Women’s MBA Enrollment Increasing, According to Forté Foundation

The Forté Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing women in business, just released some good news: A greater percentage of women than ever before are enrolled in full-time MBA programs in the U.S. This year, female full-time MBA enrollment neared 39 percent on average in the U.S., while international programs neared 36 percent. In both cases, it’s clear that we are heading toward gender parity at an impressive pace.

Register for the 2019 Forté MBA Forums for Women

Registration is open for the 2019 Forté MBA Forums.  Designed for women considering an MBA, the Forums provide an ideal opportunity to learn more about the value of an MBA from admissions reps, alumnae, and current students at top business schools. Open to all women—career changers, college students planning the future, or career professionals looking to go to the next level—the events provide a distinct MBA advantage.

About the Forté MBA Forums

The MBA Forums are FREE and held in 11 cities across the U.S. and Europe. The events are a chance for women to build their peer support network and meet other successful businesswomen from a diverse range of industries. The MBA Forums offers exclusive insights into the MBA admissions process.

“The Forté Forum event provided the exact insights we were looking for,” said Madeline Keulen, Forté MBA Forum attendee and 2019 HBS alum. “Most of the schools I was interested in had representatives at the event who could speak to the specifics of their programs, and panels of alumni enhanced the richness of the experience through their personal stories of why they chose to pursue an MBA. I have a much better sense of where I’d fit best.”

2019 Event Dates and Locations

1. August 12, Washington, D.C.
2. August 13, Houston, TX
3. August 14,  Atlanta, GA
4. August 15,  Boston, MA
5. August 19,  Los Angeles, CA
6. August 20, Seattle, WA
7. August 22, San Francisco, CA
8. August 26, Toronto, Canada
9. August 27, Chicago, IL
10. August 28, New York City, NY
11. October 29, London, England

Sample Event Format

6–8:15 p.m. – Registration and School Fair

• Connect with admissions at top business schools
• Learn more about the admissions process
• Find the right school for you
• Networking reception

7–8 p.m. – MBA Alumnae Panel

Get advice and hear stories from top MBA women in a range of industries and at various career stages. Learn what motivated them to earn their MBA and the successes and challenges they’ve faced.

8:15–9 p.m. – Admissions Panel

Enjoy a panel of seasoned MBA admissions professionals from top programs. Learn more about admissions requirements, researching schools, applications, and financing.

Visit the site to see more details about locations and to register!

Gender Workplace Inequality Impacts Almost Half of All MBAs, Forté Foundation Says

While the Forté Foundation’s last study covered the impact of the MBA for women and minorities, the latest digs into gender inequality in the workplace and how MBA programs are working to address it.  It would be nice to think that an MBA degree eliminates gender inequality in the workplace, but that’s not the case. Unfortunately, according to research conducted by the Forté Foundation and led by Michelle Wieser, Ph.D. and interim dean of St. Catherine University’s School of Business, work still needs to be done.

A survey of 900 male and female MBA alumni found that nearly six in 10 MBAs (59 percent) have said that they’ve “personally experienced” or “heard of” gender inequality in a past organization. In their current organization, that number drops to four in 10 (46 percent), but it’s still too much.

Overall, 76 percent of MBA respondents believe that gender equality has not been achieved in the workplace. When you talk to women, the number jumps to 82 percent, whereas for men, the number falls to 63 percent. Worse yet, minority women feel gender inequality to a greater degree with 87 percent stating that they feel it has not been achieved.

“This new research sheds light on whether we’re seeing improvements in workplace gender equality for MBAs, what issues impact women and men the most, and how business school helps to prepare alumni to address,” says Elissa Sangster, CEO, Forté Foundation, in a press release.

The good news is that we are starting to see improvements in the workplace according to personal MBA experiences. One-third of MBAs (33 percent) said they “personally experienced” gender inequality at a past employer, but in their current role, that number drops to just 18 percent.

One-third of MBAs (33 percent) said they “personally experienced” gender inequality at a past employer.

