-
Target Test Prep's 2024 GMAT Focus Edition prep is discounted for the BTG community!
Redeem
Impressive Extracurriculars for Busy People
Keeping yourself involved in extracurricular activities while also gunning for that next promotion or trying to learn Python for your day job is no easy feat. That said, being an engaged community citizen and leader is critical for your MBA applications. We find that people are often caught in the position of feeling like they dont have time to dive head first into a long term leadership commitment outside of work and their personal lives, but they also recognize that being a passive member of something isnt all that impressive on an MBA application. Dont worry there is a work around.
Though impressive and ideal if possible, you dont have to chair a junior board or co-found a non-profit to demonstrate your ability to be a community leader. Weve compiled a few ideas below for you to consider that are a) flexible and b) high impact with strong leadership opportunity potential!
Catchafire: The company Catchafire pairs you with a non-profit project need; and the work that you do is both very valuable for the organization as well as pure gold for your MBA applications. Consider this before writing this article, I quickly searched which projects were available for finance people on Catchafire and found this: a request for a one-hour phone conversation with the Laguna Canyon Foundation to discuss how to allocate indirect costs properly. If youre a consultant or a banker, odds are that you can help a lot in just one hour! And then it goes on your resume and you can even talk about the experience in interviews. These things are often more than what you think theyre going to be as you realize just how much help you can provide in a relatively short period of time. For many people early in their careers its eye-opening to realize just how much you can help even with only a few years of experience!
When pursuing a project on Catchafire, you could look at it as one of several, small, one-off projects that you do when you have free time or an entree for you to provide more help to an organization remotely as you learn more about its needs and how you could help. Either way, its going to be a good leadership and community engagement story for your applications and you can feel good knowing that its also a really fantastic way to give back to your community and organizations that are doing great things around the country.
Taproot: Another favorite, which is slightly more involved but also creates more leadership opportunity if you have the time, is the Taproot Foundation. Taproot also pairs volunteers with specific professional experience with non-profits in need of help. They offer a lot of remote projects as well as local, team-based projects where you can even sign-up to manage a team of other volunteers (eg. you set the schedule and practice project management!) Right now theres a posting for a remote social media strategy plan for an organization in New York as well as a team-based SWOT Analysis project for a community education organization in California. Ive had some clients from big brand companies who could create a social media strategy in their sleep! The nice thing about Taproot is that you can try a remote project and then, if you get some time, go for a team-based project another time. They will reach out to you with projects that seem to be in your wheelhouse.
Why are these two options better than going to alumni events? Go to those too, but by completing much-needed projects for non-profits in need, you can say that you are actually doing something and making a tangible impact; and that is key. For alumni events or even fundraisers, unless you are organizing those events or playing a significant role in the planning or execution, its going to be hard to spin that youre really being a leader or, an engaged community citizen to use adcom lingo. You cant just be on the mailing list and attend a few socials or galas and call it an activity because most admissions officers will see through that (and HBS might even press you on it in the interview!) Sure, if thats all you have, go for it and do what you can. But if you can get involved in something a little more in-depth, even if its just over the next few months, that will help in your overall branding as someone who is a leader and engaged community citizen.
These are just a few of many options but hopefully this gets you thinking about some of the possibilities out there. If you want to brainstorm ideas, reach out and request an initial consult with one of your consultants.
Recent Articles
- Smart Tactics for the Single-Employer MBA Applicant
- Do You Need a Finalized Test Score Before You Hire an MBA Admissions Consultant?
- Three Signs You Shouldn’t Submit an MBA Application in Round Three
- How to Prepare for MBA Interviews – Expecting the Unexpected
- Authenticity in MBA Applications in the Age of Chat GPT
Archive
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009