2+2 MBA/Teach For America
Hi everyone,
I'm a senior at an Ivy League and interned in top private equity roles during undergrad. I am joining TFA after graduation because I'm genuinely passionate about education and think I would be good at teaching. I know TFA is controversial on this forum (and everywhere) and I've thought about the ethical pros/cons a lot, but believe that in my particular situation, I could make a positive impact.
Right now I'm applying to deferred enrollment MBA programs at Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Columbia, MIT, and UChicago. I know these are all very good schools and there's a good chance I won't get into any, but I figure it can't hurt to try.
I was wondering if anyone had any advice/input about this path. My biggest concern right now is my GPA. I'm currently at a 3.56 cumulative -- I studied a social science subject and my major GPA is around a 3.85. However I took a lot of computer science courses that dragged down my grades a lot. It's incredibly noticeable on my transcript. Pretty much every semester I got A/A-s in every subject except for a coding course that I would get a B- in. I did well in my econ/stats classes though.
I'm taking the GRE instead of the GMAT because I have to take it anyway for TFA and most schools don't have a preference between the two. I'm expecting about a 165 in both verbal and quant (330/340 total)
I have very strong leadership roles on campus and a leadership role in a national non-profit related to finance. I have a fairly unique background - I won't go into specifics for privacy reasons (many of my classmates frequent this website) but almost every interview I've had has started with "you have a very interesting resume..."
My goal for post-MBA is to go back to investing. I think I'd like to be in either an impact-investing role or emerging markets investing role. All of my internships in college have been on the buy-side but I understand after TFA I might need to do banking first (before or after MBA).
I'm not asking you to chance me because I know that's very hard to do, but I was wondering if you guys had any thoughts. If you put on your admissions officer hat, do you see any immediate red flags/things I should be concerned about? Thanks!
not dissing you but almost everyone thinks they have a unique background. good luck with 2+2 admissions.
That’s a good point - I guess we’ll just have to see how it works out
Agree with above and what makes for an interesting recruiting resume doesn't necessarily translate for b-school so tough to provide meaningful advice here without more details. Also what's considered top private equity roles? Also are you a woman or URM?
I feel like most the ppl I've come across admitted through this to S/H are white women doing IB from ivies / top liberal arts colleges but my data set could be limited.
I do have diversity going for me - do you mind sharing what type of backgrounds these Ivy League white/female applicants had?
Would imagine the standard stuff - good school, high gpa, good work experience, some where undergrad athletes. Do some LinkedIn searching to see more of their backgrounds.
incomingTFA,
The most obvious red flag to me is your GPA. I don't think it's an automatic knock out if you get a high GRE, but it is a weakness in the deferred admissions applicant pool. Everything else looks competitive. (I'm taking your comments about leadership and diversity at face value.) They will like that you are doing TFA after graduation, but may wonder what is the connection between your interest in education and your long-term direction.
You may find interesting these interviews with a 2+2 participant and with Blair Mannix, where we discussed Wharton's deferred admission programs.
Thank you Linda! Do you think it's wise for me to explain that my low GPA is due to my decision to double major in computer science?
Incoming TFA,
Hmmm. Good question. I probably would want to know more.
Based on what you wrote above, I think you will be pointing out to them what they should know from reading your transcript if all you do is say that your GPA took a hit because you double majored. You need to go a little farther and tell them something they don't know. Perhaps discuss why you chose to stick with the double major despite the hit to your GPA. That could be in an additional info response and it should be reasonably succinct. You may also want to break out your GPA without the comp sci classes. Be careful not to whine in your response. Fortunately you had non-compsci, quant classes where you did well.
Good luck with it!
Browsing for any early bonus discussions. Thought I'd add my two cents. For context, former TFAer, husband is in IB, have many acquaintances who went the MBA route. I talk to a fair number of TFA youngsters (corps v. becoming an analyst, life post-TFA)... One recommendation I have is to consider applying after/towards the end of your TFA experience. I do know of applicants whose experiences during TFA made them stronger candidates and were probably the tipping factor (spending an extra year or two and ascending to leadership roles at their school, starting a non-prof and staying on an additional year, spending four years in the classroom and seeing their students to college). Definitely consider doing whatever you need to do in order to have the best GRE/GMAT possible. I've talked to several people who seemed to end up at better schools than their undergrad, GPA, experience, etc. seemed to indicate they should, and the common factor was often a high score here. Finally, this isn't an untrodden path. TFA maintains a "Profile of Alumni" page. Use that and LinkedIn to connect with alums. Most are happy to talk. Best of luck to you and your students!
Wow, this is extremely helpful! Thank you so much, hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend :)
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