Is it possible to prepare an application in 2 weeks?

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Hi Stacy/Lisa

I'm debating whether I should submit a last-minute second round app to HBS. Altogether, I'd have about 2.5 weeks to do everything (essays, application, etc.) The only things that are done are GMAT (which I took last year) and recommendations (for which I asked my recommendors today, in case I do apply). So far, I've put little effort into the app, and didn't even know what the essay questions were until today. Nonetheless, I feel that I am good at "improvising" and might be able to crank out a few good essays in 2 weeks; I just want to make sure that my profile is competitive.

I have a 3.6 GPA from Middlebury College in Economics and a 750 GMAT. I am a college senior so I don't have any work experience. I have 4 summer internships; 1 with J.P. Morgan's Investment Banking Division (Mergers and Acquisitions) in New York and 1 with Lehman Brothers, also in IBD (Healthcare) in Hong Kong.

The other 2 internships were with smaller entrepreneurial firms, but 1 was in a developing market (internship at a bank in Bolivia doing micro-finance type work). I had volunteered at an orphanage while in Bolivia in a leadership capacity (and had recruited others to join the same cause). This experience had allowed me to aid the founding of two student groups when I got back to college: a group founded by a group of my friends to aid orphans in Vietnam - the group arranged a self-funded trip over the summer to the orphanage; and a group founded by my sister which cares for orphans in Somalia (and is currently fund-raising to set up a similar trip) - I had influence over both organizations in their early stages

I have also been a teaching and research assistant for 2 years and studied Chinese at a top Chinese University for 1 semester.

I hope that this experience is unique enough that it would make putting forth an application worthwhile. I just want to confirm before committing the time and energy.

Thanks,
JC
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by Lisa Anderson » Wed Dec 17, 2008 11:29 am
Dear JC,

You appear to have all the building blocks for a competitive application, assuming you have a strong rationale for why you want to get a MBA and why now versus getting work experience. There are not definitive ways to know your chances versus another applicant's since we are not privy to HBS' internal goals for its class or the rest of the applicant pool. If you believe you can put together a stellar application in 2 weeks, then you should apply.

Good luck,
Lisa
Lisa Anderson
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