Nonprofit options

Question

Hey all,

Really wanted to pick the brains of some more experienced MBA researchers out there (have been doing my own but feel a bit overwhelmed with the quantity of random information)

I have been considering an MBA for several years. After being rejected (with zero work experience go figure huh) I've re examined my motives. I actually took 2 years off from apps and reconsidering applying next cycle (fall 2014 entry). The time I've allowed myself to reflect, I hope has really helped hone my goals. I have always had an interest in consulting so that's on the table, but as someone who has been involved in cancer non profits for the last two years I really think I would be interested, as a primary focus, social impact and non profit work trying to get into the management side.

Anyway my research has clearly pushed me towards Stanford. They have great programs that seem to ease the financial burden summer and for loans. Anyway I was just wondering what other programs am I missing that maybe I should look at being that Stanford seems to be a touch selective.

Profile to maybe help:

GMAT 760
WE will be about 2.5 years in an educational start up (co-founder, about 3million rev and 131 employees)
GPA: UG small not well known liberal arts 3.7 econ major, Grad: 3.7 masters in econ from university of florida
Decent Extras like involvement with swimming, animal shelters and most relevantly cancer research

Would be really interested to hear some thoughts.

jxcho · Answer

For nonprofit I'd also throw in Yale, Haas, Kellogg and maybe Fuqua too. Yale is particularly renowned in the nonprofit field. And if you're serious about Stanford, you should also consider applying to Harvard.

tripsd · Answer

thanks jxcho for the reply! I keep hearing Yale mentioned as a good option but haven't found a ton of information on why this is the case, what makes them stand out?

aerien · Answer

Because Yale is awesome

Paging @machichi since he has experience in the non profit world, but SOM is very open to non profit. IMO, academics aside, a lot of people are attracted to the mission of creating leaders for business And society -- that means they build people to make a difference in whatever sector, industry, function...and you can feel that when you're there.

tripsd · Answer

aeirien you're making it sound like I need to take a trip to Yale and check it out. Definitely will spend some more time looking that direction then.

machichi · Answer

You raaaaaaang @aerien?

I work in education non-profit now and my ultimate goal is to work in the education field after graduating from Yale. I bet we have a lot in common!

So why is Yale so known for its non-profit focus? First, as aerien pointed out, it's the mission of the school to educate leaders for business and society. Notice the "and": they believe that ALL leaders need to think about business AND society, not just one or the other. That's an A+ in my book. Secondly, Yale's history is unique in the MBA world: they began offering a Masters in Public and Private Management in  1971 , which eventually was converted into an MBA degree. Basically, Yale has long linkages to training leaders for the public sector, and they began to realize that the education that makes a good leader transcends the public and private sectors. In short, good business is good business is good business!

Four additional things that really sold me on Yale: 
1) The host a huge  education conference  every year, which MBA students plan and run. I knew that I wanted to attend this conference, so why not take the chance to organize it! 
2) Yale has one of the largest Net Impact branches in the country. Futhermore, they send the most MBA students to the annual Net Impact conference in the country every year (they get the award for it). Considering that SOM is one of the smallest MBA programs out there in the top 20, that's doubly impressive if you ask me!
3) People there genuinely care about social issues regardless of their goal field. I love it!
4)  Loan forgiveness . So great!

In terms of other schools, well, after my research I found great programs at Stanford (which has a dual MBA/MA in Education), Kellogg (which has a great education club), and Haas (which has a great social sector solutions program). Duke and Michigan were my "back-ups"--meaning I was planning on applying R2 if things didn't work out in R1. Michigan in particular has a lot of dual degrees and has an MBA/MA in education.

As far as Harvard goes...I'm not convinced. I haven't been, but my friends at the Kennedy school have not given me the greatest reviews of HBS's social impact culture. That said, Harvard can get you anywhere and they are really generous with scholarships.

PM me if you'd like to chat more!

tripsd · Answer

Thank you so much for the thoughts! Again I will definitely have to give yale a look. Just got home from a long day so I'm going to pack it in but will send you PM this week, I really appreciate the offer to chat more.

Nonprofit options

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