Federal Grants / Scholarships as Work Experience

[Eric Pasciuti]

I'm curious whether it is valid to consider a federal work/study grant as legitimate work experience. In this particular case I spent 1yr in Taiwan on a Fulbright Scholarship, which of course is a resume boost but not true business experience in any strict sense.
In an effort to fully disclose, I was working 20-25hrs per week teaching English at several rural elementary schools and spending anywhere from 5-10hrs per week being a 'cultural ambassador' i.e. participating in local events, studying, and traveling.
As an aside, I only have 1yr of work experience in financial services, so I would be considered highly inexeperienced when looking at the averages posted on this website.
I think my profile may be a bit irregular in that I spent 5yrs in undergrad (not slacking) followed by the grant. That would make me nearly 27 at a theoretical 2013 matriculation with two years of financial work experience in quant risk management. Of course, 2014 matriculation is an option.

Any candid advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Eric

[paulsbodine]

Eric,
You could comfortably count the Fulbright as work experience for the purposes of your B-school application. Schools are not anal about how they tally work experience and they would certainly value your Fulbright experience because (a) its cross-cultural, (b) shows social impact initiative, and (c) perhaps connects with your post-MBA goals, in which case it's even more relevant. And given your age you don't want to wait much to begin applying. Feel free to send me your resume for a closer look: [email protected].