The Face of Gender Workplace Inequality

As for what this inequality looks like? For female MBAs, it typically falls into three categories:

• Unequal opportunities for career advancement or promotion
• Hostile work environment
• Unequal career opportunities (special projects, global assignments, etc.)

For male MBAs, gender inequality looks quite a bit different. In order of rank, the type of inequality men have “personally experienced” include:

• Gender preference in hiring and recruiting
• Hostile work environment
• Inadequate or lack of parental leave policies

How Workplaces Address Gender Workplace Inequality

So what are companies doing, if anything, to address gender inequality? Around one third (38 percent) of MBAs believe their organization is working to address gender inequality, and at a personal level, 30 percent of MBAs respondents have individually taken action to tackle inequality at their organization.

For companies, those actions include:

• A group or task force
• Safe reporting mechanisms
• Updated employment policies
• New training on gender inequality
• Considering gender inequality in performance expectations

On a personal level, MBA alumni have:

• Advocated, spoken up, and openly shared information
• Worked to change their organization’s structure or policies
• Focused on gender inequality during recruitment
• Lead or participated in a women’s affinity group

MBA programs are also working to address the gender inequality issue with 62 percent of the 2016-2017 graduating class stating that their business school helped them prepare for gender inequality in the workplace.

To read the full report about Forté’s research, you can find the original press release here.

This article has been edited and republished with permissions from its original source, Clear Admit.

New Forté Foundation Study Reviews MBA Impact for Women and Minority Students

What’s the MBA impact for women and minority students? That’s the question that the Forté Foundation set out to answer in its most recent MBA study.

Key MBA Study Insights

After surveying 900 male and female MBA alumni who graduated between 2005 and 2017, it found mixed results. While an MBA might boost earning power and increase equality in the workplace for minorities, the same cannot be said for women, according to the study led by Michelle Wieser, Interim Dean of St. Catherine University’s School of Business.

Post-MBA Female Graduates

An MBA may not be helping gender pay gap differences, according to new data from the Forté Foundation.

• Post-MBA, the pay gap between men and women does not improve. Women still earn less. In fact, pre-MBA women earned 3 percent less than men, and post-MBA the deficit widened to 10 percent for their first job after an MBA and 28 percent for current compensation.
• Women report less job satisfaction post-MBA than their male counterparts. They don’t advance to the same level as men and have fewer direct reports.
• About 34 percent of men and 65 percent of women think there’s a gender pay gap.
• Around 40 percent of respondents, primarily women, admitted to experiencing the gender pay gap. Unfortunately, these self-same respondents stated that they did not take action while others admitted to leaving the company.
• The gender pay gap in the study was 28 percent, representing $58,994 in annual compensation.

“While some salary disparity can be explained by the job functions women choose, there is likely unconscious bias and other factors at play,” Elissa Sangster, CEO of the Forté Foundation says in a press release. “This is a wake-up call—companies need to take proactive steps to lessen the pay gap, or risk losing highly-skilled women employees.”

Post-MBA Minority Graduates

The return on investment (ROI) gap still persists for both male and female minority graduates, with female minority MBAs earning 70 percent less than non-minority counterparts.

• For minority men and women, the MBA narrows the pay gap in their first post-MBA job and beyond—going from 24 percent pre-MBA to 16 percent post-MBA and 12 percent currently. However, minority graduates still earn less than non-minority grads from pre-MBA to the present.
• Overall, minority MBA graduates have lower career satisfaction than non-minorities when it comes to current salary and career progression.
• The ROI of an MBA for minority women is 70 percent, and for minority men it’s 84 percent.

“It’s encouraging to see an MBA provides greater economic mobility for women and minorities and narrows the pay gap for minorities in their first job post MBA,” Sangster says, “but the whopping gender pay gap and income disparity for women and minorities needs to be addressed, and soon.”

Forté Foundation’s MBA Study Conclusion

Despite the gender and minority pay gap, the Forté Foundation MBA study still reveals a positive return on investment. There’s an over 63 percent salary bump or higher post-MBA for both minority and non-minority women. Though the salary boost for men post-MBA is higher at 75 percent.

