• 47 questions

Major Field Test MBA Practice

Unofficial case-style questions on the four content areas of ETS's Major Field Test for MBA, a quarter each.

A retailer shows a new checkout page to half its site visitors, picked at random, and the old page to the rest. Why may it read the gap in purchase rates as an effect of the page?

Pick an answer, then press Check answer. Then you see Correct or Not quite, with the reason. Keys: A to D pick, Enter checks.

Print covers the next 40 questions. Share this set copies a link to the same questions in the same order.

Exam mode: 40 questions, 58 minutes.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with ETS. Bank checked October 12, 2026.

Next step More marketing: CLEP Principles of MarketingThe bachelor's test: MFT in Business practice

All 47 questions

Marketing 12

  • A bicycle maker that has always sold through independent dealers opens its own online store, and the dealers protest. What kind of channel conflict is this? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: I. Marketing (25%), D. Marketing planning, channels and distribution. Wikipedia, "Channel conflict".
  • A carmaker wants to learn how much price buyers will trade for a longer warranty or a larger screen. Respondents rate whole product profiles that mix those features. Which technique is this? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: I. Marketing (25%), C. Market research, research process, concepts and tools. Wikipedia, "Conjoint analysis".
  • A cereal maker spends most of its budget on television advertising to shoppers, so that they ask stores for the brand. Which promotion strategy is this? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: I. Marketing (25%), D. Marketing planning, promotion. Saylor Academy open textbook Principles of Marketing (v. 2.0), "Sales Promotions".
  • A company known for toothpaste puts the same brand name on a new line of chewing gum. What is this move called? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: I. Marketing (25%), D. Marketing planning, products and services. Wikipedia, "Brand extension".
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Marketing, continued

  • A division holds the largest share of a market that has stopped growing, and it brings in more cash than it needs. In the growth-share matrix, what is it, and what does the matrix advise? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: I. Marketing (25%), A. Strategic marketing, environment scanning and marketing planning. Wikipedia, "Growth-share matrix".
  • A firm launches a patented game console at a high price to buyers who want it first, then lowers the price in steps as that demand is met. Which pricing strategy is this? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: I. Marketing (25%), D. Marketing planning, pricing. Wikipedia, "Price skimming".
  • A firm launching a new kind of product wants the adopter group whose opinions the others follow most. In Rogers's diffusion of innovations, which group is that? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: I. Marketing (25%), A. Strategic marketing, innovation. Wikipedia, "Diffusion of innovations".
  • A retailer shows a new checkout page to half its site visitors, picked at random, and the old page to the rest. Why may it read the gap in purchase rates as an effect of the page? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: I. Marketing (25%), C. Market research, managerial decision making. Wikipedia, "A/B testing".
  • A shopper has narrowed a search to three laptops and is weighing their price, weight and battery life. Which stage of the buyer decision process is this? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: I. Marketing (25%), B. Buyer behavior, consumer and business purchasing processes. Wikipedia, "Buyer decision process".
  • A subscription firm spends $240,000 on a campaign that brings in 800 new customers. Each new customer is expected to yield $450 in margin over the years. What is the customer acquisition cost, and does the campaign pay? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: I. Marketing (25%), A. Strategic marketing, metrics and control mechanisms. Wikipedia, "Customer acquisition cost".
  • An airline sorts its customers into frequent flyers, occasional flyers and first-time flyers and makes each group a different offer. Which basis of segmentation is this? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: I. Marketing (25%), B. Buyer behavior, segmentation. Wikipedia, "Market segmentation".
  • At a hospital, an assistant in purchasing decides which suppliers' brochures and sales calls reach the committee that will choose a new scanner. Which buying center role is this? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: I. Marketing (25%), B. Buyer behavior, factors influencing consumer and business purchasing. Saylor Academy open textbook Principles of Marketing (v. 2.0), "Buying Centers".

