In terms of work experience, you have choices. You can lessen the amount of work experience by doing something well known to the schools, such as a 2 year stint as an Ibanker/hedgefund/PE etc., or you can try to work your way up the corporate ladder and try to gain meaningful experience as you do it, although this process obviously takes a lot longer. Regardless of the route, work experience is considered a vital part of the application. Particularly with our volatile market, many MBA programs are looking for students that will be employable afterwards, not simply how well they will do in the program. Hence, it's easier to assume that an individual with a background in PE might be more employable for an MBA market than say someone with work experience in a less finance/MBA related field (as always, there are exceptions).
Yes, I do. Basically there are three paths to becoming an air traffic controller: (1) You have prior experience, (2) You have military or relevant work experience or (3) You complete an Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) Program. I'm currently enrolled in an AT-CTI program in this area but the good news is there are different institutions that offer such programs all over the country. I'm sure there's one in the Houston area that you could look into.
