2019.02.12MBA ツアーに参加して　～MBA留学のポイント～

One of the most popular majors for clients looking to continue their education abroad at Ryugaku Journal has been the MBA. Their reasons range from wanting to get a head start on the competition by getting it straight out of undergraduate or unsatisfied with their current job, they want to work towards different career options. At the end of last year, I had the opportunity to participate in the annual MBA tour where business colleges send representatives to appeal to prospective students about why their program is the best. I could learn some of the ins and outs of choosing and applying for MBA programs and I want to tell you about a couple of the more important things I discovered.

A commonality among all the MBA presentations I sat through was that work experience is highly valued and expected among prospective candidates. MBA programs are very collaborative and sharing information from previous experiences is a large part of it. Therefore, someone without or with little professional work experience may not be able to keep up with the content or contribute as much. While many of the programs require at least two years of professional experience, the actual average among students was five years. However, if you do not have work experience that does not mean there are no options for you but the programs that do not require experience may not be up in the high ranks with the rest of the MBA programs.

One thing that really left an impact came from an admissions officer from the University of Southern California. He described the three questions he uses to decide on whether to admit a prospective student to their MBA program. The first was whether the student will be academically successful, meaning does their GPA and GMAT/GRE demonstrate their ability do well in the program. The second was whether the applicant will have a successful career in the next 30 years, meaning do they have a goal, a plan, passion and motivation. These can all and should be demonstrated in your admissions essay. The last was whether they can contribute inside and outside of class or, as he said it, likability. It really comes down to how well you communicate and work with others. You can give evidence of this in your essay and resume and if you have the opportunity, in an interview.

I thought these things could be applicable when applying to any MBA program and if you are considering pursing it, I recommend asking these about yourself before preparing your application.