Which has more value: an MBA with work experience or an MBA without work experience?
The value of an MBA comes from its BRAND. It does not matter much whether you are pursuing an MBA with or without experience.Consider for example, Yale School of Management. It is one of the best MBA programs in the world. It offers a REGULAR MBA for people with work experience (usually around 4~5 years). Also, it offers a DEFERRED MBA OPTION for people, who directly attend the same business school after their final year. I usually get, the following FAQs:#1. Do you think that the recruiters care whether you are attending Yale with/without work experience?They will offer you jobs which are commensurate with your experiences. If you are a fresher, you will get entry level jobs (such as Analyst at a Consulting firm/Investment Banking); if you are an experienced guy, you will get more senior roles (such as Associate at a Consulting firm).Now, Let’s say you go to a 50th ranked business school in the US or you go to something like Symbiosis in India, do you think you will get these jobs with/without experience?The answer is NO. The reason being that most top-tier firms would not recruit from these programs because of the brand deficit.#2. Would you learn more/less if you go in with more experience/no experience?If you have more experience, you generally tend to learn more by relating the coursework to your professional experiences.But, if you are a fresher, you still learn a great deal! You generally have more hunger to learn and have a lot more energy. For example, during my time at INSEAD, I was lower on the work ex scale, but I spent close to 16–17 hours a day learning new things. I did not have a family to take care of (which several of my classmates did) and had more flexibility to learn.#3. What about the network?Well, if you graduate from Yale School of Management (Deferred Program or the regular one), you will get an MBA from Yale, you will be part of the same community and would have access to the same resources going forward.Bottomline: If you are an undergrad, try getting into a top-tier deferred MBA program. The reason being that you will start earning your post MBA salary sooner (else you will have to roughly get ~4 years of experience before you apply to MBA programs). On the other hand, if you are an experienced guy, apply to the best school possible, as it would give you the biggest jump in terms of salary and learning opportunities.Golden rule: go to the best business school possible!
Why is MBA so important now?
Hello Everyone! See, I am not going to mentioning the benefits of MBA, as most of the people doing here. I just want to say that every subject has its own importance, the only thing which matters the most is that how much you are interested in that particular subject, so think about it and if you want more explanation related to this question then go for this article WHY MBA, here you get all your answers.
What type of job experience do you need to get into a top MBA like Chicago Booth, Kellogg and more? Moreover is the company name or brand resonance an important factor?
When it comes to top business schools, your GMAT score matters the most. While I would like to say that the brand name of your company does not matter in admissions decisions, top business schools certainly like to include quotes from alumni working for large well-known brand name companies in their marketing materials. They take pride in the fact that C-level executives from these companies are their alumni.To answer your question, it might help if you have a great GMAT score AND have work experience at brand name companies. If you do not have work experience at a large brand name company, do not despair. Just focus on getting a great GMAT score (>700), your accomplishments in the application, and getting stellar recommendations from senior executives and professors you know. Where you worked may not matter as much as what you learned from that experience, and demonstrated maturity in your decision-making.
What kind of work experience is required prior to pursuing an MBA in India? Should he take up a job in the field he wants to do his MBA? Should he try different industries to determine the best fit?
