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.

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

HBS Culture 

Harvard Business School has been implementing  many new changes that all focus on collaboration.  Every admitted student is given a face-to-face interview with the admission committee to get a better idea who they are as people, and how they work with others.  Collaboration is ultimately the tool to making a difference in the world.

HBS MBA classes are always diverse.  There is no ideal HBS student.  The admissions committee is looking for students from a variety of backgrounds to present a host of perspectives and get students thinking creatively. Sure they will share common traits such as strong analytical skills,and good leadership qualities.  But the important thing is that the students can work well with each other and bring their own unique perspective to the table, ultimately creating a more comprehensive and beneficial program.

New Initiatives at HBS

Harvard is encouraging undergraduate seniors to apply to HBS throughout the year instead of the usual just during the summer now that Harvard 2+2 Program is up and running.  In keeping with these new changes, Harvard has added new course requirements for first year students emphasizing small group collaboration and hands-on application of the material.  The new course series, called The Field Immersion Experience for Leadership Development (FIELD) is detailed in the 3 Modules below.

1) Leadership Module

The Leadership Module emphasizes small group work and close collaboration with the faculty to provide insight into the best leadership qualities.

2) Module 2

Module 2 will place new student in 14 different cities in 11 emerging economy countries to receive hands on experience in product development exercises.  THe 11 countries will include China, South Africa, and Vietnam, among others.

3) Integrative Exercise in Entrepreneurship

In this module, the student start their own companies, focusing on marketing and customer service.

HBS Financial Aid Information

Harvard Business School encourages all undergraduate students to apply no matter their financial standing.  Financial Aid is not applied for until after the acceptance of the student. Further, the Harvard Alumni have been very receptive to supporting new HArvard students and their education.

Some Quick HBS Admissions Facts

- Harvard looks at their prospective student holistically, never using a point system or structured formula to judge the quality of the student

- Harvard Business School class is about 39 percent women

- About one-third of the class members are non-U.S. citizens

For more details, please also read our Harvard Business School Admissions Tips.

In an article a while ago, the author gives us the example of Adam Krueckenberg, 37, who had a great job as a vice president at Fidelity, but who wanted to return to school for his MBA.  Boston College was the school that sparked his interest and not for any other reason than it offered exactly what he was looking for: a dual MBA/MS in church management and pastoral ministry.  This program has been offered at Boston College since 2005.

Krueckenberg goes onto say: “I wanted a career that was more spiritually fulfilling.  I wouldn’t have been able to train for that in a more traditional setting.”

This recent trend, indicated by the Journal, “has crept into most field over the past few decades, but few have embraced it more enthusiastically than the graduate business schools.”  Since 1990, there has been a shift in MBAs becoming more and more specialized, ranging from subjects such as aerospace, wine management, luxury goods, real estate, and energy management.

The percentage of business school students enrolled in specialized programs has risen by about 4% each year since 2001.  All in all, more than 1/5 of business schools students are seeking a specialized degree.

How does a specialized business degree work?  Evidently, such programs don’t focus on the big picture of their focus, rather they zero in on practical and commercial applications.  There are schools such as the University of Chicago and Columbia, which have rather broad business degrees with concentrations like finance and marketing, but then there are schools like the University of Wisconsin in Madison that has made a niche for itself as being a specialized MBA Mecca.

The University of Wisconsin eradicated its general MBA in 2004, focusing, instead, on 13 specializations – some of which include market research and real estate.  Students who know exactly what they want to do are often attracted to specialized MBAs, in addition to older applicants with business experience who wants to change fields altogether.

Other specialized programs, such as the University of Oklahoma’s Price College of Business, are at an advantage because of their location.  The University of Oklahoma is right in the midst of pure oil country and many graduates pursue a career in the oil field as executives.  Rutgers University, on the other hand, within such proximity to Johnson & Johnson as Mereck, has a pharmaceutical focus, which often attracts students to work in New Jersey after graduation.

On an international level, such specialized schools were adopted early, especially in France.  The Essec Business School near Paris focuses entirely on international luxury and brand management, accepting only 40 students a year and conducting classes in English.  The Bordeaux Management School attracts students interested in the wine and spirits field with the location enriching their studies dramatically.

Does this seem contradictory in an economic environment where a general MBA might be smarter than a specialized one?  Hess concludes: “…going deep instead of wide seems to fit right in with an increasingly segmented world.”