Yale School of Management Entrepreneurship Fellowship

About the Fellowship | CDO Policy

We’re happy to announce the availability of the Yale SOM Entrepreneurship Fellowship. In its second year, the Yale School of Management Entrepreneurship Fellowship supports up to five student-entrepreneurs after graduation to work on their ventures. The goal of the Fellowship is to provide support to recent graduates by allowing them to defer their graduate educational loans for the first two years after graduation. In addition to financial support, the CDO will allow access to future on‐campus recruiting cycles for up to two-and-a-half years post‐graduation. The amount of financial support that a student receives will depend on their particular financial need.

Students who are selected as Fellows will have access to the following financial instruments:

Accrued Interest Repayment Support During Fellowship

All Fellows with student loans will receive up to $7,000/year towards paying the interest accruing on their student loans during the Fellowship. Actual payments will be calculated on a student-by-student basis by the Director of Financial Aid, and will be for the amount of interest only up to the maximum annual support.

Yale Bridge Loan

Graduates chose as Fellows who do not wish to put their loans into forbearance may apply for the Yale Bridge Loan. The cumulative maximum annual amount is $10,000 ($20,000 for the total program). The loan will carry an interest rate of 7.5% and it will be payable in full within one year of leaving the Fellowship. Accrued interest on this loan will be paid directly to the university rather than the graduate.

Essentially, the Yale Bridge Loan is a Yale-backed loan that will help you pay your private loans. Fellows wishing to apply for this loan should contact the Director of Financial Aid and must re-apply the second year for additional funds.

Loan Forgiveness Support

If, after the Fellowship, the graduate takes a position that qualifies for the Loan Forgiveness Program, the Yale Bridge Loan will be treated as a qualifying educational loan covered by the Program, and the Program will make the necessary payments of principal and interest on the participant’s behalf for as long as the participant is in the Program. Upon leaving a qualifying position, any remaining balance due on the Yale Bridge Loan will be payable in full within one year.

If you have question regarding the terms and conditions of the loan program, please contact Rebekah Melville, Director of Financial Aid, at 203.432.5875.

Application

Please provide a brief (within three pages of text) Executive Summary that includes the following information:

1. An overview of your venture, including a brief description of your market, customer, team and the progress that you have made to date. Please detail the problem that you are trying to solve and how you will go about solving this problem.
2. Your role in the venture, both past and future.
3. An estimate of the impact your venture will have, whether social or financial.
4. A brief summary of your role in the entrepreneurial community at Yale SOM.

Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. Potential for impact (75%): this includes the potential social and financial returns and the quality of the venture (team, business model, traction, prior success, etc.).
2. Your contributions to the entrepreneurial community at Yale (25%): what have you done during your time at Yale SOM to support others? How have you contributed to the culture of entrepreneurship at the university (this could include contributions such as attending events, leading clubs, supporting other ventures and entrepreneurs, or hosting events or visitors).

Please feel free to include links to other supporting materials, such as websites, news articles, etc. that might be relevant. These should fit within the page limit and will be viewed at the reviewers discretion. If you are submitting a video, please make sure that it is less than five minutes long.

Please make sure you that you have provided read access to all documents that you are submitting. Applications are due by 11:59pm on March, 11, 2016.  Applications should be submitted here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Djj-nuMeVB6f5Oma8tG7_vgIjsf1m9psUdgD8Vwl32w/viewform

If you have any questions, please reach out to jennifer.mcfadden@yale.edu.

Reviews and responses

A small panel of alumni entrepreneurs and investors will select candidates. These volunteers are generously donating their time, so we will not be burdening them with the extra task of providing feedback. Please note, no faculty or staff at Yale will be involved in the selection process, so you may seek their counsel while crafting your application. Further, the faculty and staff of Yale SOM's Program on Entrepreneurship will not answer questions about applicants for the review panel with one exception: we will feel obliged and free to answer questions about a student's character. We intend to alert all applicants of their status by April 15, 2016.

If you have questions when you are filling out the application, please reach out to Jennifer McFadden, Associate Director of Entrepreneurial Programs, at jennifer.mcfadden@yale.edu.

CDO Policy for Yale SOM Entrepreneurship Fellowship Recipients

For up to five recipients per academic year, the CDO will allow access to future on‐campus recruiting cycles for up to two-and-a-half years post‐graduation under the following agreement:

1. To be eligible, Fellowship recipients can participate in on‐campus recruiting for full‐time positions for one recruiting cycle (July 20 – May 30^th) during their time as students and fellows combined. Exceptions will be managed on a case-by-case basis.

2. During the two-and-a-half years post‐graduation, fellowship recipients who wish to participate in on‐campus recruiting post‐graduation will have the opportunity to choose when they’d like to take advantage of their on‐campus recruiting privileges. The first opportunity is in the fall the year after they graduate, the second opportunity is the fall two years after they graduate. On‐ campus recruiting for full‐time positions requires a commitment by July 20in the given year. Access under this agreement is to the MBA resume database for full‐time employment, company presentations/information sessions, and campus based recruiting events. Access to club related activity, including treks, is at the discretion of the individual club and trek co‐chairs. The CDO will not approach/remind Fellowship recipients of the July 20th deadline. 


3. Expectations of individuals returning as alumni to participate in the on‐campus based recruiting process:

a.The alumnus/a will exhibit the skills, knowledge, and approach outlined during the CDO Professional Development curriculum offered during their FT MBA program experience. Due to the limitations of the net id and vendor contracts, the majority of student research resources will be unavailable as an alumnus/a. The onus is on the alumnus/a to conduct company and industry research. The CDO will provide on‐site access to research resources.

b.Alumni will be expected to assimilate as a current full‐time student seeking a job. Specifically, employers will not be given special information about fellowship recipients, and alumni should not call attention to their uniqueness in large group settings where it could cause confusion on behalf of employers who are expecting only a specific cohort in the audience. 


c.If an alumnus/a is not exhibiting the appropriate behaviors the CDO retains the ability to terminate participation on a case-by-case basis. 


4. If an individual is eligible and commits to the on‐campus process, unlimited career coaching will be provided during the on‐campus based recruiting process. During any other part of the two years, alumni who are Fellowship recipients will be granted career coaching resources in line with traditional alumni access (details on the Alumni portal).

All Fellowship Recipients have access to all alumni CDO resources (Job Postings in CMS/12Twenty, Alumni Resume Database, etc.). Please see the Alumni Portal for additional information.