What does "at matriculation" mean?

[flexed]

Hi all,

I'm a bit new at the MBA apps game - just starting to dip my toes into researching about essays and application processes and whatnot, having just finished my GMAT.

I know this is probably the dumbest question this board will ever see, but I was wondering what "at matriculation" means when people share their profiles on this board? i.e. "3 years at matriculation"... does that mean 3 years at the time classes start, or 3 years at the time of their application, or 3 years at the time of the acceptance of the offer and registration into the program?

And when adcom's look at your work experience, do they base their admit decisions on how much work experience the candidate has at the time of application? Or at the time that they begin school? Just wondering because there's usually a good one-year gap between first-round admissions and the start of the school year in September, so the applicant's "# of years of work experience" could vary considerably depending on the technicality of when adcoms determine their cutoff.

Thanks!

[eskimoroll]

"at matriculation" means at the time when classes begin. The adcomms assume that you will most likely be continuing to work between acceptance and the start of classes.

[flexed]

Thanks eskimoroll. So what you're saying is that when adcoms evaluate your candidacy (if, say in Round 1), do they look at your number of years of work experience "at matriculation", correct? And not at the number of years that you've had at the time of application?

[eskimoroll]

Thanks eskimoroll. So what you're saying is that when adcoms evaluate your candidacy (if, say in Round 1), do they look at your number of years of work experience "at matriculation", correct? And not at the number of years that you've had at the time of application?

That is correct.