<p>Anyone thinking of getting an MBA probably read the recent articles about Harvard's new initiative encouraging college juniors to apply and lock in a spot in their MBA program 4 years hence. Those accepted have to work 2 years after undergrad school at which time they can enroll at Harvard.</p>
<p>MIT's Sloane school says on their web site they encourage applications from college seniors, no WE required. </p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon's Tepper school says no professional experience is required.</p>
<p>A recent post on The Brazen Careerist's blog says these changes are an attempt to attract more women into MBA programs. Her argument is that women are reluctant to leave their careers after 4-6 years to go back to school when they also face the reproductive ticking clock. I'm not sure I buy that argument. It seems to me that if someone is successful enough in the work world to qualify for Harvard, Wharton, etc, they don't need an MBA. A recent New York Times article, focusing on hedge fund traders, reported that many of them who in the past would have gone to B-school for the MBA, are not bothering. </p>
<p>Is there a "bidding war" starting among the MBA programs to grab the best students before the other schools get them or before they get locked into their careers?</p>
<p>Are there other schools moving in this direction?</p>
<p>I actually read about this I believe in businessweek.com as well. It said that Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, and MIT's Sloan were all encouraging students without work experience to apply as an undergrad.</p>
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A recent New York Times article, focusing on hedge fund traders, reported that many of them who in the past would have gone to B-school for the MBA, are not bothering.
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That article is misleading precisely because it focuses on hedge funds.
The combination of 1) chance for obscene bonuses 2) on-the-job training that is more relevant to the job than most any MBA courses 3) being in a field that post-MBA individuals are trying to get into (much like PE) all indicate that taking a two year hiatus from the industry is too much of an opportunity cost. But these factors are pretty much relegated to finance -- the benefits of a top tier MBA are pretty clear in most all other cases.</p>
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Is there a "bidding war" starting among the MBA programs to grab the best students before the other schools get them or before they get locked into their careers?</p>
<p>Are there other schools moving in this direction?
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<p>It's becoming a competition to steal the top students from not only other top MBA programs but also top law/medical schools.</p>
<p>As one of those applying straight out of college, I would like to add my two cents worth. I think that the essays are the most important component of your MBA application, and while these have something to do with how long you've worked, it is not a necessary relation. Some people may have slogged for 8 years and done nothing of note and hence have nothing interesting to write about; some, hopefully like myself, will have found more than enough to write about over 3 summer internships.</p>
<p>In addition, although entrepreneurship is one path to business school, it is only one of many. For instance entrepreneurship does not train you to work well in a corporate environment. If your aim is to get a cushy investment banking job (like Giga), then a lack of corporate work experience will probably hit you harder. In addition entrepreneurship limits the scale of things that you're involved with. It is very different working for a company that earns $300 million in profits as opposed to one earning $300,000 in revenues. I personally think that many can train themselves to manage teams of up to 30 people (and be an entrepreneur). Far less can manage larger teams (a more corporate environment).</p>
<p>Ultimately, I too felt compelled, at the start, to ask if work experience would be a factor. Now I think yes, but only insofar as it makes you unable to provide a good answer to the question 'Why an MBA, and why now?' To put it another way, you need to have some working knowledge before you'll know what working knowledge you lack. While many people focus on the former (without working experience, you'll not contribute to class, etc) I think with younger applicants admissions officers know this. Instead they're looking at the latter- do you have a good reason to come now, instead of taking up that analyst position (if you want to become a banker)?</p>
<p>Indeed I recently conversed with an admissions officer at Chicago GSB, and she said that they encouraged younger applicants because they bring academic rigour to the table. The fact is, those of us without work experience are judged on a completely different set of criteria. Don't let those with massive work experience put you down, but when they ask you 'why are you coming' and your answer is 'because banking earns more money than my law degree' (again, Giga) then you're probably not going to convince anyone of your caliber.</p>
<p>Work experience: four years in Army intelligence, including 18 month deployment to Iraq (Baghdad).</p>
<p>What are her chances at a top-tier MBA program? Are they good enough that she should avoid online MBA programs during her Army stint?</p>
<p>I know Army experience gets mentioned on here frequently as excellent work experience, but she's under the impression that that's mostly for being a commissioned officer and I wasn't sure what to tell her. She's currently a specialist -- she tells me that means she's non-commission.</p>
<p>sorry for ignorance, but I thought MBA's for people with real management experience; in other words, real managers and leaders. How can some ppl here with internships and 2yr or less experience expect to get MBA's? How can these top MBA schools accept ppl with no management experience at all? Is management or leadership skill/experience really necessary as most of you say for acceptance into these top MBA schools?</p>
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I'm not going to post my biography publicly, although I will say that you can search through my old posts and you can probably figure out a lot about me. But to make a long story short, trust me, when it comes to B-schools, I know what I'm talking about.
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<p>When it comes to business schools you know what youre talking about? You're Sakky, when it comes to anything you know what you're talking about. Sakky is the duke of all CC posters.</p>
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sorry for ignorance, but I thought MBA's for people with real management experience; in other words, real managers and leaders. How can some ppl here with internships and 2yr or less experience expect to get MBA's? How can these top MBA schools accept ppl with no management experience at all? Is management or leadership skill/experience really necessary as most of you say for acceptance into these top MBA schools?
