Re: Any RPCVs out there?
[#permalink]
31 Jul 2011, 08:18
Hey dude. RPCV Cameroon 05-07 here. Fuqua class of 2011. I'm about to post in the B-school ambassadors section, so check that out too. For now, I'll just say that while RPCVs are certainly more rare at B-schools than at policy or law programs, we're out there. More at Fuqua and programs with strong social entrepreneurship programs (Stanford, Yale, etc.) than at your Whartons or Dardens, but even still.
1 - Fuqua
2 - After PC, I worked in professional international development for about two and a half years. Pre-B-school, I planned to stay in the industry. My plans have since changed, and while I might go back to development, I'm not trying to re-enter the field now.
3 - I already lived in the Research Triangle area in NC, so Fuqua didn't involve a move for me. Then they offered me more money than the other schools I applied to - that was honestly all I cared about.
4 - Sure. I think PC service helps you decide whether a career in development is really for you or not. It also gives you automatic "social sector" cred wherever you go, and at the very least, makes for good interview question fodder.
5 - Nothing that different from anyone else - think carefully and be honest with yourself about what you really want. Do you want to go be a do-gooder? That's fine. Do you want to be a d-bag consultant or i-banker? That's fine too. (My roommate last year, RPCV from Guatemala, is starting at Bain soon.) But you need to really reflect on that. That said, go into b-school with an open mind - at least half of the folks there change their minds completely about what they want to go into over their two years.