Is work experience a must to get into top b-school?

kindofblue
Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:23:12 +0000

Hello. I am a rising sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis with the prospect of gaining admittance to a top ranked business school (MIT, ideally) for an MBA program.

This has become a recent prospect of mine, as I have recently decided NOT to pursue a JD, and have found that the marketing side of business, international in particular, greatly appeals to me.

My major is English, and I don’t plan on changing that since changing to a BS would require me to go to school for at least an extra semester. My understanding is that MBA programs will take students with any kind of 4-year undergraduate degree, though you can correct me if I am wrong. I am going to do a Marketing minor as well, which has all of the Marketing classes that the major requires, but almost none of the core business school requirements. I’m also planning on doing a school-sponsored study abroad program that gives me a business internship in London.

All of this considered, will it be more difficult than usual to gain admittance to a top MBA program right out of college?