am I too young, too inexperienced for an MBA??

"As I said in my previous email, an MBA will help you get started in your career, and for most people I know (including myself), that's the best (or perhaps the only) return on investment. If this is true (which is my opinion), why wait until you have worked for a few years? The longer you have worked, the less "impactful" it is."

My friend wrote me this in an email when I ask for his advice. It makes a lot of sense to me, it's just that I think my chances of getting into a good B-school is pretty low, without some working experience.

whoever suggested you whatever, my take is just one and only one thing. What is taught in the classroom as management is definitely not what goes alive in the real-world out there between bosses and employees. If you perceive it first-hand in a job and then come down and sit in a class and listen to some brainy folks blabbering about stuff that they comprehend and think is what happens, that's when you'll learn management. Management is undoubtedly an art, but it can be developed with a scientifically chalked out plan and approach. With no real world experience you'll not be able to appreciate or even strive for any difference than an MBA degree could make to your life, especially when you are pursuing it at a b-school. The after effects will usually end up bad.

Thanks. I can see your point. I can also see my friend's point. Either way, I think I will need to find the balance. I will have to have some good working experience to be able to be competitive in my b-school application anyways.

why mba and why now are the two most important question which will be asked to you. You should have solid explanation for the Adcoms.

Personally I would like to advice you, do MBA when you really feel you need it, not just to earn more.Think about it.

Maram,

I just posted in another forum regarding a similar topic. Here are some considerations for working experience.

A lack of work experience is considered a weakness to most adcoms because you won't have the ability to relate curriculum to personal experiences within an organization, or you won't bring as much to the table as other students who can share pertinent real world examples. Whereas an undergraduate degree may have been more theoretical, an MBA is experiential, and is intended to recreate real world decision making situations.

As others have suggested, be ready to make a compelling argument for why the time to earn your MBA is now.

Best of luck,

Dear all,
Thank you very much for your input , you have been very helpful and it was really helpful for me to read your opinions.
Actually, there is a reason why I want to go for an MBA now . I come from an engineering background , and I got sick of engineering and thats why I wanted to go for B-school in masters. A lot of people told me that an MBA is the best thing you could ever think of in B-school.
and regarding your question , why now?
well the reason is , I have a scholarship that is available for me now, it is the same scholarship for my undergrad that is going to be extended for my masters. If I end my scholarship and get a job , applying for masters after few years will not be that easy. So I have the chance now.
right now I am thinking of Masters in information systems , which belongs to B-school too , but requires less work experience. But i am still trying to make the decision weather i should get a job for a year or two then apply for an MBA , or apply right now.

Hi there maram,

A friend of mine went to grad school and is now competing to get a job targeted at undergrads. Why? Because employer doesn't really value your graduate degree if you don't have prior notable work experience. Unless the degree is in something that you can't learn otherwise (read: technology, hard science) I suggest you postpone it for another 2 years or so and try to get a job now - or better yet, take the PT program if available. This way you can build up your professional WE and at the same time get a degree of your choosing.