Preparation For Those Planning to Pursue Business or a Quantitative-heavy Course Load
Most students agree that the rigorous curriculum at The Fletcher School challenges them from the first moment of each new academic year. For that reason, we are very careful to ensure that every incoming student has the baseline quantitative skills needed to thrive in this fast-paced learning environment.
There are many options to help you prepare for quantitative classes at Fletcher. You could choose to take an online economics or statistics class, or you may prefer a business-focused class such as finance, accounting, or a pre-MBA prep class that offers a survey of many topics. We’ve found that students have greater academic success when they arrive well prepared for the quantitative aspects of our program. Some of these classes will help you to pass Fletcher’s equivalency exams, while others will provide a more general knowledge-base for advanced classes at Fletcher.
MBA Math
All MIB students are required to complete MBA Math, and it is optional for all other students.
This is a self-paced online quantitative skills course that generally takes 20-40 hours to complete. It has 24 lessons covering basic quantitative skills in finance, accounting, economics, statistics, and spreadsheets. With the greater confidence of a firmer quantitative foundation, students should be in a better position to take on Fletcher’s challenging quantitative and business classes. Students are eligible to receive a discounted one-year subscription of $129 by using a Fletcher-specific promotion code. Please email internationalbusiness@tufts.edu and include your name in the email to receive the promotion code. MIB students will receive this information automatically via email. The one-year subscription allows you to complete the course before school starts and also return to the material as needed during the school year.
Advice from Current Students
We asked students which programs and classes they had taken before arriving at Fletcher and their feedback is below. When exploring course options, you should consider course structure (live vs. recorded sessions), grading (graded or ungraded), and start times (self-paced or cohort based).
| Location | Institution | Courses taken and comments from students |
| Cambridge, MA | Harvard Extension School |
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| Online | BYU Extension School |
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| Online | OSU Office of Distance Education and Learning |
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| Online | Johns Hopkins University |
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| Online | LSU Continuing Education Online | |
| Online | Khan Academy |
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| Online | MBA Math Online | |
| Online | Harvard Business School |
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| Online | University of Maryland |
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