[#permalink]
06 Mar 2007, 09:28
My thoughts on corporate sponsorship.
1) For Exec programs: it's a must.
2) For other Part Time and full time programs: I assume it helps in two ways.
First, as already mentioned, to show some hard evidence that your employer thinks you are top performer. Specially important if your employer sponsors several people yearly. Imagine coming from McK without a sponsorship offer. That would look very bad!
Second: you would be countering the employment risk as you would be automatically employed upon graduation.
I assume top schools would not care much about the employment risks of "star applicants". They'd know they will get a job. But for borderline cases who are otherwise very well qualified, the sponsorship could be a factor (for eg: the applicant had a somehow weak interview, but his essays, stats, goals are all ok, so the adcom could discount the importance of interview performance since the applicant already has a job offer).
Additionally, the further down the clusters you go, I expect sponsorship to become particularly relevant for internationals. You would not want your international grads hanging around without jobs because employers are not sponsoring visas. So, you try to get sponsored internationals. Think Near Elite and beyond for this factor to become really relevant. Although it would apply to a lower extent to any other school outside Ultra - Elite.
Cheers. L.