• You have been certified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates.

Your personal statement should be one to two pages in length, and include information about your past and current academic and professional history, your future goals and reasons for pursuing the MSA, and other pertinent details that will help us evaluate you as a candidate.

It is recommended that you have one professional and one academic reference.  If you have completed an internship, please ask that employer to provide you with a reference.  If you cannot obtain a professional reference, two academic references are fine.

Yes, we are accredited by AACSB, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. We have the distinction of having earned separate AACSB accreditation for our accounting department and programs – one of only 5 schools in New England. In fact, there are only 180 institutions in the world that hold AACSB accreditation in accounting.