<p>I'm far from getting my MBA, but I would like some questions answered with your opinions.</p>
<p>I'm an undergraduate majoring in electrical engineering. My current gpa is 3.1, and I'm assuming after college, it will be around 3.1-3.3. I am president/co-founder of one club, vp of another (I will be president for this one next year), and on a few leadership boards... I will have ONE manufacturing engineering internship with an aviation company and I'm assuming I'll have another internship next summer that is EE related.</p>
<p>After that, I plan to work for 3-4 years as an engineer and hopefully move up slowly. Ill try to get hired onto the LDP program and I'll be very active at work, such as the different work organizations they have for their employees (not to look good for B-school, but that's how I am as a person...). I'll be studyin my butt off for the GMAT, so I'm not so worried about that...</p>
<p>Any other suggestions/tips about my career path focus? Anything would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I'm a Chem E. with 8 years of experience and I will be starting my MBA at a part time program in January. While it is not as difficult to get into the executive and/or EMBA programs I spoke with the Admittance department and program coordinator to the school I will be going to prior to attending. I went to their information sessions and learned what GMAT score I needed with my GPA (very low compared to the rest), experience, recommendations, etc. Also, I took a GMAT prep course which really motivated me and helped me figure out how to study. IMO, my studying would have been in vain had I not taken this class.</p>
<p>My suggestions; </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Get out of college with the best GPA that you can. While mine was lower it meant that I had to do that much better on the GMAT. I was told that the gpa in an engineering field was judged less harsh, but it's judged nonetheless.</p></li>
<li><p>Work hard at your job, when you get one. Strive for promotions and leadership roles. This also requires being friendly with your superiors and even turning one into a mentor. Preferably a mentor who went to business school.</p></li>
<li><p>Express an interest to go to business school. In a tech field many managers and bosses think that because we are techies we always want to be. If you express an interest for management to your employer you make get the job, but if you express the interest to go to business school you will more like get a career and clear view of your path.</p></li>
<li><p>Charity work and/or community involvement. Not only should you be involved in your work and organizations to your trade, but you should be involved in your community. Join entrepreneur clubs, volunteer at church, etc. Sounds like you already do this, so keep it up.</p></li>
<li><p>Conduct information interviews for positions you would like in the future. While you may find EE rewarding intellectually eventually engineering work can grind on you. There are many engineers out there not doing engineering work and finding it very rewarding too (i.e. Sy Sternberg is an EE and is the CEO for NY Life Insurance).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>All these things will help your chances of getting into a good business school and build your network (which is even more valuable than an MBA). Also, I would think about applying after 2 years. If you are already contemplating this you should do it while the fire is hot and before you start wishing to be a manager rather than an engineer and your work starts slipping. I've been out 8 years and it's about 4 years too long.</p>