{"id":47559,"date":"2019-11-27T05:17:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-27T12:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/2019\/11\/why-is-real-world-experience-crucial-for-students-how-to-get-it\/"},"modified":"2019-11-27T05:17:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-27T12:17:00","slug":"why-is-real-world-experience-crucial-for-students-how-to-get-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/why-is-real-world-experience-crucial-for-students-how-to-get-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is Real-World Experience Crucial for Students & How to Get It"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Real-world<\/figure>\n

Experience:<\/em> You know it once you\u2019ve had it. While a formal education is widely considered a key to living a fulfilling life, it isn\u2019t the end-all and be all, particularly in America and Europe. <\/p>\n

While East and South Asian cultures often focus on a rigorous regimen of standardized testing, often to the exclusion of other experiences, Western education has been increasingly moving away from this model, seeking well-rounded students with crucial life experiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why this movement away from traditional educational methods? Well, for one thing, a student\u2019s ability to perform on tests can be indicative of quantitative skills, but isn\u2019t always a reflection of how well they\u2019ll perform outside of test-taking environments. Undergraduate and graduate school applicants today have often been prepped by tutors and specialized classes in order to get a leg up on the competition for standardized tests like the GMAT and SAT, and knowing how they will perform once those extra resources are out of the picture can be uncertain. <\/p>\n

Real-world Experience<\/h2>\n

Real-world experience, on the other hand, can indicate how well a student will perform in a more dynamic environment, with a lot fewer controls and a far more unpredictable set of factors. Let\u2019s take an MBA program for example. Demonstrated success and experience working at a consulting firm or a technology company is far more indicative of future potential than a standardized test that seeks to measure aptitude in specific areas. That\u2019s why you won\u2019t see many top-tier MBA programs taking applicants fresh out of an undergraduate degree<\/a>. Adcoms at these elite MBA schools don\u2019t want students that have only academic experiences. They focus on preparing graduates for business leadership, rather than continued academic pursuits, and need to see a track record of demonstrated real-world success to judge applicants\u2019 eligibility for their programs.<\/p>\n

Real-world experience means more than just professional experience, however. In keeping with the idea that a candidate should be multidimensional, someone who went straight from an undergraduate program to a career track with little else going on in their lives can appear just as one-dimensional as a career academic to university adcoms. Even in M.A. and P.H.D. programs that are geared towards professorships and tenure tracks at academic institutions, adcoms are looking for candidates that have lived a variety of experiences. Put yourself in the mind of one of these adcom members. Who seems more interesting to you:<\/em> a person whose entire life has been going from one school to the next, and then directly into a corporate job\u2026 or someone with similar grades and a similar professional history who also found time to volunteer with at-risk youth, and who\u2019s visited some exotic, remote parts of the planet for leisure? Graduate programs want interesting people, and traveling, volunteering, pursuing a passion and even dealing with hardship all contribute to making applicants seem more like real, three-dimensional people, not simply a collection of degrees and job accomplishments.<\/p>\n

Beyond securing admission the program of your dreams, real-world experience will help any student generally become a better leader and person. Having your car break down in the middle of a cross-country road trip, hitchhiking to the nearest gas station, staying with a local family and changing your route and plans accordingly will prepare you to deal with project delays, sudden changes in policy and difficult team members. Volunteering for a cause you care about will teach you project management skills you couldn\u2019t obtain through classroom learning. However, don\u2019t simply seek out experiences to get a story for your application essays, throw yourself into it \u2013 you might just have fun and become a better and more authentic candidate while you\u2019re at it.<\/p>\n

Below, we break down a few examples of what real-world experiences might look like.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Internships\/professional experience\u00a0<\/h3>\n

The first, and perhaps most obvious example of real-world experience is working\u2026 in the real world. Whether you\u2019re a current undergraduate student seeking a summer internship in your field to gain preliminary experience, or several years removed from academic life with a detailed professional history under your belt, work experience counts. As we mentioned above, however, work experience isn\u2019t a sure-fire differentiator, particularly if you\u2019re applying in a field where applicants are expected to have a certain amount of professional experience. Nevertheless, a good work story can go a long way, and for younger applicants, early professional experience can deflect any concerns regarding a lack of maturity and can help offset any blips on an academic transcript.<\/p>\n

Travel<\/h3>\n

Why travel? Here are just a few reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n