Deferred MBA Programs In USA

Our last blog ended with a list of b-schools that offer the deferred MBA option. The concept is most prevalent in the USA, so in this second part of the deferred MBA admission series, we will mention the b-schools that offer Deferred MBA programs in USA.

Most of these programs have a few elements in common. Applicants should be college seniors or graduates who are pursuing their Master’s degree.  This means applicants should not be having any full-time work experience before applying. However, once admitted, they need to garner atleast 2-5 years of experience before joining business school.  Read on to know about specific programs:

1. HBS 2+2

The most famed of all deferred MBA programs, HBS 2+2 is for current students who are either studying in college or in a Master’s program. Applicants pursuing a Master’s degree should not be having any full-time work experience between their college and master’s programs.

Harvard looks for high potential candidates who desire to make a difference in the world. Thus, they seek applicants who wish to take non-traditional career paths that are not as well established in business schools, such as working in the public sector, NGOs or pursuing entrepreneurship. Demographically, they seek to recruit applicants from lower socio-economic backgrounds (first-generation students and lower-income backgrounds), who will add to the diversity of the HBS class with their unique perspectives. Also, students from STEM and humanities disciplines are encouraged to apply. For example, of the 100-125 students in the 2+2 cohort, about 50% have a STEM background, which demonstrates the program’s preference for students having engineering and science backgrounds.

Once admitted, students have to first garner atleast 2 years of professional work experience before they join the 2 year MBA program (hence the 2+2 name). However, the program allows students to extend their working period beyond the stipulated 2 years by up to another 2 years. In effect, students can work up to a maximum of 4 years before matriculation. This flexibility is a definite plus for students if they are pursuing excellent professional opportunities that will make a positive difference to their profile and future career prospects. Also, as HBS has a case-based pedagogy, so joining the MBA class with richer professional experience will remarkably improve a student’s ability to contribute in class.

Application Facts: The 2+2 program has only one deadline, which is in April. Applicants will need a GRE or a GMAT to apply. Along with other application components, they also need two recommendations, which can come from supervisors from internships, part-time work, professors or mentors.  Peers recommendations are not recommended.  The application fee is $100, and if admitted, students have to pay a tuition deposit of $1000 to hold their place in the class.

2. Deferred Enrollment at Stanford GSB:
At Stanford, applicants have to satisfy either of the following criteria for applying:

1. They should be in their final year of their bachelor’s.
2. They should have enrolled in a graduate program (Master’s) immediately after college, without gaining full-time work experience.

Stanford is among the very few MBA programs where students can enroll directly after graduation, that is, pursue an MBA straight out of college. The better option, however, is to first gain some industry experience, especially for students vying careers in private equity, consulting or investment banking where pre-MBA work experience is a requirement to land a job.

Admitted graduates can defer their MBA for two years although the b-school reserves the right to decide whether they are ready to join directly after graduation or if they’ll be stronger candidates with some work experience under their belts.

Application Facts: The third round deadline, which falls in April, is the best time to apply. Recommendations should be from people who can speak to the applicant’s extra-curricular activities, internships or part-time jobs. Applicants have to pay a reduced application fee of $100. If they wish to apply for scholarships, they must do it in the year prior to joining the MBA, and not at the time of application.

3. Wharton’s Advance Access Program:
The Wharton MBA’s deferred admission program has two different brand names- the Moelis Advanced MBA Program for the UPenn graduates and the Advance Access Program for applicants from any college.
The Moelis Program, started in 2017, with a generous $10M gift from Wharton alumni, Ken Moelis and Julie Taffet Moelis, is offered to high-achieving Penn undergraduate seniors who wish to work in non-traditional career paths. Penn seniors in the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Science, School of Nursing, the Wharton School, and all coordinated dual degrees are eligible to apply, thus affording Wharton MBA a chance to retain their best academic talent all the way to the MBA program.

Wharton’s Advance Access Program:
The Wharton MBA’s deferred admission program has two different brand names- Moelis Advanced MBA Program for the UPenn graduates and Advance Access Program for applicants from any college.

