64 wrote:
Financial Aid
This is perhaps the most important factor at the moment. Unforunately, I graduated with a very large undergraduate debt load and my work experience in gov/non-profit has not allowed me to save much. At the moment, neither school has offered scholarships, but there is still a chance at both merit and need based scholarships. My question here is: which school provides the most need-based scholarships? In addition, how do I navigate the financial aid process in anticipation of approaching deposit deadlines? It seems like I would have to make a decision based in incomplete information from both schools…
Congrats on your acceptances!
Unfortunately, there's not a lot of need-based aid on the MBA landscape. HBS and Stanford GSB are the known leaders for providing need-based aid instead of merit-based, but even at those schools, you won't know what kind of aid package you're getting until you accept a spot in their class.
If all else fails, call the financial aid offices of both schools to inquire about need-based aid. Otherwise, you could always look at outside scholarships ($5K here, $10K there, every little bit helps).
The reality is, the majority of students fund their education with loans as this is an investment in the rest of your life. For most students, a top MBA opens doors to career opportunities that otherwise wouldn't be available, and is deemed "worth it."