This article has been edited and republished with permissions from its original source, Clear Admit.

2018 Forté Foundation Data Reveals Women’s MBA Enrollment at 38 Percent

2018 was a big year for female MBA students. According to the latest membership school data from the Forté Foundation, women’s enrollment at full-time MBA programs reached 38 percent on average. In addition, one Forté school reached gender parity (50 percent male/female enrollment) for the first time, and more than one-third of schools reached 40 percent enrollment.

“While the number of Fortune 500 women CEOs has declined in the last year, it’s heartening to see women’s enrollment in business school continues to increase, albeit at a slower pace than last year,” Elissa Sangster, Forté Foundation CEO, said in a press release. “We continue to aim for 40% women’s enrollment by 2020 at our member schools as an MBA provides an economic mobility engine for women, and helps build the pipeline of women leaders. And countless research shows that having more women in senior leadership improves corporate financial performance.”

Key Forté Foundation Statistics

• Over the last five years, from 2014, female MBA enrollment at Forté schools has steadily risen with 19 out of 52 schools reaching the 40 percent mark this year. That’s a significant improvement from just three schools at 40 percent in 2014.
• The USC Marshall School of Business was the first Forté school to achieve gender parity this year with 52 percent women. Three other schools got close: Northwestern Kellogg (46 percent), Dartmouth Tuck (45 percent), and Imperial College Business School (45 percent).
• More than half of Forté schools (29 schools) reached 35 percent female MBA enrollment.

A Few Surprises

Interesting enough, some of the Forté numbers were a reversal of last year mainly when it came to international MBA programs. While the U.S. school enrollment went up by close to 1 percent (38.7 percent in 2018 from 37.8 percent in 2017), the opposite was true for Forté schools abroad. Those schools saw a decline of a little over 1 percent (going from 36.2 percent last fall to 35.1 percent this fall). Whereas last year, international schools saw considerable gains in female enrollment with an almost 3.5 percent increase. However, overall, female MBA enrollment in the U.S. and abroad increased slightly to 37.8 percent from 37.4 percent last year.

To learn more about what’s going on at the Forté Foundation and to see how it’s impacting female MBA enrollment around the globe, read the original press release.

This article has been edited and republished with permissions by its original source, Clear Admit.

Forté Foundation Now Accepting Applications for MBALaunch

Calling all women considering an MBA but unsure about how to navigate the competitive admissions process: The Forté Foundation’s 2019 MBALaunch program was made for you. This 10-month program offers female MBA candidates a powerful support network and road map for applying to top-tier business schools for the MBA Class of 2022.

Applications for the next season of Forté MBALaunch, slated to begin in January 2019, are open now.

What Is MBALaunch?

MBALaunch is a unique program designed to help exceptional female candidates excel in the high-stakes MBA application process. Beginning each year in January, the program includes a range of in-person and virtual events geared toward helping participants assemble their strongest possible applications. These include networking events, monthly webinars, and in-person peer group sessions offered in 11 host cities. In addition, the program is accessible via video chat.

Candidates accepted into the MBALaunch program can expect to:

• Cultivate a strong network filled with hundreds of women with similar goals;
• Gain intensive GMAT test prep that, on average, helps improve scores by 100 points;
• Receive help building a winning application;
• Hone interviewing skills with guidance from admissions consultants and business school representatives, and
• Get immediate feedback on their resumes, admissions essays, and more.

Who Can Take Part in MBALaunch?

The MBALaunch program is open to women looking to apply to any of the more than four dozen Forté member business schools in fall 2019 (for enrollment in fall 2020). Forté seeks candidates with a strong academic record and two to seven years of post-undergraduate work experience.

To take part, candidates must be able to travel to a host city (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, London, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, or Washington DC) for a one-day kick-off event. Then, candidates dedicate 10 months to the online and in-person program. After the kick-off event, candidates unable to participate in person can take part via Skype or Google Hangouts.

There is a $25 non-refundable application fee. Admitted applicants then pay a $550 program fee to take part.

