Mr. Environmental Sustainability

You have the raw stats to get in. The question is whether the nonprofit you are working for has the kind of prestige that a Yale SOM acceptance would warrant. I am going to assume it does because you refer to your involvement “in the construction of a new building on our campus and producing some of the associated sustainability material.” You also sound like you belong at Yale, given your background and your goal to land a “non-profit leadership role where I can influence environmental action.” That said, Yale SOM turns down 75% of the applicants who apply to its MBA program and the admissions team is likely to see a good number of candidates with similar profiles. So it comes down to this: Will they like you as much or more than other candidates with non-profit backgrounds.

Hi Mr Environmental Sustainability! This is Talon Rindels, Sr. Admission Consultant for The MBA Exchange and fellow bass fisher(wo)man! You and my brother should talk, as he has more bass trophies than I can count and started collecting them back in high school as well. For you, admission to Yale or any other school on your list isn’t about the numbers at all (as you’ve got them); it’s about how you tell your story. It seems as though you’ll be able to communicate your passion for your goal quite well given your environmental work/outdoors nature, so I’m not worried about your authenticity there. I think the key for you will be in articulating how your work experience makes you the candidate they want in their program. I can’t tell from your profile what your scope of impact is or whether you manage people, but you’ll have to help adcom understand it and how you will use it to make an impact to their community as a student. Overall, I think you have a decent shot, but will definitely want more eyes than just yours on your essays and support with interview prep!

Hello Mr. Environmental Sustainability! Krista Nannery from mbaMission here. Thanks for posting.

If we were doing a telephone consultation, I’d want to dive deep into your current work. What does a Facilities IT & Energy Coordinator do? How many people do you manage? How big is your budget? How big/important is this NGO that you work for? B-schools want to make sure that you have an interesting perspective to add to the class. It can help to have some good brands on your resume that AdComs know, and important work that b-schools understand.

Then, I would want to understand your goals a bit more. How is your post-MBA short-term goal different from what you are doing now? Why do you need an MBA to to get a leadership role with an environmentally-focused non-profit? The delta between where you are today and where you want to be post-MBA needs to be really clear to me. (The consulting goal in the ST might provide a smoother path.)

Lastly, you have about 3 years of full-time work experience. You may find this an easier process if you wait a year to apply. That’s not to say you won’t be successful now, but I generally find that the top schools appreciate a little more seasoning.

I hope that helps!

Hi, this is Melisa from Stratus Admissions. You seem to be closely aligned with Yale’s mission and focus, as are many others with community-minded (non-profit/NGO) career goals. So while you stats put you in a good place, you will need to tell a compelling story to stand out. The two areas on which to focus are work experience and goals. With the limited info provided, I would want to dig further on your leadership experience both professionally and personally. While you have highlighted your volunteer experience – I would want to hear about the impact you have made within these organizations. If your leadership experience is limited, you may want to consider spending another year working – giving you additional time to seek leadership opportunities and create positive impact. In addition to working on a stronger story for your short term goals, I would want to hear more about what do you want to do aspirationally in 20 years – and how does an MBA and your short term goal help prepare you for the long term. The more specific and well thought out your goals are, the more compelling and memorable they will be. I think you will be more competitive at some of the other programs on your list – Darden and Georgetown. My assessment here is based on Yale. Best of luck and reach out if I can answer any more questions.