Thanks for A2A.All genuine questions ... but perhaps not the real question that you should be asking yourself before doing MBA.I will try and answer all of them ..1. Yes relevant work experience is always better than non-relevant work experience. 2. Trying different things at young age never hurts. What really hurts is not being able to convey it on your CV or in the interview appropriately.3. Working in bank is not completely necessary. Corporate Finance or Financial consulting are equally relevant. Ofcourse, back office functions that are completely non-related to finance wont help either.4. 95+ is not a strong CAT score. 98+ (with consistency across sections) is. And, no one expects a fresher to have a a management job role before MBA.5. NGO volunteering is a bit of hoax. And interviewers make that out if its done recently only. I would suggest that learning a new language is a better CV booster and a real asset for the future.6. Well, to bluntly answer prima facie ... the private bank. However, it would all depend on the real job profiles.7. Elite MBA programme in my mind is IIM A, B and C and ISB (only a personal opinion). The requirements are pretty simple for IIMs ... crack the CAT and the interviews. Work experience counts .. but has a smaller weightage. Unless, you work at a brand, it doesnt really count at the IIMs. For ISB, crack the GMAT and have a strong work ex of over 3 years. It helps to have a well-rounded CV. Build ur profile with languages, travelling, sports, etcHope this helped.Now, I would just venture to say that these are very defensive questions. Not the real questions that help you take a decision. The real question is "Why do you want to do an MBA?" This requires a lot of thinking. Be brutally honest to yourself. Answers could be :1. Genuine interest in learning about "business" 2. Meeting 100-400 young intelligent exciting people3. Getting a big dream job4.Taking a break to explore yourself over a period of 1 - 2 years 5. Social prestige6. Proving something to your family members7. Doing it because everyone is doing it etc etc etc ...Be brutally honest. Once you have the master question answered, all other questions are just derivatives. You will answer all the 7 questions you asked differently every single time if your main motive to doing a MBA is different !Hope this really helped ! All the best !
My gf is pregnant. i need to talk with someone.?
sounds like you have a better start and a better grip on things than you realize. obviously you will probably want to move in with each other to make both lives easier if you are going to keep it. (notice i didn't say marriage) the only thing you should be concerned about is yo both might have to extend your school plans (maybe summer 08 and 4 years) just so you both can have more time with the baby. (go part time a couple of semesters). everyone worries about finance and giving the baby what it needs but remember not every baby needs top shelf things and brand name clothes, you can budget your lifestyle very nicely on 46,000. but here's the best tip i got when pregnant....once you hit the 3 month mark every time yo go buy groceries buy a package or box of diapers. $10 - $20 every couple of weeks is much easier to handle than when the baby gets here and you are buying all the unexpected things you need. Buy different sizes and brands and tape the receipt to the package so you can return some if you buy too many of a certain size (it outgrows newborns faster than you expected and you need more size 1's) walmart is great for this. congrats and good luck!!
Is experience in a big four firm like KPMG considered good for an MBA application?
You would think that working for a Big Four firm in auditing would positively impact your chances of admissions to top MBA programs, wouldn’t you? KPMG, EY, PwC, and Deloitte are all well known, global brand names. They hire top students out of strong undergraduate programs. They focus on mentoring and training to give their young employees the best business experience possible. They are not dissimilar to consulting firms like McKinsey, BCG, and Bain (MBB) or investment banks like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Morgan Stanley. Employees of these consulting firms and investment banks make up the largest share of new MBA classes at the best universities. However, a background in accounting with a Big Four firm is generally a detriment when applying to top MBA programs.I worked for PwC after graduating from the University of Wisconsin business school in Accounting and Finance. After five successful years in public accounting, I decided to go back to business school and widen my horizons. I applied to Stanford and was admitted. It was only after I began attending the GSB that I learned accounting was considered a generally undesirable background. In short, it is considered “vocational.” This is a high-browed slur in elite university speak. Admissions likely plugged their noses when accepting me, choosing to ignore the background in accounting and focus on other parts of my application. I talk more about the stain of undergraduate business degrees and accounting, in particular, with MBA admissions in the post below.Why do many prestigious universities such as Princeton, Yale, or Stanford not have undergraduate business degrees?You will find this disdain at top MBA programs like Stanford, Harvard, and most other private universities that usually sit atop the graduate business school rankings. It is less the case with the best public universities that value a well rounded business education as a regional economic driver.The situation is different if you have a liberal arts or STEM undergrad degree and will be working for the management consulting side of KPMG. Although not considered top tier like MBB, university admissions like candidates with what they consider to be a broad-based degree and work experience.