Additional application eligibility information is available here.

Application Deadlines

The first MBALaunch applications deadline is October 8, 2018, with subsequent deadlines on October 15 and 22.

This article has been edited and republished with permissions from our sister site, Clear Admit.

Forté Announces New MBAExplore Program for Pre-MBA Women

Deciding whether or not you want to go to business school to earn your MBA is not usually a spur-of-the-moment decision. There are a lot of questions you need to answer first. Is an MBA the right degree for you? How will it impact your career? Does it make sense financially? To help women who may be considering these and other questions, the Forté Foundation recently launched its new MBAExplore program. The deadline to apply is July 8th.

This half-day program gives women the opportunity to learn more about what an MBA is and isn’t. It takes women on an intimate exploration of the myths and questions surrounding business school to help them map their journey to the MBA. Women who have already traveled the MBA path teach the program, sharing their first-hand experience with participants.

Inside MBAExplore

The MBAExplore program provides valuable information around each of the following topics:

• Taking and passing the GMAT
• Financing and affording the MBA
• Understanding the classroom case study
• Figuring out if the MBA is right for you

Throughout the half-day, participants will have a chance to learn about the daily life of an MBA student. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions of business school staff as well as current MBA students. The goal is to provide every participant with the information they need to determine if the MBA is right for them.

The MBAExplore program is the precursor to Forté MBALaunch, a 10-month program designed to help prospective women business school applicants build their b-school applications. MBAExplore is all about helping women gain the confidence, guidance, and information they need to take the first step toward their MBA degree. Learn more here.

Register Today

Registration ends July 8, 2018, and the MBAExplore program will be held in Washington DC on August 13, 2018, and New York City on August 28, 2018. You can register now for just $49 at the location of your choosing. Space is limited. Don’t miss out.

• Washington DC on August 13, 2018
• New York City on August 28, 2018

Cornell Johnson Women Turn Out in Droves at Forté Conference

Each year, the Forté Foundation hosts the two-day MBA Women’s Leadership Conference. This year’s event was held in Atlanta at Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business, and a record number of women MBA students from Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Business attended. Not only did Johnson have its most impressive conference showing to date, but it also had the second-highest number of representatives in attendance.

Forty-nine MBA students, representing a broad cross-section of Johnson’s three residential MBA programs, attended this year’s Forté conference:

• 29 from the two-year MBA program (Ithaca)
• 7 from the one-year MBA program (Ithaca)
• 13 from the Johnson Cornell Tech MBA program (NYC)

“I loved meeting Forté Fellows and conference attendees from other schools. It made the network seem smaller, less intimidating, and very empowering. Just imagine what we can all accomplish together,” said Cassiope Sydoriak (Two-Year MBA ’20).

Inside the Forté Conference

The annual Forté conference offers attendees an opportunity to explore career paths they may not have considered, hear from influential businesswomen, and meet recruiters and potential mentors.

This year’s highlights included an opening keynote from Joanna Lipman, the chief content officer at Gannet, editor-in-chief of USA Today, and author of That’s What She Said. Lipman offered actionable tips on how women can leverage their value and overcome obstacles related to the gender gap.

Other highlights from this year’s conference:

• Dialogue with Leadership: This dialogue included a panel discussion with Emory Goizueta Dean Erika James; Acceture CEO Julie Sweet; and State Street EVP and Deputy Global CIO Lori Heinel . Together, they used the panel as an opportunity to unpack their careers and offer leadership advice.
• Forté Power Pitch Competition: This capstone event allowed four newly-graduated MBA women to present their innovative business ideas to a distinguished panel of judges.
• Workshops and Panels: Multiple workshops and panels were held throughout the two-day event, which covered topics such as communications strategies, interviewing, design thinking, and the future of feminism.

To learn more about the Forté conference and get reflections from Cornell Johnson’s women MBA students, read the full article here.

