About | Privacy Policy | Advertising| Editorial | Contact Us
Follow Us
Subscribe | Login
I’m on the investment team of a major non-profit that invests private and public equity in community organizations and other non-profit start-ups. I have always been driven to be involved in improving the lives of others and am fortunate to do so through both my career and extracurriculars.
Target School: Harvard
See More Profiles For: Harvard
Application Status: Open
Undergrad School: Dartmouth
Undergrad Major: Classical Studies & Economics (Double)
GPA: 3.25
GMAT: 740
Age: 25, Ethnicity: White
Extracurriculars: Leading a community outreach group
Title: Associate
Industry: Nonprofit / B-Corp
Company: Major NGO/NPO
Length of Employment: 3 yrs, 6 mos
I led multiple $10mm+ transactions that injected capital into communities and improved living conditions for thousands of Americans. I organized multiple volunteer events to connect young professionals to people in need in my city.
I eventually want to be an executive at a major impact investment fund or non-profit.
Join in! Click here to assess the odds of Mr. Non-Profit
grrrr, non-profit bien pensant white guys with a 740 and deep liberal arts major at Dartmouth get admitted to HBS and dinged depending on execution, luck and not blowing interview. In your case, those odds go down a bit b.c. of the lowish 3.25. HBS may just like guys very similar to you more. A good deal may depend on what they think of your non-profit in terms of impact, selectivity, brand, etc you say “a major non-profit,” does it send applicants to B schools every year? That is best predictor. You are kind of on the tipping point of several factors and beyond rep. of your non-profit, execution could count in your case more than in most. Make sure recs really sell you in …
grrrr, non-profit bien pensant white guys with a 740 and deep liberal arts major at Dartmouth get admitted to HBS and dinged depending on execution, luck and not blowing interview. In your case, those odds go down a bit b.c. of the lowish 3.25. HBS may just like guys very similar to you more. A good deal may depend on what they think of your non-profit in terms of impact, selectivity, brand, etc you say “a major non-profit,” does it send applicants to B schools every year? That is best predictor. You are kind of on the tipping point of several factors and beyond rep. of your non-profit, execution could count in your case more than in most. Make sure recs really sell you in powerful ways.
Many apologies, as it looks like my rating from my recent response did not go through. I had intended to submit a 10%, which would have gotten you to an average of 18.3% among the three expert reviewers. Thus, I’m submitting this higher rating to get your average where it should be with the “0%” it gave you on my previous response.
Hi Mr. Non-Profit! This is Talon Rindels, Sr. Admissions Consultant from The MBA Exchange. While I hope the others are right for your sake, I’m not feeling quite as optimistic as the others are, as that 3.25 will really work against you at a school like Harvard. Can your 740 GMAT, strong work experience/progression and extracurricular activity, compelling recommenders, and a solid interview make up for it? Absolutely! But, I can’t speak to your ability to package all of this up in a way that builds a compelling overall picture of your candidacy. At first blush, I think we may have a decent amount to work with, especially given that you seem to have true passion behind your current …
Hi Mr. Non-Profit! This is Talon Rindels, Sr. Admissions Consultant from The MBA Exchange. While I hope the others are right for your sake, I’m not feeling quite as optimistic as the others are, as that 3.25 will really work against you at a school like Harvard. Can your 740 GMAT, strong work experience/progression and extracurricular activity, compelling recommenders, and a solid interview make up for it? Absolutely! But, I can’t speak to your ability to package all of this up in a way that builds a compelling overall picture of your candidacy. At first blush, I think we may have a decent amount to work with, especially given that you seem to have true passion behind your current work and career goal (emotional behind your motivations typically make you seem more authentic), but we’d definitely need to understand more about your work in the community and progression at work relative to your peers. I think you are a candidate that could significantly benefit from working with an expert… your candidacy is so close to potential acceptance, but a qualified admissions consultant could help you to package it up in just the right way to stand out to adcoms at Harvard and any other top 10 school you’re interested in. Something to think about as we kick off the class of 2022 admissions season soon!
Hi, it’s Nisha at mbaMission. In order to assess the professional part of your profile I’d need to understand better the impact and progression you’ve made at the NGO (have you been promoted and/or received increasing responsibilities/compensation?), and how well it is known by business schools (though what you’ve done is more important than brand name, of course, and it sounds like you’ve led substantive transactions).
Your GMAT is solid, but I’m concerned that the 3.25 GPA will make things difficult for HBS where high GMATs and GPAs abound – you’ll want to explain what drove that in the optional essay, and hopefully, there was an upward trend during your time at college. In any case, definitely broaden your list of schools …
Your GMAT is solid, but I’m concerned that the 3.25 GPA will make things difficult for HBS where high GMATs and GPAs abound – you’ll want to explain what drove that in the optional essay, and hopefully, there was an upward trend during your time at college. In any case, definitely broaden your list of schools given HBS’s low acceptance rate. Yale is one example I’d consider.
I’m glad to see your extracurricular involvement – make sure to communicate the impact you’ve made with the community outreach group in your resume and application.
Regarding your career goals, I encourage you to think about these more deeply. When you say “executive at a major impact investment fund or non-profit” – what do you mean? What type of function would you like to perform, and what type of impact do you want to make in the future that an MBA would prepare you to do? Schools will want to know what your goals are, how they came to be, and how you plan to achieve them.
Hey Mr. Non-Profit – Susan Cera (Dartmouth ’89) here with Stratus. I think your experience in the non-profit space (much dependent on brand for HBS) will serve you well as will your above average GMAT. There isn’t a lot of material in the profile but perhaps there is more to your leadership and community involvement that you can showcase to demonstrate that you have a habit of leadership. What you noted feels somewhat work related so may not be super impressive. You will absolutely want to share some insights into your lower GPA. I think there are a number of other programs you might take a look at if you definitely want to get an MBA. But perhaps this is the year for you to shoot for …
Hey Mr. Non-Profit – Susan Cera (Dartmouth ’89) here with Stratus. I think your experience in the non-profit space (much dependent on brand for HBS) will serve you well as will your above average GMAT. There isn’t a lot of material in the profile but perhaps there is more to your leadership and community involvement that you can showcase to demonstrate that you have a habit of leadership. What you noted feels somewhat work related so may not be super impressive. You will absolutely want to share some insights into your lower GPA. I think there are a number of other programs you might take a look at if you definitely want to get an MBA. But perhaps this is the year for you to shoot for the stars and apply only to HBS. You might consider Yale SOM or Booth that both have strength in finance and social impact. All the best.
Hi Mr. Non-profit, Melisa here from Stratus Admissions. While you have a solid background (barring the GPA), you really need to make your application stand out to be successful at HBS. With over 10K applications, your story has to be very compelling – and while it sounds like you’ve got some great experiences – it is unclear if they will be enough to win over HBS. You need to build a compelling case as to why B school (and HBS in particular) is the right next step for you. And in order to do this, you need to be crystal clear on your goals. It feels like you’ve given a long term goal here – what do you see yourself doing post-MBA? In addition to building out where you want to be long term, you need to be more clear on where you want to be right after your MBA – maybe social sector consulting? This needs to be feasible and logical. I think a lot of the pieces are there, but with the limited information it is tough to piece them together. I also don’t love a 1 school application strategy. There are many schools that could help you and really value your non-profit experience – Yale, Haas and Tuck (you loved it once 🙂 jump to mind. I think your chances are just above the standard admission rate.
Submit My MBA Profile
Our Partner Sites: Poets&Quants for Execs | Poets&Quants for Undergrads | Tipping the Scales | We See Genius