Ever considered applying for an MBA, but put off by the application fee?
To encourage high achievers who don’t necessarily have the financial means to apply, but do have the potential, drive and passion that we are looking for, we created the IMD MBA ‘Create our Future’ Assessment Challenges, each of which comes with a unique scholarship opportunity.
Last summer, Sarah Ndegwa, was scrolling through Instagram when she came across an advert for IMD’s Young Leaders Challenge. “I had been tracking the school over the years and this admissions avenue was new to me,” she recalls. “Immediately after my break, I threw my hat in the ring. An assessment day and interview with the admissions team later, I was going to be part of the IMD 2022 class. The scholarship was a huge boost.”
Sarah, who comes from Kenya, says the Assessment Challenge provided a peek into what to expect from the MBA program, in particular, “the talent, diversity, group dynamic, the personalized approach, and the warmth of the wider IMD community.”
“Subsequently, I would describe the program as humbling yet empowering, comfortable and uncomfortable in the same vein. Some days are long, yet it feels like the program has gone by in a flash. All in all, I am mighty glad to have clicked on that Instagram post!”
Upcoming deadlines for Africa and Middle East and Women Leader Challenges
This year, IMD offered a variety of Assessment Challenges, to foster greater diversity among future leaders, and support and raise the profile of women in business.
The deadline for our second Africa and Middle East Challenge closes on 15 August, while interested applicants have until 29 August to apply for our second Women Leader Challenge. Winners of both these challenges are awarded a place in the MBA class of 2023 and a CHF 40,000 scholarship.
“IMD had been my top choice for an MBA for a while and my plan was to apply in 2022 to be a part of the Class of 2023. However, participating in the Africa & Middle East Challenge turned out to be the best decision I made in 2021, and winning the challenge made the dream of attending IMD real and viable for me,” said Doyin Omidiran, from Nigeria.
The IMD MBA Assessment Challenge is a dynamic and interactive online experience during which you join a pre-selected group to complete various assessment activities.
During Omidiran’s Challenge, she worked with participants from South Africa, Jordan, Nigeria and the UAE. Her group came up with the best-rated solution to the challenge prompt as voted by other participants and faculty. “This reiterated to me the magic that can happen when diverse ideas come together in a respectful and safe environment,” she says.
Fardeen Chowdhury from the United States, who won last year’s Americas Challenge, was looking for a program that could take his leadership skills to the next level in an international environment.
“I chose IMD for its well-regarded year-long curriculum focused around developing tomorrow’s leaders. Having a global perspective was a must and with my desires to make the ever so elusive “triple-jump” there was no better landing space for me to grow and foster my continued learning,” he says.
“The scholarship was immensely helpful in achieving those goals as it also showed me that IMD wanted me as much as I wanted to be there. Since getting to Lausanne, my experiences at IMD have been unforgettable and have validated my decision to pursue my MBA here every step of the way.”
If you want to follow in the footsteps of Sarah, Doyin and Fardeen apply for one of our final Challenges now!
