Hey guys,
I’ve been hearing/reading that MBA programs tend to give out really poor financial aid (particularly top institutions) because they know you’re going there with the hopes of making more money, utilizing their network, etc. Is there any truth to this? If the answer is too complicated and you have any suggestions for articles for me to read I don’t mind that either.
Thanks in advance,
Phil
HBS seems to be rather generous with its financial aid: reportedly, nearly half of the class receives an average of $37k of aid per annum.
http://www.hbs.edu/mba/financial-aid/domestic-students/Pages/need-based-fellowships.aspx
Of course that’s resulted in HBS students cunningly manipulating their financial assets to ‘seem’ poorer than they really are with the goal of maximizing their aid. For example, given that cash counts as an asset for the purposes of financial aid but your car does not, some HBS students have deduced that they should first use their available cash to buy a car and only afterwards apply for financial aid. {Indeed, one might argue that if weren’t crafty enough to deduce such a financial strategy, perhaps HBS shouldn’t have admitted you in the first place.}
“In general, we expect that a student will have saved a percentage of his/her income from each of the prior three years. This expected percentage will vary depending on your prior income. Students with higher earnings are expected to contribute to the costs of their MBA at a higher rate than students with lower earnings.”
That’s interesting. I’m going to end up with some student loan debt. I should be able to pay it off after a few years, but that’s where the percentage is going to be going lol.
Some programs offer full ride merit scholarships based on your GMAT score.