Anyone have quick insider info for must do’s and watch out for’s for my daughter who is preparing to take GRE or GMAT for MBA apps due in January 2023? I am out of the loop on this one and checked out after she entered college
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Hopefully she has worked a few years. Far more important than a score. Going straight through is kind of wasting, imho, the mba opp.
I think there are books with practice tests and online apps.
I was terrible at the SAT English.
I spent a few months with a Barons book - an hour a day. Like 5 days English. 2 days math. One subject a day.
I did far better than I would have had I not studied. My English score came way up.
It’s 25 years later but I imagine the same holds true - online or otherwise ( a book). Take old tests. Practice tests. Most importantly learn strategies. Rinse and repeat.
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Thanks for the info. She worked in college during summers and her research has been published, but not a post college job. She graduated in summer. Wants to go to grad program in fall 23
She will be making a HUGE mistake if she gets an MBA immediately after graduation.
Pull up your top 40 schools - she’d likely get into none. All “real” MBAs require at least two years work experience.
Want to know what happens to the student who goes straight through - they get maybe $5 or 7K more than they would as an undergrad in salary - maybe - vs. your solid schools that are all well into six figures.
Why do schools require this? So the student can add to the discussion, provide context, use their real life experiences to supplement everyone’s education. Your student would also be younger than any other student - by years.
If your student wants business and they did well in college, steer them a different direction - specifically to finding a job…of which there are plenty.
Good luck.
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This, 100%
This.
My MBA class was the last year that particular program accepted straight-from-undergrad students. Not only were they woefully unprepared (even the super smart ones) who added little to the (required) group projects, but all these years later, to a person they are sorry that they did it. There weren’t many of them, but they all now say that they realized about 5 years out how much more they would have gotten from the program if they had had some actual experience (also, if they had had a clearer idea of what they were aiming towards).
More current, I know the recent HBS classes pretty well, and there are always a couple of ‘straight through’ students. However, most of them are only sort-of ‘straight through’- that is, they had taken time off or started college late (veterans, for ex), or worked in meaningful jobs through college, usually taking much longer to graduate as a result. The only student I know of who went truly ‘straight through’, with no breaks and no working, was a super-high achiever- and struggled hugely. They didn’t have the frame of reference for a lot of the work. Study groups and project groups didn’t want them in, b/c they not only didn’t add, they were a drag. Some of the 2nd years felt sorry enough for them that they coached the student, and they got through- but it was a waste of an MBA.
You will certainly hear stories about people for whom it did work out! and yeah for them. But the odds are not in your daughter’s favor.
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Besides the fact that top schools want students who have work experience, an MBA also provides students with one free “career re-set”. The kids who clawed their way into consulting but realized they wanted to work on the execution of their ideas, the kids who worked for investment banks and wanted to be buy side analysts or traders, etc – they can use those two years to pivot to what interests them. But how would they know without some time in the industry?
Also, B school is a great way to build a network. It can be hard to create those friendships when you’re at such a different place in your life as your peers. It’s less about age than frame of reference/time of life.
Your D would really be giving up some of the most valuable elements of the program by rushing in straight out of undergrad.
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Thanks all for the info! Good to know.
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