Your Chances Of Getting In

Mr. Teach For America

670 GMAT (Q40, V41), AWA 5.5, IR 6 (plan on retaking)
3.1 GPA
Undergraduate degree in economics from Morehouse College
Work experience as a Teach for America Corps member, teaching pre-algebra and algebra
Extracurricular involvement in teaching ACT prep courses at the local rec center, assistant coach for rec league basketball team (9th – 12th grade division)
Goal: “Would love to enter the consulting services industry, with the eventual goal of returning to the rural area where I could teach and service small businesses through consulting and starting an incubator. Would also love to use that experience to branch out into venture capital and micro-lending”
24-year-old African American male

Odds of Success:

Harvard: 10%

Virginia: 30%

Duke: 30%

UNC: 30% to 40%

Georgetown: 40%

Vanderbilt: 40%+

McCombs: 40%+

Sandy’s Analysis: HBS takes Teach For America kids, but they usually have better GPA and GMAT scores than you, especially your GPA. They also take applicants from Morehouse, but same deal, with better grades. Are you working with TFA now??? Stay employed, read what I said to the guys above you!

You say about goals: “enter the consulting services industry, with the eventual goal of returning to the rural area where I teach and servicing small businesses through consulting and starting an incubator. Would also love to use that experience to branch out into venture capital and micro-lending in the area as well.”

Hmmm, that is too many lifetimes in one goal statement. Consulting is always a solid choice to start out with but you need to refine that message and convince adcoms you have a basic understanding of the industry. I’m not sure saying you want to return to the rural area where you are teaching is buying you much and it sounds like you don’t have a sophisticated sense of how consulting works. Consulting offices are usually in urban areas, although consultants often work with companies on ‘developing or growing ‘businesses (the preferred jargon, you say ‘small’ and I know what you mean but you need to get this statement ship-shape and sound like you are, if not a player, someone who knows the basics).

Not sure that “consulting and starting an incubator” makes clear sense either and similarly, “branch[ing] out into venture capital and micro-lending in the area . . .” seems like a lot of do-gooder jargon thown into the mix without much understanding of how that goal develops out of your background. Try saying you want to build out on your economics background and focus as a consultant on areas such as:

Those links are from the McKinsey Website, Social Sector group, and you might follow them, and read the many articles there to get a feel for what consultants in those areas do. I would limit myself to that as a goal statement, and find role models in consulting and allude to them as well.

With a knowing goal statement, effective execution on the non-goal parts of the app, and solid recs, you are in the mix at your targets (outside HBS, which I don’t see happening)–Darden, Fuqua, UNC, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, McCombs, although with a 3.1 GPA, it will be a coin flip. Retaking the GMAT could really help.

A Consortium application is a real good idea. There is a lot to like in your story. Just make sure you get your goals more clear, limited and interesting.