<p>My D graduated from college in 2005. She traveled through Spain–hiked the Camino de Santiago for two months–and then went to work in an art gallery on Nantucket. She then returned home in January and went to work for my husband’s company where she’s worked as an analyst. During this time, she studied for the GMAT and got a 680 score; she’s received lots of recruiting letters and has attended several information sessions. She would like to apply to MIT Sloan. Has she had enough work experience? By next September, she’ll have about 16 months of work experience. She’s was a quantitative economics major at Tufts and graduated cum laude (3.59 gpa).</p>
<p>Usually I think the typical number is more like 24 months but maybe if she has some really significant experience she could be accepted.</p>
<p>24 months (2 years) is way on the short side (not to mention 16 months). The average is about double that or more, generally 5-6 years.</p>
<p>Look at the Sloan website and take a quick look at this year’s '07 profile and take a look at a few key stats:</p>
<ul>
<li>Mean work experience: 5 years </li>
<li>Mean age: 28</li>
<li>Mean GMAT: 697</li>
<li>Mean GPA: 3.4 (arguably the least important)</li>
</ul>
<p>So out of 4 key statistics, your D fits GPA - but fall short on the other three. Now the age ranges from 21 up to 41… and your D will be approx. 23-4? But even for those “outliers” that are on the younger side, they usually have a “hook” (in the form of amazing stats, amazing work experience or both) - unless she is an absolute rock star (700+ GMAT and/or 3.8+ GPA) IMO it will be very tough to differentiate herself - particularly with such little meaningful work experience. Remember that she is competing with people who have worked around the world at elite firms such as Goldman Sachs and McKinsey, etc.</p>
<p>The other stat to pay attention to is the woefully low female / male ratio at MIT Sloan (only 31% women)… So, on top of all of the above, spots for women are much tougher to come by than men.</p>
<p>IMO, MIT Sloan will be a serious reach for your D - frankly, I doubt she has even a decent shot of getting in. My advice to her (if she is really serious about b-school):</p>
<p>1) retake the GMAT (not that her score is horrible, but it could be higher)
2) beef up work experience (at least a couple of more years) </p>
<p>Sorry to be so negative, I don’t want to discourage your D from applying, but its best to be informed:</p>
<p><a href=“http://mitsloan.mit.edu/mba/program/classof07profile.php[/url]”>http://mitsloan.mit.edu/mba/program/classof07profile.php</a></p>
<p>as a fellow 2005 graduate, I can empathize with your daughter’s inclination to apply to graduate school (not to mention parents and family pressuring me to). </p>
<p>but I think it needs to be emphasized that graduate schools, across the board, value experience (esp mba programs). And the probability of acceptance will increase with more experience.</p>
<p>most important of all, I think there is a lot of value, both personally and professinally, in the time in between Under Graduate and Graduate school.</p>
<p>Of course, there is the arguement that if one doesn’t actively pursue the graduate degree right out of college, there’ll probably never receive it. my parents keep repeating this to me.</p>
<p>“Of course, there is the arguement that if one doesn’t actively pursue the graduate degree right out of college, there’ll probably never receive it.”</p>
<p>This may well be true, but you may also find that after working for 3-4 years, you no longer need or desire the MBA. For many careers, working two more years will mean a lot more than taking two years off from work to go to school and spending $150,000 for that MBA. </p>
<p>Work experience is highly valued in the MBA program admissions process not just as a method of weeding out students and assuring some level of maturity, but more importantly because students with work experience bring that experience into classroom and group project discussions and those students also get more out of the MBA experience because they have a framework of work experience upon which to drape the new learning experiences. </p>
<p>Honestly, if your daughter really wants to get her MBA at some point, I would highly recommend another couple of years, at a minimum, of work experience at a company not owned by your husband.</p>
<p>As for it being tough to come by spots for women at Sloan, that is just wrong. Sloan would love to have more qualified women in their program (as would all of the top MBA programs). The problem is that statistically, many fewer women apply to top MBA programs than men. Actually, I think that this female shortage would work in favor of highly qualified women in admissions.</p>
<p>that’s a very valid point about women admits, sallyawp.</p>