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<p>MBA's are not for people with management experience. MBA's are for people who are fit for management positions. </p>
<p>They can accept people without management experience because an MBA is a degree that is opened to all and requires no prior knowledge. Goals, aspirations, dedication, ambition are all contributing factors to leaders in the business world. MBA's aren't looking to train managers to do a better job, they are to train folks who would like to take on managerial roles in their perspective field, or be more involved in business aspects.</p>
<p>I'm a law student at Georgetown in my second year but I've been thinking about going for an MBA after I finish my law degree but I'm really interested in working in investment banking. (The money is nice, but I'm also genuinely interested in the work.) I wasn't sure it I would be able to get into a top MBA program directly out of law school though. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts.
BA Georgetown: Major Economics, Minor French, GPA 3.4, graduated after two years in 2006 when I was 19
JD Georgetown (currently 2L). Will graduate 2009. GPA 3.15 (middle of the class)
I also have a two year degree in mathematics I earned when I was 17 through having taken a lot of college classes while in junior high and HS. </p>
<p>I took the GMAT yesterday morning, mostly just to see how I would do, and the unofficial score on the computer said I got a 750.
Having gone straight through to law school I don't have any work experience beyond summer internships and an internship I did through my second year as an undergraduate. That, I expect, is my biggest problem. I do have a lot of international experience though. I have lived in Paris for a total of nine months, speak fluent French, and have done two internships there, one of them in finance, the other in law.</p>
<p>I was accepted into a top 15 MBA program right out of undergrad, so it is possible. My GPA was nothing special and I did not have any extraordinary achievements outside of the classroom. I think that if your GMAT and GPA are in line with the median numbers of the school, you definitely have a chance. A lot of emphasis appears to be placed on "Why Now?" and whether or not you have the maturity and professionalism to interact with 26-27 year olds. I think it's definitely worth a shot if your numbers are in the range. Just make sure to have other options because it can be difficult to determine how your application will be evaluated at these schools because they only accept a handful of people without experience.</p>
<p>Vaguely.....I guess I just had a list of skills and experiences I felt that I needed to have to succeed in business and I explained why I didnt have them and how an MBA would give them to me. My decision to want to enter the business world was kind of last minute, so my studies and my experiences were in other areas. Without an MBA, landing a desirable job would have been difficult.</p>
<p>I had a friend in college who worked 40/hr a week for 3 years of his college career. Basically he had a full-time job while being in college and getting a 3.9 GPA with extra time to get a 750 on GMAT.</p>
<p>He had an interesting job too. My college was (and still is) famous for music/theater and he was the stage manager for 3 years. I later heard from a different friend of mine that even people with couple years of experience in Broadway seek that position. No idea how he got that job to begin with though.</p>
<p>He applied only to Harvard, got in and went to HBS immediately after graduation. He works at Bain now.</p>
<p>This is the only case I've seen that makes perfect sense to go to MBA right after undergrad.</p>
<p>what about joint programs such as MBA/MA in Latin American Studies or Spanish?? Does work experience in this case get waived or looked at differently? I am currently a Spanish major, studying abroad in Spain for the academic year. When I come back next fall, I will be a senior applying for graduate school. I definitely want to go straight into a Spanish program out of undergraduate because I dont want to lose any time with my Spanish, etc. It would be good for me to continue studying since I am not a native speaker. Yet more importantly, I would like to apply for Joint MBA/MA programs straight out of undergraduate...I want the masters in Spanish more than anything but I also have an interest in Marketing. All through high school I was in marketing competitions and excelled. I chose a liberal arts education over a business education since I wanted a holistic education. if I can complete an MBA and an MA in 3 years time rather than 4 or 5, that would be ideal.Yet, I have no work experience. I have been president and vice president of two huge organizations at my school. I am currently abroad for the year. I know these things aren't work experience, but they do show that I am independent and capable of organizing events, being a leader, etc. I have taken Calculus but unfortunately got a C. I got a B in Microeconomics. I plan to take macro and stat senior year. My GPA is 3.7 overall, 4.0 in spanish. Do you think that in these joint programs, they consider the applicant differently. I am obviously more humanties based, although that doesnt mean I am not capable of working in the business world. I am applying for an internship senior year as well. Am I wasting my time applying for these things straight out of college? I looked at Vanderbilt and the University of Houston. Any advice?</p>
<p>Joint programs generally require you to be accepted by each college, so they will generally not waive work experience requirements. BTW, you woud be better off receiving your MBA from a top school in a few years rather than getting it from a subpar school like University of Houston.</p>
<p>University of Rochester (SIMON), started an "early leaders" program a few years ago aimed at attracting students straight out of undergrad. An econ professor and the dean wrote a paper about the NPV of getting a MBA earlier. To the school, it was a chance to get the cream of the crop before they had the work experience to get into higher ranked schools.</p>
<p>In turn, higher ranked schools are admitting more and more students with 0-1yrs experience since '05.</p>