<p>I will be attending the University of Michigan College of Engineering next September and I plan to graduate Mechanical Engineering then get my MBA. </p>
<p>I would love to know ahead of time what I will need to do to get into a top 10-20 MBA program...as in ~GPA I need as a mechanical engineer, what kinds of extracurriculars should I look at, what I should minor in, when should I start preparing for the GMAT, etc.</p>
<p>Obviously get the best GPA you can. If you can be at around a 3.6 at UM, you'd probably be in pretty good shape. But even if you were around a 3.3 and had a good application, you would probably be a good candidate for a top MBA program. Don't worry about the GMAT right now. At your age, you probably won't even be applying to an MBA program until 2012 or so. You have to get your bachelor's degree and get 2-5 years of work experience first.</p>
<p>In terms of extracurriculars, do things that allow you to be a leader. Start a club, get heavily involved in community service. You can also do an internship. But what matters most is your work experience after you get your degree.</p>
<p>i would say work experience supercedes gpa. my cousin had a 3.3 and ~500 gmat but a good job, and hes at anderson at ucla.</p>
<p>Yeah, work experience supercedes GPA, but as a college student the best you can do is to get a great GPA and worry about the work experience when you graduate. But you should still be within a school's middle 50% range for GPA and GMAT if you want to be competitive. For example, I think Anderson's average GPA for admitted students is about 3.5 or 3.6, but their middle 50% range probably goes down to 3.2 and as high as 3.8. So even if you are below average, don't worry too much, just try to be in that range. Same with GMAT. UCLA's average GMAT is 701, but if you're at 680 or 690 you're still in that range, so don't worry too much.</p>
<p>Just enjoy your four years in Ann Arbor, root against Ohio State, drink a lot of beer, hook up with the ladies, and worry about B-school after a few more years.</p>
<p>perhaps grab an internship during one of your summers too</p>