Hi All,
I was hoping you could gauge where I would stand in a Harvard 2+2 admissions pool. I don't have a typical college experience. It could never hurt to try, but if this is completely out of my league I would like to know so please be straight forward.
Performed poorly in high school. Attended branch campus of well known university, but withdrew from the entire semester. Came back home, attended local community college for 2 years, only received a 3.7 (didn't earn an associate degree, just took classes to transfer). Was accepted to main campus of the previous well known university branch campus I attended. Now currently at main campus.
- Dual degree program earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with majors in Accounting & Finance and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics
- Cumulative GPA of 3.98 (almost all upper level classes because I completed most pre-reqs and generals at the community college)
- 720 GMAT
- Started a charitable foundation and raised $50,000 to help high-performing students who would otherwise struggle to pay tuition transfer from 2 year schools to 4 year programs
- President of Accounting and Finance Honors Society (includes community service and peer tutoring)
- President and co-founder of Investment Banking Club (placed numerous members on Wall Street, includes community service to promote social responsibility and strong morals among members)
- Outstanding Student Leader Nominee
- Letter of recommendation from HBS alum who taught me in two MBA classes (took MBA classes as an undergrad)
- Letter of recommendation from Dean of undergraduate business school
- CFA Investment Research Challenge participant
- Investment Banking Summer Analyst in New York
- Plan to work in New York prior to HBS attendance
- One year of study left
- Caucasian male
Would my poor performance in high school and community college hinder me too much, or would I be able to spin it into a comeback story (do they ever even take those type of situations into account)? Honestly I believe I've always had the potential, but I had no direction. I admittedly wasn't ready to leave home for college. When I realized this I withdrew from the branch campus and enrolled at the community college. I still wasn't sure of where I wanted to be, but once I figured it out I was set. I've never been more driven and ambitious.
Investment banking is less of an "end" and more of a "means to an end." I was a tutor at the community college where I witnessed a lot of kids with so much potential settle for associate degrees because they didn't think they could afford four year degrees. This was the motivation for my charity. I would really like to take the charitable foundation I started (currently set up through a donor-advised fund) and transform it into a full blown non-profit. That's where HBS would come into play, and why I would prefer to do the 2+2 program to enroll as soon as possible and get the ball rolling.
If I include this back story, how much I learned on a personal level through my community college experience, and how I came to be where I am in my essays, would I be considered competitive? Or should I focus my efforts elsewhere?
Thank you for any opinions or advice you can offer.
I was hoping you could gauge where I would stand in a Harvard 2+2 admissions pool. I don't have a typical college experience. It could never hurt to try, but if this is completely out of my league I would like to know so please be straight forward.
Performed poorly in high school. Attended branch campus of well known university, but withdrew from the entire semester. Came back home, attended local community college for 2 years, only received a 3.7 (didn't earn an associate degree, just took classes to transfer). Was accepted to main campus of the previous well known university branch campus I attended. Now currently at main campus.
- Dual degree program earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with majors in Accounting & Finance and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics
- Cumulative GPA of 3.98 (almost all upper level classes because I completed most pre-reqs and generals at the community college)
- 720 GMAT
- Started a charitable foundation and raised $50,000 to help high-performing students who would otherwise struggle to pay tuition transfer from 2 year schools to 4 year programs
- President of Accounting and Finance Honors Society (includes community service and peer tutoring)
- President and co-founder of Investment Banking Club (placed numerous members on Wall Street, includes community service to promote social responsibility and strong morals among members)
- Outstanding Student Leader Nominee
- Letter of recommendation from HBS alum who taught me in two MBA classes (took MBA classes as an undergrad)
- Letter of recommendation from Dean of undergraduate business school
- CFA Investment Research Challenge participant
- Investment Banking Summer Analyst in New York
- Plan to work in New York prior to HBS attendance
- One year of study left
- Caucasian male
Would my poor performance in high school and community college hinder me too much, or would I be able to spin it into a comeback story (do they ever even take those type of situations into account)? Honestly I believe I've always had the potential, but I had no direction. I admittedly wasn't ready to leave home for college. When I realized this I withdrew from the branch campus and enrolled at the community college. I still wasn't sure of where I wanted to be, but once I figured it out I was set. I've never been more driven and ambitious.
Investment banking is less of an "end" and more of a "means to an end." I was a tutor at the community college where I witnessed a lot of kids with so much potential settle for associate degrees because they didn't think they could afford four year degrees. This was the motivation for my charity. I would really like to take the charitable foundation I started (currently set up through a donor-advised fund) and transform it into a full blown non-profit. That's where HBS would come into play, and why I would prefer to do the 2+2 program to enroll as soon as possible and get the ball rolling.
If I include this back story, how much I learned on a personal level through my community college experience, and how I came to be where I am in my essays, would I be considered competitive? Or should I focus my efforts elsewhere?
Thank you for any opinions or advice you can offer.
