Deferred Enrollment

Secure Your Future, Then Explore It

Our Deferred Enrollment program allows eligible students to apply now and secure a spot in a future MBA class. Once admitted, you have the freedom to spend one to four years gaining professional experience — taking risks and building your career with the confidence that Stanford is waiting for you.

Download the Deferred Enrollment Brochure

Lexi Henkel MBA ’23

Hear from Lexi Henkel, MBA ’23, and her experience in the deferred enrollment program. Learn about her journey to Stanford GSB, introduction to deferred enrollment, and plans for the future.

Tune into a recent podcast episode featuring Christine Friedman, a director of MBA Admissions at Stanford Graduate School of Business. In this insightful conversation, Christine dives into the details of the Deferred Enrollment option at Stanford GSB, an opportunity designed for students who want to secure their spot in a top MBA program before gaining full-time work experience.

You’ll learn about what the program entails, who it’s designed for, how to prepare a strong application, and why deferred enrollment might be the right path for you.

Listen Here

Key Benefits

Deferred enrollment is designed for students without full-time work experience to:

Pursue opportunities that enable you to build expertise, enhance your skills and knowledge, expand your perspective, and develop professional judgment and self-confidence.
Explore an industry (or two) before earning your MBA if you are unsure about your long-term professional path, especially if you are a college senior
Prepare for certain industries which tend to recruit MBA candidates who have pre-MBA work experience or specialized knowledge in that field.

Who Should Apply

We welcome applications from all studies and majors, including STEM, humanities, and business. Students at Stanford GSB come from diverse personal, educational, and professional backgrounds.

What We Look For

We seek the most promising students in terms of our three evaluation criteria: how you think, how you lead, and how you see the world. We realize that our applicants are at different points in their professional journeys, and we will evaluate your accomplishments within the context of your experiences.

You are eligible for deferred enrollment if you meet one of the following criteria:

Eligibility

You are a college senior.

You are in your final year of a bachelor’s degree or a joint bachelor/graduate program, and your degree will be conferred between October 1, 2026, and September 30, 2027.

You are in a graduate program.

You began a master’s degree, PhD, law, or medical degree in the academic year immediately following an undergraduate or undergraduate/graduate program.
You did not work full time (other than internships or co-ops) before starting the graduate program.
Your degree will be conferred between October 1, 2026, and September 30, 2027.

Graduate students should apply in the final year of their graduate program.

What if I graduate in December?

What if I took a gap year between undergraduate and graduate school?

Do I need to have a full-time job offer before applying?

Elizabeth Shribman, MBA'15

“I would absolutely recommend deferral. It would have been hard to go from college to business school with no experience in the professional world.” — Elizabeth Shribman, MBA ’15

Ellen Liu, MBA'19

“Challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone, either in your career or another part of your life. Try a new industry or function or city or country.” — Ellen Liu, MBA ’19

Karl Skare, MBA ’13

“Use that two-year [deferral] period to try something different that might seem a little bit risky.”

Supriya Hobbs, MBA ’18

“It’s a unique window where you have a few years before a fresh springboard into whatever’s next.”

Pulkit Agarwal, MBA ’20

“The deferral is like extending your Stanford time. As soon as you are a deferred admit, you are essentially a Stanford student.”

Still Have Questions?

We offer many opportunities to engage with current students, alumni, and the MBA admissions team. If you are thinking about applying, we invite you to either attend a general admissions event or search for an event tailored to deferred enrollment candidates.

Deferred Enrollment at Stanford GSB

Learn more about deferred enrollment from an admissions officer as well as a panel of students and alumni.

Rex Woodbury

MBA '21

“As a deferred admit, even though you haven’t yet arrived on campus, you’re already part of the Stanford community. Take advantage of that! Reach out to alumni and current students during your deferral period — learn about their experiences and passions, and use those learnings to refine your own goals. Optimize for learning during your time before Stanford; when you arrive on campus, you’ll have a better idea of how to shape your own Stanford experience and set yourself up for your goals.”

David Liu

MBA '24

“Deferred enrollment allows you to explore your passions, take risks, and grow both personally and professionally. I used this time to build relationships with fellow deferred admits, current students, and alumni, and leveraged their experiences to shape my own Stanford journey. The deferral period becomes an important part of your MBA experience, and you can use it to enrich your time at the GSB and beyond.”

Chisom Okpala

MBA '20

“The deferral period could truly be game-changing for you. Make sure that you explore your different interests, take risks that you otherwise wouldn't normally take in your career and start building your network of GSB students and alums. The years before you begin at the GSB provide some of the most formative years of self-reflection and introspection. Start to figure out what you want out of your GSB experience, what skills and interests you want to develop and how you're going to make sure that you achieve your goals.”

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