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Thoughts - Pursuing an MBA with a nonprofit background?

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Thoughts - Pursuing an MBA with a nonprofit background?

by brancw79 » Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:12 pm
Hi,

I am interested in getting my MBA and was interested in having my profile evaluated.

I graduated with an Economics degree from a top tier university with a 3.33 GPA. I also received my masters in education policy from Harvard with a 3.66 GPA.

I have been working in the director level at nonprofits for four years. How would my nonprofit background and master's degree be weighed in the application process? Would this background be acceptable for a top MBA program (Haas, UCLA, USC, even Stanford)?

Lastly, with my current GPA and experience, what is the min GMAT I would be able to score (ideally I would get the highest possible, but I would like to know the min I could get by with!).

Thanks for your help!
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by Lisa Anderson » Wed Jul 29, 2009 3:25 pm
Dear brancw79,

I think your background would be interesting to many schools and could be an advantage for you as a way to distinguish you from the competition. Schools want diverse backgrounds in terms of education and experience. It is impossible to give you a GMAT threshold, but generally speaking, you want to have a score at or above the average for the best competitive position. If your score is in the mid-50% range, then you still have a shot if you have a strong set of essays and recommendations. If your score is outside the mid-80% range, then it will be a difficult obstacle to overcome, but a few do each year based on the strength of the rest of their application.

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by brancw79 » Thu Oct 22, 2009 3:03 pm
Thanks, Lisa!

That was really helpful and I'm actually in the process of applying for round 2. Given my academic background (GPA, undergrad and graduate school) and a 650 GMAT (I also have five years work experience), what do you think would be my chances for USC? Do you have any other suggested schools that may be a good fit given my profile?

Thanks for your help again!
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by Brett N » Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:18 am
A great school that you might consider is Yale SOM, which has a large acceptance rate towards non-profit applicants. Otherwise, you should probably be asking, 'what schools do I want to go to?'. It's good to 'fit' in a school but more importantly you want to love that school. Does that make sense?
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