I worked on a lot of Excel modeling and reporting in my job, but it wasn’t a finance role. Should I mention that in my GMAT waiver letter or is it too basic?

Question

Jayant M · Accepted Answer

It&rsquo;s not about the job title, it&rsquo;s about the skills you applied. If your Excel work involved building models, analyzing trends, or preparing reports that influenced decisions, absolutely include it in your waiver letter.
&bull; Detail the scope, mention the size of datasets, frequency of reporting, or complexity of formulas used.
&bull; If your work impacted cost efficiency, strategy, or resource planning, say that clearly.
&bull; Even outside finance, roles in ops, supply chain, or product can show strong analytical thinking.
&bull; Also pair it with academic proof, if you did well in quant courses, the combination can make your case stronger.
It&rsquo;s all about showing depth. If the work wasn&rsquo;t routine and had impact, it&rsquo;s worth including.

Aarushi S · Answer

Yes, you should absolutely mention it especially if your GMAT waiver request is for a business school that values analytical and quantitative skills. Schools like MIT Sloan, Kelley School of Business, and Georgetown McDonough state clearly on their official websites that demonstrated quantitative experience is a key part of a successful waiver application.
Even if your role wasn&rsquo;t in finance, working on Excel models, reporting, or data analysis shows your comfort with numbers and tools used in business decision-making. These are the same kinds of skills you&rsquo;ll need in MBA courses like accounting, statistics, and operations.
What matters is how you present it. Explain what kinds of models you worked on budget tracking, forecasting, data dashboards, etc. Use simple words, but make sure they understand you handled complex tasks with confidence and accuracy.
Every bit of real, practical experience helps your case as long as you explain it clearly. Schools are not looking for perfect profiles; they want proof that you can handle the academic load without needing the GMAT.

Divakshi Arora · Answer

Yes, you should definitely mention it. Schools aren&rsquo;t only looking for finance roles, they&rsquo;re looking for evidence that you&rsquo;ve used analytical thinking and problem-solving in real work settings. If your Excel modeling involved decision-making, projections, or working with large data sets, it shows quant ability, which is what the GMAT tests.
Just be specific. Don&rsquo;t just say "Excel modeling." Explain what kind of models you built, what business problems they solved, and how often you worked with data. Even if it wasn&rsquo;t a finance job, the skills still count, especially if you can show they were tied to business outcomes or helped support senior-level decisions.