MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 25 Jan 2010
Status:Admissions Expert
Affiliations: Founder, Amerasia Consulting Group
Posts: 1081
Given Kudos: 264
Re: GE Experience / Peace Corps
[#permalink]
13 Jun 2011, 19:19
UT,
I'm so sorry I missed this post. It got pushed down to where I didn't see it. Are you still in need of some help? Very cool story you have here. Are you a Ricky Williams fan? (Given your handle.)
The biggest thing I will stress to you - and this is not necessarily the news you want to here, I suppose - is that you won't be getting a ton of extra credit for all the humanitarian efforts. Meaning: the good deeds won't offset your academic profile as much as they should. That said, not that many applicants come from the Peace Corps and so the diversity you bring to the class will probably be your calling card. That might have read as confusing, so let me rephrase: it will be the fact you did something different - more than what you did - that gives you some separation from your peers.
Once you understand that fairly subtle, but very important, distinction, you will know how to attack the application, which is: MBA that thing to death. Highlight leadership, teamwork, innovation, management skills, business goals, etc. etc. Do NOT fall into the trap of reinforcing the one thing they know about you - helps people - by telling all your stories about helping people. I probably sound like a cynical bastard right now, but the trick to this game is leverage. Take the points they will already give you (unique, cool, hey check out what this guy has done) and then show them that you also fit in, while standing out.
So you will want to write more about your time at GE than you might have thought and you will definitely want to talk about your plans post-MBA as much as possible. If you can bridge traditional and nontraditional, you will really have something working.
I think your academic profile increases your degree of difficulty, but doesn't put you on the sidelines. 3.0 and 670 are the big cutoffs in our experience, so long as you are above those, you are in the conversation. Make sure innovation (intelligent and creative thinking) is on full display to ease any fears about your horsepower. Otherwise, aim for bigger schools (I would add Ross to your working list) so they can more easily absorb your scores.
I wish you good luck. Sorry if this post was delayed and/or confusing. I'm playing catchup and working fast!
Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti