Ran Rimon Published: 07.04.12, 14:44 / Israel Business
As US MBA convention gets ready to open in Tel Aviv, experts say former IDF soldiers have clear advantage when applying to American programs
"Former IDF soldiers have a major advantage when they apply for MBA studies in the US as military personnel are held in high esteem in the US and are a symbol of commitment, loyalty and striving for success," said Hila Yerushalmi, an educational advisor at the EducationUSA center.
The US MBA convention is set to be held in Tel Aviv over the weekend with the purpose of recruiting Israeli students to leading American MBA programs. Representatives from admissions departments of leading US universities will take part in the convention which will take place at the Tel Aviv Carlton hotel.
The representatives have arrived with one goal: to interview and recruit Israeli students.
Among the universities sending representatives are Stanford, Brandeis, Duke, UC Berkeley, Kellogg, Harvard, NYU, UCLA and Tuck at Dartmouth.
There are a number of scholarships designated for Israelis and among them are those that include military service as criteria for receiving the scholarship.
According to Aharona Maskil, the director of EducationUSA in Israel, "there are more and more leading US universities that recognize the potential in Israeli students and every year sees new scholarships intended for Israeli students with the purpose of encouraging their integration in MBA programs."
"The scholarships include partial to full tuition funding with an advantage to Israelis that completed their military service. One example is the Darden school's Darden-Israel Grant where one criteria is military service.