2017 Forté Forums Scheduled in 12 Cities Beginning August 14

It’s August, which means it’s almost time for the Forté Forums. These free events are hosted by the Forté Foundation, a nonprofit consortium of leading companies and top business schools committed to advancing the role of women in business. Scheduled for 10 U.S. cities as well as Toronto and London beginning on August 14, they are designed to help women learn more about the value of the MBA.

Whether you are a college student looking to explore options for the future, have been in your job for a few years and are thinking about a change, or are looking for a way to catapult yourself to the next level in your career, the Forté Forums are for you.

Choose to attend a forum in a city near you, and you can learn more about how the MBA can help you advance in your career, expand your earning potential, or provide opportunities to study abroad. With more than 100 leading business schools in attendance, you can also learn more about different programs directly from the school representatives who know them best.

The Forté Forums also draw leading MBA businesswomen from a range of industries and career stages, eager to share their experiences and provide advice and guidance. And they give you a chance to network with other high-achieving women interested in learning more about the MBA. Former attendees of the Forté Forums report that women they’ve met at the events have become part of a lasting peer support network.

Last but not least, the forums can help you begin to think about how to finance your MBA, offering valuable information about Forté’s scholarship opportunities, as well as many other funding sources.

Whether you know nothing at all about business school and want to see what it’s all about—or you’re planning to apply this fall and want to connect with others doing the same, don’t miss out. Register for a nearby Forté Forum today!

2017 Forté Forums Calendar:

August 14th: Washington, DC
August 15th: Boston
August 16th: Atlanta
August 17th: Miami
August 21st: Seattle
August 22nd: San Francisco
August 23rd: Los Angeles
August 24th: Houston
August 28th: Chicago
August 29th and 30th: New York City
August 31st: Toronto
October 16th: London

Learn more about the Forté Forums, including how to register.

This article has been edited and republished with permissions from Clear Admit.

Lehigh Business Heading To Forté Foundation Forums

From mid-August and into the fall, the Forté MBA Forums will be held across 12 cities in the U.S., Canada and UK. Representatives from dozens of highly-reputable business schools will be in attendance for the 12-city event, including the Lehigh University College of Business and Economics.

Michael Tarantino, Director of Recruitment and Admission​s​, will be attending the August 14 event in Washington DC as well as the August 29 Forté MBA Forum in New York City. There, prospective MBA applicants will have a one-on-one chance to learn about the school and its advantageous MBA programs. Lehigh currently offers a full-time ​One Year MBA and the award-winning part-time Flex MBA, along with multiple dual MBA opportunities.

Forte has offered a more richly detailed account of the upcoming events:

”The format for these events is highly interactive. Each event will consist of two panels, the Alumnae Panel and the Admissions Panel. The Alumnae Panel will include a moderator and four to five panelists from various industries and career stages. The Admissions Panel will include a moderator and three to four senior admissions officers to discuss the MBA application process. Women will have the opportunity to network with school representatives during the entire program.”

On the event, former attendee Madeline Keulen notes, “The Forté Forum event provided the exact insights we were looking for. Most of the schools I was interested in had representatives at the event who could speak to the specifics of their programs, and panels of alumni enhanced the richness of the experience through their personal stories of why they chose to pursue an MBA. I have a much better sense of where I’d fit best.”

The August 14 event will be held at the Renaissance DC Downtown Hotel at 999 9th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001 and the August 29 forum will be held at New York I, Goldman, Sachs & Co., 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282.

For more information on the events and the many other upcoming Forté MBA Forums, visit the official Forté website.

Check out more of Lehigh University’s upcoming events here.

Forté Foundation Power Pitch Competition Winner

Women-led businesses were once relatively rare, but that is no longer the case. According to the 2016 Kauffman Index of Startup Activity, women make up 40 percent of new entrepreneurs in the United States: a nearly 30 percent increase from 2007.