Management 12

  • A consultant works on a client project under a project director, while the head of her practice group sets her pay and promotion. Which structure is this? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: II. Management (25%), C. Organizational theory, organizational structure design. Wikipedia, "Matrix management".
  • A firm can launch a product with a 60% chance of earning $200,000 and a 40% chance of losing $50,000, or license it for a certain $90,000. Which choice has the higher expected value? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: II. Management (25%), D. Operations planning and management science, quantitative decision making models. Wikipedia, "Expected value".
  • A firm first convinces staff that the old billing process must go, then installs a new one, then changes job descriptions and rewards so the new way sticks. Which model of change is this? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: II. Management (25%), C. Organizational theory, organizational change and development. Wikipedia, "Change management".
  • A project team of eight produces less per member than the same people did when each worked alone, because no one can see who did what. What is this effect called? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: II. Management (25%), A. Organizational behavior, teams. Wikipedia, "Social loafing".
  • A sales rep is sure she can hit her target but doubts the firm will pay the bonus it promised for doing so. In expectancy theory, which link is weak? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: II. Management (25%), A. Organizational behavior, motivation. Wikipedia, "Expectancy theory".
  • A seller will take no less than $40,000 for a machine. The buyer will pay no more than $50,000. Where is the zone of possible agreement? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: II. Management (25%), A. Organizational behavior, negotiation. Wikipedia, "Zone of possible agreement".
  • An engineer is highly skilled at a task and fully committed to it. In situational leadership theory, which leadership style fits this follower? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: II. Management (25%), A. Organizational behavior, leadership. Wikipedia, "Situational leadership theory".
  • Before recruiting, a firm writes down the knowledge, skills and abilities a person needs in order to do a job. What is this document? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: II. Management (25%), B. Human resource management, recruiting and selection. Wikipedia, "Job analysis".
  • Each quarter a plant compares its labor cost with a baseline and pays half of any saving to the plant's employees as a lump-sum bonus. What is this pay plan called? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: II. Management (25%), B. Human resource management, compensation. Wikipedia, "Profit sharing" (section "Gainsharing").
  • On a control chart of fill weights, one sample mean falls above the upper control limit. What does the chart tell the manager? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: II. Management (25%), D. Operations planning and management science, quality and process management. Wikipedia, "Control chart".
  • Shoppers buy 5% more of a snack. The wholesaler orders 10% more and the factory orders 20% more from its suppliers. What is this pattern called? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: II. Management (25%), D. Operations planning and management science, supply chain logistics. Wikipedia, "Bullwhip effect".
  • Two department heads dispute a shared budget. Each presses hard for the department's own needs and also works to meet the other's needs in full. In the Thomas-Kilmann model, which mode is this? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: II. Management (25%), A. Organizational behavior, conflict. Wikipedia, "Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument".

