I'm 21 years old and have 1 year left till I get my Bachelor's in Business Administration w/ emphasis in Management. I don't want to drop out of school, go work, then get my MBA in a couple of years, so I've been working throughout my high-school and college career. Here's my profile:
School: Mid-West State-School
Major: Business w/ emphasis in Management
GPA: 3.1
GMAT: 630 (practice - Princeton Review's website, haven't taken the real thing yet)
Work: When I graduate I will have worked at Best Buy for 6 years. I have been promoted several times, and I will have had 3 years of management experience - I supervise/hire/train about 15 employees.
Extra: none - some volunteer experience in high school, but I've been too busy working full time and going to school the last 4 years
I want to get an MBA from a good school with emphasis in Technology Management.
A couple of questions:
1) When doing research, most school have the median age as 27-30. Will my age significantly impact my chances of being accepted into these schools?
2) Will my work experience, and especially management experience, count towards MBA "experience", or do schools look at experience after you graduate? Will being a manager at a retail-store fulfill the duty of having several years of "management experience"?
3) I have worked full-time throughout my college education which has resulted in me having a lower than preferred GPA. If I explain this during an interview, will it greatly affect my chances of being accepted?
4) And probably the most important question, how do I know which school I should apply for? I have been doing extensive research on US News and Business Week to see the "Profiles" for each MBA school. I have been told that I should go to graduate school in the same area of where I would want to work, so should I be looking at schools in California if I want to work for a major technology company? Also, how do I know which schools I have a chance for, since most school profiles have statistics that I don't meet (older, more experience, higher GPA). Should I be looking at schools in the Top-25, Top-50? I only have 1 chance to apply for MBA school (since I want to attend the school in Fall 09), and I don't want to have my managers send out recommendation letters to 10 different schools (they are so long, I feel bad having them send letters to more than 2 schools).
Your help and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
School: Mid-West State-School
Major: Business w/ emphasis in Management
GPA: 3.1
GMAT: 630 (practice - Princeton Review's website, haven't taken the real thing yet)
Work: When I graduate I will have worked at Best Buy for 6 years. I have been promoted several times, and I will have had 3 years of management experience - I supervise/hire/train about 15 employees.
Extra: none - some volunteer experience in high school, but I've been too busy working full time and going to school the last 4 years
I want to get an MBA from a good school with emphasis in Technology Management.
A couple of questions:
1) When doing research, most school have the median age as 27-30. Will my age significantly impact my chances of being accepted into these schools?
2) Will my work experience, and especially management experience, count towards MBA "experience", or do schools look at experience after you graduate? Will being a manager at a retail-store fulfill the duty of having several years of "management experience"?
3) I have worked full-time throughout my college education which has resulted in me having a lower than preferred GPA. If I explain this during an interview, will it greatly affect my chances of being accepted?
4) And probably the most important question, how do I know which school I should apply for? I have been doing extensive research on US News and Business Week to see the "Profiles" for each MBA school. I have been told that I should go to graduate school in the same area of where I would want to work, so should I be looking at schools in California if I want to work for a major technology company? Also, how do I know which schools I have a chance for, since most school profiles have statistics that I don't meet (older, more experience, higher GPA). Should I be looking at schools in the Top-25, Top-50? I only have 1 chance to apply for MBA school (since I want to attend the school in Fall 09), and I don't want to have my managers send out recommendation letters to 10 different schools (they are so long, I feel bad having them send letters to more than 2 schools).
Your help and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
