Monday, November 07, 2005
International Student Support
As I mentioned before, I was personally disappointed to discover that there weren’t more international students in the MBA program. BYU has a tremendous international presence and so I expected a higher representation. One reason why the % of international students is the lowest in many years is due to visa problems (One of our students from China almost had to drop out of school last year because, during the first semester, she had trouble getting her visa renewed). However, another reason is cost. As I think I mentioned before, our international students have much more work experience and – in general – have a lot more to offer the school, making their opportunity cost of coming back to school pretty high.
BYU already has incredibly low tuition, but for those international students who are married members of the Mormon church, there is the Cardon International Sponsorship program (http://marriottschool.byu.edu/mba/cis/cisProgram.cfm) which pretty much pays for everything. If accepted, the only string attached is that you need to return to your home country within a couple of years. The reason why the donor requires that students be married is that students who are already married are supposedly more likely to return to their home country. Some international students have resented the marriage requirement and one of our top international students even turned it down because he didn’t want to have any predetermined timeline to return to Ghana. But for those who meet the criteria, its an exceptional opportunity.
There are other scholarship programs such as the Extended Reach Scholarship (http://marriottschool.byu.edu/diversity/financialaid.cfm), the International Graduate Student Scholarship (http://marriottschool.byu.edu/aid/igss.cfm), and the Single Parent Scholarships (http://marriottschool.byu.edu/aid/singleparent.cfm). There are also general academic scholarships that BYU hands out for those who do well on their MBA application or during their first year. BYU is very scholarship friendly; I was very surprised to discover how much money they give away considering the already low cost of attendance.
I mentioned in a previous post that I’ve heard stories that some recruiters are placing pressure on BYU to accept more minority applicants. This is only anecdotal, but the emphasis seems to be on underrepresented US minorities that already have authorization to work in the US. So for international students, the pressure to find a job can be much greater. With that in mind, the additional support for international students is greatly appreciated and seems to be continually on the rise.
The other day I talked again with the MBA Director of Recruiting and he is considering sending some GMAT teachers abroad for a crash course to help the very qualified prospective students get over the high GMAT hurdle. He told me that in places such as São Paulo, the Alumni Chapter (http://alumni.byu.edu/Sections/Chapters/) is already sponsoring weekly GMAT classes to help prospective students.
BYU also has an English Language Center (http://humanities.byu.edu/elc/CyberCenter.html) that teaches English to the next crop of MBA students. I have neighbors from Brazil, Japan, and Mexico who are all enrolled with the aim starting the MBA program next year.
Check out (http://marriottschool.byu.edu/mba/prospective/internationalApplicants.cfm) for more information for international applicants.
BYU already has incredibly low tuition, but for those international students who are married members of the Mormon church, there is the Cardon International Sponsorship program (http://marriottschool.byu.edu/mba/cis/cisProgram.cfm) which pretty much pays for everything. If accepted, the only string attached is that you need to return to your home country within a couple of years. The reason why the donor requires that students be married is that students who are already married are supposedly more likely to return to their home country. Some international students have resented the marriage requirement and one of our top international students even turned it down because he didn’t want to have any predetermined timeline to return to Ghana. But for those who meet the criteria, its an exceptional opportunity.
There are other scholarship programs such as the Extended Reach Scholarship (http://marriottschool.byu.edu/diversity/financialaid.cfm), the International Graduate Student Scholarship (http://marriottschool.byu.edu/aid/igss.cfm), and the Single Parent Scholarships (http://marriottschool.byu.edu/aid/singleparent.cfm). There are also general academic scholarships that BYU hands out for those who do well on their MBA application or during their first year. BYU is very scholarship friendly; I was very surprised to discover how much money they give away considering the already low cost of attendance.
I mentioned in a previous post that I’ve heard stories that some recruiters are placing pressure on BYU to accept more minority applicants. This is only anecdotal, but the emphasis seems to be on underrepresented US minorities that already have authorization to work in the US. So for international students, the pressure to find a job can be much greater. With that in mind, the additional support for international students is greatly appreciated and seems to be continually on the rise.
The other day I talked again with the MBA Director of Recruiting and he is considering sending some GMAT teachers abroad for a crash course to help the very qualified prospective students get over the high GMAT hurdle. He told me that in places such as São Paulo, the Alumni Chapter (http://alumni.byu.edu/Sections/Chapters/) is already sponsoring weekly GMAT classes to help prospective students.
BYU also has an English Language Center (http://humanities.byu.edu/elc/CyberCenter.html) that teaches English to the next crop of MBA students. I have neighbors from Brazil, Japan, and Mexico who are all enrolled with the aim starting the MBA program next year.
Check out (http://marriottschool.byu.edu/mba/prospective/internationalApplicants.cfm) for more information for international applicants.
