Retired Moderator
Joined: 28 Jul 2009
Status:Darden Class of 2013
Posts: 1768
Schools:University of Virginia
Re: Executive MBA at Fuqua Vs. Full time at Fuqua or Kenan
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22 Mar 2011, 09:02
I think you'll have to let us know what you want to do post-MBA and your reasonings for thinking about an executive program. Just from what you wrote, I think you may be a bit lost in between the meanings behind executive and regular full time MBA (please correct me if I'm wrong about this). Executive MBAs are, generally speaking, for those who would like to stay within the same industry, but perhaps to use this advance degree to leverage for a higher pay/title/etc. Full-time MBAs are those who would probably like to jump to a different industry, such as from marketing to banking, or banking to consulting.
Work experience is really a broad thing to discuss. While Duke may have 5 years of WE on average, there's no reason as to why someone should not apply with 3 or 4 years of WE. The point of it being an average (with a big sample size) is that half of the people will be below 5 years and half will be above. You pretty much have 5 years and I wouldn't worry too much about the quantity of the years at this point. What you need to be thinking about is the quality of your work. I think your professional experience is a unique one because chances are, not a lot of "scientists" will be going to b-school. However, because scientists are typically viewed as independent people, AdComs will be mostly interested in knowing whether you have the leadership ability as a manager. If you're able to show that from your work experience, great. If not, you can always use extracurricular activities to showcase it. By the way, your extracurricular activities is absolutely stellar - Eagle Scout (I don't care what others may say, but Eagle Scout is not that easy to get and takes years of dedication), Habitat, and Red Cross. All of these are awesome organizations that can easily amaze people, given the right stories.
Lastly, with Fuqua's full-time MBA, you might want to consider taking the GMAT one last time to see if you can hit a 700. Your GPA is a bit on the lower end of the spectrum (not devastating, but putting you at a disadvantage), and if you were to combine your GPA with a 650 GMAT (also on the lower end of the spectrum for Fuqua full-time), you'll be facing a steep uphill to climb. But first, you really have to think about why you want this MBA (i.e. goals post-MBA) and choose between executive MBA and regular MBA (they're really two different beasts that will get you a completely different result).