While I often hear people voicing their concern about applying to this deadline, we have learnt from years of experience that typically it is actually one of our strongest! Each year we get to assess some really great people who add tremendous value to the overall class.
Last year was no different, except that the deadline was later than usual, being in October. Current participants, Aurore, from Switzerland, and André, from Brazil/Portugal, share their thoughts about their choice to apply to the final deadline in 2019.
While Aurore felt she had plenty of time to hand over her business and prepare for the start of the program, André was not so sure:
“I was concerned that there would be no more vacant seats and I was really hoping for a scholarship, but I thought chances were very little on that. Turned out that the distribution is well thought out to gather the best applicants throughout the year, so not only did I receive the offer, but also a Merit Scholarship for my performance during the application. It was a substantial amount that really helped me.
“One obvious disadvantage to applying for the last round means you don’t have time to postpone if you want to enhance your application. On the other hand, the biggest advantage is how fast you go from deciding to do the MBA and actually starting it. The process was really smooth, and the applications team helped me a lot, so that made it easier. If I hadn’t applied for the last deadline, I wouldn’t have been able to start my MBA until 2021, which was not my desire. The hardest part, I guess, was having to come to Lausanne for the interview with not much time to prepare, but I decided to come and everything went great, so I am very happy with my decision.”
Aurore,
“I don’t regret not applying earlier, although I had little time to prepare for my GMAT so my score wasn’t as high as I would have liked, but the process was very smooth and I received a CHF 5,000 scholarship from IMD and CHF 2,000 from another institution.”
Other participants who, like Aurore and André, got accepted into the program from the last deadline also added a great element of diversity to the class, coming from multiple nationalities both within and outside of Europe, and combining entrepreneurial experience with corporate in an impressive range of functions.
It will be interesting to see who this year brings us, and what unique elements they will bring to the class – whether in terms of background or personality…
*Banner image: taken in January, our 2020 MBA scholarship winners
