Post Undergraduate: Job Experience or MBA

I am currently a sophomore at the College of William and Mary and planning to graduate a year early (Spring 2017) with a degree in Finance and concentration in Consulting. I am expecting to graduate with a 3.75+, but I have no internship experience or any relevant past work experience for that matter. Also, I have applied to several firms for finance internships this summer, but I have heard nothing back because I was fairly late in the application process for most of the firms. I have been trying to make a decision on whether it would be better to try and get a job right after my undergrad to get some experience or to go straight into my MBA. I would prefer to work in management consulting, but I am open to working in other areas as well. Any suggestions?

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Best Response

You have very little chance of getting into a good MBA program straight out of undergrad with no work experience.

Your options are as follows: 1. Work for 2-5 years and then apply for an MBA program. 2. You can get a specialized degree like an MSF. MSF programs don't require as much work experience from students (must have 1 years' of full time experience tops), but many MSF students do have past internship experience. I should note that MSF is not very relevant to management consulting.

You should work hard to get an internship this upcoming summer. It doesn't have to be something prestigious; just get whatever you can. Scour LinkedIn and your school's alumni database and start emailing alumni. Cold calling is also a good idea. It's certainly not too late to land a position.

 

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