The Moelis Program, started in 2017, with a generous $10M gift from Wharton alumni, Ken Moelis and Julie Taffet Moelis, is offered to high-achieving Penn undergraduate seniors who wish to work in non-traditional career paths. Penn seniors in the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Science, School of Nursing, the Wharton School, and all coordinated dual degrees are eligible to apply, thus affording Wharton MBA a chance to retain their best academic talent all the way to the MBA program.

Moelis Fellows can work for 2 to 4 years before they matriculate. During this period, they have access to exclusive resources such as quarterly social and professional development events, yearly retreats, professional mentor matching and access to select Wharton conferences.

Wharton also allows college juniors (in their third year of college) to apply for the full-time MBA. Once these applicants are in their senior year, they can submatriculate to the full-time MBA program. Submatriculation means that students can embark upon the first year of the MBA while they are still completing their Senior college year. That said, b-schools desire applicants to have at least two years’ work experience to be contributing students in the MBA class, and rarely admit applicants with anything lesser. College students should apply for submtriculation only if they have an exceptional entrepreneurship record or if they know for certain that they will go back to work in their family business post-MBA.

The Advance Access Program allows under-graduate seniors and masters’ students to apply to the full-time Wharton MBA and join the program 2 to 4 years after gaining full-time work experience.  The programs seek applications from individuals who are “innovative, intellectually curious and ready to take professional risks while impacting the world.” The applicants are encouraged to take professional risks during the deferment period, such as starting a venture, working in the non-profit and embarking upon an international opportunity.

Both the deferred programs offer students guaranteed admission, thus enabling them to take risks with their careers and chart out a career path that matters most to them.

Application Facts: The application process is the same for both the Moelis Fellows and the Advance Access program. A complete application is the same as the regular MBA application. Two recommendations are required and these could be from internship managers, professors or academic advisors. A valid GRE or GMAT score, with the raw scores (percentiles), is a must. Plan your exam date atleast 15 days before the application deadline so that you can include your score in its entirety, as required by the admissions team. Round 3 is the best time to apply so that a more complete academic record is available.

The application fee is $100 for the Advanced Access program but its waived off for the Moelis program. Applicants admitted into either of the two programs have to pay a deposit of $1,000 due at the time of acceptance and $1,000, due the year they decide to matriculate.

4. Yale’s Silver Scholars Program:
The Silver Scholar Program at Yale School of Management is different from the other deferred MBA programs in the way it is structured. This is a three-year program and admitted candidates start the MBA immediately after their graduation. In the first year, they gain business knowledge trough Yale’s integrated core curriculum. In the second year, students join a yearlong, full-time internship that helps put their business concepts learnt over the first year into practice. In the third and the last year, students come back to complete their MBA and take electives in areas of their interests and career aspirations.

The Silver Scholars program may seem very tightly structured but there’s flexibility built-in. In the second year, if students are gaining exceptional value from their work experience, they have the freedom to extend their professional experience by another 2 or 3 years.

The Silver Scholars program can be challenging for incoming students who have had no prior work experience. Once they enter business-school, the learning curve is steep and they must be intelligent, curious and passionate to work alongside the rest of the class. Opportunities and exposure are also boundless. Scholars can join clubs, become part of the club and events leadership and be wholly immersed in the MBA experience despite being novices.

One disadvantage of the program can be that Silver Scholars who start together in the same cohort are likely to graduate at different timings because of the flexible internship in the second year, which can be extended up to 4 years. The upside is that being part of the b-school for a longer period, they can build a larger network for themselves.

Application Facts: The Silver Scholars application is the same as the regular application. Applicants need to provide two letters of recommendation. One of these should be from an academic instructor and the other from an employer who the applicant may have worked with during an internship or part-time job. In case the applicant has no work experience, then she can secure a letter from an extracurricular activity or a volunteer organization where she has been actively involved. Application deadlines are in September, January and April.

5. Kellogg Future Leader program
Kellogg has been a recent entrant in deferred MBA admissions, announcing the Kellogg Future Leader program in January 2020.

Kellogg’s deferment period is from two to five years. During this period, admitted applicants receive career guidance from an admissions officer, they can build a network before starting classes and also attend Kellogg’s various events. Once students are ready to join, they have the flexibility to decide which format would be most beneficial for them – the one year MBA, the two year MBA, or the part-time (weekend or Evening) MBA. They can also apply for joint degree programs (a separate application will be needed for these).

