<p>Let's suppose for a moment that, after 5-10 years of work experience, your employer offers you to pay at least part (even better if your employer pays it in full) of the MBA bill. I know you'd have to take the GMAT/GRE (unless you want to attend a B-school outside the US that does not require it) but how often do B-schools let students in if their prior educational and work background has little to do with business?</p>
<p>I assume you are speaking about attending a part time MBA program especially if your employer is paying for tuition.
At most PT MBA programs, the majority of the students have non-business background and they hope to be promoted into management.</p>
<p>MBA curriculum is designed for students without any business background. The majority of MBAs are career switchers who are looking to work for a different company or in a different function.</p>
<p>I always assumed that, since a MBA is, by definition, a graduate program, that an undergraduate background in business is highly recommended, on top of your work experience.</p>
<p>Now, how hard is a MBA curriculum if you were, say, a physics major as an undergrad?</p>
<p>Depends on the program. A good executive* MBA program will be challenging but enjoyable; the work isn’t in learning the material, but in applying it to projects. Smart people with technical backgrounds usually do quite well.</p>
<p>Many programs have a series of foundational courses for people with minimal or no background in accounting, economics, and math. </p>
<ul>
<li>An executive MBA program is one designed for people with significant work experience, at least some in a supervisory capacity, who are still working full-time, and who want to finish up in the standard 2 years. Part-time MBA programs spread out over a longer period of years, and are usually designed for people with no managerial experience at all.</li>
</ul>
<p>Like I said, the MBA curriculum assumes absolutely no prior formal business education. In fact, many MBA programs advise against business undergrads applying because much of the material is redundant. </p>
<p>If you were a physics major then you already have a good set of quantitative skills. Quantitative skills are useful for accounting and finance classes. I would guess that you are very well prepared for an MBA program.</p>
<p>I asked the questions in this thread because I think that a MBA is likely to appear somewhere in my educational/professional future, years into a career. And yes, I am a physics major.</p>
<p>Quantitative skills aren’t a problem for me, though. So for whom is a MBA easiest or hardest (in terms of educational/work background)?</p>
<p>The answer will vary depending on the field you concentrate in. General management and marketing require completely different skill sets than finance and accounting. Typically, all MBAs are required to take core classes in a variety of fields, and then most MBAs choose to specialize in a couple of fields. </p>
<p>An MBA would probably be easiest for a business undergrad with work experience in a business field because a lot of the course work would be review. However an MBA would be least useful for a business undergrad because it involves relearning a lot of material. </p>
<p>As for non-business majors, I think that students with quantitative backgrounds (eg science and engineering) will generally find the course work easier because some courses require quantitative work. Students whose work experience has somehow involved management will find the coursework easier because they have already been exposed to some business concepts and terminology. For example, a student whose had to prepare a budget for his department will be better prepared for MBA coursework than a student with no prior accounting knowledge. </p>
<p>I want to reiterate that MBA curriculum is typically designed for non-business majors who have some work experience but little or no managerial experience.</p>