SMU Cox

Dallas, TX · Private · 2-year full-time (21 months)

Average GMAT Focus: 633
Average GPA: 3.50
Class size: 83 (Class of 2027)
Median base salary: $122,500 (Class of 2025)
Program tuition: $125,474 (≈ 2 × first-year tuition)

Deadlines

Round 1: Oct. 6, 2026
Round 2: Jan. 5, 2027
Round 3: March 2, 2027
Round 4: April 2, 2027

Essays

Essay 1 (500 words)

The Cox MBA is a close-knit community where students learn with and from one another. Beyond your professional experience and accomplishments, what are five things you would want your classmates to know about you? Your responses might reflect your experiences, interests, perspectives, values, or something else that helps us get to know you beyond your resume.

Essay 2 (100 words)

What are your short-term career goals and long-term professional ambitions? Please include your target industry, function, sector, and/or organization, as applicable.

Reapplicant essay (250 words)

Discuss what have you done since your last application to strengthen your candidacy?

Optional essay

If you have a unique experience to share with us that is not reflected elsewhere in your application, or if you have work gaps, academic problems or other issues that you would like to address, you should take advantage of submitting an optional essay.

MA/MBA essay 1 (dual-degree applicants) (250 words)

How do you plan to make an impact on the arts/non-profit community and how specifically would your graduate education help you do so?

MA/MBA essay 2 (dual-degree applicants) (250 words)

Tell us about a time in the past three years your opinion about an arts/non-profit organization was changed and how.

Editor's notes

Round 1 closes Oct. 6, 2026, and only Rounds 1 and 2 are priority deadlines for scholarships. Every applicant is considered for merit money automatically, and the average award for the class entering in 2024 was over $70,000. If you can't finish a complete file by Oct. 6, aim for Jan. 5. Don't drift to March.
Test-optional doesn't mean test-neutral. Cox says a score is an extra data point for admission and scholarships, and that without one your other materials carry more weight. If your transcript is light on math and you skip the test, show your quantitative work plainly in the resume and essays.
There are no recommendation letters here, only two references Cox may call. That puts the proof on you. Cox asks for a one-page resume that quantifies results, and your 100-word goals essay has to hold up in a possible second interview with the Career Management Center.
This is a Dallas program. 79% of the Class of 2025 took jobs in the U.S. Southwest. If your goal is somewhere else, say how Cox gets you there.