Hi,

I am a engineering grad of 2009 from India. I am looking forward to doing my MBA, and I am really interested in getting into a Bschool in abroad, particularly some of the top 15 Bschools in the US or Europe. And having graduated in 2009, I don't have work ex.

I have gone through websites of HBS, Wharton and Sloan. And contacted them sometime back. What I have found out is that they don't really emphasis on work exp. They say that you could otherwise put forward your experiences that makes you think you can study in their school.

During my university, I have been very involved in IEEE and i was the IEEE student vice president for the state. Have coordinated a lot of activities and coordinated over 40 student branches. Plus, I have also along with my twin, founded a youth movement against climate change called GreenDream (GD), which is now a State wide movement and youth network. Forming the GD, I have experience in networking with people over the state, marketting and brand building of GD, strategic action planning of the network, and conceptulisation of the organization. Due to this, i have been also selected to go to Portugal for an international youth climate summit, as an Indian delegate.

Other than this, my academics are pretty good, and also i am actively involved in Robotics competitions.

with all this extra curricular experience, do you think I stand a chance in the ivy schools or other top Bschools?

thnx a lot for your time. i am confused, because applications to each of the colleges are also very expensive!

Looking forward to your replies!

Cheers
Arun Raj

You're right, those programs don't exactly require work experience, but having it significantly improves your chances of being accepted. If you look at the average number of years work experience accepted students have, it's usually at least two. They only accept people without work experience under very rare circumstances.

It sounds like you have some decent extra curriculars, and those are going to be important in your applications. Make sure you emphasize any business knowledge you've gained from those experiences.

You're really going to have to sell yourself and what you can offer. Usually, the goal of an MBA program is to advance professionally, and since you have no professional experience, this is going to be a hard sell.

Also, a strong GMAT score will help your chances significantly.