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24 Aug 2014, 19:04
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Hi all. I've posted similar stuff in the "ask an admissions consultant" section, but I wanted to broaden the information I give a bit and get some ideas on framing my application.
Here's some background on me:
Before getting into my stats/work experience etc., let me first say that public service is the thing that matters most to me, and is what I want to do after business school/focus my career on. This isn't just lip service; I have a reasonably compelling personal story behind public service, and everything I've done in college (mostly political activities) and my current job at the UN demonstrate this deep commitment.
I think my career path until now can best be described as an exploration of the best mechanism to actually serve the public and improve the lives of the citizenry. For awhile I thought that was in the public sector, focused on domestic (US) issues -- you'll see that I worked on a Presidential campaign, at the White House, in Congress, and held some national political appointed positions. I realized that if I only ever worked in the public sector, I wouldn't professionally develop the way that I wanted to , so I graduated college and joined McKinsey in order to develop private sector acumen and bring "business knowledge to the 'do-gooder' world." At the end of my time with McKinsey I realized that all of my service work had been focused domestically, and I hadn't ever explored or thought about international development; hence I left McKinsey to take a technology innovation role at the UN.
What I've come around to thinking is that, in the near term, the best way I can accomplish my dual goals of public service and having a satisfying and high-impact career is to transition to private sector technology startups (most likely software) and create products and services that solve real problems for people -- though I'm not sure yet if this should first be in developed markets or developing markets. One of my favorite quotes is "Capitalism's great genius is that it rewards people for solving other people's problems." Long term, I may return to this White House/UN world at a level of tenure/experience where I can be a decision maker, or continue and do some VC work for emerging market technology startups.
I've now spent a good amount of time working in "technology for development," and want to go to business school (actually, I don't really want to go to business school. I want to go to Stanford. If I didn't get into Stanford, I would probably just start my own company or join an early stage one) to:
a) Develop stronger leadership and general management skills. I've been lucky enough to be in positions where I was leading large teams or groups of volunteers/staff, but I've never spent the time really thinking about my leadership style, how to develop it, etc. and would love the opportunity to do this at Stanford
b) Create a runway to the Valley, especially leveraging Stanford's strong VC ties, and graduate in a position where I can found/fund my own company (or join someone else's early stage company)
c) Have the credential/option value for transitioning back into hierarchical organizations at a higher impact position later in my career
d) Take the time to think about the markets/verticals I would want my first company to be in, and find/begin working with the founding team
Overall, this is my narrative, why I want to go to business school, and what I want to do in the short-long term. I'd love feedback on if that makes sense -- this really isn't some contrived invention to meet an adcom's criteria, but really what I've been thinking about my career, so places where the logic/experience/story don't hold together are more likely communications issues than me trying to artificially join dots. I'd love feedback on how this holds together, if this makes sense, what you would ask me, what you would want to see/be interested in seeing to see if what I say is real, etc.
As for the rest...
Full time work experience: I dropped out of college to work on a Presidential campaign; I graduated college and joined McKinsey in New York; and I left McKinsey in New York to join a technology innovation unit within the UN whose goal is to accelerate the development and deployment of mobile technologies to improve the lives of the poor. I've been interviewed/featured in Fortune, on the World Bank website, on the UN website, and have delivered addresses at a few international conferences on "ICT4D" (ICT 4 Development)
Academics/smarts
GMAT: 730 (45Q, 45V, 8IR -- 63rd percentile, 99th percentile, 92nd percentile)
College: Top 10 Liberal Arts College, double majored in Government and Economics. Grad year 2011 (in 3.5 years, with the semester taken off for the campaign -- had to "overload" on classes most semesters to graduate on time)
Cumulative GPA: 3.75
Freshman year: 3.46, Sophomore year: 3.76, Junior year: 3.90, Senior year: 3.91
Extracurricular activities/internships/other work experience
*Community Service Coordinator for college
*Web editor of school paper
*Leadership positions with state and national political party chapters (e.g., Finance Director, Young Republicans of America)
*Interned at the White House
*Interned in Congress
*Interned at the Commerce Department
Application plan
Round 1, Stanford
Recommendations
Will have one from a Director at the UN who knows me/works with me very closely and reports directly to the Secretary General. Will have a second from a former senior partner at McKinsey who recently left to join a software startup firm as one of their VPs. Again, I'm very close with this guy -- we worked very closely on many projects, I've had dinner on multiple occasions with his wife and kids, etc. So these aren't "status" recommendations, but people who can really speak to what I'm about
Any feedback on my profile overall, as well as on the story/fit/narrative arc, would be very helpful. Thank you so much!
Here's some background on me:
Before getting into my stats/work experience etc., let me first say that public service is the thing that matters most to me, and is what I want to do after business school/focus my career on. This isn't just lip service; I have a reasonably compelling personal story behind public service, and everything I've done in college (mostly political activities) and my current job at the UN demonstrate this deep commitment.
