Be Prepared: Prerequisites for MBA Programs
For those who are serious about a career in business administration, there is no better place to start than by obtaining a business degree through either a graduate school or online MBA program. Although many students choose to enroll in a graduate-level business degree program directly after college, an increasing number of professionals with years of real world business experience are going back to school and obtaining business degrees from accredited online universities or graduate schools in their local area.
Professionals holding MBA degrees can expect to earn 25 to 50 percent more than their peers, and graduate business degrees can be useful no matter what your career goal may be, from those planning to change professions to aspiring entrepreneurs hoping to open their first business. Of course, before you can obtain a business degree, you must meet a set of minimum requirements for admission into an MBA program:
Undergraduate Degree - Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) - Work Experience
Essays, Recommendations, and Interviews - Specific Requirements for Online Business Degrees
Undergraduate Degree
Admission to most MBA programs is open only to students who have previously obtained a bachelor's degree in arts, sciences, engineering, or business administration from an accredited university. Admission to graduate school is based largely on undergraduate academic performance, including grade point average, membership to scholarly organizations, and recommendation letters from university instructors.
Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT)
A student's performance on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is oftentimes looked at as the most important part of the graduate school application. A high GMAT score has been correlated closely to the likelihood of a student's success in the first year of business school, which is why admissions officers weigh the score so heavily when judging an application. It is important that applicants take the test well ahead of any looming admissions deadlines, since it can take weeks or months for scores to become available.
Work Experience
Increasingly, online business degree programs and graduate universities are including students' previous career experience when judging the application packet. Many of those enrolling in MBA programs are coming from previous careers in investment banking, nonprofits, sales, engineering, consulting, auditing, or advertising, among other fields. Admissions officers are looking for students with the ability to manage others, and whose past careers show a track record of strong performance.
Essays, Recommendations, and Interviews
While often overlooked in the admissions requirements for business school, a student's performance on the personal statement (also known as the admissions essay) and interview—along with the quality of recommendations he or she has obtained from university professors or past employers—can have a large influence over his or her admission to a top-rated MBA program. With that said, it is important that students do not take this portion of the application packet lightly, and that they spend the days or weeks needed to formulate a top-notch, cohesive essay and thoroughly prepare for the admissions interview well ahead of time.
Specific Requirements for Online Business Degrees
For those who may be interested in obtaining a business degree online or part-time, an increasing number of universities are offering MBA courses that students can take from the privacy of their own home computers. Although most online universities require similar admissions standards as brick and mortar schools, it is important that students check with the online MBA programs they are most interested in to find out specific admissions requirements directly.
