Is work experience really necessary to get into a top MBA program?

An MBA is very different from other types of grad programs. It’s not designed to launch your career, but to build upon the experience you have gained from working several years in the professional world. Once you have at least a minimum of two-years full-time work experience, the cases and technical skills you learn in your MBA classes will make much more sense and have greater applicability. Certainly there are some MBA’s that will admit you with no full-time professional experience, but it would be a mistake most of the time to pursue these offers. You will not get out of the program what you could if you had the experience to draw upon (sorry, but internships alone aren’t enough!).

Further, what many MBA applicants don’t understand is that employers who recruit at the top MBA programs are looking to hire those who already have a track record of strong professional experience prior to the MBA. Just having the degree is not enough.

You note the lower cost of attending of one of the schools on your list. Don’t forget about ROI- have you done your research into who recruits at that school, employment rates by 3 mo. of graduation, average initial hiring salaries, average 5-year salaries, average signing bonuses and guaranteed bonuses, etc… You have to look at lifetime earnings, including bonus’ – don’t be short-sighted here. The idea of taking on $200k of debt vs $100k sounds astronomical, but if that $200k comes from a top program where your average earnings are likely to be over $1m more over the course of your life-time, that 100k difference upfront doesn’t looks so scary anymore. You only get to do your MBA once, so research carefully so you can make the most informed decisions about where to apply and accept.

P.S. Your GMAT practice score is very solid right now. If you can spend some time studying and take the test a couple of times to get up to 700+, you would be in a great position both for admission, and for fellowship offers from some of the top schools. That is, once you have solid full-time professional experience under your belt!!

LeTexan713-- Try to leverage your Deloitte connection now. Does Deloitte or similar top consulting firms recruit on your college campus? Start off by asking for an informational interview with the person you know and pose some of the questions you ask in your post. Also, set up a one-on-one appointment with the career center at your school. My guess is that all will strongly advise you to work for a minimum of 2 years full-time and then take another look at how the MBA might fit into your career. Honestly, I recommend not listening to your parents for career advice. The market looks very different than it did when they were in their 20’s and they may inadvertently be hurting rather than helping.

You are presuming that the MBA is going to launch the career you really want. Let me be frank-- it will not help if you don’t have solid post-undergrad professional experience already on your resume. If you could leverage your connection to get a job now at Deloitte, all the better. Having a global name like Deloitte on your resume will help you not only get in to b-school, but also will make you more marketable down the line.

If you are not sure about if you’ll be accepted, you can check out ■■■■■■■■■■■■. I’m interning with ■■■■■■■■■■■■, and they crowd source information from real college and graduate students so that you’ll know how they got admitted. They have a great pool of graduate school profiles that include what so and so person did during their undergrad career, their academic history, personal statements, and whether or not they had work experience. I’m also guessing you were once an undergrad student. It would be awesome if you could create a profile using my link: https://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■/?ref=SUNYF! And you’ll earn $10!

@gigaman With all due respect you are bordering on the pompous. Since when did the litmus test of six-fixtures of salary conflate itself to dignity? Further, as someone who formerly taught at a school just outside the top 10, SOM, and one of the premier law schools, YLS, you shock me with your unabated hubris. These institutions seek people who want to make discernible contributions to society (which is by and large the motto of SOM), not compile an inordinately large stack of currency.

My Tri-Factor GRE Score( Incorporating Writing, Verbal and Quantitative) converted to a GMAT (AWA+V):168 Q:168) is 780 (Using ETS GRE/GMAT conversion tool) and I have a 3.59 G.P.A… Psychology Major/Corporate Dynamics Minor. I have volunteer work experience (350 hours) but no salaried work experience because I was bankrolled throughout college. My writing ability exceeds the ceiling of standardized tests (perfect scores on SAT/ACT/GRE) and my essays are exceptional…Do I have any chance at second-tier business schools (University of San Diego, SDSU, University of San Francisco, Boston College, University of Miami?) or Even more elite programs (USC Marshall) Right now? Or is an internship obligatory (6 months)?

University of San Diego (my second preference tied with University of Miami) GMAT 10th-90th percentile range is 550-700(mean GMAT 621) and average G.P.A. is 3.4…USC Marshall(my first choice) 10th-90th percentile range 640-730 (mean 690) and average G.P.A. 3.3 (29% acceptance rate)…Do I have any shot? I would prefer an immediate transition to MBA because I am already 27 years old.

There are schools that don’t require experience (Stanford GSB, MIT Sloan) but in general experience is a) required (HBS used to require a minimum of two years of experience); and b) desirable. When I was a business school professor, the curriculum I taught was more valuable to people who had already grappled with some of the problems we were studying.

That said, my son was admitted to excellent business schools with one year of work experience at a company he had started as an undergraduate.

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Shouldn’t this thread be closed ?

The answer is Yes! Outside of a couple 2+2 programs, the average work experience at all the top programs is 5 years prior to matriculation (you can review class profiles online). These schools are selecting students who will bring a richness to the classroom and fellow students. These schools are also concerned about job placement following graduation (including pay) as this substantially affects their rankings. Someone with only 2 years of work experience prior to attaining their MBA is unlikely to secure the jobs paying $170k which is the median ($189-160) following gradation from the top schools.

This is a very old thread - it’s 15 years old! - so locking.