Which MBA/graduate school plan is best? ?

Question

so my choices of schools so far are UCI or UCLA for my bachelor's degree. i would like to go to graduate school to get my MBA. i heard that if you apply to the school you graduated from, it is a little harder for you to get in? is it true? so is it a smart idea go to to UCI first, then apply for grad school at ucla, usc, and uci and others for my MBA? or should i just start off at at ucla/usc?

Answer 1

You can find schools that have good Bachelors programs and a 1 year MBA program after, for example Southern Illinois has a Computer Science / MBA program that when you finish your CS bachelors you can get your MBA in 1 year.

Hope that helps

Answer 2

I heard that it was the other way around, that its easier to get your graduate degree form the same univ as your undergrad. Having completed my Masters program last year, I can make two very important suggestions to you:

1) Go straight to grad school, DO NOT take time off becuase it's really hard to get on the band wagon after you are done with school. and...

2) Take an online program. You don't know what life has in store for you and you may take a job that requires you to travel or you may have to move, etc. Going to school online allows you the flexibility to stay in school and do your work on your schedule, not the schools.

Answer 3

What happens is that people often tend to apply to the same school where they just got their bachelors degree for their masters degree, so it is not that schools won't take their own graduates, but they tend to get so many applications from their own graduates that they accept a smaller percentage of them in order to diversify their student bodies.

This may be somewhat less of a problem with good MBA programs, though, because you can't go to UCLA or UCI until at least three years after you graduate.  By then, many students, including you, may have moved out of the area and may be applying elsewhere.  It is a bigger problem for programs like law schools where many people go right out of undergrad.

Answer 4

Any top MBA program will require that you work for 2-4 years before applying for the program, so your work experience will have a big impact on your chances of admission as well as other factors.  UCLA as other top schools take a number of students from their own UG program, but these programs strive for representation from all over (including internationally).  Do extremely well at UCI, get good internships, get a good job and then apply in a few years for a top MBA program.  I went to Columbia Business and have mentored applicants and students for 15 years.  

Answer 5

Not all schools penalize you for going there for undergrad when considering your MBA application. And not all "top" programs require you to work two or four years. All of this is misinformation.

If you are a great student and kill the GMAT you can probably go to graduate school anywhere you want regardless of where you did your undergraduate or your work experience.

I would suggest concentrating on one thing at a time. It doesn't hurt to have goals, but you should focus on getting your bachelor's degree first and do as well as you can (try to get a 4.0). Your goals may change and it would have been a shame for you to put all of this effort into an MBA.

I received an MBA from a "top school" only to decide I wanted to go to law school. While the MBA did help me get into a good law school, had I done well in my undergrad I would not have had to have the MBA.

Start off where-ever you want to and do as well as you can. Start thinking about the MBA the second semester of your junior year.

Good Luck!