Waiver Exam FAQ

Questions FIN 551 (Eve MBA)TO 501 (Eve MBA)

How many times may I take the exam?

Once

 

Once

 

Can I bring any electronic devices (e.g. calculator, laptop, Palm)?

You are permitted to use electronic devices, including a calculator or a laptop computer if brought. None will be provided at the exam.

A calculator with square root, logs and exponents only. Laptops, cell phones, PDAs, and Internet capable devices are not allowed.

Can I bring any notes or books?

This is an open book, open notes exam.  However, you are not allowed to communicate with anyone during the exam.

No books and no notes.  We will provide formulae and tables.

Do I need to pre-register for the exam?

Yes, please notify RossRegistrarsOffice@umich.edu of your intent to participate as soon as possible.

Yes, please notify RossRegistrarsOffice@umich.edu of your intent to participate as soon as possible.

Who should take the waiver exam?

Full-Time MBA:  You should think seriously before taking the waiver exam.  Consider taking FIN 513 in Fall A if you have waived something else for an opening in your schedule. FIN 513 would also fulfill the finance core requirement. You may want to take the waiver exam only if you have a strong academic background in finance and appropriate real world experience .

Evening MBA: You may consider taking the waiver exam if you have had a graduate-level finance course and two-to-three years of work experience in the finance field.

In the past, students who have had a good chance of passing the exam either had:

  1. A good introductory statistics course and substantial statistical experience at work

  2. Two or more 14 week courses in statistics; at least one course beyond the introductory class.

 

What will the exam cover?

This exam will test you on the fundamentals of Financial Management.  The basic concepts that will be covered on the waiver exam are: Time Value of Money, Capital Budgeting, Risk and Return and Efficient Markets Hypothesis..  A good way to prepare for this exam is to review Chapters 1 through 15 of Corporate Finance by Ross, Westerfield, and Jaffee, 8th Edition.  Please gauge your knowledge of the topics by doing as many problems as you can.

The exam will have 5 problems, each with multiple parts.  There will be no multiple-choice type of questions.

Constrained Optimization, Probability, Binomial and Normal Distributions, Decision Analysis, Descriptive Statistics, Inference, Hypothesis Testing, Correlation, Regression, Forecasting with Regression

May I waive the course because I have taken a similar course before, or because I would rather take something else?

No, you must pass the waiver exam to waive the course.

No, you must pass the waiver exam to waive the course.

Do I have to know EXCEL or any particular software package to pass this exam?

No

No. There will be statistical output on the exam. We will provide a brief summary of the meaning of regression output.

Is there a practice exam?

No

No

Is there a book I should study?

A good way to prepare for this exam is to review Chapters 1 through 15 of Corporate Finance by Ross, Westerfield, and Jaffee, 8th Edition.  Please gauge your knowledge of the topics by doing as many problems as you can.

Most introductory texts are sufficient, including: Ken Black, Business Statistics; Wiley & Sons, Management Science (chapters on constrained optimization and linear, integer, and mixed programming); Powell & Black, Management Science