Ms. ED Reformer

You are a remarkably impressive candidate for Chicago Booth. Your background as a high school science teacher and head of a nonprofit certainly makes you a nontraditional MBA applicant, but one who would add incredible richness to a classroom discussion. With your two degrees–from a public Ivy, Michigan, and Johns Hopkins–you immediately stand out. Your 710 GMAT and 3.68 GPA in cell & molecular biology, clearly a rigorous and demanding major, checks the boxes on the basic stats for Booth. And your accomplishments as a teacher and executive director are in the “wow” category for delivering real impact and change. Booth should not only welcome you with open arms; you should be given considerable scholarship support. You list Booth as your target school, probably because you want to stay in Chicago. I would, however, urge you to apply to a wider range of schools, not only to hedge your big bet on Booth but also to maximize your chances of a full-ride or near full-ride on your MBA. As a former teacher and nonprofit leader, I can’t imagine you have a big bank account, and given your post-career goals, you may not get the kind of MBA salary that would allow you to easily pay back your loans. So I would urge you to also apply to Harvard, Kellogg, Michigan, Duke, and Darden. Once you do one MBA application, all the rest are so much easier. It’s worth the effort, largely because I think your chance of an admission at HBS is pretty good and Harvard has more scholarship money than any school.