Below are some of the most significant shifts in the test taking population from 2011:

The percentage of female test takers increased for the sixth consecutive year to 41%, which is up from 39% just two years earlier.  The fastest growing group to mention in the GMAT pipeline is the under 24 year old population, which has exploded since 2007- reflecting the push for those seeking post-graduate degrees to do so more quickly than in the past, mainly due to the abysmal job market.

These changes reflect the larger trend in higher education for an increasing amount of minority and international students to apply and be accepted to post-graduate programs across the globe.

http://www.gmac.com/gmac/NewsandEvents/GMNews/2011/Nov/GMAT-Test-Taking-Reflects-Growing-Program-Diversity.htm

For MBA applicants, it is already well known that obtaining their advanced degree will be costly and most likely require some combination of loans, financial aid and personal investment.

Some employers still fund or at least partially fund their employees graduate business education, however the number of companies still practicing this has dwindled in lieu of the our current economic state. Unlike a lot of private undergraduate schools, the offers of MBA scholarships based on merit are much harder to come by. While many student loan brokers are willing to approve much larger amounts of money for graduate students than undergraduate, it is important to know that there ARE scholarships out there, if you are willing to do some in depth research into a lot of different organizations, both public and private.

However, because of the fewer business school scholarships out there, in comparison to other types of education scholarships, the competition is fierce. This means that making sure you are submitting the best application possible is paramount to giving you a chance at being selected.

Make sure that your essays submitted for consideration is carefully crafted to reflect the specific desires of each organization/scholarship to which you are applying. During application searches for broader undergraduate scholarships, it might have been possible to create a standard “form” essay that could be altered to address each application specifically, but at the MBA and graduate level, it is strongly recommended that you dedicate exclusive time and energy to each essay for each application.

Find nontraditional sources of scholarship funding. Look into organizations that are of particular/specific interest to you.Ask yourself these questions when researching potential sources of scholarship funding:

1)Is there anything non-traditional or that makes you an especially unique MBA applicant?

Many organizations exist to create opportunities for networking MBA’s within minority groups. These professional groups often have mentoring/scholarship opportunities for others following a similar path.

2)Do you have a specific niche of business that you are looking to pursue ?

Industry specific organizations are another great way to tap into potential scholarship opportunities.

IMPORTANT: Many of these smaller type of organizations may not have a a dedicated scholarship fund or review board, but they may want to to do a private act of philanthropy is your own career goals coincide with there own. It never hurts to ask!

Scholarship applications, like admissions applications, are time consuming- so make sure that you are not wasting your time applying to a lot of scholarships without a specific strategy or someone to advise on how to maximize your potential to receive them.

For more information, please read our MBA Scholarship Application Review.

University of Chicago's Booth EMBA Program was ranked #1 in 2011

With the economy in stasis, an increasing number of professionals looking to return to school to get advanced business degrees are unwilling to give up their current positions when finding a new job after their graduation is no longer assured. Executive MBA programs, offer an excellent alternative to traditional full time MBA educations- where they would be expected to leave their current roles, and then hope that they will be able to find better positions after completing their post graduate education.

Part time programs take about 1-2  additional years to complete versus full-time two year MBA’s. Many believe that the job security they are afforded and ability continue earning an income during the degree, is well worth it.

The diversity of programs offered for EMBA students is growing as well, since an increasing number of applicants for EMBA programs are no longer having their education paid for by their employers. Now they are free to make the decision of where to attend themselves. This means finding new and innovative ways to attract students, like increased offerings of electives in growth areas like entrepreneurship and leadership workshops.

Business Week ranked the best EMBA programs of 2011:

EMBA programs will no doubt continue to gain in popularity as more and more working professionals will be expected to have advanced post graduate degrees to remain competitive in their chosen career fields.

http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20111108/top-part-time-mba-programs-of-2011/

Deciding to reapply to a MBA Program from a school from which has previously rejected your application should never be undertaken lightly. There is usually a good reason (or a few) why you were not accepted to a particular business school program.

• Fact: Applying in different years or semesters to the same school will NOT significantly alter your chances of acceptance. While there are slight variations in the acceptance rates from year to year, overall competition to graduate programs is increasing exponentially.

It is also important to keep in mind that merely having been rejected once before immediately puts you at a disadvantage in comparison with other applicants in your pool. Reapplying without making significant changes and improvements to your application and profile, as a student is a waste of time and money.

Admissions boards will often scrutinize a student who has previously applied more harshly than others simply on the basis of precedent. They will want to see exactly how you have improved your candidacy, spelled out clearly, with detailed anecdotes and progress from your last application.

Above all, be sure that you are objectively evaluating your reasons for reapplication. Applications are expensive and time consuming and you ARE at a distinct disadvantage, having previously been rejected.

In order to ensure that you are accomplishing this effectively, stick to these three main rules if you do decide to reapply to an MBA program:

1) Make significant changes to your previous application- in form and content

2) Use only specific examples and anecdotes when detailing your achievements or skills.

3) Attempt to identify the parts of your application that were the weakest (the reasons for your rejection) and address how you have overcome or improved on them.

For more information, please read our MBA Admissions Rejection Analysis.

Applying to MBA programs takes time and money – and it may seem like getting a result of “waitlisted” is just about as bad as receiving a death sentence. That’s not always the case, and knowing the right strategy to undertake in this case may tremendously improve your chances of getting off the waitlist and into your dream school.

Tom Kania, one of our top admissions consultants and a former admissions board member for the Wharton Business School, points out some key tactics to improve your chances of successfully getting off the waitlist and accepted into your school of choice:

1) Have an experienced second opinion to help advise and refine your application materials. This will greatly increase your chances of acceptance, and make the most of the additional time spent on your application.

2) Maintain communication with your school of choice and make it immediately clear, following the notification of your waitlist assignment, that you are serious about your attendance in the program if accepted.

IMPORTANT: You may be asked to make a deposit to hold your place in the program that is nonrefundable if you are accepted and decide not to attend. Therefore, be sure that you will absolutely ready to attend should you get accepted off the waitlist.  Also, be aware, that because you are in a holding position, if another previously accepted student declines admission, even only 1 day before commencement and you are selected off the waitlist to fill that slot, you must attend or forfeit the deposit.

3) Decide what supporting materials you will submit to the board in hopes of getting them to select you. Tom warns that, “Applicants should be careful to censor what materials they send to their desired school. Flooding them with additional letters and notifications of small achievements can ultimately work against you, as the admissions board is already attempting to sift through application materials from thousands of students”.

4) Make sure that you are prepared for the additional time and emotional energy that will go into the uncertainty of acceptance for the next few months. Are you willing to put yourself through this? Or, might it be better to move on and make a decision amongst the schools you were accepted to. This is a highly personal decision, but the stress and uncertainty of choosing to pursue a waitlist assignation are not to be undertaken lightly.

For more information, please read our MBA Waitlist Strategy