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

<p>bumpbumpbump</p>

<p>I am aiming for MBA at MIT Sloan,</p>

<p>I have a BA bachelor Degree concentration in Finance and Marketing from an American University.
My GPA is 2.67 which is low (My concern). Because I spent a while in engineering before switching to business however my business courses are mostly A and B grades.</p>

<p>I have a GMAT 700+. Speak three languages Arabic, English and Japanese.
4-5 Years work experience in one of the top automobile companies in the world. 2 yrs in the Middle East excellent achievements in many areas of the company. 2 years in the mother company in Japan also great achievements. My company highly invests in my training, I completed more than 25 certified and relatively expensive development courses in (Middle East, Japanā€¦) I have worked all my summers during my BA degree working in leading community service companies and was selected to lead, train and direct a costal environmental protection team (was selected by Parliament member and vice president of the environmental group) also have shares in non-profit organizations. </p>

<p>Got promoted very quickly due to performance and is a general manager in 4-5 Years at a top 10 multinational company. </p>

<p>My recommendations are excellent from the top (President of our company) who is a board member in the school as well. Oh and I am an international student therefore inclined to pay full feesĀ… which according to what I have heard helpsĀ…</p>

<p>What do you think my chances are this is my top goal and highest priority at this point I am dying to get accepted, I am also trying other top 10 schools in UK and USā€¦ thanks guys!!</p>

<p>Hi iam a engineering graduate and working in a software firm.
I have always dreamt of doing an MBA , but never really went abt planning it
I have a yrs experience now and would be working for another year before applying</p>

<p>Well Can any gimme some info and enlight me on wat areas i should be strong in
to get full benifit from the MBA i wanna do.</p>

<p>DO reply bacā€¦</p>

<p>Hi, I am hoping someone may be able to help me so I can decide if I should apply to graduate school now or later in life when I get more experience. </p>

<p>I am only starting my first real job out of college as a Revenue Tax Specialist for the states Department of Revenue. I am also a disabled veteran, I am fully functional and I am not disfigured (for your own information, whatever difference it may make). I graduated with a B.S. in Finance and a 3.4 GPA from a fairly good school. Also, I have done internships in financial planning and asset management. </p>

<p>I suppose my questions are the following:
Can I get into an MBA program with a good GMAT score now? or after 1, 2, 3 years of working this job? Do I need a better job and have to work it longer before I can be considered? I understand it depends on the particular school mostly, so let me consider ones in Chicago for example: University of Illinois is descent and is free since I am a Veteran on the other hand I would rather pay full-tuition to go to Northwestern or University of Chicago if I stand a chance in the near future. </p>

<p>Any and all feedback are much appreciated and welcomed, thank you for reading.</p>

<p>Japher, you mention how adcoms want to see advancement in your career field and how you can apply an MBA to your field, but what about those who are looking for a career change? For instance, moving into finance, consulting, F500, etcā€¦</p>

<p>useful stuffā€¦</p>

<p>Yes. To get and give real value, YES.</p>

<p>QUESTION: what kind of job experience do you need? does it matter? you just need experience?</p>

<p>kind matters, so does the brand name of the employer.</p>

<p>the incoming class is usually 1/3 financial services, 1/3 management consulting, and 1/3 other. thus, to increase your odds, you should aim for top tier financial services firms (ie wall st i-banks) or top tier consulting firms like mckinsey. for applicants from those employers, the top mba game is fairly safe once they get the right stats.</p>

<p>for the rest of us in that other 1/3, it is kind of a wash between engineering, accounting, non-profit, military, sales, etc. you really have to have proof of excelling in your job (ex promotions) and be able to convince the adcomms your career path is realistic. people CAN get in through these other backgrounds but the game is a bit tougher. </p>

<p>for applicants from the ā€œotherā€ category, the non-stats admissions criteria become that much more important. extra-curriculars, proof of leadership, strong essays and whatnot are key. employer brand name is also important. for example, if you are in software engineering, a name like Google or Microsoft would carry alot of weight in the process.</p>

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<p>I was always under the impression that the game is in fact tougher for those applying from banks and consulting firms, simply because there are so many of them applying. You need much higher stats to be competitive in the groomed and pedigreed i-banker and consultant ā€œbucketsā€ of applicants than you do for the oddballs/other category.</p>

<p>So while I think it may certainly be more straightforward for the banking/consulting applicants (as you said it is primarily a matter of stats for them), it is not easier.</p>

<p>ā€“an oddball candidate who got an HBS interview with weak stats</p>

<p>i would say HBS might be harder, since everyone is gunning for it, but i would think a 3rd/4th year banking person can reliably expect a Top-10 admittance if they hit a 700 gmat. I donā€™t think the same could be said for some of the non-traditional industries, where your app is more hit or miss.</p>

<p>i am finishing up my undergrad in dec and plan on applying for MBA program for 2011 school year. I have worked full time(project manager for a start up) and gone to school full time for the last two years. I understand im SOL for top tier programs but is there a list of a handful of programs that dont require extensive work experience?</p>

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>So is it difficult to get a MBA right after undergrad?? Like, do many people go from undergrad to grad right away? Or, is it important to work before you apply for MBA (as in, if you dont work, you dont get in)? Also, what if you work part-time in the summer/school year in undergrad, does that count for anything?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>yes, no, yes, no</p>

<p>did you read any of the rest of this thread?</p>

<p>from what i gather it has as much to do with placing you after you finish the MBA program, as it does advancement and leadership from the actual WE. Think about it a top bank or firm could choose some one straight from undergrad or someone who has worked two years possibly already in IB/consulting or whatever field they are interview forā€¦ an 99% of situations Im hiring the applicant who has WE. That being said there is always an exception, and they score in the top 99% on their gmat :)</p>

<p>if a wall street company sees u coming out of a top 10 program like HBS or Wharton, Iā€™m pretty sure they are going to give you a high value and would pick you over some guy who has 3 years experience and went to a lesser MBA program like rutgers (im from jersey and my sister went there) ā€¦as long as you had some internship experience and werenā€™t just a bookworm</p>

<p>hi sakky, u seem like a pretty honest fellow and i need some honest advice. i jus graduated form law sch abt 8mths ago and have been working since then. This is my first real job, despite my law background,am interested in biz management,finance and that sort of thing. Iā€™m tryg to decide whether to do an LL.M or an MBA. i knw i dnt hv the requisite 2yrs wrk experience for an MBA, bt i want to apply now aganist nxt yr by which tym i wld hav reachd the mark. wat do u think??</p>

<p>People keep talking about employer brand name. I have an offer to work as a wealth management specialist at a small financial planning firm. If I do a good job, get a series 7 and or a CFP, and advance in my career, is the lack of ā€œbrand nameā€ going to hurt me in MBA admissions? What if, for instance I can truthfully say that after 3 years Iā€™m the point man on a couple high net worth accounts. Will the fact that Iā€™m working for a small firm as opposed to a Merrill Lynch hurt me?</p>

<p>tweetie, based on your style of spelling you got no shot at suceeding in life.</p>

<p>Would a year and a half working at a public accounting firm be looked at as valuable experience when applying to a top MBA program? I am going into my senior year of college and I have already been working for the last 6 months.</p>

<p>If not, would it be a good idea to get a BS/MS in Accounting from my current school (5 year program), then go into the big four and then 2 years later apply to a top MBA program?</p>

<p>I would obviously prefer option 1, but I wonder whether it is doable.
Thanks for help!</p>