Exempting Courses

You will be automatically registered for the core curriculum. No action is required on your part regarding course registration prior to your arrival, except to submit applicable administrative requests or to take exemption exams for courses you hope to exempt from.

During Orientation, you will receive guidance on how to access your class schedule via DukeHub, the university’s registration platform.

There are two types of core course exemptions available: administrative and by examination. You may receive an administrative exemption based on prior coursework or professional experience, or you may wish to demonstrate your knowledge by taking an exemption exam.

Exemption results will be sent to you via email along with information about how your schedule will be adjusted to accommodate the exempted core course(s).

Students who choose to remain in a core course, for which they could have exempted, sometimes find themselves bored and inattentive. This can make for an unpleasant classroom setting for you the student, the professor, and the other class members! Exempting a course gives you the opportunity to select another elective course. Taking a course outside your particular area of interest is a means of enhancing your career goals and broadens you educational experience. This in turn helps shape your career transition and job search possibly attracting potential employers.

If you feel you could exempt a core course, you should take the exemption exam. Should you be granted an exemption, you still have the option of staying in the core course. You might surprise yourself!

There is no downside to attempting to exempt from a core course. If you are granted the exemption, you free up time to take electives.

The exemption process is generally available between mid-June to early August. You should not put off taking an exemption exam until the last moment. We encourage students to take exams or submit administrative requests as soon as possible. Once the summer term begins you will be busier than you might imagine-- so taking exemption exams before you get too busy is a good practice. There are no exceptions to the final exemption deadline. If you are considering an exemption for a core course held in Fall 1, Fall 2, or Spring 1, you need to act prior to the final date of the exemption period (early-August).

There is absolutely no penalty for taking an exam and not passing.

If your exemption allows you to select an elective, you will be contacted via email by the Fuqua Registrar with the courses available to you. Once a suitable replacement is found, the registrar will add the course to your schedule. Electives fill up quickly so you should apply for administrative exemptions, or take the exemption exam as early as possible.

When trying to decide whether or not to exempt, you should carefully read the guidelines for each course. There is no downside to attempting to exempt from a core course, so if you feel there is a chance you could exempt, we encourage you to try!

If you remain uncertain about attempting to exempt after reading the materials, you might make an appointment to speak with a Daytime MBA Fuqua Registrar.

You are unlikely to receive an exemption if you are not appropriately qualified. In the case of a conditional exemption, you are required to take the next level of a course (for example, a conditional exemption in Finance 645: Financial Management would require that you take Finance 646: Corporate Finance).

Because many of our students have backgrounds in economics or business/accounting, the highest number of exemptions is usually given for MGRECON 780: Managerial Economics; ACCOUNTG 590: Financial Accounting; and MARKETNG 795: Marketing Management.

Almost a third of the students exempt core courses.

You will only miss out on the boredom of sitting through material that is repetitious for you. You'll also move more quickly through electives which can only better prepare you for getting that new job.

If prior course work is something that you use in your job or something you feel you've retained, then you should still try to exempt. If it's been more than a few years and you don't feel you've retained the subject matter, you may want to take the course. When in doubt--take the exam. If you pass it, then you know enough to exempt the course. If you don't pass it, then you know you need a refresher!

First, the tuition costs don't justify wasting your time on material you already know. Second, taking classes where you already know the material will throw off the curve. Also, your GPA should not suffer from your decision to exempt courses. You're here to learn new material and in doing so, you will thrive in the program.