The last few years have seen a rise in the number of MBA programs offering deferred admission. Deferred admission, often referred to as deferred enrollment, offers ambitious and high-performing undergraduate students the opportunity to secure a spot in an MBA program—before completing any work experience.
You might be wondering how this works. With MBA applicants averaging five years of work experience at the time of admission, why award spots to pre-graduation students? The answer is this: deferred admission candidates gather their work experience after they are successfully admitted, and before they begin their MBA.
Deferred enrollment works like this: candidates apply before graduating; receive news of their success; spend between two and five years in the workplace; and then matriculate alongside students admitted through the traditional application process.
There are many, many benefits to this.
A top one is freedom: with a place in an MBA program secured, deferred enrollment grads are able to take on work opportunities that genuinely interest them. They might seek out early-stage start ups over established consultancies, or opt for non-profits over multi-national conglomerates. They have time to delve into and discover what aspects of their work they truly love, and truly excel at.
As you might imagine, places on these programs are highly coveted and extremely competitive. This article aims to give a little insight into how their application process works, who might apply, and how to increase your chances of success.
Top Business Schools Offering Deferred MBA Admission
The most well-known deferred MBA program is Harvard Business School’s 2+2 program. It is, however, far from the only one. Numbers of deferred admission programs are growing, and these programs 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
- Stanford GSB
- UVA / Darden
- The Wharton School
- Yale School of Management
Who Can Apply to Deferred MBA Programs?
Deferred admission MBA programs are open to a select group of applicants. Candidates who apply must:
- Have not yet completed their studies (they should be in their final year);
- Have not yet held a full-time job at the time of application.
- Be able to demonstrate exceptionally strong academic performance across their GPA and GMAT/GRE scores;
- Be able to demonstrate leadership experience through extracurriculars, internships, and projects;
- Possess great clarity on their future career and a compelling reason for seeking MBA deferred admission.
This last point is pertinent for all MBA programs, but particularly so for deferred admission. This is due to the fact that applicants won’t be able to demonstrate any past career progression or experience, meaning that their application will lean heavily on their future vision instead. Candidates should know exactly where a deferred MBA will take them and be able to clearly articulate their goals.
In most cases, candidates from all academic backgrounds are welcome to apply to deferred enrollment MBA programs.
The Deferred MBA Application Process
Since any applicant to a deferred enrollment MBA program will lack professional experience, admissions will be working with less data than they would on a regular MBA program. This means that they will scrutinize the rest of the application with even greater care than usual. With this in mind, here is a breakdown of the application components and some tips on how to succeed at each.
Outstanding GMAT or GRE Scores
The application you submit for deferred admission will be compared against all other applicants—just as if you were applying for a regular MBA program. Your GMAT/GRE score must therefore match—if not exceed—the average score for your target school. This is particularly important for students who lack quantitative coursework, since the test is an opportunity to prove their ability in this area.
Average GMAT scores for deferred enrollment programs differ by school, but tend to hover around or above the 700 mark. For Harvard Business School it’s 740; for Stanford 733; and for Chicago Booth it’s 729.
To ensure your best chance of success, put aside a large chunk of time to prepare for and take your admissions test. The best time to begin preparations is around a year before the application deadline; the best time to take the test is six to nine months before the deadline. Getting the test completed this early allows time for the retakes that so many applicants opt for, securing as they do so extra opportunities to improve their score.
For the most effective preparation, read our guide on how to use practice exams for the GMAT.
Examples of Academic Excellence
Just as with the GMAT or GRE scores, business schools offering deferred enrollment will be looking for applicants who can demonstrate academic excellence. GPAs should be high; anything above a 3.6 is considered competitive.
Some schools will waive the GMAT or GRE requirement for applicants with particularly high GPAs. MIT Sloan, for example, does this for students with an undergraduate GPA of 4.2. If this is you, however, you might consider submitting a GMAT score regardless: with no work experience to back up your ability, every bit of data you can offer will help your application.
Business schools will also require transcripts of degrees from applicants, and will be looking for coursework that shows intellectual rigor and breadth.
Showing “Work Experience” on Your Resume
Your lack of full-time work experience is unlikely to equal a lack of experience altogether. Use your resume to showcase examples of leadership that you have gained through internships or school projects, to detail any entrepreneurial ventures of your own, to highlight extracurricular involvement, and to display how you have sought opportunities to further yourself at every turn.
For each of these examples, include details on:
- The impact that your efforts had;
- The learnings you gained;
- How the experience connects to your future career goals.
Since demonstrating your ambition and impact are core tenets of the deferred application, internships at prestigious firms or at influential organizations should be prioritized.
Acing the Essays
Some deferred MBA programs will ask different essay questions of their applicants than on their traditional programs. These are likely to focus on career goals for the future, the manner in which the applicant will spend the deferral period, and the skills that candidates hope to gain.
For example, Harvard Business School asked of its 2024 applicants:
- As you consider the deferral time before enrolling at HBS, what industries and jobs are you thinking of? (maximum 500 characters)
And from Stanford GSB:
- What matters most to you, and why? (650 words suggested)
MIT Sloan, on the other hand, asked something a little different—and yet increasingly common—of its applicants: two video essay questions.
- Video 1: film a one-minute video introducing yourself to your classmates.
- Video 2: candidates will be prompted to respond to a randomly generated, open-ended question.
These videos hope to elicit authentic responses from candidates.
In some cases, you will be able to choose from several prompts; if so, pick the one that best allows you to tell your story and explain your vision.
Just like in the traditional MBA application process, business schools want you to show in these essays:
- How you align with and will contribute to their unique culture and vision;
- A clear definition of your career goals and how an MBA will help you achieve them;
- Evidence of your suitability for an MBA program;
And, in most cases:
- The positive impact you want to have on the world of business.
Letters of Recommendation
Generally speaking, MBA programs will require two letters of recommendation for your application. You’ll want to secure these from someone who has taught or mentored you personally; someone who can comment on how you work and who, ideally, understands and has seen how your motivation extends beyond the classroom. Professors and internship supervisors are usually good people to ask.
Despite limited full-time work experience, it’s certainly still possible to get a strong recommendation. Ensure that your recommenders include specific examples of where you have excelled by giving them examples of your leadership, teamwork, or commitment to learning.
Strategies to Strengthen Your Application
We began this article by stating the competitive nature of deferred enrollment MBA programs. In some cases, admission rates on deferred programs are lower than that of traditional MBAs: in 2022, HBS admitted only 8% of deferred applicants, for example, compared to 14.4% of regular applicants.
Other than a well-constructed application pack, higher than average admission test scores, and a track record of academic excellence, what can candidates do to stand out in such a competitive environment? The answer here comes down to leadership.
Many undergrads will turn their sights to summer internships as the best source of work-like experience; in doing so, they may miss out on a better chance to demonstrate leadership from within their university. This can be found within campus clubs or organizations which, by allowing students to involve themselves on a multi-year basis, are rich with opportunities for leadership, initiative-taking, and change-making.
One further way to stand out from the crowd is networking. Create opportunities to meet current MBA students and alumni from deferred MBA programs—schools offer campus visits, class sit-ins, webinars and more. Be sure to include your learnings in your application.
