<p>hey, i got into an undergrad engineering program at cornell... my question is regarding whether or not the 2 or 3 years of work is essential for getting into an MBA program at a prestigious grad school... um, is it?</p>
<p>The following is from Wharton's website:</p>
<p>"How much work experience do most accepted students have? Is there a particular type of work experience Wharton looks for?
A12: The average student has worked for 5 or 6 years between college and the MBA program. The Admissions Committee looks for individuals who exhibit professional maturity. In other words, we evaluate work experience not in terms of years but the depth and breadth of an individual's position, his or her contributions to the work environment, and level of responsibility and progression. Wharton looks for diversity in the professional backgrounds of its admitted students just as it does in all other parts of our applicants' profiles. No one industry is favored over another, and experience in a Fortune 500 company does not have higher value than experience in a small business or public institution."</p>
<p>Stats for high ranked MBA programs generaly bear out what Wharton says in that 98% or higher of those admitted already have a number of years of work experience after college.</p>
<p>It's extremely rare to find somebody who got into a top MBA program with no full-time work experience. Generally, these people made up for their lack of formal work experience by exemplary performance in other things - like starting their own company in their spare time while they were studying.</p>
<p>looks like i have 5-6 years of full-time work after finishing college</p>
<p>Yeah but as an engineer, 5-6 year work experience may be just as good ast 3-4. I mean it takes a very long to get promoted in the world of engineering. Also, you won't make manager for 10-15 years. Engineering is back-logged wit politics and though a great back up major; the career path is hard to advance in the chain. 5 years is not enough to gain significant advancement.</p>
<p>This is why it confuses me when people think you can just get promoted in less than at least 8-12 years time. </p>
<p>MBA admissions has more to it than just looking at your advancement. The OP is not getting the whole truth here.</p>
<p>Well, I would point out that you don't really have to get promoted into management in order to become a viable MBA candidate, although obviously it helps. It is sufficient just to have solid work experience just as an engineer. </p>
<p>For example, I know that at HBS and MITSloan, the vast majority of MBA students had no prior 'management experience' per se in the sense that they ever had people reporting to them and/or had divisional profit-loss responsibility. Some did, but most did not. Most were former banking of consulting analysts, or working engineers, or other business functionaries that had yet to move into formal management, but wanted to. </p>
<p>The truth is, if you've already gotten into management, you may not really need an MBA anyway. Much of the whole point of getting an MBA is to vault you into management. Furthermore, a significant number of new MBA graduates still don't take a formal 'management' position as such, but rather become banking or consulting associates where they STILL don't have true management responsibilities. </p>
<p>What I'm saying is, it's not really the management experience that counts. It's more about leadership and business experience, which you can develop without actually being a formal manager.</p>