I think my career path until now can best be described as an exploration of the best mechanism to actually serve the public and improve the lives of the citizenry. For awhile I thought that was in the public sector, focused on domestic (US) issues -- you'll see that I worked on a Presidential campaign, at the White House, in Congress, and held some national political appointed positions. I realized that if I only ever worked in the public sector, I wouldn't professionally develop the way that I wanted to , so I graduated college and joined McKinsey in order to develop private sector acumen and bring "business knowledge to the 'do-gooder' world." At the end of my time with McKinsey I realized that all of my service work had been focused domestically, and I hadn't ever explored or thought about international development; hence I left McKinsey to take a technology innovation role at the UN.
What I've come around to thinking is that, in the near term, the best way I can accomplish my dual goals of public service and having a satisfying and high-impact career is to transition to private sector technology startups (most likely software) and create products and services that solve real problems for people -- though I'm not sure yet if this should first be in developed markets or developing markets. One of my favorite quotes is "Capitalism's great genius is that it rewards people for solving other people's problems." Long term, I may return to this White House/UN world at a level of tenure/experience where I can be a decision maker, or continue and do some VC work for emerging market technology startups.
I've now spent a good amount of time working in "technology for development," and want to go to business school (actually, I don't really want to go to business school. I want to go to Stanford. If I didn't get into Stanford, I would probably just start my own company or join an early stage one) to:
a) Develop stronger leadership and general management skills. I've been lucky enough to be in positions where I was leading large teams or groups of volunteers/staff, but I've never spent the time really thinking about my leadership style, how to develop it, etc. and would love the opportunity to do this at Stanford
b) Create a runway to the Valley, especially leveraging Stanford's strong VC ties, and graduate in a position where I can found/fund my own company (or join someone else's early stage company)
c) Have the credential/option value for transitioning back into hierarchical organizations at a higher impact position later in my career
d) Take the time to think about the markets/verticals I would want my first company to be in, and find/begin working with the founding team
Overall, this is my narrative, why I want to go to business school, and what I want to do in the short-long term. I'd love feedback on if that makes sense -- this really isn't some contrived invention to meet an adcom's criteria, but really what I've been thinking about my career, so places where the logic/experience/story don't hold together are more likely communications issues than me trying to artificially join dots. I'd love feedback on how this holds together, if this makes sense, what you would ask me, what you would want to see/be interested in seeing to see if what I say is real, etc.
As for the rest...
Full time work experience: I dropped out of college to work on a Presidential campaign; I graduated college and joined McKinsey in New York; and I left McKinsey in New York to join a technology innovation unit within the UN whose goal is to accelerate the development and deployment of mobile technologies to improve the lives of the poor. I've been interviewed/featured in Fortune, on the World Bank website, on the UN website, and have delivered addresses at a few international conferences on "ICT4D" (ICT 4 Development)
Academics/smarts
GMAT: 730 (45Q, 45V, 8IR -- 63rd percentile, 99th percentile, 92nd percentile)
College: Top 10 Liberal Arts College, double majored in Government and Economics. Grad year 2011 (in 3.5 years, with the semester taken off for the campaign -- had to "overload" on classes most semesters to graduate on time)
Cumulative GPA: 3.75
Freshman year: 3.46, Sophomore year: 3.76, Junior year: 3.90, Senior year: 3.91
Extracurricular activities/internships/other work experience
*Community Service Coordinator for college
*Web editor of school paper
*Leadership positions with state and national political party chapters (e.g., Finance Director, Young Republicans of America)
*Interned at the White House
*Interned in Congress
*Interned at the Commerce Department
Application plan
Round 1, Stanford
Recommendations
Will have one from a Director at the UN who knows me/works with me very closely and reports directly to the Secretary General. Will have a second from a former senior partner at McKinsey who recently left to join a software startup firm as one of their VPs. Again, I'm very close with this guy -- we worked very closely on many projects, I've had dinner on multiple occasions with his wife and kids, etc. So these aren't "status" recommendations, but people who can really speak to what I'm about
Any feedback on my profile overall, as well as on the story/fit/narrative arc, would be very helpful. Thank you so much!
25 Aug 2014, 11:28
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thanks for sharing, you have a very impressive profile.
Few thought...
School Selection:
Stanford is a great program that seems like it fits your career goals and personal interest almost perfectly, I would just implore you to make sure you are doing your due diligence with other programs. There are many other great programs out there as well they may also be a good fit for you're background and what you are looking to do. Especially considering how low Stanford's acceptance rate. With all that being said i genuinely do believe in applying to schools you would actually go to so keep that in mind as you do your school research.
