Pre777 wrote:
I'm no expert on this, I would also like to know for my own information. I first applied to business school when upon entrance I would have had 2.5 years work experience. I applied to top 25 schools and was rejected at all except Mccombs and then dumped off the waitlist in August.
I'm going to reapply this fall and I'll enter fall 2010 with 4.5 years WE.
I wanted to add a question, at what point in quantity is WE no longer considered a liability, something I have to defend?
In all honesty - # of years of work experience plays less of a factor vs. the question of can you explain clearly the "why now" question. If you have 2-3 years of quality work experience, can get that across in your application, and can answer the "why now" question effectively, then you'll be fine.
I never believe that you should try to game the system by choosing whether it'd be better to apply one year or another. Now the point on the economy might be a legitimate concern, but there is a lot of chance between now and 2012, let alone 2013 - and who knows which year will be "better" to graduate in.
You really need to think internally why you want to apply now and is this a good time? Sure - different schools have different mantras in terms of age of the people at the school. But even at a place like Kellogg where the median age is somewhere around 27-28 w/ 4-5 years WE, you find a heavy dose of people like me who came out at ~25 w/ 3 years work experience.
If you can get across your quality work experience, your vision of moving into brand management, and why this is the time to do it, then applying now is totally appropriate.