Deferred admission programs offer a unique opportunity for applicants. Rather than gather years of work experience, carefully curating decisions in order to present MBA programs with a top-tier resume, applicants can apply with no work experience whatsoever.
On deferred admission programs – also known as deferred enrollment programs – ambitious students are able to apply during their undergraduate or graduate programs, then spend between one and five years in the workplace before joining their MBA program of choice.
Numbers of deferred admission programs are growing, and can now be found across several of the top schools.
The following schools all offer MBA programs with deferred enrollment:
- Berkeley Haas
- Carnegie Mellon Tepper
- Chicago Booth
- Columbia Business School
- Harvard Business School
- MIT / Sloan
- Northwestern Kellogg
- Pennsylvania Wharton
- Stanford GSB
- UCLA Anderson
- UVA / Darden
- Yale School of Management
We’ve dived into four of these programs in a little more detail.
Columbia Business School Deferred MBA
Columbia Business School’s deferred enrollment MBA gives current students – in undergraduate and Master’s programs, but not in Ph.D. programs, law school, or medical school – the opportunity to secure a spot on Columbia’s MBA program before gaining any professional work experience. Students may then defer their matriculation date by two to five years. Safe in the knowledge that their spot on the MBA is secured, candidates are free to explore industries and roles that truly interest them during this time.
When candidates are ready to stop working and to join the MBA program, they simply send a letter of intent to Columbia Business School. The letter should specify whether they plan to join on the January start (16-month program) or the August start (20-month program with summer internship). Sending the letter automatically enters the candidate into consideration for merit-based fellowships; they will also be able to apply for need-based scholarships.
When evaluating applications for its deferred enrollment program, Columbia looks for leadership experience gained through internships and student organizations and community impact.
Students successfully admitted through this program hail from myriad backgrounds. In a webinar with Clear Admit, the school stressed that non-traditional majors and career interests are welcome, since varied backgrounds help build Columbia’s diverse community.
Once admitted, candidates must make a $500 deposit to the school for each year that they defer.
Columbia’s High Engagement Levels
Key to Columbia’s deferred enrollment program is the emphasis on engagement during deferrals. Columbia builds strong connections with its incoming students and enables them to do the same with each other via a Slack community, “ask me anything” sessions with the Career Management Center, fireside chats with CBS alumni and industry leaders from across the city, and events through its Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise or its Bernstein Center for Leadership. Plus, the school organizes class and campus visits to allow deferred enrollment students to connect with the school and with each other.
Harvard Business School
Students applying to Harvard’s 2+2 do so during the last year of their undergraduate or graduate studies and, if successful, are offered a place in an upcoming cohort. They then enter the workplace for two to four years before matriculating.
As with other deferred enrollment programs, HBS’s 2+2 offers candidates an incredible opportunity: the knowledge that the first two to four years of their career will have no bearing on their MBA eligibility. HBS is looking for candidates who will take advantage of this opportunity – who will use these years to take risks, explore rare opportunities, and “make bold moves.”
Students who are enrolled in law school, medical school, or PhD programs are not eligible to apply via Harvard’s 2+2 program.
It is worth noting that, while Harvard’s 2+2 program welcomes applications from all academic backgrounds, it was designed to draw in STEM students before they were funneled into other careers, and to attract humanities majors before they were pulled onto law-school paths.
To confirm their place on the HBS program, candidates must withdraw applications from all other MBA programs – deferred or otherwise – and pay a non-refundable $1,000 tuition deposit.
Applications for HBS’s 2+2
The HBS 2+2 application essays differ slightly from those asked of regular MBA applicants. That said, Harvard is still looking for many of the same qualities in these essays. These are:
- Evidence of how you will fit into and contribute to their values;
- A clear definition of your career goals and how an MBA will help you achieve them;
- Proof that you want to make a difference and an idea of how you will do so.
Be sure to craft a strong narrative and compelling story by linking all the components of your journey together: how has the experience gained through undergraduate extracurriculars shaped your career goals? What skills have you learned that you will carry into the workplace? How will you use an MBA to further your professional experience? What impact do you want to make in the business world and how will an MBA help you do that?
Harvard notes that some preference will be given to applicants who are on paths less likely to lead them to business school. For example:
- Those who are the first in their family to attend college;
- Those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds;
- Those whose career ambitions lie in underrepresented industries, such as entrepreneurship, operating companies, and technically-demanding roles such as engineering or software development.
Pennsylvania Wharton
Admits of Wharton’s deferred enrollment MBA, called the Wharton Moelis Advance Access Program, make up about 10% of each full-time MBA class (usually around 900 students).
Candidates apply via a distinct Deferred Admission round that takes place in late April of each year, pursue two to four years of “quality work experience,” and then matriculate alongside the regular incoming MBA class. The separated admissions rounds means that Moelis applicants are evaluated against each other, not against the larger MBA applicant pool.
The Moelis program is open to students in their last year of an undergraduate or graduate program who have no professional work experience. Applicants from all academic backgrounds are welcomed; those applying from University of Pennsylvania specifically are eligible to apply for a merit-based annual fellowship of $10,000. In particular, Wharton seeks students who will seize the opportunity provided by a deferral period; who are prepared to use a sense of professional liberty to maximize their early career experiences while impacting the world”.
Once admitted, candidates on the Moelis program need to make two deposits of $1,000: one by the enrollment deadline, and one in the year of matriculation. During the deferral period, candidates must confirm their intent to join the MBA program with Wharton on an annual basis.
The Wharton Name and Network
Alongside the usual benefits of exploratory freedom and MBA-security, Wharton notes that deferred admits are able to use the Wharton name to accelerate their career even from the early stages. It’s an important asset – association with the prestigious school will enhance the opportunities available to candidates. This, paired with the certainty of an MBA spot-secured, allows candidates to “pursue these early years with increased confidence and risk-tolerance.”
In addition to this, Wharton emphasizes the benefits of accessing the Wharton network pre-MBA enrollment. With both alumni and current students available for support, deferred admits have access to a major, global network – usually reserved for MBA students and graduates – from the very first day of their career. Wharton enhances access to this network via Slack, email, Moelis-only events, student conferences, and alumni initiatives.
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Stanford GSB’s Deferred Enrollment MBA program offers students the opportunity to begin their MBA immediately after graduating from their undergraduate program.
However, students are strongly encouraged to make use of the possibility to defer, and to push their MBA start date into the future by one to four years. Specifically, Stanford is looking for applicants who will use this time not just to build their professional expertise, skills, and knowledge, but will expand their perspective. This is a time that can be used to test which industries appeal, or to build experience in one specific industry. For some sectors – Stanford names management consulting, private equity, and biotechnology – pre-MBA work experience is an attractive asset.
The usual eligibility criteria apply here – no previous work experience, in the final year of an undergraduate or graduate program, all academic backgrounds. There is one point on which Stanford is clear, however: they want to hear from applicants who are “interested in having a positive impact”. When evaluating applications, GSB does so according to its three criteria: “how you think, how you lead, and how you see the world”.
Candidates apply via the regular application track. This means all essay questions and application materials are the same, no matter whether you apply for a regular or a deferred enrollment MBA.
If candidates defer by just one or two years, they become eligible for fellowships from GSB. They can apply to these in the year leading up to their matriculation.
If applicants are successful, they must make two deposits of $1,000: one on admission, and one in the year of matriculation. Both deposits are applied to the first year of tuition.
