How do schools evaluate work experience?

Question

When evaluating work experience, do schools count the number of years you have worked at the time of application, or the time you will have worked by matriculation?

GMATcram · Answer

It depends on your schools. You can find it on each school's application form. Schools will evaluate both quality and length of work. IMO, quality of work is more weighted!

rhyme · Answer

Depends on the school. Some schools have minimums, some do not. Some are more openly friendly to younger kids (Harvard) and some seem to be more adverse (Kellogg). I will say that over the last few years things have changed - and almost all schools look less and less at years of experience.

pelihu · Answer

I would agree that most schools are trending downward on work experience.

Based on the stats from 2 years ago, US News reports that 99% of students at Wharton have 3+ years of work experience. In the past year, Wharton has stated in a number of forums that they are interested in bringing in more students with less experience, and I that really showed up this year (just going by personal observations).

I would also agree that if you are within the normal range of 2-6 years that quality is more important than number of years. If you've been on the job for longer than that, you'll have to work harder to show great career progress.

How do schools evaluate work experience?

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