<p>Does "prestige" of undergraduate university matter if you want to get MBA right after you graduate? For example would someone with a 3.7 from Villanova School of Business (Finance) have less of a chance of getting in to CMU Tepper than someone with a 3.6 from Michigan-Ross (Finance). Or would the Villanova student be favored assuming both students have same internships, GMAT? </p>
<p>Don’t plan on getting an MBA right after you graduate. Getting accepted with less than 3-4 years experience is unusual. The prestige of the undergrad university does matter.</p>
<p>1st, Wharton is better than CMU.
Graduating from Villinova with high gpa and gmat should get you into most top MBA programs.<br>
However, chd is correct, you need work experience before going mba. The prestigious MBA programs (top 15) probably have 80% of their incoming class with 2 or more years of work experience.</p>
<p>@TomsRiverParent I know Wharton is better I was just giving an example. Is the work experience required or is it only beneficial?</p>
<p>For the Top 15, I’d say it’s required.
I got my MBA from Columbia. Very few straight out of college out of 700 incoming class.</p>
<p>btw, I looked up Wharton stats.
The “mean” incoming mba student had 5 years of experience. I’m sure they rounded up.
So, at least 2 holds true.</p>
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<p>I totally agree, and I would even say that this is a low estimate. More like 90%.</p>
<p>Most students who come out of undergrad either 1) were non-traditional students and so had work experience before their BA or 2) in a very few exceptional cases, had extensive undergraduate internship and leadership experience (like started their own company or worked in the same firm for 3 summers or something).</p>
<p>Besides, nobody wants to hire an MBA with no work experience. </p>
<p>Columbia stats.
99% have 1 year minimum work experience
Middle 80% range from 3-7 years of work experience which means 90% have 3 or more years of work experience.
Average is 5 years work experience.</p>
<p>Right, and I would say that for b-school, work experience and GMAT matter more than undergrad GPA.</p>
<p>B-schools want you hired in to well-paying jobs so that you can donate back to them, first and foremost. Tough to do if you don’t have any work experience.</p>