Continue reading…

Rotman MBA Receives Forté Foundation Award

Alex Walker Turner, a 2017 MBA graduate from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, has received the Edie Hunt Inspiration Award from the Forté Foundation. The award recognized her achievements in advancing women into business leadership positions as well as her significant contributions to her school and community. Continue reading…

2017 Forté Foundation MBA Women’s Leadership Conference

Every year, hundreds of women MBA candidates from around the U.S. gather before their first semester to attend the Forté Foundation MBA Women’s Leadership Conference. This year–the tenth anniversary of the event–the sold-out conference took place in Seattle, Washington on June 16-17.

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Metro News & Notes: Avoiding Fake News, Forte In Seattle and More

Good morning and happy Friday!

Here are a few stories you may have missed from the week that was …

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Forté Foundation Launches New Men as Allies Initiative

Reaching gender equity on business school campuses is far from just a women’s issue, which is precisely why the Forté Foundation is calling on men to get involved. Drawing on successful programs already underway on campuses spanning from Harvard Business School (HBS) to Stanford Graduate School of Business, Forté today announced its new Men as Allies Initiative. It is designed to invite and encourage male students to get involved in a growing movement toward gender equity in business school classrooms and the broader business world.

The idea for the new initiative grew out of a session with sponsors at Forté’s annual conference focused on HBS’s Manbassadors ally group, according to Forté Executive Director Elissa Sangster. Forté is a non-profit consortium of leading corporations and top business schools committed to helping women lead fulfilling careers in business. “We started talking with our sponsors about how Forté could support similar initiatives at our member schools’ campuses,” she says. “We began to brainstorm about what we could provide so it didn’t end up that every time someone wanted to do this they had to call the Manbassadors and ask them the same questions over again.”

Forté recognized at least ten top business school campuses that already have male ally programs in place. HBS, Kellogg’s Northwestern School of Management and Duke’s Fuqua School of Business led the charge, forming their groups in 2013. The following year, UCLA Anderson, Michigan’s Ross School of Business, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Stanford GSB got with the program. In 2015, Columbia Business School and NYU Stern joined in, and London Business School (LBS) created its own club earlier this year. Calling themselves everything from Manbassadors (Anderson, HBS, LBS, CBS) to WiMEN (Stanford) to the 22’s (Wharton, a reference to the 22 percent gain necessary to close the gender pay gap), the groups work in partnership with women’s business organizations on campus to adopt behaviors that support gender equity in classroom discussion and beyond.

Conducting focus groups with existing groups, Forté began to collect information on what has been successful, what pitfalls and challenges can be avoided and what types of events and activities best serve to open up dialogue. “We also conducted external environmental research, identifying inspirational role models and people leading the charge in the business world,” Sangster says.

The new Forté Men as Allies Initiative is designed to provide potential male allies at schools that don’t already have existing groups with the tools they need to establish their own Manbassador-type groups. As part of the new initiative, Forté has launched a new “Men as Allies” website featuring a toolkit geared toward male students that includes reasons to start a group, steps to follow to do so and information on activities and events that have been successful on other campuses. “Our hope is that as men graduate from MBA programs, they are able to take some of these skills they have been developing and look for ways to engage in the workforce and make that impact even more widespread,” Sangster says.

A Tipping Point

There has been a growing movement in recent years to enhance gender equity in business and society, evidenced by the United Nations’ HeForShe initiative, Catalyst’s Men Advocating Real Change (MARC), and the White House’s Let Girls Learn program. In summer 2015, the 47 business school leaders convened at the White House specifically to address the gender imbalance among MBA classes. In addition to male ally groups, many business schools also feature school-wide initiatives designed to tackle gender equity at the cultural, academic and admissions levels, such as the Gender Equity Initiative (GEI) at UC Berkeley’s Haas School and the HBS Gender Initiative.

“We may have reached a tipping point as more women are pursuing an MBA and more men are interested in supporting gender equity,” Sangster continued. “While we are making great progress, and getting closer to 40 percent women’s enrollment at our member business schools, initiatives like this one that foster inclusiveness, will help us get to gender parity faster.”

Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business provided generous financial support of Forté’s new initiative, and diversity experts Anne Weisberg and Lisa Levey, among others, contributed to its development.

