BYU MBA

(also posted at http://corey.mbadiary.com)

As mentioned in a previous post, BYU plans to double its class size over the next few years. My personal hope is that the majority of the growth will come with international students. BYU is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). And since over half of our members are from outside of the US, it only makes sense that we grow heavily our international student body.

BYU has pockets around the world of interested and prospective MBA candidates. But the challenges facing international applicants can be daunting at times. Besides the financial, cultural, and language hurdles, many students struggle with the GMAT – the verbal section in particular. BYU’s MBA recruiter has identified a group of about 15 students in Brazil who are meeting regularly to study for the GMAT - all of them are planning on applying to BYU. They are part of a support group called Incentivo (http://www.incentivo.org.br) and have as one of their major aims to help people get into BYU’s MBA proram.

To help build a relationship with the BYU MBA program, Ace GMAT prep (the company that I’ve been teaching for) has agreed to send my friend Jeff Jensen and I to São Paulo to teach a nine day crash course. Typically, Ace charges about $800 for our 8 week course (3 times a week). For this Brazil pilot, we’re planning on charging a very modest $125 considering the expense of traveling to Brazil. Many prospective applicants in Brazil are on vacation at that time, which complicates things. But for those who are committed, it’s actually a great time to have the class since we will be able to do a few all-day sessions for those who have time off from work.

So, if you happen to know of anyone living in or near São Paulo who may be interested in the course, they can get more information by writing to corey@byu.edu.