Earning an MBA degree from one of the top business schools can be a career-changing milestone. However, studying in these reputed colleges would involve enormous amounts of fees and other expenses.
Not everyone can afford these educational expenses. So, does that mean it is the end of the road?
Of course not!
There are many other ways to finance your dream MBA education.
Scholarships are one of the most reliable ways to finance your MBA. The best part about securing a scholarship is it gives you an opportunity to showcase as a strong candidate without adding future financial liabilities.
It is not very easy to ensure a scholarship, especially at the world’s renowned universities. However, it is not completely impossible.
Here are a few strategies that you can employ to improve your chances to get a scholarship in some of the top MBA programs.
Optimize your GMAT score:
Business schools consider multiple attributes while granting scholarships, one of the most impactful of these attributes is your GMAT score. Your GMAT score is also something you can improve in a period of a few months. Most business schools don’t have a particular GMAT cut off score to grant scholarships. However, similar to other standardized test GMAT scores also follows a bell curve pattern with a standard deviation of minus or plus 30.
For instance, if your score is 30 points above the average applicants’ score your chances are better. Similarly, if you score is 30 points less the average, your admission process could be a little tough.
Plan well in advance to apply early:
You will always have a better to get an admission if you are applying in the first round. The same applies to scholarships. The scholarships a business school can grant would be limited. Therefore, if you want to get a scholarship, it is better if you target the admission in the first round — when all the scholarship money would at disposal with the business school to offer to eligible candidates. If you wait too long and apply in the second or third admission rounds, a high percentage of the scholarships would have been awarded to other candidates— shrinking your chances of getting one.
Research well about the MBA scholarships
To improve your chance of getting a scholarship, you would firstly need to be aware of all the available scholarship options of that particular MBA program. It is not outrightly given in every college page about the scholarships. You need to put in some time to research about the scholarships you would be eligible to apply. Though most business schools do not require you to apply separately for the scholarships, you would need to separately apply to few other scholarship programs. Make sure you all thorough in your research, especially with the specific terms and conditions about the renewability of the scholarship.
Leverage the diversity advantage if you can
The majority of international business strive to make their students as diverse as possible. In line with this vision, most scholarhsips are also awarded specifically to candidates who will improve the diversity of the class.
For instance, there are specific scholarships granted to female applicants, African American applicatins, LGBTQ+ applications, India applicants and so on. If you belong to any of these specific communities, you should leverage the advantage and apply for those scholarships. The above-mentioned strategies can enhance your odds of getting a scholarship from of these top business schools.
However, do remember that most of business schools are looking for comprehensive candidate with various necessary qualities. Hence, make your application a strong one in all the aspects.