Atlanta MBAs That Do Not Require Work Experience
Atlanta is many things to many folks—Coca Cola country, Black Hollywood and Turner HQ among others. The metro area is home to around 5.5 million people, boasting one of the busiest airport hubs in the world along with first-rate commercial, technological, educational and cultural resources. As one Redditor plainly puts it, “We rose from the ashes of Sherman’s march like a phoenix to become the cultural and business capital of the Southeast.”
Continue reading…
MBA Programs That Don’t Require Work Experience: San Francisco
Not everyone comes from a traditional working background earns an MBA for the same reason. So, in the same ways that some MBA programs don’t require the GRE or GMAT score for their applications, many business schools are also willing to consider applicants with limited or no prior professional experience. Continue reading…
Washington D.C. MBA Programs That Do Not Require Work Experience
There are plenty of benefits to going straight from undergrad into an MBA program: among them, getting a jump start on your business education, opening doors for leadership roles early on and the ability to avoid losing a year or two of progress and salary after already starting a career. Unfortunately, minimum work requirements for many MBA programs make this impossible.
Thankfully, some MBA programs do not require a minimum amount of professional experience in order to apply to their program. For students looking for a head start on their MBA while pursuing their business education in a top U.S. metro area, there’s no reason you can’t get your degree—and use it too.
Below is a list of MBA programs located in the Washington D.C. metro area that do not require prior professional experience in order to be considered for admission.
McDonough School of Business – Georgetown University
Although the average student earning their MBA at McDonough has two years of work experience under their belt, prior work is not a requirement for admission. A résumé will be required, however, less to see how much each applicant has spent developing their career, but to evaluate the progress and impact that they’ve made so far.
Other requirements for admission include an application form, GMAT/GRE scores, one recommendation, transcripts, personal essays and the possibility of an invitation-only interview.
Robert H. Smith School of Business – University of Maryland
According to the admission criteria for the Smith school of business, “a solid background of several years of work experience strengthens an applicant’s profile and makes him or her more competitive in the job market upon graduation.” Nonetheless, work experience is not a direct requirement for admission.
Other requirements include one’s undergraduate academic record, graduate admission tests (GMAT or GRE), résumé, letter of recommendation and well-written personal essays. Through any or all of these other requirements, students have plenty of opportunity to prove their future success in the program- even without prior professional experience.
Sellinger School of Business – Loyola University Maryland
Work experience is not required for Sellinger’s “Emerging Leaders MBA” program, which based its admissions decisions on prior academic achievement and leadership potential.
Students are further required to submit a written personal statement, two professional references, GMAT/GRE scores and qualitative criteria that allows admissions officials to determine each student’s leadership potential, including: undergraduate performance, certifications and awards, extracurricular involvement and community engagement. Select applicants will be invited to interview over Skype.
Carey Business School – Johns Hopkins University
Requirements for all MBA programs at Carey Business School include transcripts from all schools attended in the U.S., résumé, two personal essays, one letter of recommendation and GMAT/GRE scores.
Work experience is preferred for pursuing most advanced degrees at Carey, but is not a requirement of the Global MBA program. Nevertheless, students in the Global MBA program tend to average two to five years of professional experience.
Toronto MBAs that DO NOT Require Work Experience
Getting into a top-notch MBA program is a huge undertaking. You have to ace your test scores, provide glowing academic transcripts, garner appropriate letters of recommendation, write intelligent essays and somehow impress the admissions office during an interview. It’s a daunting task to say the least. And it’s even more intimidating if you’re a recent bachelor’s grad with little to no work experience.
If you’re sweating over getting into an MBA program, we’re here to make your decision a little bit easier. We understand that it’s enough to sweat the GMAT/GRE, you don’t need to sweat a job too. So, to help simplify your application process, we’ve vetted the top Toronto MBA programs to find the ones that don’t require you to have work experience.
If you’re interested in more schools that don’t require work experience for their MBA programs then see our MBAs without work experience guide or our Canadian schools that don’t require work experience for their MBA programs page.
DeGroote School of Business – McMaster University
Work experience is required for all international applicants and for domestic applicants applying for the full-time MBA and accelerated MBA programs. Domestic applicants do not need work experience when applying to the co-op program. However, only one year of full-time, continuous work experience is required. Also, for graduates from a North American university, DeGroote will consider an undergrad co-op or internship placement (totaling 12 months) in place of work experience.
As for why DeGroote requires work experience, they feel that their students are most effective when they’re able to pull from their own professional experiences and background. It helps its MBAs to be able to contribute to group work and discussions.
Ivey Business School – Western University Canada
The full-time and accelerated MBA programs require a minimum of two years of work experience. However, don’t let that stop you. The key for Ivey is that they want MBA candidates who can contribute to the classroom experience and discussions with maturity and context. Also, Ivey admits that they will accept applications with slightly less than two years of work experience. So, if you’ve only worked for a year and a half, you can still apply.
Rotman School of Management – University of Toronto
At the Rotman School, while two years of work experience are recommended, there is no minimum requirement for the full-time MBA program. That means that recent undergraduates are more than welcome to apply. However, all applicants should be aware that the average full-time MBA candidate has 4.1 years of work experience. As for the part-time MBA program, applicants are required to have two years of experience and most students have at least six years behind their belt.
Schulich School of Business – York University
If you’re interested in attending Schulich, a minimum of two years of relevant post-degree full-time work experience is required. However, that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck if you don’t have the necessary experience. The admission committee also accepts life experience. In special cases, you can apply for the MBA program is you have two years of experience volunteering overseas or you successfully completed a 2-year masters program. Also, co-ops or internships that were completed as a formal part of your degree, and noted in your transcript, can be counted for up to 12 months of work experience.
Ted Rogers School of Management – Ryerson University
While the Ted Rogers School requires two-years of work experience, there doesn’t appear to be a full-stop if you apply directly after undergrad. According to the school’s FAQ page, students can apply to the MBA program directly after undergrad, they just have to understand that preference will be given to applicants who have a minimum of two years full-time work experience.
Lazaridis School of Business and Economics Wilfrid Laurier University – Toronto Campus
If you’re a recent undergrad, the Lazaridis School can be a viable MBA of choice with no work experience, at least for those that decide to attend the full-time MBA program with co-op. For both domestic and international students, no work experience is required for the co-op and, in fact, the maximum amount of work experience allowed is two years (no exceptions). As for the full-time MBA program, two years of work experience is required and, unfortunately, part-time and summer employment does not count. However, the school will accept six co-op work terms during your undergrad.
So, to recap, for recent undergrads the best “no work experience” schools in Toronto are:
- The DeGroote School of Business does not require work experience for domestic co-op MBA applicants.
- The Rotman School of Management has NO work experience requirement for the full-time MBA.
- The Lazaridis School does not require work experience for domestic and international co-op MBA applicants.
Baltimore MBA Programs that Do Not Require Work Experience
It can be all business with b-school applications, particularly when it comes to fulfilling certain admissions requirements. More and more prospective b-school students want to make the leap straight out of undergrad into an MBA program.
Houston MBA Programs with No Work Experience Requirement
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.
