Hey,
I need help with school ideas for getting my MBA. I am currently at Ohio State. I got a 3.57 GPA rn. I am currently in Industrial Engineering with a minor in Economics. I also took a GMAT and scored a 723. I really would like to go to Stanford, an ivy, Duke, Notre Dame, Northwestern, UCLA, or Carnegie Mellon. I know my GPA is on the low end but I was wondering if they will count it higher than it is because I was a STEM Major, not a business major.
What is your ultimate goal and why do you think an MBA would advance it? I would suggest working for a few years first and seeing what your career path might look like. Most MBA students do that and donât go right out of college.
Yes, to be competitive for the best MBA programs, youâll want to get some years of work experience first - at least 2, but more can make you more competitive. Most MBA students have 2+ years of work experience before they attend, and at top business schools it is often from relatively âprestigiousâ places to work.
But a 3.57 isnât a low GPA. If you get some good solid work experience post-college, that GPA would make you a pretty average to strong candidate depending on the school.
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3.57 is actually pretty respectable for a good engineering program. Most of the better programs require 2-5 years of management/work experience, even in the regular MBA program. Some have programs specifically designed for undergrad-grad, like Michiganâs Masters of Management. There are also specialty tracks like supply chain.
With a few years of work you will be able to apply your schooling much more effectively.
The rule of thumb for top MBAs is at least 2 years work experience. The average work experience for students accepted into Stanfordâs MBA is nearly 5 years. Most of this yearâs incoming Harvard MBAs are 3-4 years out from UG- and afaik I know itâs been years since they accepted anybody who wasnât at least a year out of undergrad.
Few if any of the big name schools will want you right away. I was in the last year that my MBA program accepted students right out of university (which was more than 20 years ago). All of us who had work experience found working with the straight-from undergrad students hopeless: they were plenty smart, and did fine in theory and straight quant classes. But they added nothing to the discussions and shared experiences that were some of the richest learning experiences of the program. Even the ones who had done pretty good internships were problematic: they felt that they understood more than they did.
Turns out that it doesnât help the students either: we still know some of our classmates who came straight through, and they say that they didnât get nearly as much from the program as they could have, because they didnât have the perspective and experience. A couple have done various ExecEd courses to punch it up.
An Engineering degree + an MBA is an attractive package- but what is your goal? what kind of work do you want to do? have you done any internships? Besides being fancy names, why those MBA programs? (not asking for you to answer here-asking for you to consider for yourself).
The MBA programs you are looking at are super competitive and super expensive. If you just want to tack the âMBAâ letters on to your CV, stay at Ohio and get it done quickly and (less) expensively. If you want the big name, go get some work experience first.
OP- agree with everyone else. Get a job. B-school will still be there in a few years, and you will not only be a much more compelling candidate for them- you will get MUCH more out of it once youâve been in the working world.