MBA Story:
Your MBA story makes sense and is nicely packaged given your strong experience in both the public and private sector along with a strong academic profile. The dots seem to be connected and really tie in nicely with the Stanford MBA
Profile Questions:
The first thing that came to my mind was, "Do you need an MBA?" given how impressive your profile is and your ability to seemingly transition to different roles/industries with ease. It was not expressly clear that you could not stay within the workforce and accomplish everything you need to do especially given your relatively young age. This also leads to my next question of "Why Now", again you are young so you really want to articulate clearly to admissions why this is the key time in your life to pursue an MBA and not just a way to skip a few steps on the corporate ladder or to check a box. These maybe seem to be odd concerns to you considering the overall strength of your profile but you just want to make sure answers to these questions are crystal clear. One final thought, I would also recommend as you settle on essay topics you consider topics that humanize your profiles and show different dimensions of you. Focus on taking you candidacy of the paper and bring the evaluators into your world at McKinsey and at the UN and any other of your relevant leadership/teamwork experiences this will go a long way into creating the perception of you as a complete 360 degree candidate.
Hope this helps!
Few thought...
School Selection:
Stanford is a great program that seems like it fits your career goals and personal interest almost perfectly, I would just implore you to make sure you are doing your due diligence with other programs. There are many other great programs out there as well they may also be a good fit for you're background and what you are looking to do. Especially considering how low Stanford's acceptance rate. With all that being said i genuinely do believe in applying to schools you would actually go to so keep that in mind as you do your school research.
MBA Story:
Your MBA story makes sense and is nicely packaged given your strong experience in both the public and private sector along with a strong academic profile. The dots seem to be connected and really tie in nicely with the Stanford MBA
Profile Questions:
The first thing that came to my mind was, "Do you need an MBA?" given how impressive your profile is and your ability to seemingly transition to different roles/industries with ease. It was not expressly clear that you could not stay within the workforce and accomplish everything you need to do especially given your relatively young age. This also leads to my next question of "Why Now", again you are young so you really want to articulate clearly to admissions why this is the key time in your life to pursue an MBA and not just a way to skip a few steps on the corporate ladder or to check a box. These maybe seem to be odd concerns to you considering the overall strength of your profile but you just want to make sure answers to these questions are crystal clear. One final thought, I would also recommend as you settle on essay topics you consider topics that humanize your profiles and show different dimensions of you. Focus on taking you candidacy of the paper and bring the evaluators into your world at McKinsey and at the UN and any other of your relevant leadership/teamwork experiences this will go a long way into creating the perception of you as a complete 360 degree candidate.
Hope this helps!
25 Aug 2014, 19:32
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thanks Dozie. Those are some great points.
I think your first and your last question are good ones; I think of them in opposition to each other. You're probably right -- I don't necessarily need an MBA -- so the question for me has become less "what business school do I go to" and more "what can I do in the next 2 years to accelerate where I want to go." Stanford is the only business school that fits the category, for the reasons I detailed (I think -- MIT might be close); if I didn't get in, I would try to start my own company, or join someone else's early stage one.
What Stanford can give me that I can't get from just starting to work are the proximity to and network of the Silicon Valley VC community, the ability to find a founding team, the fact that I want to settle in the Valley long term and want access to the GSB network, and the fact that because they don't report grades I can spend more time trying to build something with classmates than on academics.
Here's a question -- should I be the one talking about my work at McKinsey and the UN, or should I let my recommenders do that? I was thinking of going deep into my personal story and evolution of myself and my history, which has McKinsey and the UN as pitstops that I don't spend a ton of time on (Stanford's two essay questions are 1) what do you care most about and why, and (2) why Stanford?) I had thought it would be better to let me recommenders detail what I did, while I shed light on who I am as a person... that would probably still "humanize" me, just not by talking directly about what I did at work. Sounds like you might steer another way?
I think your first and your last question are good ones; I think of them in opposition to each other. You're probably right -- I don't necessarily need an MBA -- so the question for me has become less "what business school do I go to" and more "what can I do in the next 2 years to accelerate where I want to go." Stanford is the only business school that fits the category, for the reasons I detailed (I think -- MIT might be close); if I didn't get in, I would try to start my own company, or join someone else's early stage one.
What Stanford can give me that I can't get from just starting to work are the proximity to and network of the Silicon Valley VC community, the ability to find a founding team, the fact that I want to settle in the Valley long term and want access to the GSB network, and the fact that because they don't report grades I can spend more time trying to build something with classmates than on academics.
Here's a question -- should I be the one talking about my work at McKinsey and the UN, or should I let my recommenders do that? I was thinking of going deep into my personal story and evolution of myself and my history, which has McKinsey and the UN as pitstops that I don't spend a ton of time on (Stanford's two essay questions are 1) what do you care most about and why, and (2) why Stanford?) I had thought it would be better to let me recommenders detail what I did, while I shed light on who I am as a person... that would probably still "humanize" me, just not by talking directly about what I did at work. Sounds like you might steer another way?