Finance 12

  • A company is liquidated. In what order do these three groups stand in line for what is left? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: III. Finance (25%), B. Investments, financing instruments. Wikipedia, "Preferred stock".
  • A firm earns $10 million. Next year's capital budget is $8 million, to be financed 75% with equity so that its capital structure stays on target. Under a residual dividend policy, how much does it pay out? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: III. Finance (25%), A. Corporate finance, dividend policy. Wikipedia, "Dividend policy".
  • A firm holds inventory for 50 days, collects its receivables in 40 days and pays its suppliers in 30 days. How long is its cash conversion cycle? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: III. Finance (25%), A. Corporate finance, working capital management. Wikipedia, "Cash conversion cycle".
  • A firm is financed 70% by equity that costs 14% and 30% by debt that costs 8% before tax. The tax rate is 25%. What is its weighted average cost of capital? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: III. Finance (25%), A. Corporate finance, cost of capital. Wikipedia, "Weighted average cost of capital".
  • A portfolio has half its money in a stock with a beta of 1.6 and half in a stock with a beta of 0.8. The risk-free rate is 4% and the market risk premium is 5%. By the CAPM, what return is required on it? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: III. Finance (25%), B. Investments, risk and return. Wikipedia, "Capital asset pricing model".
  • A stock is expected to pay a $3 dividend next year, growing 5% a year forever. Investors require 11%. By the constant-growth dividend discount model, what is the stock worth? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: III. Finance (25%), B. Investments, securities valuation and analysis. Wikipedia, "Dividend discount model".
  • A stock market is efficient in the semi-strong form. Which investor can still expect to earn more than the market return for the risk taken? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: III. Finance (25%), C. Financial markets and institutions, market efficiency. Wikipedia, "Efficient-market hypothesis".
  • A U.S. exporter will be paid 1 million euros in 90 days and fears the euro will fall against the dollar. Which trade today fixes the dollar value of that payment? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: III. Finance (25%), A. Corporate finance, international finance. Wikipedia, "Foreign exchange hedge".
  • An all-equity firm is worth $10 million. It borrows $4 million permanently and buys back shares. The corporate tax rate is 25%. By Modigliani and Miller's proposition with corporate taxes, what is it worth now? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: III. Finance (25%), A. Corporate finance, capital structure. Wikipedia, "Modigliani-Miller theorem".
  • An investment bank underwrites a company's new stock issue: it agrees to buy the shares and resell them to the public. Once the agreement is signed, who bears the risk that the shares cannot be sold? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: III. Finance (25%), C. Financial markets and institutions, investment banking. Wikipedia, "Underwriting".
  • An investor pays $2 a share for a put option with a strike price of $40. At expiration the stock trades at $34. What is the profit per share? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: III. Finance (25%), B. Investments, options, futures and other derivatives. Wikipedia, "Put option".
  • Projects A and B are mutually exclusive. A has a net present value of $50,000 and an internal rate of return of 22%. B has $80,000 and 16%. The cost of capital is 10%. Which should the firm take? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: III. Finance (25%), A. Corporate finance, capital budgeting. Wikipedia, "Internal rate of return".

Managerial accounting 11

  • A firm collects 60% of its credit sales in the month of sale and 40% in the month after. Sales are $200,000 in March and $250,000 in April. What are cash collections in April? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: IV. Accounting (25%), B. Resource planning and analysis, cash budgeting. Saylor Academy open textbook Managerial Accounting, "The Master Budget".
  • A firm makes 10,000 units of a part a year. Per unit: variable cost $18, fixed cost that would end if production stopped $4, fixed cost that would go on $5. A supplier offers the part at $24. What should the firm do? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: IV. Accounting (25%), A. Relevant cost, make or buy. Saylor Academy open textbook Managerial Accounting, "Make-or-Buy Decisions".
  • A machine runs 600 hours a month and cannot meet demand. Product A earns a contribution margin of $30 a unit and takes 3 machine hours. Product B earns $24 and takes 2. Which should be made first? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: IV. Accounting (25%), A. Relevant cost, theory of constraints. Saylor Academy open textbook Managerial Accounting, "Using a Contribution Margin When Faced with Resource Constraints".
  • A plant has fixed manufacturing overhead of $100,000. It makes 10,000 units and sells 8,000, with no beginning inventory. How does income under absorption costing compare with income under variable costing? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: IV. Accounting (25%), D. Product costing, absorption vs. variable. Saylor Academy open textbook Managerial Accounting, "Using Variable Costing to Make Decisions".
  • A plant with idle capacity makes a part at a variable cost of $14 a unit; fixed overhead allocated to it is $6 a unit. A one-time order arrives for 1,000 units at $17. Regular sales are not affected. What happens to profit if the order is accepted? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: IV. Accounting (25%), A. Relevant cost, special order. Saylor Academy open textbook Managerial Accounting, "Special Order Decisions".
  • A plant's total cost was $70,000 in its busiest month, at 10,000 units, and $50,000 in its slowest, at 6,000 units. By the high-low method, what are the variable cost per unit and the monthly fixed cost? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: IV. Accounting (25%), C. Cost-volume-profit analysis, cost behavior. Saylor Academy open textbook Managerial Accounting, "Cost Estimation Methods".
  • Cost of goods sold for the year is $720,000. Inventory was $100,000 at the start of the year and $140,000 at the end. What is the inventory turnover? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: IV. Accounting (25%), E. Financial reporting and analysis, financial ratios. Saylor Academy open textbook Managerial Accounting, "Ratio Analysis of Financial Information".
  • Fixed costs are $90,000 a year and the contribution margin ratio is 40%. What sales revenue gives a profit of $30,000? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: IV. Accounting (25%), C. Cost-volume-profit analysis, target profit. Saylor Academy open textbook Managerial Accounting, "Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis for Single-Product Companies".
  • Machine setups cost $60,000 a year for 300 setups. Product X needs 50 of them and Product Y needs 250. Each product uses half of the machine hours. How much setup cost does activity-based costing assign to X? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: IV. Accounting (25%), D. Product costing, activity-based. Saylor Academy open textbook Managerial Accounting, "Using Activity-Based Costing to Allocate Overhead Costs".
  • Standards allow 2,000 direct labor hours for the units made, at $18 an hour. The plant used 2,100 hours and paid $18 an hour. What is the labor efficiency variance? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: IV. Accounting (25%), B. Resource planning and analysis, variance analysis. Saylor Academy open textbook Managerial Accounting, "Direct Labor Variance Analysis".
  • Two products come out of one process that costs $90,000. Product X can be sold at the split-off point for $10 a unit, or processed further for $6 a unit and sold for $15. What should the firm do with X? ETS, Major Field Test for MBA test description: IV. Accounting (25%), A. Relevant cost, sell or process further. Saylor Academy open textbook Managerial Accounting, "Appendix: Making Decisions Involving Joint Costs".

