Not all students who pursue an MBA program follow the traditional path, i.e., someone with 3-5 years business experience who completes the GMAT and enters a program to advance their current career.
Take for example, someone who has just emerged from undergraduate school with a social sciences degree, but has since realized that she wants to transition into a business that serves her community and expand to a national or global scale. With a diversity of academic experience and a drive to make a real difference using the theories and practices one gains in b-school, a student such as this can have as fulfilling an experience in an MBA program as someone with a career that’s already underway.
Luckily for such students, many schools have application requirements that do not include work experience. Here is a deeper look at one region’s options – the greater Houston area.
Houston MBA Programs with No Work Experience Requirement
University of St. Thomas
The University of St. Thomas’ Cameron School of Business boasts a small class size, in addition to a rich basis in ethics due to the influence of its Catholic founders. The school offers the option – but not the requirement – of submitting a personal resume/work verification, and its criteria of GMAT and GRE scores can also be waived.
University of Texas at Austin
With its “holistic… meticulous review of each application” McCombs School of Business of the University of Texas at Austin aims to consider each student closely as an individual. The school requires no minimum GPA; nor is professional work experience a necessity for acceptance. But, notes the school’s website, the competition is fierce and a student’s other skills must be exemplary in order to gain entry without work history.
“On rare occasions” … notes the site, “…outstanding applicants will be considered for admission as McCombs Scholars immediately after completing their undergraduate degree. These applicants must possess, among other criteria, exceptionally strong academic backgrounds, demonstrated leadership and a strong potential for success in business.”
University of Houston
The Bauer College of Business of the University of Houston does list a resume as a required element of the MBA application, but a potential student fresh out of undergrad school without work experience can use this as an opportunity to reflect upon the past experience that got him/her here today. Perhaps the resume, at this early point in pursuit of a career, can become a venue in which to describe major projects accomplished during school, sports or volunteering activities, and genuine interests and reasons for the desire to achieve further heights in the business world.
Value of Life Experience Over Work Experience
Though there may be great urgency to advance rapidly through the ranks after completing an undergrad degree, life experience is vital. Admissions boards and instructors welcome students who exhibit not only a high level of curiosity, but also the ability to draw upon past experience in order to inform classroom discussion and coursework. This being said, those with a work history still in its infancy can offer a fresh perspective to those wizened vets of the business world.
Admissions boards want to admit students with something to offer the greater academic community; those who will enrich the experience of peers and instructors alike. This ability doesn’t come from numerous pages describing promotions and ever lengthening job titles, but in the desire to be a curious and engaged contributor to the b-school experience.