Making Sense of a Deferred MBA
With an aim to tap into high performing undergraduate students, many business schools have launched the option of a deferred MBA. Through this route, college seniors can get an admit to their dream MBA program during their undergraduate course and can subsequently pursue their MBA after a couple of years of work experience. Professional experience is not necessary for applying to a deferred MBA program although test scores in the form of a strong GRE / GMAT score is highly recommended for the application.
The deferred MBA is a solid option to those final year students who have made up their mind to pursue their MBA and have a strong sense of the direction in which they want to take their professional career. It may not be best option for those who are still exploring their interests and are really not sure what they have in mind post their graduation.
Some of the key benefit of the deferred MBA route are as follows:
Headstart in your professional career: Although it is recommended that candidates have a couple of years of work experience prior to pursuing their MBA, a large of roles and industries often provide all MBA graduates with the same platform and designation to launch their careers. In this case, having an assured admit can save candidates from the arduous journey of applying to their program and then subsequently figuring out their best fit. What this does is enables some of these candidates to go for an early MBA typically post 2-4 years of work experience thus enabling them to climb the professional ladder a lot faster. Candidates who don’t have assured admits will need to go through the entire application process from start which can cause substantial delays to their plans putting their careers on a back foot.
GRE / GMAT Score Factor: Taking the GMAT / GRE while one is still in college can prove to be a substantial advantage than during one’s professional life. Critical deadlines, office undercertainities, project delays, tough bosses can be major factors that can dampen your test preparation while on job specially for those in challenging industries like financial services and consulting. Thus, exploring the deferred MBA in during college life can result in better MBA program choices given the higher test score probability and extra time that can be invested in the application process. We have consistently noticed that candidates who are in their academic life tend to do better on the GRE / GMAT than those who are purusing their professional life.
Originally Posted: https://thembaedge.com/blogs/m....aking-sense-of-a-def