<p>Okay, I'm very happy to be transferring (although at this point I don't know which school I'm going to be exactly transferring to). Most likely, UCLA or UCB (if my appeal goes through).</p>
<p>However, since i'm going to be 25 by the time I begin classes I want to know (and i'm sure a lot of people out there will also want to know) what exactly someone needs to do aside from getting the very highest possible g.p.a. to attend a top (such as Harvard Business School, Wharton School of Business) graduate school straight after receiving a bachelors. </p>
<p>My financial situation looks like I'll graduate with no loans, so I believe I could start graduate school in exactly 2 years. Will a strong gpa combined with a good GMAT score be enough ? What exactly should we look for from the moment of transferring?</p>
<p>From what I know (which is mostly through my friend at Haas), on top of having a rocking gpa and gre scores, get as much work experience as possible (internships). Oh, and try to get good recs in line.</p>
<p>Hope this helps. Sorry if this is a bit too general/ ancedotal.</p>
<p>no offense reachin, but the top business schools are looking for people with work experience (perferably at least 3 years). Grades and test scores matter, but not as much as work experience. My friend graduated from UCLA with good grades and good gmat scores and didn't even bother applying to top mba programs but after 3 years of workign in ibanking he got applied and got into wharton. He had alright grades (like around 3.5ish) and good gmat but what made his app stick out was his experience.</p>
<p>Well the thing is that a large perecentage of those at grad schools come straight after finishing undergrad. Not all people take time to work in between And grats for your buddy. :)</p>
<p>My financial situation indicates I won't need to take time off from school to pay off loans so I'm thinking it's preferable (taking a break from school and trying to study again is very frustrating). </p>
<p>Yep, regarding internships and recs, that'll definitely be the first on my priority of things to do after I transfer, but I'm thinking more along the lines of particular ec's or certain types of internships.</p>
<p>Thanks jacknjill for the link</p>
<p>yeah but MBA programs are not exactly academic. A lot of the top schools don't even assign grades, they have pass and no pass classes and everyone passes. I've read up on top MBA programs as i want to get into a top school sometime in the future and i found out that work experience comes first and foremost. Rarely is anyone accepted right out of undergrad. My friend has also told me that MBA programs are just for already successful people to basically vacation for 2 years and network. Its not at all like going tno grad school for science or law.</p>
<p>what kind of work experience does the average student have, that gets them into top mba programs?</p>
<p>Although you would be in a financial situation to be able to go get an MBA straight after college, most top b-schools expect for you to have a strong background. You won't get into Penn or Chicago with the usual list of ec's or basic internships. Most schools give out information like the average number of years an accepted student has worked, and from what I've seen, it ranges from 3-5 (average wise). Like hobofromdowntown said, "rarely is anyone accepted right out of undergrad."</p>
<p>reachin,</p>
<p>Getting admitted to a top tier MBA school without work experience is certainly reaching for the stars....</p>
<p>Don't you know that quality work experience showing management potential is the most important prerequisite for the top biz schools? An internship is a prerequisite for the first job. Internships are worthless for top tier MBA. Perfect GMAT and GPA won't be enough because you make a lousy candidate without work experience. Why would anyone in your MBA class bother to network with you if you have zero work experience? It's all about networking with other succesful business people. So why should those schools hold a spot for someone who is unproven in the business world?</p>
<p>While what you say seems valid -- and also stands as a reason personally for me to NOT attend grad school right after undergrad, if you check out the sites of mba programs, they mention they have a range of students that includes those with many years of work experience and talented students right out of college.</p>
<p>i want go to harvard business schoooooooooooooool :T</p>