What Business school will take me?

You can always try, but chances are slim that you will be admitted. There are a few schools that entertain candidates who just finished college, but most will encourage you to get some professional work experience. Over the past few years, we have worked with candidates like you -- and they did end up attending Wharton, Columbia and Booth. However, each candidate had many things going for them -- especially in the extracurricular front -- which showed that they were much more mature than their chronological age.

Kimberly Plaga
Senior Admissions Consultant
Manhattan Review

Call for a free candidacy assessment.

What's the rush? Why do you "need" (my word not yours) an MBA NOW? An MBA is a great degree to advance your career or to switch your sector or job. I get the sense that you're rushing thru undergrad to an MBA. It doesn't make much sense. An MBA is a professional degree and top schools want people with work experience.

HBS 2+2 and Yale Silver Scholars would be good "right now" routes to consider for academic-minded fresh grads/graduating students like you.

Agree with the above posters. You're actually shooting yourself in the foot by going directly into an MBA from a recruiting standpoint. Without any real work experience, you'll be hard pressed to make the leap into associate-level/managerial positions.

Agree with the above posters. Work experience is not only important because it can help you get in to MBA programs, but moreover it will also help you figure out your career interests and goals. Many--most!--jobs do not require an MBA. This is a huge investment of time and money, and a few years of work can help you reflect on whether or not it'll be worth it for you to apply.

This is purely annecdotal, but I have a friend who was my year in college (2010) who went straight to the Yale SOM Silver Scholars program and is having a lot of trouble with recruiting. He's an extremely personable and smart guy, but just isn't getting a lot of interview invites. Now, I might be biased, but I don't think this necessarily has to with Yale SOM recruiting or his interview skills. He and I both suspect that this might have to do with the fact that he only has 1 year of experience (with SOM Silver Scholars, you do one year of work in the middle of the MBA program, so three years total). You have to keep in mind that even if you do get admitted to an MBA program, you'll be competing for jobs with equally bright, personable people who also have several years of work experience. If you were an employer, who would you pick to interview?

Great advice. And to me, even more than the difficulty recruiting, the biggest reason to wait is to understand what your goals are. I think I speak for the majority of people when I say my career goals have changed a ton since I graduated. You understand how business works, how the 'real world' is (not trying to be mean, but it was a slap in the face to me, at least). Business isn't like school.

For me, a big reason why I want an MBA now is because my career goals changed. In fact, I could have never imagined wanting to get an MBA, or even go back to school when I graduated. Just wait. You'll make a much more informed decision. Along those same lines, you can start doing things to help your application now, so that if you do apply in 2-3 years, you'll be a great candidate. Volunteer, plays sports, learn a language, etc.

Good luck.

many things going for them -- especially in the extracurricular front -- which showed that they were much more mature than their chronological age.

routes to consider for academic-minded fresh grads/graduating students like you.