If you meet the following requirements, you are eligible to apply for membership through The Consortium:

• U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident of any race or ethnicity
• Demonstrate a commitment to The Consortium’s mission of helping to reduce the serious underrepresentation of African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans in both our member schools’ enrollments and the ranks of management
• Hold a four-year bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in the U.S. or an equivalent degree from a college or university outside the U.S.

Application fees are nonrefundable. Please make sure you meet all eligibility requirements before submitting your application. For more information visit The Consortium Applicant Help Center.

The Consortium application enables you to apply to a variety of our 22 member schools. The Consortium will release completed applications to your selected programs. Your application will influence three key factors during the process – admission, membership and fellowship.

Admission
MBA admission decisions are based on your proven academic ability (GMAT® and/or GRE, along with academic transcripts), professional potential (career, resumé, recommendations and interview) and personal characteristics. Admission decisions are made by the committees at member schools and are communicated to Consortium members by the schools. Decisions are final.

Membership
Consortium membership is treated separately from school admittance. Once you are accepted to a school, your commitment to The Consortium’s mission will be evaluated. However, if you are admitted and granted membership, you must enroll in a member school program to enjoy the benefits. Membership is not transferrable to non-Consortium schools. Individual schools may offer you school-specific, merit-based scholarships that are not related to Consortium membership or fellowship decisions.

Fellowship
All Consortium members will be considered for two-year fellowship (Emory offers one-year programs), which covers tuition and required fees. Fellowships are awarded through an overall review of the overall merit of your application. They are made by the admissions and scholarship committees at each member schools – not by The Consortium. Decisions regarding fellowships will come from the school. Although some schools may offer deferred admission, the Fellowship may not be deferred. If you decide to defer your admission, you must reapply for a Fellowship.

Many of our member schools require or invite students to interviews as part of the application process. We encourage you to visit individual school websites to learn about each school’s interview process. The school will contact you directly to schedule an interview as necessary.

The Consortium must receive an official copy of your GMAT® score from Pearson VUE or your official GRE score from ETS.  All Consortium schools accept the GRE or the GMAT®.

The Consortium’s GMAT® code is number 9X4-6J-59 and the GRE code is 0483. The test company will forward your results to The Consortium. You do not need to forward your scores to Consortium member schools.

If you did not use The Consortium’s code when you registered, contact Pearson VUE (www.mba.com) or ETS (www.ets.org) to request that your official results be forwarded to The Consortium. The Consortium recommends that the test be taken 20-25 days before the application deadline to allow for processing and sending score reports.

Test Score Waiver Policy and Procedure

When completing the application, you will be asked to upload a copy of your official/unofficial transcript(s). A screen shot of your grades/transcripts is unacceptable. While schools will begin their review process using the scanned uploaded transcript(s), offers of admission are not binding until official transcripts are received and verified. You will be required to submit an official hard-copy transcript to your school prior to matriculation.  At any point in the application process, member schools or The Consortium reserve the right to request that official transcripts be sent directly from institution.

When requesting official transcripts to send to your member school prior to matriculation, provide the university with your full name, any previous names used, student number, present address, dates of enrollment, the degree awarded, and year the degree was received.

For transcripts from universities outside the United States, an original-language transcript is required, along with a document that shows conferral of degree (i.e. a copy of your diploma) and an official English translation from your university.

During the application process you’ll be asked to upload your résumé directly into the system in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or portable document (.pdf) format. This should include your full employment history, including job titles and responsibilities, along with employer names and locations. Please also include post-secondary education, non-academic interest and activities and awards.

There are two required professional recommendations and one required mission support recommendation (see section below regarding Demonstration of Commitment to The Consortium’s mission).

Your professional recommendations should come from individuals who can comment meaningfully, yet objectively, on your performance in a work environment — preferably your current position. Ideally, one of your professional recommendations should come from your current supervisor.

As professional recommendations should be from an objective third party, recommendations from peers, family, and social acquaintances are discouraged.

The mission support recommendation should be from an objective third party who can comment on your demonstrated support of The Consortium’s mission. Member schools will not see the mission recommendation.

You must submit the reference request forms to your recommenders through the online application. Upon receiving the request, your recommenders should follow the automatically generated instructions and submit the completed reference forms online.

The Consortium Application uses the GMAC Common Letter of Recommendation (LOR) for professional recommendations.

There are two required essays for all applicants, one optional essay and, of course, additional required school-specific essays for each school you have ranked on your application. For the core essays, please follow the application instructions listed within the application portal, but here are some general guidelines:

• Include your full name and date of birth (mm/dd/yyyy) on each page
• Limit Core Essay #1 to 2,000 characters
• Please use 12-point font
• Must be a Microsoft Word document

The core application essays are:

Core Essay 1:

Please describe your short- and long-term goals post-MBA. How has your professional experience shaped these goals and influenced your decision to pursue an MBA degree? (2,000 characters)

Core Essay 2: (Optional Essay):

Is there any other information you would like to share with us that is not presented elsewhere in your application? (1,000 characters)

Mission Essay

Our mission, through the strength of our growing alliance and extended network, is to enhance diversity and inclusion in global business education and leadership by striving to reduce the significant underrepresentation of African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans in both our Member Schools’ enrollments and the ranks of global management across the following sectors: For- profit corporations, Nonprofit corporations, Government agencies and contractors, and Entrepreneurial ventures in both for-profit and nonprofit environments.

