Dare I? .... 22 . You tell me

Question

GmatClub,

To all who are reading this, I plan on trying to pursue an MBA in Marketing. I just graduated with my BA in PSY In May. I plan on applying for the Fall 2015 Semester.
What am I thinking?

I know what you all are thinking, Do I have work experience? I have held various Full-Time positions throughout 4 years, and I believe I gained solid work experience. All while attending college, Stemming from Retail, Sales, Foreman, and a solid Marketing internship. Each Full-Time Position was held for a year, I had 4 Full-Time Jobs each with a different company (4) Company’s Total. (Worked OT on Weekends, and worked 3-10 4 days a week.) So it was Full Time. I am including my resume, please let me know what you think.

Should I?

My main question is, do ADCOMs value work while in school? (Note: These were not fully joke jobs, not for major corporate companies, but pretty decent.) Or do they want to see work experience after graduating.

Main thoughts

I would like to apply to B-SCHOOL with my previous work experience, (4 Years) will it be possible to get into a good B-SCHOOL. Or does anybody recommend applying to MBA programs specially targeted for recent graduates. Are those programs worth it? I’ve heard many times, you must apply to a prestigious b-school in order to get a decent starting salary.

Thanks.

DefyingGravity · Answer

Many programs will specifically ask about post collegiate full-time experience. Your 4 years of experience while in school will likely not be considered in the same way.

Why are you rushing to apply to b-school so soon?

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domotron · Answer

That experience will not count as full time work experience. My advice would be to work for a minimum of 2 years before applying to business school. Very few people get into a good business school without work experience unless they were accepted into a deferral program (HBS 2+2, Yale Silver Scholars) where they are admitted but have to work a couple of years before matriculating. The schools that will accept people straight from undergrad are probably not schools you want to target in reality.

Finally, not to be completely dismissive about your prior work experience but you really will struggle to stand out with those experiences and roles when most other applicants have 4-5 years of solid post-college FT roles sometimes at places like Goldmans or McKinsey.

Finally, not to be completely dismissive about your prior work experience but you really will struggle to stand out with those experiences and roles when most other applicants have 4-5 years of solid post-college FT roles sometimes at places like Goldmans or McKinsey.

mgg234 · Answer

To be blunt, most people who get into top business school had considerably better work/internship experience while at school than you, AND THEN worked 3-5 years before applying. Focus your energy on getting hired at a prestigious company (which might be tough with no relevant internships), not applying to business school.

bizwiz84 · Answer

It depends on your concept of what a 'good B-school' means. If you're targeting at top 10, even top 20, you might be wasting your time and money here, IMHO. In the eyes of MBA adcoms, your experiences are not gold; they're, at best, bronze. If that. 
You're young so you have time to gain more experience (real, post collegiate experience) and boost your profile. If you apply by the time you're 26, you'll still be young and probably more accomplished than you're now.
Sorry to bring it to you like this, but if I were in your shoes, I'd rather have people telling me like it is than trying to pursue something that is totally against the odds. 
Competition in tough out there, especially if you want to go to a top school. And it doesn't sound like you have done much research about MBA programs. In my opinion, you should take your time to fix all that before applying.

Good luck!

mbaMissionJenK · Answer

Agree with the posts above.

While very exceptional candidates do get in from undergrad in small numbers (and some programs, again very competitively, have deferred entry options), and some lower-tiered programs will accept more straight from undergrad, most b-schools do want you to have full-time post-undergrad experience. Part of the reason for this-- much of your learning from b-school actually comes from your CLASSMATES; it's not just the curriculum/professors.

B-schools aim to create a microcosm of the world, if you will, within the classroom, and much learning through case studies and discussions, involves hearing perspectives, stories and experiences from those in the room with you. So they value a diversity of experiences from the professional workplace. Additionally, it's tougher to apply what you learn during the MBA classes if you don't have much experience in the work place as a point of reference. But it's good to plan ahead, and work on your leadership and your people and project management experience; community involvement, etc. And the GMAT if you haven't yet... statistically, those right out of school do better on the GMAT, and scores are valid 5 years! Good luck!

EngineeringMBA · Answer

I'd highly recommend planning on applying in 3 years (so you'd have 3 years w.e. at matriculation)
I went for through the app process with only 2 years, and if I could do it over again, I would have not went through it then. With <2 years experience, let alone none, it's going to be very difficult. Keep in mind, for the Top 20 schools, you're competing against the best of the best, people with more work experience, more accomplishments, perhaps people who have already had a successful track record (and that is exactly what adcoms seek).
And I can tell you for sure, that every year you work (after graduating), there are many lessons to be learned on the job that will be valuable to your business school experience.

Unless you have a monster GPA+ monster GMAT with a very unique set of circumstances, it's going to be incredibly difficult to break through in my opinion. But work a few years, get a track record, have a better understanding of what you want to accomplish, you'll have a better shot at it. Good luck!

Dare I? .... 22 . You tell me

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