Sangster points out that there are multiple benefits for men who get involved in gender equity initiatives. “It gives them insight and information and resources to use in developing their own leadership styles and creating their own perspective on what’s important not only to advance women in the workforce but also just to be a well-rounded advocate and manager of talent in their organizations,” she says. “It’s really about fine-tuning their leadership perspective and leadership skills. Business school is a safe place to stretch your muscle in this area and think hard about the kind of leader you want to be and how to become that leader.”

Learn more about Forté’s new Men as Allies Initiative.

Deadline for ’17 Forté MBALaunch Program for Women Extended to Nov. 11th

Great news. If you are a woman planning to apply to business school next fall—for enrollment in fall 2018—there’s still time left to take advantage of a great program from the Forté Foundation designed to help you craft the strongest application possible.

Forté recently announced that it is extending the deadline for applications for its 2017 Forté MBALaunch Program until Nov. 11, 2016. MBALaunch is a comprehensive 10-month program to guide promising female MBA applicants through each step of the application process, providing both a proven roadmap and an unparalleled support network to help you gain admission to your top school. Created by the Forté Foundation, it is designed to support the organization’s mission of increasing women’s access to business education and the business world at large.

MBALaunch applications are currently being accepted for women seeking to apply to MBA programs in fall 2017 (for enrollment in fall 2018). The deadline to submit is Nov. 11th. To be considered for MBALaunch, you must have a bachelor’s degree and demonstrate solid academic standing. Post-undergrad work experience—between two and seven years—is also preferred.

The MBALaunch program begins with a day-long kick-off event in major cities throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, followed by online webinars, advisor meetings and monthly in-person peer group sessions in your host city. Host cities include Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London and Toronto, and the kick-off events will take place in late January and February.

Interested applicants who do not live in or near one of the MBALaunch program cities can still take part as long as they agree to travel to the closest city to attend the kick-off event in person. After this first event, these participants will join the MBALaunch “Virtual City” group for the rest of the program.

How the Program Works

MBALaunch brings together hundreds of prospective female MBA applicants, creating a valuable network of peers who share the same goals. Intensive GMAT test prep is baked into the program, helping women conquer what many report is one of the greatest obstacles to applying. Two months of GMAT test-prep webinars target the most difficult testing areas, helping Launchers improve their scores and strengthen their candidacy.

The eight remaining months of the program are devoted to helping Launchers build their strongest possible MBA applications. Participants receive valuable feedback on essays and résumés from MBA alumnae. They also get to work closely with admissions consultants, business school representatives and Forté experts to hone their admission interview skills. Along the way, Launchers also learn about resources for financing their MBA and grow both their network of MBA alumnae and their networking skills.

The cost of MBALaunch is $500 (plus travel to the closest program city for the kick-off event if you don’t live in one). Compared to admissions consulting fees and GMAT test prep courses that can run several thousand dollars, believe us when we tell you it’s a steal. Not only that, participants who successfully complete the program receive application waivers from more than 25 Forté schools, as well as discounts from leading GMAT test prep providers and admissions consultants if you feel you still need more preparation. In total, these offers allow you to recoup the entire $500 cost.

How to Apply

Okay—so how do you apply? Complete an online application form, pay a $25 application fee and submit your resume along with answer to two essay questions. The final deadline round, just extended from October 30th to November 11th, applies to applicants for all cities.

Learn more about the Forté MBALaunch program.

This post was originally published by clearadmit.com

Scheller College Partners with Forté Foundation to Support Women in Business

The Georgia Institute of Technology – Scheller College of Business has partnered with the Forté Foundation in order to promote change and encourage opportunities for women in business.

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An In-Depth Look at the Forté Foundation for Women MBAs

According to Catalyst.org, women make up only 36.5 percent of MBAs earned in the United States. Even worse, a landmark study by the University of Michigan Business School revealed that women make up less than 17 percent of corporate board members in America’s 500 largest companies. The Forté Foundation is working to change those numbers. It’s a non-profit consortium dedicated to launching women into fulfilling, significant careers through access to business education, opportunities and a community of successful women leaders. Continue reading…