Non-Traditional Work Experience

1) I hope to be promoted by the end of 2007 (either within this gallery, or move to a better job at an equally respected gallery)--should I plan to begin my MBA in Fall 2008 (2 yrs. work exp.) or Fall 2009 (3 yrs. work exp.)?

1) I hope to be promoted by the end of 2007 (either within this gallery, or move to a better job at an equally respected gallery)--should I plan to begin my MBA in Fall 2008 (2 yrs. work exp.) or Fall 2009 (3 yrs. work exp.)?
I am not sure what an assistant in an art gallery does. If the extra work experience would give you an opportunity to show some real management/leadership, to manage others working for the gallery, and be a leader in operations, this would be very valuable. It is not the extra year that counts, but what you do with it. Regardless, the promotion will look good on your record.

2) How do business schools view this kind of experience (i.e. someone who is not in i-banking/consulting/finance)?

Schools are quite interested in non-traditional backgorunds, but you will need to prove to them that you need an MBA and why. You say that many people in the field do not have business experience; perhaps there is a reason why. If the schools think that an MBA does not make sense in the context of your plans, then they will not admit you. They may wonder why you are not pursuing an arts management degree. You may want to tie your longer term aspirations more to the MBA. For example, I bleieve that to run a major museum, an MBA is important.

3) Would you suggest that I take a finance class in my spare time before applying? I did take AP Calculus (score: 3) and AP Economics (score: 5) in HS, but no similar courses in college.

For you I would definitely suggest taking Calculus and Accounting or Statistics. This will be important for they have almost no evidence that you can handle the quant workload.

4) Last question! What do you think of the Wharton/Lauder Institute program? Is my app. a long shot for that program? I did work in Madrid in marketing the summer after my Junior year, and my spanish is excellent.

Lauder is a fantastic program. If you can tie it to your career goals it could make a lot of sense for you. I cannot really say that it is a stretch for you. You have a good GPA from a good school, but I don't know enough about your career or anything else to make that call. My sense is that you could make it happen if you structure your application correctly.