kastino wrote:
Hello. I'm an African who is interested in pursuing an MBA starting fall 2014. This is a brief profile:
-Attended a Little Ivy or to be a bit more specific a "Little Three" liberal arts college in USA
-Majored in Mathematics with a 3.24 GPA. Graduated in 2010.
-740 GMAT (48Q,42V)
-Dropped out of a PhD program in a mathematical science program in 2011(2010-2011).
-Presently working in Big 4 audit in Africa.
-Will have 30 months(2.5 years) full-time professional work experience at matriculation. Worked for 10 months at my country's Central Bank before my present Big 4 job. Will be 27 years old at matriculation.
-Was involved in a few extracurricular activities during college. A few leadership position in college, including being an interviewer during my final year. This made me learn a lot about American educational system. I have not being involved in so much extracurricular since college but was the class at the training school of my current job.
Right now I feel ready to pursue my MBA but I don't know if having just 2.5 years (30 months) before matriculation is okay. I'm also thinking about how this will affect my post-MBA job search. Is dropping out of a PhD going to affect my admission too badly? I'm interested in pursuing a career in finance(not necessarily IB) or consulting. Do international students from second-tier programs like Minnesota, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, etc get jobs after MBA? Even though I'm thinking of schools like Duke, Sloan, Yale, Darden,etc, getting a good scholarship from a second-tier MBA can affect where I end up since an MBA is also a financial decision for me. Please help advise me.
You are asking an excellent question. A recent GMAC survey of corporate recruiters cited the following stat
"2012 grads with at least three years of work experience at matriculation earned $25,000 more annually on average at graduation than those with less experience. "Now before you instantly decide that you will wait a year, realize that some of those included had -0- or 1 year of work experience, not 2.5. Also realize that employers value employees who have African experience and are culturally fluent in both Africa and the U.S. They also value employees with high GMAT scores and good work experience, and you have both. Also, and I'm sure you realize this, the opportunity cost goes up if you wait longer.
While the safer route for you may be to wait, you are closer enough to that three year mark and your experience is rich enough that I'm not sure I would recommend that you wait. You may want to apply this year, but only to top programs and see if you get into your dream schools, whose brand may protect you a bit from that stat. If you don't get in, apply again a year later and with another year of work experience and apply more widely.
Changing your mind about the Ph.D. will not negatively affect your chances as long as you address the decision and show that you stuck to what you pursued subsequently. It appears you did. People are allowed to change their mind.
If you would like
help with your app, -- whenever you apply -- please let me know.
Best,
Linda
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Linda Abraham
Accepted ~ The Premier Admissions Consultancy
310-815-9553
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