WHY ALL GOOD MBA PROGRAMS HAVE AN “EXPERIENCE” REQUIREMENT RULE

When I was about 10 years old, there was a kid who lived down the street from me named Bill Gardner. I think in modern day parlance, Bill would be called a “geek” or a “nerd”. Back in my day though, he was just “a little strange”. But quite by accident, Bill taught me an important lesson about rules and authority that I still use today. Here’s how it started.

I wanted a new bike and approached my parents to “negotiate” the purchase. I thought I had just the argument that would win them over. So when Roscoe, my father said, “No new bike now and no new bike anytime in the near future – new house rule,” (and by the way, he and Lois, my mother, exchanged satisfied looks of complete agreement while he was saying this), I brought out what I thought would be my ace and said, “Well, almost everybody I know has a new bike.”

Instead of our piling in the car and heading to the bike shop, my father looked at me sternly and said, “Well, you’re not everybody, mister.” I started back to my bedroom with my tail between my legs, completely deflated and I just looked back at the two of them and said, “You know, Bill Gardner has a new bike.” In an instant, I saw my parents exchange a glance of discomfort and hesitation and I realized immediately (as only a 10 year old can) that I had struck a nerve. “Yeah, he rode it to school and parked it right next to my piece of junk bike. You guys probably have never been embarrassed by somebody like Bill Gardner.” I won’t bore you with all the lurid details, but safe to say, I had a new bike later that afternoon and a new arrow in my quiver to question rules. I decided that rules need reasons but those reasons are certainly open to question.

Hardly a day goes by that I don’t receive one or more queries about our MBA experience “rule”. The rule is simply this: entrance to our MBA program requires 3 years of post-baccalaureate business experience. Here are the reasons for the rule. First, it turns out that the most important attribute to students in MBA programs is not the professors, not the perceived quality of the school, not the curriculum but rather the quality of the students in the program. One of the key components of student quality is (you’ll never guess) – business experience. Second (and this goes along with the first reason), the MBA is an applied degree, i.e., while there is a theoretical foundation, maximum benefit accrues to someone with an experience base (i.e., management experience). And lastly, for those who think that the argument “No other MBA programs have experience requirements,” holds water, I would challenge you to find any quality MBA program without an experience requirement.

About a month ago I was talking to my mother (my father passed away about one year ago) about her staying with me in Houston this winter where it’s a little milder than in Illinois where she lives. She politely declined this year saying the trip was too difficult for her. “But, mom, almost all of my friends in Houston have their parents visit them in the winter. You want me to be the only one without parental visitation?” My mother didn’t miss a beat and replied, “Well let me know if Bill Gardner’s parents visit him this winter.”

And here I thought all these years that I was the only one who had learned something from the Bill Gardner angle…..