Ask Stacy Blackman

Dear Priyatham,

Based on your post, it appears you do not have any professional work experience after your engineering degree. Thus you are applying with no work experience to these programs. While work experience is not necessarily a requirement, gaining admission with less than 2 years of professional, full-time experience after your bachelor's degree is quite difficult. Successful applicants without any experience are generally high academic achievers, both GMAT and GPA. With your GPA, you are facing a large uphill battle in convincing the admissions committee you have the maturity and motivation to succeed in the program. Your GMAT indicates you have the aptitude, but your transcript will raise questions on your actual performance. Unless you have significant mitigating circumstances to explain your grades, I think it will be difficult to make a compelling case to these schools that you are ready for business school at this time. If you do have significant circumstances affecting your academic performance, then you will want to submit an optional essay addressing those and demonstrating how these circumstances won't be a factor in business school. Additionally, you will need to have a solid rationale for why now is the right time for you to get your MBA, versus working first, and realistic career goals.

Good luck,
Lisa

Dear Priyatham,

Sorry about that--used to question on MBA programs on this site. If they are geared to folks with less than two years of experience, then your amount of work experience will not be an issue. However, your transcript might still be as it receives quite a bit of scrutiny. Also, you still need to present a solid rationale for why you need this degree in relation to your realistic career goals. On a related note, if you plan to get an MBA at some point in the future, you need to think about how that will build on this master's degree. How are the two different and why would you need both? The first question an MBA admissions committee will have will be why do you need an MBA in addition to the MMS/MIM/MSc.

Good luck,
Lisa

Dear Tejbir,

To answer your questions:

1. Being an entrepreneur, I do not have any supervisors or employers from whom I can take recommendations. Would it work to my disadvantage if my recommenders are my clients?
No. Recommenders can be clients or vendors whom you have worked with for over a year and that you feel can comment positively and specifically on you as a professional.

2. Is having an entrepreneurial experience a disadvantage vis-a-vis a focussed technical / professional experience?
No. There is no preferred experience in MBA admissions. What will be important for you though is to be sure and highlight the professional accomplishments you have had and the skills you have gained from your entrepreneurship experience.

3. Having more than the average work ex works for or against me because there might be placement concerns for people with high work ex?
While you are over the average for a traditional, daytime MBA program, you are by no means "too old" or at a disadvantage with the amount of work experience. You do need to explicitly address why you want to attend the daytime program though and how it is the right program for you based on your goals. Likewise, you might also note you understand your job search will be different from your classmates as you have more experience.

4. Do I have a competitive profile for Stanford, Booth, MIT, Haas, Tepper, and Darden? Are these schools fine high work experience or are they looking for younger people? Please advise.
All schools, these that you note included, look for the best candidates and admit a range of applicants. While many programs are trending younger, it is important to note the global applicant pool is also trending younger. If you can convey a solid rationale for the program based on your career goals, then you should be competitive for these schools based on the rest of the abbreviated profile you posted. Realize that the ultimate decisions will be based on more than your GMAT, GPA and amount of work experience--your essays, recommendations, resume and interviews will play a significant role.

Good luck,
Lisa

Dear Not lov'n the GMAT,

My list of schools will not be the same as your list as there are individual preferences and priorities that come into play when you build your target list of schools. For some, geography is a large consideration due to a desired industry or a significant other or family. For others, curriculum takes precedence as they need specific coursework to achieve their goals. Then there might be the need for strong ties to an industry/company or strong reputation in a world region. Once you have developed your own list of criteria and ranked it in priority order, then you can evaluate potential programs to see which might be a strong match for you. A great site to do a quick search on GMAT range or curriculum is mba.com; it is not perfect as some schools do not update their information as they should, but it is a great place to start.

To give you an example of a great school with a GMAT average in the 630-680 range though, I would point out Babson. If you plan to be an entrepreneur and have a solid idea, this program is top notch. It is not ideal for those who do not want to pursue entrepreneurship though.

Good luck,
Lisa

YahtzeeFish wrote:Hi,

I graduated from UC San Diego with a Bioengineering: Biotechnology degree. My GPA was 3.27. I've been working as a sales associate for ICIOwater.com since graduation. I have started my own holiday lighting business while in school, but I sold it after graduation. What score on my GMAT if any could get me into a top 5 program?

Thank you,

YahtzeeFish

Dear YahtzeeFish,

There is no numerical formula that applies to MBA admissions, nor are there any guarantees for a profile in MBA admissions. So it is impossible to say a specific score will be what you need. Ideally, you want to be above the average for a program to be in the best competitive position, and definitely within the mid-50% range. Depending on strong you think your recommendations, essays, resume and interview will be, you will want your GMAT score to help balance out any potential weaknesses in those components.

Good luck,
Lisa