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$10,000 for MBAs - Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, Award Based on Business Plan

The Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship has announced a one-time award of $10,000 to each of the 2013 graduating MBA student who is committed in starting an entrepreneurial venture. This is a need-based award and is aimed at for-profit startup ventures. The winner will be decided by the Rock Center. In addition to the award, the student will be eligible for regular MBA Financial Aid.

The award is based on the viability of the Business Idea. This will be evaluated based on a review of the business plan as well as a progress report based on funding and other key steps taken. Another criterion for evaluation is financial need. The award is not for students who are looking for employment or in volunteer positions.

The Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship was started in 2003, on a $25 million gift from HBS alumni, Arthur Rock a legendary VC who invested in companies like Intel and Apple. The center runs the School’s Business Plan Contest, which gives away over $150,000 in cash, as well as, in-kind services to entrepreneurial winners. Also around $50,000 is given out each semester in the Rock Accelerator Award Program. It helps students develop their ideas in the quickest, most effective way.


F1GMAT's Harvard MBA Essay Guide

 

• Business-Minded Essay: Please reflect on how your choices have influenced your career path and aspirations. (up to 300 words)
• Growth-Oriented Essay: Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words)
• Leadership-Focused Essay: What experiences have shaped how you invest in others and how you lead? (up to 250 words)

Download F1GMAT's Harvard MBA Essay Guide (20+ Essay Examples & 300+ Pages of Essay Writing Wisdom)

 

About the Author 

Atul Jose

I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.

 

For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.

 

My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.

 

I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.

 

The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.

 

Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.