Getting Denied From B-School

Question

Does getting denied from a B-school due to a of lack of work experience hurt one's chances of getting accepted to that school the following year?

aerien · Answer

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I wouldn't view that as a negative. As a re-applicant a year later, you've likely used that time to either a) continue at your current job and have gained more experience and hopefully more responsibilities and even a promotion or b) find a new job that gives you more responsibilities and/or exposure to a new field, industry, etc.

As long as you can articulate what you've done to improve your profile (both in your work experience as well as what you've done outside of work), then you have as good of a shot as anyone for being admitted.

Case in point: I was in your exact position a year ago and while I'm very much still in the application process, I have already successfully turned some WLs into admits this year. I personally chose not to re-apply to schools that dinged me last year because after doing more research, I realized those weren't the best schools for me. However, I know @mappleby and some others have successfully converted dings into admits within a year.

Best of luck -- bschool is definitely still possible for you. There are a lot of options out there and as long as you keep trying, something will work out for you!

MBAPrepSchoolChris · Answer

If you can assume that your limited work experience was the *primary* reason that you were unsuccessful, then all else being equal an additional year can certainly make a difference.

However it is critical to look at what you achieve/accomplish during that additional year.

Did you receive a promotion? Were you assigned to a project in which you really had an impact, made some difference? Have you done something notable that gives your references more to talk about than the first time around?

These are just a few ideas but there are lots of things that you could use to prove to the Admissions Committee that you're a much stronger candidate this second time around.

We've also seen cases where people have reapplied 1-2 years later and they didn't only have *more* experience but they also had a *different* type of experience. For example, they moved into an industry that is aligned with their longer-term career goals and got promoted/recognized … thus bringing themselves a step or two closer to achieving their long-term career goals. This is definitely something that the AdCom appreciate.

Overall the best advice is to use your "additional" time wisely and make sure that you actually have something to show the AdCom to convince them that your work experiences are not merely "sufficient" but are actually an impressive differentiator for your candidacy.

Hope that helps and best wishes for success in your MBA campaign and your broader career.

Cheers, Chris

Getting Denied From B-School

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