Mr. Nonprofit-ish

Hey Mr. Non-Profit-ish, I’m Krista Nannery, a Senior Consultant at mbaMission and a Chicago Booth grad. Your stats are quite compelling which will help you in this process. With your non-profit background/focus, b-schools will want to know that you have the quantitative and academic chops to succeed. Now, I worked with someone just like you the year before last and our strategy was to take a very client-focused approach to the resume. Name the governments, the non-profits, and the companies you’ve consulted with where possible. (Obviously sometimes you can’t do that so in those cases, use leading descriptions instead.) Also, if you dealt with super-senior people within these organizations, make those things clear too.

It also sounds like you are an entrepreneur if you are running your own business. VERY interesting transition. In telling your story, make sure you clarify why you made this leap and showcase any successes you can. How small is a “small organization”? Is it financially successful? Who are your clients? To really sell this to the AdComs, make all these things clear.

My one question for you is…what will be the difference between your long-term goal and what you are doing today? Will b-schools wonder, “Wait, he already has that job!” If so, you may want to refine the long-term goal a bit. The burden will be on you to prove what’s different AND why you can’t do this today without an MBA.

Last thing…b-schools have a thing for college athletes, so if you were a full-time member of the swim team and getting great grades and winning student-athlete awards in the process, make sure that’s clear in your application(s) too!

Hi Mr. Nonprofit-ish, This is Donna Bauman with Stratus Admissions weighing in on your profile. You have some impressive stats—I think the key for you to be successful at Booth is specificity. It’s hard to get the full picture from your profile—but I’d want to know more about why you need the MBA now. How did your Master’s in Social Science fit in to your past? Booth has a more unstructured program so you need to understand where you are going to be successful there. I’d be very specific in researching the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation and understand what programs and resources there can help you. I could see you benefitting from participating in the Social New Venture Challenge (SNVC) so look into that. As a Kellogg alum, I can’t help but suggest that you also look there too. I think it comes down to fit and also it can be helpful to have a few viable options. No matter where you apply, share your biggest impact in the roles you have had to date. In starting to think about MBA programs now, you have the luxury of time to do some thoughtful introspection about the key skills you need to develop in an MBA program and you can then research how each program can best fill your gaps. I would be glad to talk to you further about how you can be best prepared to submit applications once the time comes. I agree with my other expert colleague that if you were a varsity swimmer in college (or even club swimming), note this in your application and list how many hours a week you trained. It makes your 3.8 even more impressive! Best wishes to you and let me know if you want to talk further by scheduling a free consult!