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the test description ETS publishes for the Major Field Test for MBA (https://www.ets.org/content/dam/ets-org/pdfs/mft/mba-test-description.pdf, read 2026-10-12): Marketing 25%, Management 25%, Finance 25%, Accounting 25%, with their topic lists. The bank holds 12, 12, 12 and 11 questions. Each fact was read on 2026-10-12 in the public page named under its question: Saylor Academy's open textbooks Managerial Accounting and Principles of Marketing (v. 2.0), and Wikipedia. Answers that are arithmetic were worked out a second time. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.

How it works

This MFT MBA practice test has 47 questions of our own, spread evenly over the four content areas of ETS's Major Field Test for MBA. It is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by ETS.

Read the full guide

Four areas, a quarter each

ETS's test description, read October 12, 2026, weights its four content areas at 25% each. For Major Field Test MBA marketing practice, the 12 marketing questions run from strategy and buyer behavior to research, pricing and channels.

Short cases, as on the real test

Half of the real questions rest on short case-study scenarios. Most of ours do too: a firm, a few figures, one decision. The accounting is managerial: special orders, make-or-buy, joint costs, variances.

A third of the length

The timed exam here draws 40 of our questions in 58 minutes, the real test's pace.

  • ETS says the math needs no calculator, so work the finance and accounting figures by hand.
  • Some real questions join two or more content areas. ETS reports these as strategic integration.

Questions and answers

Is there an ETS Major Field Test MBA study guide?

ETS posts two documents for the MFT for MBA on its site: a test description with the full outline, and a set of sample questions. This page follows that outline, and none of its questions is taken or reworded from the samples.

What is on the Major Field Test for MBA?

124 multiple-choice questions on marketing, management, finance and managerial accounting. Some also touch international business, information technology, the legal and regulatory environment, ethics, quantitative analysis and managerial economics.

How long is the MFT for MBA?

It is built to last three hours and can be given in two sessions. The program chooses when and where, and a proctor must give the test.

How is the Major Field Test for MBA scored?

ETS reports a total score for each student. Marketing, management, finance, managerial accounting and strategic integration are reported for the group only, and only when at least five students test.

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