Teach for America applicant

[TFAApp]

I'm a Fall 2009 hopeful with some questions in regards to some of my experiences. I'm a female Teach for America alumni that's currently working as a management consultant. I'm looking to get into strategy consulting after business school.

Several b-schools, Wharton, Chicago, MIT, Stanford, and Yale, are offering sizeable (40-50k) scholarships for Teach for America alumni for the Fall of 09. I'm really interested in trying for some of these schools, but I'm not sure at what point my effort just turns into too many applications to schools that I may not have a chance at. My interest in these schools is not only because they are top 10 schools, but they also value the TFA experience enough to recognize it as an asset instead of a hurdle.

I'm also interested in Georgetown, UCLA, and Carnegie Mellon for other reasons. As much as I'd love to apply to them all, I need to consider the time, money and effort invested not only for me, but my recommenders. And ALL of these are "reach" schools!

I hear that MIT did not have any TFA applicants last year and was unable to even give the scholarship. Would this increase my chances there at all? You have also mentioned in this forum that schools such as Yale and Harvard do raise an eyebrow at nonprofit experience, but is that interesting to them considering I'm looking at a consulting career after b-school? I feel like I'm a "non-traditional" yet still "traditional" applicant.

Profile

GMAT Expected score: 700-730 (Still studying every day!) Am scoring better in verbal on the practice exams

Management Consultant in Healthcare (at a large Management and Technology consulting company)-2 years
-worked primarily with hospitals for the first year and a half
-currently working as a contractor for the Navy in healthcare

Teach for America-Third grade teacher in inner city-2 years

International Business and Economics double major
Study abroad in Mexico
Internship abroad in Ireland
Three internships throughout college
Career Coach
Captain of Equestrian Team
Undergrad GPA: 3.1 (small, top 40 liberal arts school), 3.4 in final year

Future plans: Strategy Consulting (McKinsey, Boston, etc) I plan to live in the Northeast (DC, Philly, NYC), so my career would be based here as well (even though I'd be traveling).


So given my profile and other considerations, do you think I should narrow my focus? Do you think I should consider these scholarships to be a factor? It would cover 1/3 of the cost! Are some of them so far out of reach (or not appropriate for what I want to do) that I shouldn't apply? Your advice is very valuable to me! (though I will probably still apply to Wharton even if you recommend I don't--it's been my dream school since I was 16. Yes, I was thinking about business school at that age!) Thank you so much!

[MBAApply]

I think you may be underestimating yourself here with respect to b-school admissions.

You have the kind of profile that b-school adcoms love -- you have the TFA experience (a huge plus, you bring a different perspective on social policy, community development, etc. to the classroom blah blah blah) but you also have strong business experience (mgmt consulting) which shows that you aren't going to be out of place in any business school classroom or recruiting situation. You have the best of both worlds - a strong "traditional" profile (mgmt consultant) and the nontraditional experience (TFA) that adds diversity to a classroom.

I think you're competitive for all the school you mentioned to be honest. I wouldn't worry too much about wanting your career to be focused on the private sector (consulting) -- because if you were purely focused on wanting to do public service or nonprofit (especially in a less admin/fundraising and more an advocacy role), there would be less reason to go back to do an MBA in the first place.

Between Wharton, Chicago, MIT, HBS and Stanford -- pick 3-4; I'd probably go for Wharton, HBS, Stanford and MIT.

Between Yale, Georgetown, UCLA and Carnegie Mellon -- pick 1-2; I'd probably go for Yale and Georgetown (since you want to stay out east).

5-6 schools is about right - any more than that and you risk diluting your efforts across too many schools; any less than that and you put your eggs in too few baskets.

At this point, don't even worry about scholarships right now -- it's a huge bonus, but not something you should be hoping for from any top school. Especially when you're planning on going into a high paying job in consulting, money shouldn't be the issue.

Good luck!

Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com

[TFAApp]

Alex, thank you SO much! I really appreciate your feedback, it definitely gave me a confidence boost! I wasn't even sure about applying to Harvard, but now I'm going to go for it. Nothing to lose, right?

Back to GMAT studying...now I have even more incentive to get a top score!

[MBAApply]

By all means go for it. Depending on your GMAT score, you are one of those few people who may actually have a slightly better chance at HBS than Wharton (HBS is more forgiving of folks with a lesser quant background if they have interpersonal skills/leadership potential that is stronger than most applicants).

I have a lot of respect for what TFA does; actually saw Wendy Kopp's interview on Charlie Rose last week.

Anyhow, good luck on the GMAT

Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com

[JaimeB14]

TFAApp how did you do in your applications?

I have a similar profile to you including TFA, and GPA.

Would you mind if I asked you questions about your experience?

Thank you for your time.