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I am finishing my degree this year and I am interested in an MBA. However I have some questions.

First:

Will I need to retake courses in order to be able to study an MBA as a Computer Scientist?

Second:

Do I need work experience to begin studying an MBA? And if yes, should the work experience be business-oriented rather than software engineering for example?

Thanks in advance.

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There is usually no specific subject requirement for a MBA. However, MBA programs usually require a few years of work experience (on average candidates have 5+ years). Often you will also need to get a good score on the GMAT test. But this is stuff you can study on your own, you don't necessarily need to take any courses.

I would think if you were interested in an MBA then you would probably be pursuing more management related opportunities anyway. But these could certainly be obtained by starting in a software engineering role and working your way up. Obviously you are not going to get a management position fresh out of university, everyone needs to start somewhere.

The company you work for may even pay for your management training if they believe you have promise.

You can read about the requirements and admissions process at various top MBA schools:

Cambridge Judge Business School

Harvard Business School

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  • Thanks a lot, this has mostly answered my questions. However, coming fresh out of college, I have no real reference or facts to support this point. Do you think it is possible (working hard and trying) to reach a management related position coming starting as a programmer for example?
    – Felipe Sulser
    Jan 13, 2016 at 16:36
  • That should probably be a separate question.
    – indigochild
    Jan 13, 2016 at 16:50
  • @FelipeSulser, of course. Every company has management positions. If you started working in a software company as a programmer you could certainly move up from being a programmer to managing a team of programmers, and so on. This can happen surprisingly quickly in some cases. This is getting off topic for this SE, but companies will often have a career progression route for new hires. Ask about this during interviews.
    – atom44
    Jan 13, 2016 at 17:05
  • @FelipeSulser I work for a software firm. Many dev managers in my company have taken this path. They started out here as programmers, and worked their way up getting more responsibility until they moved into management. Some of them either took a break to go to business school full time, or went to night/weekend school to get their MBAs.
    – shoover
    Jan 13, 2016 at 18:26
  • @FelipeSulser Also be aware that some jobs specifically call out that they are looking to develop managers, especially in technology fields. I recently saw a job ad for Purina's IT division that was designed as a kind of "join as a programmer and over the next few years we'll train you for IT/manufacturing management". Some MBA's even focus on CS/IT, so the transition may be more direct: bus.wisc.edu/mba/academics-and-programs/specialized-program/…
    – BrianH
    Jan 13, 2016 at 19:56

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