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Hi Consultants, I'm hoping I can get thoughts on my work experience. Is it good enough for a top-tier B.Sch (would it be perceived as quality work experience)? Thanks so very much.

College Background - graduated w/a double major in economics and journalism; numerous honors; 3.66 GPA; served in student gov.; community contributions; 4 honor societies. Thus, I think I have the academic requirement covered.

Work Experience: work with researchers as a logistic coordinator, which pretty much means I manage the logistical end of research activities -database management, events planning, and external relations. I plan to apply to B.Sch w/2 yrs experience (this is my second yr working).

Now, my question - is the quality of my work experience good enough to get me into a top business school? I've thought of working for 3yrs so I can increase my chances of a promotion, but I'm determined to apply this fall, and my priority right now is keeping my job as opposed to getting promoted. I appreciate any advice you can give on this (pls let me know if you need any more info from me in order to paint a clearer picture). Thanks much.

tough to say without a full look at your background and credentials, but I would say two years of full time post-college would be minimum work experience. You can probably pull out leadership, innovation and teamwork examples from just about any professional gig, so don't worry too much about exactly where you worked. The key will be extracting meaningful anecdotes from that experience and selling it to a committee. Hate to sound biased, but you could probalby benefit from using a consultant. Depending on your GMAT and where you went to undergrad, your recommendations, etc., you could indeed have "what it takes" depending on how you couch your achievements and sell them in your essays. In general, the less job experience you have, the more you will have to compensate on the GMAT and other factors. One key component for those with only minimum work experience is always making a solid case for why now is more ideal than next year to go back to school. Make sure you fully develop your vision for your post-MBA plans because you want to come off as mature and focused. Good luck.

Thanks so very much; your response is most helpful. Quick question - Can you please give an estimate for the cost of enlisting the help of a consultant?

Funny you ask--I actually don't know the current rates. For Veritas, you can check at www.vertiasprep.com for current rates. They pay us as directly as independent contractors having gone to top schools, so we don't actually work on the admin side or deal with the registration and payments.