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Waiving MS in Accounting Courses
Basic Principles
Students who have completed undergraduate and/or graduate courses very similar to those required in the MS in accounting program may be eligible to have those courses waived (eliminated) from their MS requirements and their programs shortened.
For example:
The full MS program without waivers is 72 credits/22 courses.
Below is a list of sample waivers that a typical undergraduate business major might receive;
Course Credits
MTH 8001 (Calculus) 3
ECO 9708 (Micro) 2
ECO 9709 (Macro) 2
FIN 9770 (Corp. Finance) 3
MGT 9300 (Management/OB) 3
MKT 9703 (Marketing) 3
The 3 additional General
Business Electives 9
Total waivers - 9 courses/25 credits
MS in accounting requirements become 13 courses/47 credits
Waivers Are Assigned After Admission
When admitted applicants notify the Zicklin School that they plan to enroll, the Office of Graduate Academic Services draws up an Official Program of Study (OPS), including waivers based on the transcripts submitted as part of the application process. The OPS draft is sent to the student for review. Waivers are only granted when the course title(s) listed on the transcript(s) clearly indicate a similar course. [“Calculus,” “Management Information Systems,” “Operations Management,” etc.]
Applicants seeking additional waivers beyond those assigned send syllabi, course descriptions and other forms of school-based information to provide details about course content to support their requests. International students especially are urged to bring as much information as possible with them to the US. Often course titles do not make content clear and a waiver can’t be granted without that information.
- International students seeking waivers of ACCOUNTING courses must provide a course by course evaluation from an accredited international transcript evaluation service before any accounting and/or taxation waivers can be given. Also, ACC 9804, Intermediate Financial Accounting, is never waived and at least 24 credits of accounting & taxation required courses must be taken, limiting accounting waivers to a maximum of 10 credits.
Estimating Your Likely Waivers
We are unable to provide individual waiver evaluations prior to offering admission, but the details listed below should enable you to make a good estimate by comparing your previous transcript(s) with information about MS individual course content.
To be counted toward waivers, all courses must meet the following criteria:
- Have been taken at a regionally accredited college or university or the equivalent outside the US.
- Grades of “B” (not “B-“) or better must have been earned unless indicated otherwise for a specific course.
- Have been completed within the time limit specified in the list below, although there are no time limits for courses other than accounting and taxation.
- Have the same or higher credit value as the course being waived.
- Additional criteria will be listed with the specific MS course.
Course by course listing of waiver criteria:
Preliminary course requirements:
For international students whose native language is not English;
- Advanced Business English (ABE): This a 4 week, full-time intensive English program required on the basis of TOEFL, TWE, GMAT verbal scores and other indicators of English proficiency. It is not waivable once assigned and must be completed before enrolling in MS in accounting courses. If required, students are notified in their admission letter. [link to more info?]
- English Proficiency Waiver Exam. All students whose native language is not English will be required to be evaluated through this test. Based on the score additional English courses may be required. [link to more info?] Students required to take the ABE take this test as part of that program.
MTH 8001 Calculus for Applications
Required to waive;
- a one semester, 3 credit standard course in calculus,
- grade must be "C" or better,
- no time limit.
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