Handicapping: Mrs. Marlboro, Ms. Social Sector, Ms. Think Tank, Mr. Military, Mr. 2+2, Mr. PE Bound, Mr. Peace Corps

Mr. Peace Corps

• 168Q, 165V, 5A GRE
• 3.89 GPA
• Undergraduate degree in finance from honors business program at Indiana University
• Work experience includes two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Balkans, working on local economic development, andthree years prior at Barclays Bank in New York in equity research, with a promotion from analyst to assistance vice president; worked on team ranked high by Institutional Investor
• Extracurricular involvement helping to manage the student-run investment portfolio; selected by alumni board as stock pick winner; leadership roles in business fraternity, and supplemental instructor for introductory econ
• Goal: To launch a successful career in development, making a positive impact on the world.
• “I’m interested in impacting social change by empowering private market actors. Looking to leverage my skill set in financial analysis and interest in the global financial and economic markets with passion for helping others. Dream job would be to work for the International
• Financial Corporation or other multinational organization (USAID, World Bank), or a large foundation (Gates Foundation)”
• White American male (age 28 at matriculation)

Odds of Success:

Harvard: 20%

Stanford: 10%

Wharton: 20% to 30%

UCLA: 30%+

NYU: 30%+

Duke: 30%+

Georgetown: 30% to 40%

Sandy’s Analysis: Real solid, all around. The only issue might be how long you have spent working for the Devil. That is OK for a while (two years) but you might be four years in by the time you matriculate.

It would help if your commitment to development had some continuity beyond the Peace Corps. There is a real type of applicant: Peace Corps, Job 2, and then B-school.

The issue is whether you can present as gold or a silver version of that. Your three or four years at Barclays in Equity Research with no other do-gooder jive for the past three years could be read as silver.

Still, HBS takes kids like you (discounting goals and just responding to solid stats and jobs). Sometimes, so does Wharton. This ain’t smelling like Stanford. It you take out the Peace Corps, you got not much but a smart white guy in finance with a silver not gold job.

Sorry for the tough love, but that is way I read it. Kids can get jobs with IFC pre-B school, and those kids are more likely to tell a compelling version of this story.