Online MS in AI in Business Admissions

When you’re ready to apply, start with our online application form. Please be sure to select “MS in AI in Business” from the program list when creating your application in the system. Feel free to contact us with any questions along the way. We want the admissions process to be as simple and transparent as possible. Reach out to the Graduate Admissions and Financial Aid Office at (617) 353-2670 or BusinessAI@bu.edu.

Short Answer Questions

We do not require an essay for the MS in AI in Business degree. Instead, we will learn more about your motivations and goals through our “Questions” section of the online application. The main questions you should be thinking about are:

1. Why are you interested in pursuing an online degree with a focus on AI in Business? Please explain your motivations and what you’re hoping to learn in the program. 
2. Why are you interested in pursuing Questrom’s MS in AI in Business at this point in your career, and what specifically about this program makes it a good fit for you? 
3. Within two years of completing the program, what is one concrete initiative or change you intend to lead or influence using what you expect to have learned in the MS in AI in Business program? 

Optional Essay – If you have additional information you’d like to bring to the attention of the Admissions Committee, you may address it in an optional essay of no more than 250 words. Acceptable topics for the optional essay include, but are not limited to, gaps in post-college work experience, choice of recommenders, and concerns about academic/test performance.

Undergraduate Degrees & Transcript Information

We require transcripts from any institution where you have completed 12 or more credits, including study abroad. We will accept unofficial copies of transcripts for the evaluation of your application, though any copies should include your name, the University name, degree confer date, course names, and grades for each course taken. 

We require that applicants hold a four-year bachelor’s degree from an accredited US institution or its international equivalent. If you have earned a three-year degree that is the equivalent of a four-year degree in the US, it will be accepted in the admissions process. For example, if you earned a three-year degree in India, your degree will qualify you to be considered for admission. Regardless of program length, if you are uncertain whether your undergraduate degree meets our qualifications, please contact BusinessAI@bu.edu before starting the application process.

Students admitted to our graduate degree programs must provide proof of an earned bachelor’s degree or equivalent international credential. Boston University does not require official transcripts with the submission of an application. Should a student decide to enroll at Boston University Questrom School of Business, official transcripts from each of your previous universities must be submitted and verified prior to the point of matriculation. 

Optional GMAT or GRE

The GMAT or GRE is not required for admission to the MS in AI in Business. However, it is a rigorous program that requires quantitative aptitude, and the admissions committee will look for evidence of this in your application via previous coursework. Strong candidates will ideally have at least some exposure to business concepts If you feel that you do not have sufficient evidence in your previous coursework to demonstrate this aptitude, you may want to consider submitting a GMAT or GRE score to enhance your application.

Work Experience & Resume

You should submit a current resume that outlines all work experience, with months and years of employment. Your resume should show all employment history from the completion of your undergraduate degree, including any jobs that may not be considered relevant to your present career. We will calculate all full-time, post-graduate work experience from your undergraduate degree confer date and remove any gaps of unemployment. It’s important that we have an accurate sense of your months/years of employment for reporting purposes.

Within the online application you will also be asked to fill out a work experience section. For MS in AI in Business students, we recognize this could be quite a bit of work. Please feel free to only include your current or most recent employment. We will look to your resume for the rest of the details on your work history.

Letter of Reccommendation

The MS in AI in Business program does not require a letter of recommendation for your application to be reviewed. However, you are welcome to submit a letter if you’d like. If you are going to submit a letter, we strongly prefer a professional letter of recommendation, such as a supervisor or colleague from your current or former place of employment.

Your recommender can either use the Common Letter of Recommendation or write their own standard letter.

Please touch upon the following in your comments:

• Please comment on the applicant’s accomplishments, motivation, and potential for achievement in a graduate program and for long-term success in a managerial career.
• If English is not his or her native language, please assess the applicant’s oral and written proficiency in English.
  

Once you have completed the Common Letter of Recommendation or have your letter ready as a PDF, please email us at BusinessAI@bu.edu with the name of the applicant and we will have the document added to their application.

English Language Proficiency

Candidates who have earned or will have completed at least two years of a bachelor’s or master’s degree at an institution in which the language of instruction was solely based in English are eligible for an automatic TOEFL/IELTS/PTE waiver. Candidates must present evidence of language of instruction with the application for admission. Appropriate documentation includes a transcript coversheet, an official statement from the university, or a link to the institution’s website that specifies that the mode of instruction is English. Additionally, candidates who have or will have worked for at least two years in a full-time, post-bachelor’s degree position in the US are eligible for an automatic waiver. If you do not meet this criteria but would like to be considered for a waiver, you can submit a written request highlighting your experience with and proficiency in the English language to BusinessAI@bu.edu prior to the submission of your application. The admissions committee will consider these requests on a case by case basis. If you are submitting test results with your application, please be advised that tests are valid for two years.

We are currently accepting Duolingo scores in addition to TOEFL and IELTS. To access the Duolingo test, go to https://englishtest.duolingo.com/applicants. Select Boston University Graduate & Professional Programs as a score recipient, and email BusinessAIAppDocs@bu.edu with your name and the date you have taken the Duolingo test.

Duolingo: A minimum score of 120 in each subscore is recommended.

TOEFL: BU’s TOEFL code is 3087. A minimum score of 90 on the iBT is recommended. For tests scored on the new “1-6” scale introduced on January 21, 2026, a minimum total score of 4.5 is recommended.

IELTS: A student must score a minimum of 6.5 across each band.

PTE: As more candidates submit the PTE, we are developing updated standards for our requirements. As new information becomes available, it will be posted here.

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Instructions:

Instructions and the application fee waiver form can be found here.

Once we process your fee waiver request, you’ll receive a follow-up email with additional instructions on how to submit your application. DO NOT click “submit and pay for programs” prior to receiving these instructions. We are unable to offer application fee refunds.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, your application fee waiver may take a few business days to process. As such, we encourage you to submit your application fee waiver request as soon as you have started your application.  If you wait until the application deadline to submit your waiver request, you will still be considered “on time” for that deadline as long as you submit your application within 48 hours of receiving your waiver code. You must submit your waiver request before you submit your application in order for the fee waiver to be applied.

Fee Waiver Request Form