Handicapping Your MBA Odds: Mr. Big Data, Mr. IEEE, Ms. Government, Mr. Startup

Ms. Government

 

• 158Q, 159V GRE (plans to retake)
• 3.5 GPA
• Undergraduate degree from an “Ivy-like” university (think Duke)
• Work experience includes two years in Teach for America, with school leadership roles and teaching awards; two-plus years working in chief operating office of a large school district, with a promotion after the first year,
• One-year selective public policy fellowship in a city’s public housing agency, working with elected officials on a financial sustainability plan
• current management position, focus on strategic advisement
• Extracurricular involvement as a member of a junior board of a neighborhood youth development organization, volunteer in neighborhood group voting on local policies
• Goal: To transition into public sector consulting, with a longer-term goal to run a federal government program either in education or housing
• “I originally thought about an MPA but since I have ~3 years working in government I want a degree that will expose me to new ways of thinking and courses that can add other skills to my tool belt. I’ve considered Harvard’s Kennedy School but not sure I can afford three years of graduate school and think my public policy fellowship was enough in this area”
• 25-year-old white female, first-generation college student (parents did not finish high school)

Odds of Success:

Harvard: 20% to 30%

Yale: 30%+

Northwestern: 30%+

Michigan: 40%+

Columbia: 30%+

NYU: 40%+

Sandy’s Analysis: Grrr. As you sense, this is a real strong Kennedy School MPA application and given the choice between getting an MPA from Kennedy or an MBA from Michigan or NYU, I would go with Harvard unless your real dream is flip into investment banking and make millions, or any variant of that.

Lots of Kennedy school kids also wind up at McKinsey So that is something else to think about. Your ‘problem’ is not your GPA. It’s that your resume does not clearly lead to business school, and no amount of your yelling in the app is going to change an adcom’s mind. They may admit you anyway because they like you and with a better GRE score, you might have OK stats for them.

I’m not seeing this as HBS, although I could be wrong. They take one to four kids a year with similar TFA + 1 and 2 more experiences, although those kids are often golden children with rock solid GPA/GMAT scores, TFA and maybe one more job as the right hand person to the Secretary of HEW etc.

On the other hand, you are certainly in the trenches, and they may respect that. I believe (someone confirm) that you can apply to dual HBS-HKS program and get admitted to HKS and dinged at HBS, soooo, you should do that. If dinged at HBS, think real hard about HKS.

I’m a huge believer (shocking, I know) in branding. Going to Harvard in any legitimate capacity is life changing, even the flipping Education School. HKS is a wonderful license to hustle, as I have noted in the past. There is an X factor: The chances of meeting new, important, life-changing people is way higher in the HKS eco-system, although this is hard to put a number on, and a good deal of that happening depends on what kind of person you are and what your interests are. You may get into the other MBA programs you note, lots to like here.

An elevated GRE score would make life easier for everyone.

Do a less screamy and more substantive and quiet job about why you want the MBA, allude to education and other government figures with. MBAs and say they are role models.