Dear MBA-forum members,

Im a newcommer here and i would like to know if im eligible for an mba program. My profile is the following
-Msc Neuroscience (minor mathematics)
- 3 years of entrepreneurial experience in internet startups and mathematical modelling as a freelancer. I got NO managerial experience in a large company but i do have entrepreneurial experience.
- I've done a few business and financial courses on the university.

Since i got no managerial working experience would i be eligible for a top 100 ranking MBA program?

oops i forgot :)
If i will not be suitable for MBA-enrollment, what would the best way to get there?

A good place to start would be by taking a practice GMAT test, either using a CD in a GMAT book or by finding a GMAT preparation centre. That would give you an idea of how far to go. A few business schools, including Harvard, take a few exceptional students without MBAs. However, they need to have exceptional qualities and experiences in order to contribute as much as they benefit, and to be interesting to employers.

If you are a one-in-ten-thousand sort of star, then perhaps that will be enough. Otherwise, why not get more work experience and find some other business course to do, perhaps part-time? Then do the MBA when you are better able to make the most of it, and when you're more like the sort of person a b-school recruiter wants to hire?

Hi Duncan,

Thank you for your advice so far.

So entrepreneurial experience wont help as much as managerial experience?

There also are a lot of MBA-programs that don't require GMAT for students with academic degrees.
As for the working experience, its hard to gain managerial working experience beside running my own company.
Maybe an MBA is not the way to go for an self-employed/entrepreneur?

I think it really depends on the school. Normally, the top MBA programmes train people in their late 20s to take up senior roles as managers. There are some MBAs that focus on enterpreneurship, most famously Babson and Lyon (Who have a great joint programme http://www3.babson.edu/babson2ndgen/graduate/MS/GEP/). They don't have to consider what recruiters want. However, most business schools would find it really hard to place someone without real work experience (which also includes the experiences of being managed, and of managing others, and of team working).

The GMAT is an excellent predictor of success in the MBA. The GRE is very similar. Academic scores are less good. An MBA which did not use a test like the GMAT or GRE will have a rather uneven group of students, and that will be less attractive to good applicants and to good employers.