Application Facts: Undergrads in their last year of college or those who joined a Master’s program straight from college are eligible to apply. As part of the application, they will have to take the GRE or GMAT.  Although Kellogg does not require an application fee, but they ask for an initial deposit of $500 and a $500 fee for every deferred year which is later adjusted with the tuition fee once applicants start the MBA program. Applications are due in April.

6. The Booth Scholar Program:
Like Wharton, Booth’s deferred program has traditionally been a unique feature offered only to University of Chicago students. It was opened up for students from other universities in 2018.
The Booth Scholar Program allows admitted students to work for a minimum of two and a maximum of four years before starting business school. They have the flexibility to work from any location in the world, and at the time of matriculation, if they don’t wish to commit wholly to business school, that’s acceptable.  They can join the evening or the part-time MBA program.

Application Facts: The application process is the same as that for other Booth Applicants,  with the same set of essays.  The essays should reflect deeply on what an applicant may be doing in their future career and why that requires an MBA. If applicants have already done some internships and know what your interests and skills are, then these can be leveraged to give a compelling reason for why MBA. The application deadline is in April. A GRE or GMAT score is required, but the application fee is waived off.

Besides the Booth scholar program, Chicago Booth also has other early career programs. There is the three-week Summer Business Scholars program, open to all current or recent undergrads, through which they can get a flavor of the Booth MBA which they may plan to join in the future. This program exposes students to business courses, preparing them for internships and jobs after graduation.   The Dougan Scholars Certificate Program is for second-year undergrad students from the University of Chicago only. The program offers a 6-course curriculum in accounting, economics, statistics, and social sciences,  thus helping students build business and analytical skills in preparation for the corporate world.

7. MIT Sloan MBA Early Admission:
Similar to other deferral programs, MIT Sloan allows admitted college seniors to work for 2 to 4 years before they join the MBA class. Launched in 2019, the MIT Sloan MBA Early Admission is for students “who have demonstrated leadership and an impact on their community, whether it is in the classroom, clubs, athletics, or internships. Thriving in a collaborative team environment, these are students from a diversity of majors who will enhance the MIT Sloan community with their intellectual abilities, drive and experiences,” says the Assistant Dean of Admissions, Dawna Levenson.

Application Facts: Students can apply in the last year of college or while they are studying for masters, but they shouldn’t have any full-time work experience between the two degrees. The application requires a GMAT or GRE score along with the essay, resume, vide essay and references. The application fee has been waived off. The application deadline is in April.

8. Columbia Business School Deferred Enrollment Program:
The rules are pretty much the same as those for other deferred programs, for CBS’ Deferred Enrollment Program. College seniors or candidates from the Master’s program  (without having full-time work experience)  can apply. Admitted students should have 2 to 5 years of work experience before they matriculate. During this period, they can access CBS’ school-wide resources, events and select conferences to enhance their academic experience. Students can decide closer to the year of joining, whether they wish to matriculate in the August-entry or January-entry program. To recap, the August entry is the traditional 2-year MBA that also has a summer internship. The January intake, on the other hand, is a shorter MBA for 16 months as it does not include an internship.

Application Facts: Applicants do not have to pay any application fee, but they have to pay the initial fee of $500 upon admission to reserve their space and then pay a subsequent deferral fee.

9. Darden Future Year Scholars:
Darden’s deferred MBA program known as Future Year Scholars, was introduced in 2019.  The rules are the same here- students apply as college seniors or as master’s students and can defer their matriculation for 2 upto 4 years, in order to gain work experience. They have to work for a minimum 2 year period between graduation and matriculation. Admitted students will have access to the Darden network and get individualized career support from a Darden mentor.

Darden is looking for exceptional students and will evaluate students on three broad criteria: their personal characteristics, academics and extra-curricular involvements.  The school endeavors to have a diverse mix of students, therefore students from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

While some of the deferred admissions programs offer scholarships only at the time of matriculation, Darden will offer a $30,00 scholarships at the time of admission and is likely going to consider students for future scholarship awards at the time of matriculation. Knowing that you are getting some money from the b-school at the time of your admission decision can be another big plus for students to manage the uncertainty that lies ahead.

