If there\u2019s one thing future MBAs are likely to understand, it\u2019s the value of a good investment. Even though figuring out how to pay for an MBA can present a challenge, business school applicants may be uniquely\u00a0qualified to find ways\u2014in the form of both loans and MBA scholarships\u2014to cover their tuition.<\/p>\n
Scholarships, on the other hand, are like a financial high-five for being awesome.<\/p>\n
So how do you find the MBA scholarships that are right for you? Follow these five steps to make sure you\u2019re getting the most from your business school education for the least tuition possible.
\n
However you like to get organized\u2014whether it\u2019s logging information into spreadsheets or plastering\u00a0a hundred Post-It notes on your wall, create some room for scholarship availability. Some schools do not require separate applications for consideration to scholarship programs. Others may ask that you opt in to be considered, while still others will offer scholarships aimed at specific population segments to encourage them to apply.<\/p>\n
Research the selection criteria for each scholarship you\u2019re qualified for, and note which elements of your application will be considered. Remember to pay special attention to whether a scholarship is renewable or not, and under what conditions (i.e. is renewal dependent upon first-year performance?). Keep in mind that a \u201ctraditional\u201d two-year, full-time MBA will offer many more scholarship and fellowship opportunities and dollars than part-time or executive MBA tracks.<\/p>\n
Want to see how this all breaks down? The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) has a\u00a0fantastic tool<\/a>\u00a0that allows you to input basic demographics and the type of MBA program you\u2019re interested in to see how similar applicants paid for their education.<\/p>\n OK, we\u2019re not so sure about that last one, but if you happen to be an accomplished underwater basket weaver, you can probably find a way to leverage that skill into your MBA scholarship search. The point is to look for\u00a0any and every opportunity<\/a> for funding that you may qualify for. Sometimes, the more niche\/unique your qualification, the better.<\/p>\n Keep in mind that you will need to be an above-average candidate for the school you\u2019re applying to to be considered for valuable MBA scholarship funds. This is no longer about just getting accepted to business school; it\u2019s about receiving that financial high-five! While schools may be purposely ambiguous about what makes an \u201cexceptional candidate\u201d in their assessment, your academic credentials and GMAT score will figure in\u2014as will your work experience, volunteer or community service, and undergraduate work.<\/p>\n Your GMAT score is a big part of your academic excellence, and it\u2019s a factor you can change in just\u00a0a few short months<\/a>\u00a0of regular prep. Very few, if any, schools will have a definite cutoff score for scholarship eligibility. After all, your GMAT score doesn\u2019t represent an absolute. As with any standardized test, GMAT scores fall on a bell curve with a standard deviation of +\/- 30 points.<\/p>\n So it stands to reason that, if you scored 30 points above the school\u2019s average applicant, you are legitimately more competitive. If you scored 30 points below the mean, the rest of your application may still have to work a little harder. Applying early in Round 1 means that you are applying for all available seats and, sometimes, all scholarship dollars. The longer you wait, the more those opportunities\u2014and those MBA scholarships\u2014will get allocated to other students.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If there\u2019s one thing future MBAs are likely to understand, it\u2019s the value of a good investment. Even though figuring out how to pay for an MBA can present a challenge, business school applicants may be uniquely\u00a0qualified to find ways\u2014in the form of both loans and MBA scholarships\u2014to cover their tuition. In addition to MBA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45922,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[55],"tags":[360,56],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16534"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16534"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45923,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16534\/revisions\/45923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Step 2: Cast a wide net<\/h3>
\nThere are scholarships and fellowships available for female MBA students, Hispanic applicants, applicants from India, applicants planning a career with nonprofits, applicants interested in underwater basket weaving, and so on.<\/p>\nStep 3: Be the total business school package<\/h3>
\nThe frustrating thing about many schools\u2019 scholarship pages is that\u00a0their selection criteria<\/a>\u00a0can be a bit vague. What does \u201cexceptional candidate\u201d or \u201chighly qualified\u201d mean, anyway? If you can dig up some stats on previous scholarship recipients, it will help you determine your competitiveness. You can do so by speaking to admissions officers at recruiting events or sending brief, friendly emails to admissions staff. Email wisely. See Step 1 above.<\/p>\nStep 4: Play up your GMAT score<\/h3>
\nAssuming you may not be able to change your undergraduate GPA or add more years of work experience to your application or resume at this stage of the game, your\u00a0GMAT score<\/a>\u00a0is one area where you can still really outshine other applicants in your search for MBA scholarships and fellowships.<\/p>\n
\nStep 5: Be strategic and apply early<\/h3>
\nApplying to business school is a major life decision, so it\u2019s important to apply to the right schools for you. However, business schools are still\u00a0rebounding\u00a0from a few years of\u00a0declining numbers in applications<\/a>. A strong candidate with stellar credentials could potentially generate many scholarship and fellowship offers from schools looking to\u00a0boost their rankings<\/a>\u00a0by wooing great applicants.<\/p>\n