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It\u2019s a fortunate dilemma to have, but one that ties many of our clients in knots around this time of year. The scenario typically goes like this: You’ve been offered a good scholarship at one school \u2013 but not your dream school, where you have also been accepted. What do you do\u00a0Do you take the money, or can you use this offer to leverage other schools <\/span>and <\/span>programs<\/span> for financial assistance?<\/span><\/p>\n For <\/span>students<\/span>, b<\/span>usiness school is a huge investment, so when you receive a scholarship \u2013 even when it\u2019s not from your first-choice school \u2013 it\u2019s obviously something to take seriously <\/span>and consider carefully <\/span>before<\/span> making<\/span> such an important <\/span>personal<\/span> decision.<\/span><\/p>\n In a related article on how to choose between MBA offers<\/a><\/strong>, my Fortuna colleague Judith Silverman Hodara recounted a conundrum in which her client received an acceptance from his dream program,\u00a0London Business School,\u00a0along with an offer from\u00a0Columbia\u00a0that included $120,000 in financial aid. With international career aspirations and a background in energy, LBS was initially his top choice. But the uncertainty around Brexit and concerns about securing a visa in Europe \u2013 plus the reality that the LBS offer came with no money \u2013\u00a0ended up tipping the balance for CBS as the better choice.<\/p>\n At the same time, know that it\u2019s perfectly acceptable to tell your top choice school you have\u00a0money on the table somewhere else. While this doesn\u2019t guarantee a counteroffer, there are several things you can do to\u00a0optimize your chances <\/span>of <\/span>successful<\/span> negotiations<\/span>. <\/span>Let\u2019s look at <\/span>how to negotiate MBA scholarship<\/span> opportunities below.<\/span><\/p>\n 1. Have a clear strategy and practice your approach<\/strong>; be clear about why you want to be at your top choice school and be clear you\u2019re open to a conversation <\/span>about other <\/span>MBA programs<\/span> you could consider<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n 2. Be genuine and convey your commitment to the school<\/strong>, along with your excitement for the program personally and professionally.<\/p>\n 3. Make sure you follow the school\u2019s protocol<\/strong> and provide all the necessary information to the right people. In most cases, the Admissions Office approves merit-based scholarships and the Financial Aid Office controls need-based grants, but you should take the time to <\/span>learn<\/span> what <\/span>applicants<\/span> should submit, and how. <\/span><\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>Put your case in writing.<\/strong> (Example <\/span>scholarship negotiation letter<\/span> below.) Provide supporting documentation to make it easy for them to justify an increased award. Then, call to follow up in a week or two to ask if they need any additional info <\/span>to continue the <\/span>MBA negotiation<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n 5. When figuring out how to negotiate MBA scholarship options, always be humble<\/strong>; negotiating scholarships<\/span> is a human process and people advocate for individuals they believe are taking their needs into consideration; if you come across as arrogant or demanding, it\u2019s likely your request gets denied.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n So, what does an artful ask look like?<\/strong> Here\u2019s an example from a recent MBA candidate <\/span>negotiating an MBA scholarship<\/span> between two top 10 business schools:<\/span><\/p>\n Dear Admissions Committee,<\/em><\/p>\n I wanted to express how thrilled I was to be admitted to the [business school] Class of 2022 and thank you all again for the generous scholarship and Forte Fellowship!<\/em><\/p>\n As I will be financing my MBA studies, I was wondering if there are any other merit-based scholarships for which I can be considered and\/or for which I can submit additional applications? I was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship from [other b-school] for $60,000 with a Forte designation. I had begun to budget based on that amount, and was curious if there was any possibility of [business school] matching that offer. I would be happy to send along the documentation from [other b-school] if it would be useful.<\/em><\/p>\n Thank you so much again; I\u2019m so excited about the prospect of coming to [business school]!<\/em><\/p>\n Sincerely,<\/em><\/p>\n Finally, <\/span>as you navigate <\/span>how to negotiate MBA scholarship<\/span> options in your top schools, it\u2019s important to make your evaluations with an open mind<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Whether you go with the scholarship opportunity or not, you want to be confident your chosen school is the right fit from an academic, career and cultural standpoint. The notion of fit really can\u2019t be overstated \u2013 keep the long view in mind and remember the ROI of business school implies that you stand to increase your earning power substantially. As Judith says, \u201cYour access to opportunity will never diminish, and stands to multiply exponentially, because of the degree.\u201d<\/p>\n or more tips on <\/span>how to negotiate an MBA scholarship from a<\/span> business school, view this related article by Fortuna’s Matt Symonds in Forbes: Asking A Business School For More Money? Six Tips For Closing The Deal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Updated April 2022<\/em><\/p>\n Fortuna Admissions expert coach Catherine Tuttle<\/a> is former Associate Director at Duke University\u2019s Fuqua School of Business. Her recent articles include Duke Fuqua Essays: Top Tips & ’25 Random Things About You’ Example<\/a>. For a candid assessment of your chances of admission success at a top MBA program, sign up for\u00a0<\/em>a free consultation<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n The post How To Negotiate An MBA Scholarship + Example Letter<\/a> first appeared on Fortuna<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You\u2019ve won an MBA scholarship, but not from your dream school. Should you take it? It\u2019s a fortunate dilemma to have, but one that ties many of our clients in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1831,775,243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-fortuna-admissions","category-admission-consultants","category-blog","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54678\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}5 tips to leveraging a scholarship offer at two or more business schools<\/h2>\n
Example Letter: Asking a\u00a0Business School for More Money<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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