Tip# 3: Merit Is Not Enough
Scholarship decisions are coming this spring. Across the Laidlaw MBA partner schools, the process may vary, but each scholarship committee is asking the same core questions.
But first, here is the question I get on repeat: is Laidlaw merit based or need based? Here’s the clean answer: need is a requirement. Merit gets you noticed and into the longlist. It is what the school can already see in you - results, progression, and responsibility.
By the time you’re in final selection territory, merit stops being the differentiator because most candidates still standing are already strong. The school has already shortlisted a stack of top profiles and the margin of error is low. The scholarship panel is no longer trying to figure out whether you’re capable. They’re evaluating whether you’re a bet worth backing. So when candidates come to me, this is how I frame it.
Here's my Scholarship Stack:
- Merit: you are strong
- Investable: you are a good bet
- Exponential ROI: funding changes the slope of your trajectory
Merit gets you noticed. Investable shows you are credible. ROI gets you funded.
What investable means
Investable means this: can you explain what you chose, what you gave up, and why? Can you own the outcome?
Here’s an example from Shwe Yee Win’s Laidlaw application (Oxford MBA, Laidlaw Scholar):
“Our financial status had steadily improved over the years but after the first wave of COVID, the overall revenue of the family business dropped by more than 40%… the garment factory with over 300 employees faced the worst… That was when I decided to put in my personal savings and give the factory one last chance to reopen and produce cloth masks with the limited resources I had. Fortunately, having the first mover advantage, the cloth masks venture succeeded and I managed to continue operating the garment factory and keep employing the staff.”
She names the constraint, makes the decision, and takes responsibility for the outcome. That’s a candidate you’d invest in.
What exponential ROI means
ROI is what becomes possible because the scholarship exists. It is the difference between your plan without funding and your plan with it. In other words, what changes if someone backs you? Not just financially.
The panel is trying to understand whether your impact is durable. If your work stopped tomorrow, what would break, and what would still run? If it falls apart when you leave, you created effort. However, if your work stopped tomorrow and things still ran, you changed the system. That is the ROI the panel wants to see.
When I mentor candidates, we write it in three lines:
- Without Laidlaw, my path looks like ____
- With Laidlaw, my path looks like ____
- The difference is ____
If the difference is only “easier” or “faster,” your ROI is thin. Get this right before you submit, and before you start preparing for any conversations or interviews.
New here? This post is Part 3 of a six part series on the Laidlaw application journey. You can read Part 1: The Network Test and Part 2: Authenticity Beats Extremity. Part 4: Proving ROI Without a Sales Pitch will be published on 28 January 2026.
About Me
Hi, I’m Shruti Jain. I graduated from Oxford Saïd in 2023 as a Laidlaw and Skoll Scholar.
Between 2019-2021, I faced rejections, deferred my Oxford admit twice, and rebuilt my approach from scratch. This experience shaped how I think about merit, narrative, and what competitive processes actually reward. Today, I work with MBA applicants using that same playbook as an admissions coach, and in building MBA Copilot, an AI product that helps applicants craft strong MBA and scholarship applications.
If you’re a Laidlaw applicant looking for thoughtful support, reach out. If you’ve been shortlisted for interview and want to prepare, download my Laidlaw prep guide.