<p>I'm currently working for a medium sized General Contractor/Construction firm as a engineer, and have been thinking of going for my MBA. Some background on where I came from:
Graduated from Villanova with a BS civil/environmental engineering, 3.0 GPA
started working right away, and currently have 1.5 years experience. In those years I've been moved up from field engineer to project engineer, and have worked on a few very large projects ($100M+).</p>
<p>Now I have not taken my GMAT, but I'm shooting for the 2013 enrollment year, since I'm way behind for 2012 at this point. (plus the extra year of exp would help, right?) That being said, I would prefer to drop out of the work-force rather than go part time when 2013 rolls around, in order to attend one of the top tier schools (its seemingly impossible due to the variability of hours in Construction Management to attend a MBA program part time). </p>
<p>As I said before, I haven't taken GMAT, but I suspect I will do very well as I'm typically a good test taker and have a year or so to prep for it. I'm wondering what I should be doing in the mean time to increase my chances and polish my applications for a school like Wharton, Tepper, Stern, Mendoza, etc.</p>
<p>They will certainly consider your advancement in your job, and how quickly you advanced. Many schools like 2+ years of experience, which you will have by then. Have you bought any books or taken practice exams for the GMAT? Most people suggest the Manhattan GMAT when you have that much time to prep for it. The Princeton/Kaplan/etc. books are usually for shorter-term study when you can’t squeeze much prep in.</p>
<p>Take a look at what their essay topics are on those sites and keep them in the back of your mind. That way when something happens at work or in your life that you think would be perfect for it, you’ll know it and be able to jot down some notes. </p>
<p>If there are any other advancement opportunities available to you, work toward that as well.</p>
<p>I have not purchased any study materials, as I just have started to consider this as a real option - but I think i will be going with the Manhattan prep later this week. Also, good advice about reading up on the essays!</p>
<p>I have another round of questions as well for anyone to help with:</p>
<p>-Is it even worth going to a top tier MBA (100k+ tuition, 150k lost salary) if I dont want to take a job in IB or MC where I can easily earn that back? I’m getting hung up on the idea of working 80+hr weeks, and that seems to be the most common route for top tier MBA guys.</p>
<p>-Follow up to the first one: what are other common routes the grads from top tier take?</p>
<p>-How important is the regional aspect of these schools (i.e. if I go to Mendoza, am I basically cornered in Chicago?)</p>
<p>-Would I hurt my application if I switched jobs now? I know for a fact the GC/Construction isn’t for me, but still don’t have enough experience for MBA apps. I feel like I owe it to myself to give design a try before jumping out of engineering, but if this is going to make my application more weak, I could just stick it out here (horrible location, next promotion won’t be for 3-4 years, and generally dissatisfied with it here, hence the idea to improve with MBA).</p>