<p>Hello there,
so my name is Jose Lorabello and I'm a junior year student majoring in Biomedical Laboratory and Clinical Sciences at Boston University (Hopefull graduating in Mid-2013!).
Since I only have 3 more semesters until i finally graduate, i have been starting my post-graduation plan. yes, i know it seems to be too early, but during my years in college ive come to realize that the earlier you start planning your future and having a clear goals set ahead of time, the easier it'll be once i transsition from Undergraduate to Graduate studies. I have been contemplating the Idea of going into Business school right after graduation to further expand my knowleadge and acquire all the leadership and managerial skills needed for the position that i want once i get my MBA. im going to give you some background. I'm a laboratory technician at a pharmaceutical company based in Cambridge,MA, and i was just promoted to Associate scientist (without yet earning my bachelors) and ive also been working there for 6 years now, and im thinking in heading to business school to now get the knowledge in the managerial side of the sciences. my dream job is to be the manager/director of the Global operations/manufacturing and labeling department and, in order to do that, a bachelor's in science alone won't do much for me so im going for my MBA. The problem comes here, i'm going to apply to at least 6 different business schools, 4 for part time and 2 (MIT's sloan and Harvard Business School fulltime), the thing is that if i get accepted in either Harvard or MIT (which dont offer part time, i would have to quit my job in order to pursue that goal) whereas if I get accepted at a less prestigious school i could go part time and i would get tuition assistant from my employer and plus i would be able to keep my job. Im having a hard time deciding, but i realize that graduatiing from a top 10 business school like harvard and MIT has its advantages and would guarantee me secure employment for years to come, unlike other school where an MBA won't really mean much. What should i do? i dont want to quit my job and go to a top 10 business school and incurr in debts, but i definitely dont want to waste 2 years in an MBA at another school that wont mean nothing but another piece of papaer hanging in my office.</p>
<p>also, if accepted in Harvard/MIT, will i be able to do my fulltime MBA, while working fulltime as well. I'm doing it right now since im getting my bachelor's in biomedical science with a minor in management fulltime plus an associate's degree in Biotechnology part time at a local community college and working 9-5 everyday at a pharmaceutical company. It's all about time management skills and im pretty good at it, but i understant that Grad school isn't easy cake.</p>
<p>Why not work for a few years first, save some money, and then apply? HBS and Sloan are very competitive and the typical student arrives with 3 to 6 years of work experience, so your chances of admission directly from college are fairly low.</p>
<p>While it might be humanly possible to keep your job and attend full-time at MIT or Harvard, it wouldn’t be easy, and I doubt it’s a good idea. You’d probably miss some of what’s most valuable about an MBA program at a top school – time to think, reflect, and learn from your fellow students. They’re as important to the learning process as the faculty and courses.</p>
<p>Hey Jlorabel, don’t bother with a bad plan. Firstly, your chances of acceptance is remote. Secondly, if you were accepted you would find that your peers with backgrounds from consulting, investment banking would have a significant advantage over you in the job search at the end of two years. Additionally, this doesn’t even take into account peers with MD, Phd (MD Phd combine degrees also) and MA/MS with significant experience as scientist.</p>
<p>Be smart and do more research to better understand the supply and demand drivers of how talent is view and hire post MBA from Harvard and MIT. I interview candidates from both of those schools and profiles like your typically are significantly disadvantaged.</p>
<p>Oh, to your original question about work? No you’re crazy to work while attending the MBA program.</p>
<p>Thank you both for your honest replies. It seems to me that competition is the main factor. do the admission committe even take into account all it took me to get where i am today and all the sacrifices i’ve had to made in order too be here. I know if someone else is an associate scienctist (entry level) under other circumstances it wouldnt be somethuing unsual. but for me it’s the greates accomplishment to date and i was planning on addressing that to them. I was somewhat excited because i read that they do take a low percentage of non-business undergraduate majors into consideration. but if im going to compete against md/ms and phd and they only look for that level of education i dont have a chance, but if they want somebody like me, who went to an accounting/finance highschool, which by the way used the case method they use at harvard, MIT, Wharton and Kellogs (yes we did ) and graduated with a 3.6 GPA, in the Dominican Republic, Learning English as i was going to school, then came here and pursued my Associates in Biotechnology, while getting my Bsc. in Biomedical Sciences with a concentration in Global Operations, and management and a minor in Finance then im that guy. I’m still going to apply because you never know, eventhough what you have said EXSRCH makes a lot of sense because i dont have managerial experience, but if some people get accepted right after undergrad with no experience but interships, i have a chance, even if its really really low.</p>
<p>Undergrad business major isn’t an important qualification – most students at Harvard and Sloan come from elite schools that don’t offer an undergraduate major. Your accomplishments and story might get you in. But there’s still the question of whether that’s the wisest thing you could do.</p>
<p>It’s actually not rush, it’s just that I forgot to mention that I’m a 24 years old guy and by the time i finish undergraduate I’ll be 26 and plus preparing for the process and doing research for which MBA is right for me i’ll be 27. I guess i can honestly say that I’m very very scare. I scare that 3 years from now i have another job position whcih will demand more responsabilities from me and I guess if i want to go fulltime i’ll basically have to quit my job to pursue that, also i honestly feel that i like science and i enjoy being a scientist and collecting samples and all of it, but it’s not my passion. Im the type of guy that im very analytical, I like to think ahead of time and come up with solution to problems that are not close to happening, but that at some point will and so i like to be prepared. and also, because theres some many amazing and talented people wanting to pursue my same goals, who has so many advantages over me because of their background that i want to be with them, get educated with them, create a networking that will hopefully last forever, share knowledges, etc The reason why i went back to school after 4 years of graduating is becasue when i graduated from high school i came over the Unitd states to live, and enrolled in college two years after for esl and when my english was as good as i wantd it , i then went ahead for school. im so lost and i really need guidance. I thought i had a plan, but seems to be i have nothing.</p>
<p>OP, I went to Sloan for b-school and one (and only one) of my classmates worked full-time while in B-school. When I was at Sloan (early 90s) there were multiple issues with doing this … first, the b-school program is built for full-time students and virtually all classes are during the day; so you need a job that can work around day-time classes … second, Sloan is tough and being a b-school student is basically a full-time job so doing both is very tough; my friend who did it is basically brilliant so he could the b-school work in about 1/2 the time as most students … third, this is not a great plan if you’re planning on going for a real push-push job after you graduate; my brilliant friend “only” got about 3.7-3.8 GPA at Sloan and that did not cut it for Wall Street or tippy top consulting firms.</p>
<p>Having said that … while I went almost 2 years without an income my friend kept his high income job while in school and finished with a strong academic record … but as I said early he is brilliant.</p>