| Registration, Lottery and Waitlist FAQs |
| Program Costs |
| Drops/Withdrawals/Refunds |
| Last Semester of Study |
DBi Registration Overview
For DBi course registration, the January courses are considered part of the Fall term, and the March and May courses are part of the Spring term.
No special application is required. Students follow the same lottery (including assigning a priority rank to this class), waitlist, free credit and registration procedures for DBi courses as for any other class in the given term. A maximum of 6 DBi credits (DBIN-GB.3XXX.OA) can count toward the MBA program.
January and May DBi course credits fall outside of the semester and, therefore, do not count for the Fall or Spring semester credit load limits: 15 for full-time students and 9 for part-time. Credit overload or acceleration approval is not required for these DBi courses.
March DBi course credits are within the Spring semester and, therefore, are included in the credit maximums.
Note for Langone Program students: The January travel class is not part of the Winter Intensive. It is a fall course even though it travels abroad in January. Along the same line, May travel class is part of the Spring Semester even though the travel occurs in the Summer I session.
You may locate DBi courses on the Office of Records and Registration's website on their Course Schedule.
Lottery FAQ's
Does the lottery ranking matter?
Ranking matters for all classes. If you truly want any course, you should consider giving it the highest ranking. Many DBi offerings are highly subscribed. The rank you give a desired DBi will impact your chances of receiving a seat in the lottery.
Does a student's graduation date matter?
Priority for all electives (e.g., DBi) is for graduating students. This increases the chances for graduating students to receive the electives that they need or want most before they graduate.
Will a student get DBi if they are in the closest graduation cohort and ranked it number one in the lottery?
It depends on how many students are in that same category. The lottery was designed by students and is an effort to provide an equitable allocation of classes. The lottery randomly selects among equals. Should a student not receive a seat in the lottery, placement and condideration on the waitlist is given according to the rank that they gave the course in the lottery.
DBi Waitlist FAQs:
How do students get on the waitlist for DBi?
Students must place themselves on the waitlist, if they are still interested in the course during drop/add.
Do seats ever become available after the lottery and who gets them?
As with all courses, seats become available as students make changes to their schedules. Additionally, seats open up when deposits and program fee payments are not made by the deadline. In order to be considered for a closed DBi, it is crucial for students to put themselves on the waitlist for their desired DBi.
How does the waitlist work?
The waitlist is ordered by the same criteria as the lottery: graduation cohort and lottery ranking (i.e., students who are closer to graduation will receive priority according to the rank they gave the course in the lottery).
Can students who didn't lottery for DBi get on the waitlist for DBi?
Yes, anyone may add themselves to the waitlist. Students who did not select and rank the course in the lottery may still place themselves on the waitlist. However, priority goes to those students who ranked but did not receive the course in the lottery.
General DBi FAQs:
Can Stern add another section of a specific DBi that has already been scheduled?
Unfortunately, we can't. Stern works very closely with partner schools to bring about these offerings. It usually takes one year from proposal to delivery. The partner schools have strict limits on how many students they can coordinate and accommodate. There are many parts to DBi offerings such as partner school professors, grading, buses, tickets to events, corporate visits (with their own maximums of how many students they'll see), hotel rooms, dinners, cultural events, to name just a few. To offer these courses at the Stern level of academic quality and at the low cost to students takes a lot of creative work and long hours for both MBA International Programs and the partner school.
We have successfully negotiated for additional sections in the past but we know before the lottery runs what flexibility we have in those negotiations. If seats are not open by the time the lottery results have been posted, it means there is no flexibility with that particular offering.
The lottery provides us with a great indication of the interest in the DBi offerings so we would act immediately on any increase in seats.
Why is there no registration application for DBi?
The spirit behind DBi is to provide an opportunity for an international educational experience to those students who are either not able to afford the time or choose not to spend a full semester abroad (e.g., work, job search, family). In that spirit, all students who have satisfied their Stern Core requirements (except Professional Responsibility) and are in good academic standing are eligible to participate in DBi.
Program Costs
Students pay Stern tuition and registration fees for the credits, an additional DBi program fee, and their other travel-related costs. Payment of the non-refundable program fee is required to secure a seat in the course. Please check the course syllabus for specific cost details.
