Any wisdom and guidance on my journey to MBA acceptance is much appreciated!
About me:
BS in Business Administration, Concentration in Entrepreneurship
University of Oregon, 3.83 GPA
23 year old female
GMAT 660 - Quant 42, Verb 39
Work Experience:
I have three years work experience in the local nonprofit sector, including general management and development/fundraising functions.
Promoted from entry level to manage music school, I implemented a new scheduling system that greatly reduced scheduling errors, and new Access database to track accounts and streamline billing.
Moved to larger social-service nonprofit, assisted with development events, particularly large scale fundraisers. Managed incoming donations, supported 4 large committees, and other projects. Worked on annual fundraiser that brought in over $500,000.
Rehired in Sept 08 by the company that owns the music school (mentioned above, also operates a music venue with $4M annual budget total) into a position in Development. After proving my abilities working with large donors and corporate sponsors ($1K-$40K level), I was promoted to work on recruiting new sponsors and developing existing sponsors into larger sponsorships. Also managed projects including an auction ($23K), Board projects, and sold marketing space ($12K in six weeks at the peak of the recession, beat previous record). Also created new ways to market volume ticket sales to audience groups, and acted as liason to the Board of Directors. Long range planning: Directors intend to train me for position of Development Director (~5 years).
Future:
I feel like this is the end of the road for me in this position, as I do not want the position of Development Director and want to move away from fundraising functions. I want to work in entrepreneurship, with a focus on assisting nonprofit organizations reach financial stability. Prior to the recession, there was a small but growing trend of nonprofits launching for-profit ventures to provide operations funding. I expect that to explode in agencies that survive the recession, I'd love to be a part of that!
Involved in:
I got the opportunity to participate in an invite-only group of undergrad business students that consulted on projects for local businesses. Worked with a local nonprofit to do a feasibility study for a for-profit venture to generate funding for the nonprofit's operations.
Also worked on projects for local professionals - edited a book and provided online marketing consult for a piano instructor, created marketing materials for a real estate professional.
Issues:
I have few extracurricular activities because I worked .8FTE to full time throughout my undergraduate years, and the three years of experience discussed above were during my undergraduate years. I also took a few terms off sporadically to work on projects for my job(s). I will technically graduate in Spring 2010, and currently earn a salary of $30K (very competitive for the nonprofit sector in Oregon) while finishing school full time.
How do I stack up? I am interested in applying to:
Boston U
Notre Dame
UNC
Emory
U Washington (Foster)
Can I shoot higher? Do I need to retake my GMAT?
Also - I am interested to know how I stack up against other "Early Career Applicants" at programs like Chicago, Stanford, IESE's Young Talent program, etc. Am I dreaming? Or am I competitive because I have a decent amount of experience before graduating?
Thank you!
About me:
BS in Business Administration, Concentration in Entrepreneurship
University of Oregon, 3.83 GPA
23 year old female
GMAT 660 - Quant 42, Verb 39
Work Experience:
I have three years work experience in the local nonprofit sector, including general management and development/fundraising functions.
Promoted from entry level to manage music school, I implemented a new scheduling system that greatly reduced scheduling errors, and new Access database to track accounts and streamline billing.
Moved to larger social-service nonprofit, assisted with development events, particularly large scale fundraisers. Managed incoming donations, supported 4 large committees, and other projects. Worked on annual fundraiser that brought in over $500,000.
Rehired in Sept 08 by the company that owns the music school (mentioned above, also operates a music venue with $4M annual budget total) into a position in Development. After proving my abilities working with large donors and corporate sponsors ($1K-$40K level), I was promoted to work on recruiting new sponsors and developing existing sponsors into larger sponsorships. Also managed projects including an auction ($23K), Board projects, and sold marketing space ($12K in six weeks at the peak of the recession, beat previous record). Also created new ways to market volume ticket sales to audience groups, and acted as liason to the Board of Directors. Long range planning: Directors intend to train me for position of Development Director (~5 years).
Future:
I feel like this is the end of the road for me in this position, as I do not want the position of Development Director and want to move away from fundraising functions. I want to work in entrepreneurship, with a focus on assisting nonprofit organizations reach financial stability. Prior to the recession, there was a small but growing trend of nonprofits launching for-profit ventures to provide operations funding. I expect that to explode in agencies that survive the recession, I'd love to be a part of that!
Involved in:
I got the opportunity to participate in an invite-only group of undergrad business students that consulted on projects for local businesses. Worked with a local nonprofit to do a feasibility study for a for-profit venture to generate funding for the nonprofit's operations.
Also worked on projects for local professionals - edited a book and provided online marketing consult for a piano instructor, created marketing materials for a real estate professional.
Issues:
I have few extracurricular activities because I worked .8FTE to full time throughout my undergraduate years, and the three years of experience discussed above were during my undergraduate years. I also took a few terms off sporadically to work on projects for my job(s). I will technically graduate in Spring 2010, and currently earn a salary of $30K (very competitive for the nonprofit sector in Oregon) while finishing school full time.
How do I stack up? I am interested in applying to:
Boston U
Notre Dame
UNC
Emory
U Washington (Foster)
Can I shoot higher? Do I need to retake my GMAT?
Also - I am interested to know how I stack up against other "Early Career Applicants" at programs like Chicago, Stanford, IESE's Young Talent program, etc. Am I dreaming? Or am I competitive because I have a decent amount of experience before graduating?
Thank you!
