Handicapping Your Odds of Getting In

Mr. Peace Corps

• 720 GMAT
• 3.63 Grade Point Average
• Undergraduate degree in finance from Miami University
• Work experience includes a year as a process consultant for a mid-sized regional firm in Chicago and two-plus years in the Peace Corps in Uganda where I founded a local fair trade social enterprise which was nominated as a Peace Corps Uganda success story of the year, founded micro-finance associations, co-founded vocational training center, micro-consulting
• Extracurricular involvement as chief editor of the Peace Corps newsletter in Uganda; a tutor for an African-heritage focused public school in the U.S. and for Sudanese Lost Boys
• Goal: Short-term is to be a strategic consultant; long-term is to establish a firm that provides seed investing and strategic/financial consulting for Sub-Sahara African startups
• 26-year-old white male

Odds of Success:

Stanford: 20% to 30%

Berkeley: 40% to 50%

Northwestern: 30% to 50%

UCLA: 50+%

Chicago: 30% to 40%

Sandy’s Analysis: Hmmmm, let’s call this a real solid Peace Corp career in Uganda with a 3.6 from a good school and a 720 GMAT. Stanford may not find that recherche enough, especially for a white male. I’d be interested if someone could spill out the Peace Corp cohort at Stanford, but my guess is, it’s part Ivy, it’s part minority, and it’s got lotsa anchor jobs (like McKinsey) in the mix (versus your “unanchor” gig at “mid-sized regional firm in Chicago,” which sounds like The Office was filmed there).

All that snark aside, you got a 15% to 20% chance there given what appear to be great works you performed in Uganda (are you still in Peace Corp now?), if you can spin that in some Stanford-y way. Chances at Haas, Kellogg and Anderson are solid, based on stats (3.6/720) alone. Throw Booth in the mix too, they love social enterprise jive. Well, who doesn’t?