- Tuition:
Stern tuition for 1.5 or 3 credits is charged. The January course is invoiced on the Fall term tuition bill. The March or May course is invoiced on the Spring term tuition bill.
- Non-Refundable DBi Program Fee:
In addition to tuition, there will be a $1,300 program fee for 1.5 credit courses and $2,200 program fee for 3 credit courses. The DBi program fee covers such items as lodging, group ground transportation to visits, some meals, group activities, partner school expenses, books, and course materials and sometimes internet access. Excluded are airfare, individual ground transportation (e.g., transport to/from airport), most meals, visa fees, airport fees, and personal incidentals. See the course syllabus for details of what is included in the fee.
The full DBi program fee must be paid by the deadline for tuition payment for the relevant term (January course is part of the Fall term and March and May courses are part of the Spring term). This DBi program fee is non-refundable should you withdraw from the course at any time. For the January course, this fee is due in mid-August. For the March or May course, this deposit is due in early December.
Drops/Withdrawals/Refunds
The DBi program maintains its own policies and timetables for drops, withdrawals, and refunds, and Stern’s regular policies and timetables do not apply.
- When the registration lottery closes, students will be notified if they have received a seat in the class.
- The student must pay a non-refundable program fee payment to the Stern Bursar by the payment deadline to secure their seat in the class .
- If the non-refundable program fee is not received by the deadline date, that seat will be given to a student on the waitlist. It is the student's responsibility to know the registration and Bursar dates of the DBi offering.
- The non-refundable DBi program fee will be invoiced on your tuition bill and must be paid by the deadline for tuition payment for the relevant term (the January course is part of Fall term and the March and May course is part of Spring term).
- Tuition will be refunded on the following schedule:
Please note the below table is for tuition only. The DBi Program Fee is non-refundable.
| 100% Tuition Only | Drop before or on the day of the Pre-Departure class session |
| 0% Tuition Only | Withdrawal after the Pre-Departure class session |
- Registration fee will be refunded if you drop the course before the start date of the Fall/Spring term.
- Withdrawal is permitted starting on Day 1 and ending on Day 10 after the Pre-Departure class session in New York City. There is no refund during this period.
During the drop period, the course is deleted from the transcript and refunds are granted according to the schedule indicated above. During the withdrawal period, students may withdraw from full-semester classes and receive a grade of "W." No refunds are granted for withdrawals. The effective date of any drop or withdrawal is the date the student drops the course on-line, submits the add/drop form in person, the letter is postmarked, or the fax is received (fax: 212-995-4424).
Students wishing an exception to this published DBi refund schedule may petition the MBA Academic Policy Board in writing and document the circumstances warranting consideration. As always, travel required for a job or other job-related issues, including recruiting, are not reasons for an exception to the refund policy. All dates for all courses must be considered carefully before registration. Requests should be submitted to the MBA Academic Policy Board's online petition application: http://w4.stern.nyu.edu/academic/affairs/arc/login_form.
See the Registration/Bursar Schedule for exact dates.
Last Semester of Study
If the DBi course is taken as part of the student's last semester, the student may lottery and register as usual and should note the following:
Free Course:
Students may not lottery for any course as their free course, including DBi. Only if seats are available during the drop/add period, a student may use a course, including DBi, as their free course.
Graduation and DBi:
- May DBi's: If the last course in your Stern studies is the May DBi course, you will be considered a September candidate, as the course will end after the formal May graduation date.
- You will, however, be invited to participate in the May graduation ceremonies. This applies to both Full-Time and Part-Time students.
- You will be considered for prizes and awards with the next year's graduating cohort.
- January DBi's: If the last course in your Stern studies is the January DBi course, the due date of the deliverables will determine whether you will be a January or May graduate. If the final deliverable is before the fourth Monday in January, you will be considered a January graduate. You will be considered a May candidate, if the final deliverables are due after the fourth Monday in January.
- Certification Letter: Once all grades are in and degree requirements have been met, an official letter certifying that all requirements have been met and the degree is scheduled to be awarded at the next formal conferral cycle can be provided at a student's request.