01/05/2008 | Newsletters, MBA Admissions

QS TopMBA expert chat with RSM Erasmus University

Our series of online chats featuring experts from the world�s top business schools continues this month with Kirt Wood from RSM Erasmus University in the Netherlands. An expert on the MBA admissions process, Kirt answered questions on a range of topics from how to get into a top business school, the advantages or disadvantages of distance learning and the benefits of studying an MBA or EMBA abroad.

Kirt Wood joined the RSM Erasmus University as the Director of Marketing & Admissions, MBA Programs in 2006. He has spent 17 years working with institutions of higher learning in the US, Asia, and France in a variety of capacities: as student services coordinator, teacher, director of studies, development manager, and director. His years at UC Berkeley set the stage for a lifetime dedicated to quality education, diversity in a learning environment and personalized counselling. Kirt holds a Masters degree in Consulting in Education from Paris V, Rene Descartes - La Sorbonne, an RSA Cambridge teaching credential and completed his bachelor degree at U.C. Davis in International Relations. Kirt, his French wife and three year old daughter truly enjoy living in the Netherlands and spend as much time as possible on bicycles!

Kirt Wood: kwood@rsm.nl

Q: Is it possible to do MBA without work experience?

A: The MBA degree is quite unique as far as business degrees go. An MBA is a post-experience degree in general management designed to help those, post-bachelors who have had some, and often significant, work experience to gain knowledge and skills and reinsert themselves into the working world with a greater level of responsibility. Without work experience, the MBA will have a lesser impact on your professional progression and additionally, you will have little experience to bring to the others within your MBA class. Hurrying through and doing your MBA may not be the best way for you to achieve your "long-term" professional objectives. Work experience, in short, is essential if you wish to undertake a leading world MBA program.

Q: What are the requirements if I want to get a scholarship?

A: I recommend you visit our scholarships website at www.financeyourmba.com. Here you will find all of the requirements for our various scholarships articulated. Also the QS Scorecard website contains access to several international scholarships.

Q: I am from India. I have four years of work experience and am interested in pursuing an MBA. Can you please advise if it will be more beneficial to go for a two year full time course or a one year Executive MBA, considering my kind of profile?

A: An executive is defined more by the quality of their work experience than the length. Four years of work experience will likely put you into a full-time MBA category. However, this can only be accurately understood by submitting your CV and permitting my admissions team to evaluate your professional situation. Additionally, they often have significant managerial experience. Our EMBA's have an average of nine years of professional experience.

Q: I want to know which is the best for international students: full-time or Executive MBAs?

A: I don't think these two things are mutually exclusive. International students do both Executive and full-time MBA programs. If you seek career progression that is international in scope, I recommend seeking an internationally focused MBA program. RSM certainly is. The full-time international MBA program is ideal for those who wish to take a break in their early professional career, focus on leadership and key business skills and knowledge, re-insert into the professional arena at a higher level of responsibility and often, undergo a change in sector and function. Our Executive MBAs are required to be employed during their MBA programs. They are usually not attempting to make a career move outside of their current company. The focus on this program is for leadership and core business skills to enhance their job prospects internally.