Do I need 3 years work exp. to get in a good business school

Question

I planned on going to get an Msc in Management but then I changed my mind and decided to work. I am applying for admission next year to business school by then I will have almost two years work experience. Would this hurt my chances of getting into business school?

bakfed · Answer

I don't think it'll "hurt you", but I think it'll put you at a disadvantage. Unless you're aiming for Harvard and Stanford, most of the other top b-schools' average WE is about 4 to 5 years. Coming in at 2, you'd be facing a tougher competition. However, if you can convey your ideologies and messages through your essays and letters, I'm sure you're fine. Just know that it's a slight uphill that you'll be facing.

bosunnusob · Answer

I think while it is slightly on the low side for most schools, it certainly won't be a dealbreaker. Also important is what you have done/accomplished in your two years. It is one thing if you were an average, run of the mill type employee, but if in your two years, you took on many leadership roles and maybe even have been promoted, then that definitely would help quite a bit. The quality of your two years might be filled with greater stories and learning experiences than others who have been working for 3 years, so just go for it. Good luck!

shaselai · Answer

it will hurt a bit in few areas:
1. work experience - school wants to know your work life, accomplishments and lack of years will not help unless you are doing something extraordinary. also schools want you to contribute your experience and lack of it is not good. 
2. Reccomendations - schools dont like professors recs and they usually require 2 so you will most likely need a current supervisor AND another supervisor type to write for you. With 2 years it might be rough and the recs might be similar.

hope it helps!

kissthegmat · Answer

I don't think it's must.

resh · Answer

I recently attended the information session at Univ. of Cincinnati business school.
It is not a top tier/elite school, but definitely a good one.

The average WE for full time MBA was about 1.5 yrs, but they do not have a Work exp. requirement for MBA and there are students who get admit without any exp.

optimisticAL · Answer

I agree.
I also have 2+ years of experience, but with further investigation and discussion with my seniors I found that people generally needs 4-5 years of WE before applying for MBA either 1 yr or 2 yr.
But if you think you can impress the adcomm, go ahead and best of luck

chostein · Answer

It's not must, but hey I can turn in 3 words essays (Let Me In!) and they will still accept it but I betcha I won't get in :-D

You go to MBA once, and unlike undergrad, which you have to go somewhere after high school, MBA doesn't have that kinda time limit. That said, just work couple more years and then apply. Unless you r a rockstar in your work place, I don't see how a guy with 2 year WE can have a significant impact on the organization. Most of all, MBA is a significant investment. It should be worthy of your time and money.

ko · Answer

One other thing to consider that often goes unmentioned is job recruiting once you're in an MBA program. In many areas, having two years of work experience can put you at a significant disadvantage when employers come to campus. It's not necessarily insurmountable, but it could be a big deal is some cases (especially depending on what your 2 years of work experience was). Any way you slice it, it's almost always a bigger risk.

optimisticAL · Answer

well said smkrn. Yaa..from recruiter perspective we also have to look because for them only we are doing MBA 8-)

shaselai · Answer

remember that like with low gpa gmat, people can still get in with low we - you just need to compensate for that via other parts of the profile. Good luck!

Dawgie · Answer

How much work experience would you recommend?

occamsrazor · Answer

we'll i'll be glad if someone can answer this...

I went to grad school (top 30 US) straight from undergrad (non-US) where I worked initially as dining services employee for a semester and then achieved a full-tuition and stipend assistant-ship for the rest of my grad education. During the assistant-ship I worked as a one man team driving an important software project, as a part of which I also interacted with people from various department. I feel that my experience at a well known program in the US has contributed a lot in terms of influence on my thinking style as well as other life experiences. Now, I have added 2 years of professional work experience (US based) where I don't have any specific highlights except that through my work (technical skills, strategy, analysis, communication) I have been contributing quality products to my organization. As with most people, I am making more of a general impact rather than a specific impact.

My question is, will b-schools consider my 2+2 experience inferior to someone who graduated at the same time as me in undergrad and now has 4 yrs WE?

shaselai · Answer

i took a brief look at us news ranking (premium edition) of kellog, stern, duke, kenan - basically sampling top 20ish and they have roughly average of 60ish months of exp which is 5 years. i didnt see a range like the gpa/gmat so it is hard to tell but i think 3years would probably be a bit on the low end. I will have 5 years by october so i will be smack in the middle which i guess is OK. but like i said i am sure if he got other parts of the app boosting him he should be OK. hope that helps dawgie

champ717 · Answer

I had this experience before. Admittedly, this situation will cause you a diffculty to convey adcom that u are competitive candidate. However, you should try because if u do not get it next year, you will have a better opportunity for the second attempt anyways.

Jerz · Answer

I think you guys are getting a little too hung up on the numbers and not the substance. Yes, most business schools prefer people with more than 2 years experience and the average WE is 5 years. But what the schools are more interested in is what is implied by having that experience: maturity, leadership, etc. An applicant with 2 years of experience who was a real rockstar and had a huge impact on their team/organization is going to be a much better candidate than someone with 5 years experience who just did what they were told and never took initiative.

My advice is to stop focusing so much on how many years of experience you have, and look deeper at whether you have the proven track record of success and leadership that schools are looking for. If you don't yet have it, then you're probably better off waiting a year and getting some of those experiences.

My advice is to stop focusing so much on how many years of experience you have, and look deeper at whether you have the proven track record of success and leadership that schools are looking for. If you don't yet have it, then you're probably better off waiting a year and getting some of those experiences.

MBAbot · Answer

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Do I need 3 years work exp. to get in a good business school

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