Firm-sponsored candidates are quite appealing to Admissions Committees, as the committee knows that these candidates will be employed upon graduation and that their post-MBA goals are within reach. Furthermore, the Admissions Committee will sleep better at night, knowing that their BusinessWeek responses will see a small statistical benefit in the “percentage of candidates employed upon graduation” and possibly even “average starting salary” categories. Firm sponsorship is almost always an asset.
We have worked with unsponsored clients, of course, but we have also worked with many clients who have been unaware that their firms sponsor employees. For that sake, we have worked with clients whose firms did not have sponsorship programs, but created them when our candidates brought forth the idea.
So, first things first, you need to discover if your firm has such a program and then, if they do, you need to learn all you can about the process for earning a firm scholarship. We have worked with international clients who have needed to apply internally 1.5 years before their proposed programs would begin; obviously, in such cases, you do not want to be applying at the last moment. Similarly, if you are going to “invent” your company’s program, this might take months of bureaucratic haggling and decision making. This is certainly a process that you should start now.
We offer specific pre-application services for those interested in charting a clear course to their MBA.
