Questions from a Civil Engineering Major.

[arp0925]

Hello, I’m a civil engineering major who plans on getting a MBA in the future. Right now I have a B.S. in Civil engineering (3.41-GPA) and plan on getting my masters by this fall. I haven’t taken the GMAT yet. I plan on studying for that while working. I plan on working for a few years before going to MBA School. I have a few questions, and judging by the answers I get, I might have a few follow-up questions:

I was wondering, will having a degree in Civil help or hurt me, or will it not make a difference?

Also, how many years of experience do you think is enough to be a good candidate for a top MBA school?

Does the type of experience I get matter?

I might get a job working in a small civil eng. company, would I be better off waiting for a job at a bigger company or should I just take the offer, if given, at this small company?

Do the top MBA schools favor bigger companies over smaller ones, or do they have any other sort of favoritism?

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear arp0925:

The engineering/MBA combination is always an asset, for both admission to the MBA program and for recruiting later. The type of engineering is not necessarily significant except in the case of software engineers as these are the most prevalent in the applicant pool. So, I would say a Civil Engineering degree is definitely not a negative.

There is no favoritism for large versus small company experience. What matters is the quality of the experience--demonstrations of teamwork, leadership, progression, etc. are key to a strong MBA application. Thus you need to pick the career opportunities that provide the best experience, and most interesting, for you. Likewise, quantity is not as important as quality but I would recommend you get at least two years of experience before applying.

Good luck,
Lisa