illinois states on website that people with less than 3 years need gmat. So I guess they accept less than 3 years (although on requirements they say 3 years)

on the FAQ:
"No, the GMAT/GRE are not required for the iMBA program; however, submitting a test score is recommended for those with less than three years’ work experience."

It may be a long shot, but contact them and find out I guess :)

Some business schools in the US - Stanford included - regularly recruit candidates with less than 3 years of work experience. Do a bit of searching:

https://find-mba.com/search/result?keyword=&area=15&spec=&language=&program=&intake=&tuition=0;150000&duration=6;48&accredition=true&averageGmat=400;800&averageWorkExperience=2;3

In any case, assuming you'l still work until intake, you'll have closer to three years.

The bigger issue the way I see it is demonstrating that this has been verifiable, quality work experience. It's extremely hard to demonstrate a clear career arc with so little work experience. If you can do that, and can get solid letters of recommendation to back that story up, then that would help.

Your GMAT score will also be key.

This candidate would have to be very, very interesting to get into a valuable MBA: well above average on everything else. A specialised masters could be a good alternative.

This candidate would have to be very, very interesting to get into a valuable MBA: well above average on everything else. A specialised masters could be a good alternative, or an MBA at one of the Yale or MIT partner schools, followed by a year at either of those.

That's a bit disheartening. Perhaps I'll look into specialized masters programs, but I was really looking at MBAs...

I'm sure you can get into some MBA but, because most schools will look for twice as much work experience, you have the choice of a master at a great business school or an MBA at an average one.

Do you have any specific goals? There are specialized master's in a number of topics, from entrepreneurship to supply chain, marketing, etc.

My goal is to get a steady job. :)

Finance is very stable. Get a masters in finance.

Agreed that a specialized master's would probably be more realistic at this stage of your career. But you would need to focus your goals. The alternative would be to wait a couple more years, at which point you'd be more attractive for MBA programs.