Dear prossetti,

I think you have a reasonable chance at these schools. However, you will need to address why you want your MBA in addition to your MS in Finance. There are some schools that will want to know why you didn't just get the MBA instead of the MS in Finance. Don't get me wrong--you probably have a reasonable, logical rationale for this, but you will want to explicitly address how these two degrees fit into your future career goals.

Volunteer work would be helpful, but if you are just doing it for application purposes, then it will not help your case. Leading groups on a whitewater rafting trip can make a positive impact on an application because of the skills that are employed. Depending on what happened on the trip, it might make a huge impact on the ad comm and help the candidate to stand out.

If you want to apply to enter in fall 2009, then I think your efforts are best served focusing on getting in the strongest applications possible. If you are looking to enter fall 2010, then you do have time to get involved in a community/nonprofit organization and take on a leadership role.

Good luck,
Lisa