Your Odds Of Getting Into A Great School

Mr. Missionary

770 GMAT (51Q, 46V)
3.9 GPA
Undergraduate degree in math from State University in the Rockies
Work experience includes two years of missionary work in China, three years in the U.S. and now three more years in China; currently on a multi-national leadership team overseeing more than 100 staffers
“Things I’ve had to do as part of my job: conference program director, speaker at university fellowship meetings (100+ students), fundraising, ethnographic research in villages, earthquake relief coordinator
“I think the values that served me well here–integrity, teamwork, servant leadership, and cultural understanding–will serve me well in the corporate world. I love leading others and get more excited about their excellent work and creative ideas than I do my own”
Goals: To transition from the mission field to marketplace, preferably in a management position at a non-financial services corporation, preferably technology related
29-year-old white male, married with a daughter

Odds of Success:

Stanford: 20% to 35%

Harvard: 30% to 45%

Northwestern: 50+%

Columbia: 50+%

Dartmouth: 50+%

Virginia: 60+%

Sandy’s Analysis: Well a 770 GMAT and 3.9 GPA in math (even at regional university) might open a lot of doors. A good deal will depend on how you talk about your missionary work as a basis for applying to B-school and relate it to your goals. To some degree, it also matters whom you are a missionary for. If this is some old-line Christian Episcopal service with a long history in China, that could help. LDS (da’ Mormons) is also well recognized as a feeder church to business schools, but your work does not sound like that.

You also seem to have a good deal of leadership within the ‘corporate’ structure of your church [“conference program director, speaker at university fellowship meetings (100+ students), fundraising, ethnographic research in villages, earthquake relief coordinator”], which is also good. The tone of your post is also savvy about what you know and do not know, so this is shaping up to be a tight and in-synch package for schools like Stanford which like humility (authentic is nice, but any kind works over there, and you seem authentic).

The real issue is exploring your motives for MBA. You say: “want to use MBA to transition from mission field to marketplace. I think the values that served me well here–integrity, teamwork, servant leadership, and cultural understanding–will serve me well in the corporate world.” That’s the right idea, although it does not close the deal.

You add, “I love leading others and get more excited about their excellent work and creative ideas than I do my own.” Hmmmm, that might be taking the humility shtick a step too far, but also the right idea. OK, here come’s your closer: “After graduating from business school, I would like to be in management at a non-financial services corporation, preferably tech-related.” That could work, but I would not select it that way. “Non-financial services . . .” is a wrong touch, as if there is something evil about that (well, there is, but . . . it is a convention of this ecosystem that you cannot hint at that, let alone say it).

Try to say what kind of impact you want to have, what companies and leaders you admire, and why, and if possible, how your own work links up to that. Oddly, you are similar to military applicants, who often have to project goals after spending five or more years doing something unrelated to any obvious private business. Like military guys, I would think about using consulting as a gateway experience, to learn about different industries, and then combine that with your language skills and knowledge of Asia to project a career that grows out of that, sure, with leadership in the mix. That could be either remaining in consulting, helping Asian companies expand to U.S. markets, or vice versa, or working with U.S. tech firms with interests in Asia. Try to find some leaders who do that, and cite them as role models.

Mr. Missionary

Handicapping Your MBA Odds–The Entire Series