Am I the cookie-cutter B-school applicant?

Denzera
Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:01:58 +0000

Not to bump an old thread, but: “International” experience seems to count for a lot at the very top business schools, particularly HBS, Wharton and Stanford. Not whether you are an international citizen yourself but whether you have worked or spent substantial time abroad, and thus show yourself willing to have an open mind on other cultures, business practices, etc. It shows that you can succeed in an arbitrary and/or unfamiliar environment.

So in that light, it may be that working for international nonprofits is a very good career option for you. After 1 or 2 years there, an MBA would “make sense”, and you would have a much easier time explaining a compelling reason why an MBA makes sense for you right then than you do now. Perhaps you want to get back into finance or change into consulting. Perhaps you want to learn the general business principles that can help you run a nonprofit better. Whatever it is, though, if you’re as passionate about working at those nonprofits as you sound, it would probably be a good thing for you, both personally and for MBA admissions.