<p>Hey guys, I have a few questions.... to get an MBA at the top schools, what activities should i pursue in my freshman year in university? extra ciric, clubs, internships, work etc. i know this is wayyy too early but when should i start preping for the GMAT? Any awards that B-schools particularly value? I know that for undergrad schools, awards in debate are a big thing. Would doing a summer program be better than getting an internship/job somewhere? Is there any info that you wish you'd known when you were in senior year? I know (hope) that i'm really early for this.... probably because I just finished up all of my university apps and i'm still on that "high" that i'm sure msot of you have experienced... and if you're wondering why i'm posting on CC on a saturday night, all my friends are ridiculously depressed cause they just got rejected/deferred from Stanford, Wharton, etc. :P anyways, thanks so much for the info. I really appreciate it!</p>
<p>in college, you shouldn't bother to concern yourself with an MBA program. You will need several years of work experience and demonstrated career potential to get into a top MBA school.</p>
<p>The best way to do that, though, is a post-college analystship in finance or management consulting. To get THAT, the best thing to have is an internship in the summer after your junior year, preferably with a top firm like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, McKinsey/BCG/Bain, etc. In particular, I wish I'd known that before my senior year, because for every position at these firms there are at least 30-50 applicants, and if you've spent your last summer fly fishing rather than working in their field, whereas everyone else has an applicable internship, why should they hire you? I certainly had to fight an uphill battle (although I hadn't exactly sat around fly fishing with my summer).</p>
<p>Thanks! this really helped me</p>