720 GMAT, 3.7 GPA, Unique Work History

[TylerS809]

I'm hoping for general feedback on which schools would be considered to be in my range. Here are the basics:

Undergrad:
University of California, Berkeley
GPA: 3.7
Major: History (graduated with honors)

Gmat:
720 (Q46, V44, IR 7, no AWA grade yet)

Work Experience:
4.5 years at an international non-profit as program staff
Solid history of career progression and promotion
A lot of independence and responsibility: international travel, frequently represent the organization abroad and broker partnerships with other organizations
Only major quant element is responsibility for financial management of programs

Recommendations:
Can secure strong recommendations from current and former supervisors

Quant background:
Have not taken any math class since passing the AP calculus test in high school....
Will take statistics before applications are sent it. Will likely also enroll in an economics or calculus course that will be in process as the applications are being sent in

Community Involvement: (definitely the weakest part of my application. very open to suggestions for improving it before applications are due)
Registered volunteer at community garden servicing underprivileged communities (have only done this since June 2014)
Have raised money for two charities for a 5k run and a marathon
Active in student government in college
Member of a fraternity in college
Member of the Human Rights Campaign
I am a regular blood/platelet donor....definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel here
Team captain of work softball team....even worse scraping

White male interested in applying to Haas, Anderson, and Yale SOM. Potential backups are UNC, Emory, and Cornell. Very interested to hear thoughts on which of these may or may not be within my reach. Thanks for reading!

[mbamissionjenK]

Hi there,

Thanks for posting, I enjoyed reading your profile.

The following strengths stand out to me:

-strong GMAT & GPA
-solid work experience in non-profit; also matches well with schools you've mentioned
-international experience is always a plus
-as you described, progression in responsibilities etc is a plus

Potential challenges:
-as you describe, less community involvement than some
-a bit less quant experience, but honestly the GMAT quant is pretty solid for a history major ;)

I think your school list is appropriate, and with strong essays and a good story for:
-what you'll bring to the program
-why you want the MBA and why now
-what you'll do after (career goals etc)
-why each school is a great fit

and good recs/ interview etc, I'd hope for good chances.

Let us know if you have any further q's and good luck!

[TylerS809]

Thanks so much for your response!

Since taking the GMAT I've been reading a lot online and in the mbaMissions guide about the rest of the process, so I've just been coming to realize how important your "story" is. The why, the why now, and the what after. I realize now that I have a lot of work to put in on this.

I do have a couple of follow-up qs:

My GPA was dragged down by a B- and a few Bs in Arabic classes, which were really difficult for me. Is this worth mentioning at some point in the application?

Haas is my real target, though I do still have some soul-searching to do on this. Given its incredibly small student body and emphasis on quant, is Haas the biggest stretch for me out of all of these?

Thanks again. I'll keep updating this as things progress since hopefully it will be useful to others that are similar to me.

[TylerS809]

I've given this some considerable additional thought and have also written a little more detail on my work experience.

Work experience:
I am program staff for an international non-profit that among other things offers best practice consulting to political parties and NGOs in other countries, often connecting them with American and international experts in topics such as political campaigning, advocacy, organizational management etc. Essentially it can be thought of as pro-bono consulting for organizations in developing countries.

My specific role is quite varied in that I secure us funding through proposal writing and meet with funders, manage the financial aspects of the programs ensure we are compliant with our grants, and also execute the program, which not the norm at my organization. I travel frequently and have visited 7 countries now over the course of countless trips, establishing and managing partnerships with other organizations and subgrantees, carrying out workshops, building relationships with recipients of our assistance, negotiating with vendors etc. A huge part of my job is also the conceptual planning of the program, both in terms of operations and management and in terms of the substance of the educational programming we provide.

Why an MBA and What After?
My organization is great, but you can risk becoming a generalist after too long. I crave learning more concrete skills that I could use to catalyze a career change, while still drawing on my wealth of international experience. As far as how this would work with an MBA, I am interested in doing a global management or consulting focus that will allow me work for a time in the private sector with the goal of working for an international consulting firm for companies and non-profits globally. Long term goal I'm very interested in the idea of taking my eventual private sector experience and bringing it to bear on the non-profit world. Even though I have a non-business background on paper, I think a lot of my incredibly varied experiences have prepared me well for this, particularly as I have a lot of experience managing staff and working with co-workers from diverse backgrounds.

[mbamissionjenK]

Hi there,

Thanks for the additional insight, and I believe that will help you as you get started on the brainstorming portion for your essays and such; yes your 'story' can make a big impact in the ultimate admissions decision, sure thing!

Yes of the schools you mentioned Haas will be the toughest. But not entirely out of reach-- again your essays, recs and interview would come into play, as would how you stack up against others. Having gone there for undergrad is a small plus and you can speak to what you know and love about the university.

I would not worry about B's or anything with having a 3.7-- above averages at most top programs.

If you would like to speak more in-depth at any point btw, we do offer a free 30 minute consultation option, at http://www.mbamission.com/consult/. And/or you're welcome to post back here too. Good luck!

[TylerS809]

Thanks so much for your reply again.

Given your feedback and some feedback I received in another forum, I think I will add Stanford as another reach school. I'm currently working on honing my career goals a little more and actually already have a consultation set up with MBAmission for next week.

Thanks again!

[mbamissionjenK]

Sure thing, glad you've got a consultation set up and let us know if you have any q's!