*Please address the three questions noted below. Please use specific examples pertaining to our target populations and clearly articulate your involvement, actions and results.

1. What have you done pre-MBA in your business, personal, or academic life to demonstrate commitment to this mission?(2,000 characters)
2. What will you do while enrolled in your MBA program to demonstrate your commitment to the mission? (2,000 characters)
3. What will you do post-MBA with respect to community service and leadership involvement to demonstrate your continued commitment to The Consortium’s missions of diversity and inclusion? (1,000 characters)

When you respond to these essay questions, please provide several specific examples of your involvement and the results of your actions whenever possible. The first essay is required and used for admission purposes only. It provides an opportunity for you to express your strengths, attributes, experiences and other traits or abilities you believe are relevant to your educational goals and career objectives. The optional essay lets you bring additional information to the attention of the admissions committee. These may explain gaps in employment or shortcomings in your academic record, specific plans to retake the GMAT®/GRE or other relevant information. If you answer “yes” to any of the questions in the Personal Certification/Signature section (described below), you must provide an explanation. If necessary, you may use this essay to explain your circumstances. The last Consortium-required essay will assess your commitment to The Consortium’s mission and will be used to determine your fit for membership. Please navigate to the Membership section within the core application to view the membership essay.

Please note: You will be required to write at least one school-specific essay for each school to which you plan to apply. Schools only see their individual essays. To complete these essays, navigate to each school’s supplemental page within your core applications. Text boxes with specified word limitations will be provided for the membership essay and all school-specific essays.

As you know, The Consortium’s mission is to bring diverse perspectives into the workplace by reducing the under representation of African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans in American MBA programs and, in turn, in the ranks of American business. While you may be admitted to member schools without a dedication to this mission, to be granted membership, you need to demonstrate a significant commitment. We use two key tools to assess your commitment to The Consortium’s mission. The first is the membership essay. The second is the membership recommendation letter from objective third parties (preferably former supervisors or professional associates).

When you submit your application, you must also include your nonrefundable application fee. You may make a secure online credit card payment.

Consortium Application Fees

1-2 schools $150
3 schools $200
4 schools $240
5 schools $275
6 schools $300
$25 for each additional program

The Consortium does not grant application fee waivers or refunds.

Application fees are nonrefundable. Please make sure you meet all eligibility requirements before submitting your application. For more information visit The Consortium Applicant Help Center.

You must verify that you have understood the Consortium application instructions and application policies. In addition, during this final section of the application you will need to truthfully answer the following questions:

1. Have you ever been convicted of a crime?
2. Have you ever been disciplined or placed under academic sanction (for example, expulsion, suspension, probation or formal reprimand) by any college or university, or are there any disciplinary charges pending against you?
3. Have you ever entered a plea of guilty, no contest, nolo contendere, or an Alford plea to a criminal charge or received a deferred prosecution or prayer for judgment continued?
4. Do you have any criminal charges pending against you?
5. If you are a former member of the military, were you honorably discharged?

Please note that answering “yes” to questions 1-4 and/or answering “no” to question 5 will not disqualify you from admission. However, your failure to provide complete, accurate and truthful information may be grounds to deny your admission, dismiss you after enrollment or rescind your degree after graduation. For the purposes of these questions, “crime” or “criminal charge” refers to any crime other than a traffic-related misdemeanor or infraction. You must, however, include all alcohol or drug offenses even if they are not traffic-related. If you answer yes to any of these and there is no space for an application, you are required to provide an application in the space for Essay #2.

When you sign, you will need to agree to the following statement:

I agree that all statements made in this application are accurate and complete, the essays were written by me, and the letters of recommendation were written by my designated recommenders. I understand that The Consortium and its member schools reserve the right to contact appropriate sources to verify the accuracy of all information I have provided. I understand that if I accept admission into any of the member schools, they or their agents may conduct a background check on my credentials, and I may be responsible for any fees associated with this service. I must promptly notify The Consortium and all member schools to which I am applying if any of my information changes, including, but not limited to, my résumé and contact information. I understand that member schools may revoke my admission and /or scholarship(s) if they learn that I have misrepresented and/or omitted information during or after the admissions processes or that I have engaged in behavior showing a serious lack of judgment or integrity prior to or after admission. I understand that The Consortium may release my relevant information to member schools and partner/external organizations to be considered for admission, relevant school-specific scholarships and programs, as well as relevant partner/external organization scholarships and programs. I understand that materials received by The Consortium in connection with this application are not returnable and that the application fee is not refundable. I certify that I have read, understand and agree to all of the application instructions and policies prior to submitting my application.

It’s your responsibility to keep The Consortium and all member schools up to date if your contact information changes. Failure to update your contact information may cause you to miss critical information. This could jeopardize your membership to The Consortium, receipt of your fellowship or cause you to miss your place in the class at your member school.The Consortium and its member schools are not responsible for any technological filters (including email filters, etc.) that prevent applicants from receiving communications.

For more on the re-applicant process and what materials you can reuse, visit The Consortium Applicant Help Center.

The policies, requirements, offerings, timelines, activities and fees of The Consortium and its member schools, departments and programs set forth in this publication do not form a contract of any kind and are subject to change without notice at any time at the sole discretion of the administration. Such changes may be of any nature, including, but not limited to, the content of any of the aforementioned.

For more information, please visit our The Consortium Applicant Help Center