Application Facts: Darden offers three deadlines to apply. These are in January, April and August.  There is no particular advantage in applying early or late. All deadlines carry the same weight and the only benefit of applying early that applicants would know the outcome early!

The application requirements for the Future Years Scholar’s program include a standardized test- GMAT, GRE, MCAT or LSAT, essays, resume and recommendations. Recommendations can be from an internship supervisor, a professor or an academic advisor. While there is no application fee, students are expected t put in a $500 deposit every year prior to matriculation.

10. Berkeley Haas Accelerated Access:
Berkeley Haas’ deferred MBA program, Accelerated Access was introduced this year in January 2020. Like the other deferred MBA programs before it, this one allows admitted applicants 2 to 5 years to gain professional experience before joining the MBA program. The program is initially opening for UC Berkeley undergraduate and graduate (pursuing Masters) students. This will provide an opportunity for UC Berkeley students who may not have earlier considered an MBA  to join. Eventually, the program will open to graduates from other colleges as well.

Applicants must note that admission is conditional and depends on several factors. Firstly, they will need to gain 2 to 5 years of work experience prior to matriculation. Secondly, applicants’ final transcript grades should not deviate from the academic performance submitted during the application process.  Thirdly, students should have acquired stellar work experience and developed their leadership profile as is expected from them. Fourthly, their personal and professional conduct should be aligned with the values of Haas.

Application Facts: The Haas MBA offers two deadlines for the Accelerated Access applicants- these are in April and in June. The application is the same as that for the full-time program. The application fee is waived off for 2020, the launch year. Further, the b-school will give out 5 $100,000 scholarships to commemorate the launch year.

Admitted students will be required to pay a fee of $500 to reserve their spot.

11. NYU Stern Berkley Scholars Program:
The Berkley Scholars Program at NYU Stern was introduced in 2013 for college seniors and recent college graduates who wish to pursue the full-time Stern MBA, directly after completing their graduation. These students are selected based on their stellar academic performance and exceptional potential to contribute to business and society.

The program offers scholarships to admitted applicants. This includes the full tuition fee for the MBA program as well as a stipend for housing and educational experiences. These scholarships are only available for candidates pursuing the two-year Full-time MBA, Fashion & Luxury MBA or Andre Koo Tech MBA.

Application Facts: Students should have graduated from their undergraduate program prior to starting classes at any of the 3 MBA programs.

12. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA):
UCLA has not branded its deferral program like other MBAs, however, they allow early career applicants and college seniors to apply for their MBA program. Although UCLA prefers experienced professionals, college graduates can join the class without amassing work experience.

13. Emory Early Admissions
The Emory Early Admissions invites high achieving college seniors from both business and non-business backgrounds to apply. Admitted students can join any format of the Emory MBA program- the two years, one year, or the weekend MBA, but they should have 2 to 5 years of work experience.  Students get the benefit of setting annual career-related consultations with the Emory Admissions staff.

Application Facts:  Applicants are required to submit the regular application. Standardized scores, GRE or GMAT are a must, but Emory’s BBA students with a B or better GPA  are exempt from submitting a GMAT score. The application deadline is in April.

14. Carlson School of Management MBA in Two:
Carlson’s deferred MBA program is meant only for domestic college seniors. International students are not eligible for this program. If admitted, students have to work for two years before they can join the MBA class.

Application Facts:  Applicants have to submit a complete application that comprises the resume, test scores, three references from academic or professional sources and the essays.  The application deadline for the program is in July.

15. Rutgers MBA, Future Leaders
Future leaders program is specifically designed for college students who are pursuing science and engineering majors such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Environmental Science and Business. Students earn their undergrad degree as well as MBA from Rutgers Business School. If accepted into the program, students take courses that count towards their MBA degree starting from the fourth year of under graduation. On completing graduation, students join the part-time MBA program, which allows them the flexibility to seek employment after earning their bachelor’s degree. It may take more than one year to complete the MBA degree, depending on the choice of major, employment circumstances, and credit load.

Also Check out: Case For Deferred Admission