Placement year and mba

I'm currently at uni studying econ at a UK semi target and want to do an mba as soon as possible, how many years of professional experience would you need to be competitive for MBAs at Oxford cam, lbs and would a placement year count towards this

Reply 1

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

Should be stated clearly on the MBA webpages. A requirement for 5 years of management experience is common, in which case a placement wouldn’t count.

Reply 2

BenRyan99

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by Oompaloopma264

You can simply look on their websites for the minimum work experience requirements. For LBS the minimum is 3yrs+, for Oxford and Cambridge it's 2+yrs. Although not explicitly stated, I've heard anecdotally that the work experience requirement is based on post-graduation work experience, so wouldn't include a placement year.

With respect to being a competitive candidate, this is a lot more about quality of work experience rather than quantity, together with strong performances in the GRE/GMAT tests and in the interviews.

Personally I think it's a bit wild to still be doing an undergrad and thinking about a possible degree you might be doing in 5yrs time or even longer. Would recommend just concentrating on your studies, getting good grades and securing strong internships and a good grad role. Then after a few years, if you think it would be beneficial and affordable (esp given camb = 64k, Ox = 79k and LBS = 110k currently plus the year or two you have to take off work), then start to think about, probably not worth thinking this far ahead right now.