While a majority of MBA students have several years of business experience, there are still some Early-Career MBA programs available to recent graduates who want to earn an advanced degree. Instead of requiring that prospective students have five to seven years of experience in a professional setting, early career programs put more of a focus on your admissions testing scores and your undergraduate performance. It is important that you know what to expect before you rush to attend a professional business school.
What Does an MBA Degree Program Teach Students?
An MBA, also known as a Master of Business Administration, is a professional graduate degree that is accepted by employers worldwide. The purpose of the MBA degree is to help students from all areas of study develop their business skills so that they are well-versed in several different areas of business. From marketing and finance to human resources and economics, an MBA program covers a wide range of advanced coursework and takes a real-world approach for easier professional application.
In addition to covering the core business curriculum, many students choose to concentrate their coursework. There is a long list of concentration classes to choose from that will take the broad curriculum and focus it to a specific area of study or field.
How Much Work Experience is Required for a Entry into a Traditional MBA Program?
If you wanted to pursue a traditional full-time or part-time MBA degree, you first would need to meet all of the admissions requirements, according to Money Crashers. Traditional MBA programs are not an option for fresh grads who have just recently been handed their bachelor’s degree. That is because the top-tier schools with traditional requirements prefer their candidates to have between three and five years of professional experience. Some of more lenient when the applicant has an impressive but shorter professional profile, but in most cases three years is minimum.
How Many Years of Experience Do you Need to Study for an Early-Career MBA?
As the demand for more flexible MBA programs has grown, more and more business schools have developed new program structures that work for different student niches. Unlike a traditional MBA program or an Executive program, the early career MBA is for students who have between zero and three years of work experience in a business setting, according to Beat the GMAT. This specialized business degree program caters to recent graduates who may have decided that advancing their degree right after the school was best for them.
What Do Admissions Councils Look For?
If you are entering an MBA program that does not rely on your experience to evaluate your application, you better be sure you stand out in other areas. Most schools with early career programs will look at the substance of your experience in school to weight whether or not you will be a good fit for the program. You can show that you are a leader through your voluntary work or part of a community through participation with a student board. Your grades and your score on the GMAT will also play a role in determining whether or not you will be a good addition.
Related Resource: Distance Learning MBA
There are several pros to offering new grads the opportunity to study for an MBA early on in their career. Students will still be enthusiastic and will not have to readjust to academic learning. There are also financial and professional benefits to studying for a business degree at a young age. Consider how an Early-Career MBA can help you land a promotion or a new job and then you can decide if experience or education is best.
