I'm going to tell you three reasons why extracurricular and volunteer
activities are important for your MBA application.
1. You Have to Make Time for Extracurriculars & Volunteering
Admissions officers understand that students are busier now than they've ever
been before. They understand that insanely competitive MBA application
seasons like we saw in 2011 have driven many students to spend more time
preparing for tests, and honing their writing skills to ace their essays than
they ever have in the past.
Given that applicants are spending more time preparing for their MBA
applications than ever before, admissions officers are curious to see how
well a candidiate managed their time as a student and now as a professional.
Being an MBA candidate means that you will be working extremely hard to
advance in your career, while trying to prepare for GMAT while still having a
personal life. If you aren't able to make the time you need to lead a well
balanced life before you even start your MBA program, how are you going to
handle a whole new load of responsibilities while maintaining a lifestyle
which will contribute value to the world?
Extracurricular and volunteer activities showcase your time management
skills, or lack thereof. In your application essays, consider how you can
drive home the point that you are a masterful time manager who flourishes
with multiple commitments and responsibilities to the admissions committee.
2. Extracurricular Activities are Proof of your Passions
How can you tell what someone is actually passionate about? You look at how
they spend their time. Given that these activities show whether or not a
person is good at managing their time, we next turn to think about what they
spend their time on.
The thing is, it's really easy to write a list of incredible sounding
passions down on paper to impress a stranger. Writing down a list of passions
to persuade an admissions officer that you are a valuable asset to their
university is another matter altogether.
If Terry says that he's passionate about entrepreneurship in his MBA
application, but all of his extracurricular activities are playing basketball
and entering into video game tournaments, an admissions officer will really
have to wonder whether Terry is truly passionate about entrepreneurship. If,
on the other hand, Terry had formed a Student Entrepreneurship Alliance Club
during college and invited numerous inspiring entrepreneurs to come and speak
at his club, an admissions officer would have a much easier time believing
that Terry is passionate about entrepreneurship.
His extracurricular activities prove that he is passionate about
entrepreneurship by showing that he spends his free time, however scarce it
may be, educating himself and engaging with entrepreneurship.
3. Volunteer Activities Show Commitment to Social Justice
Along similar lines, volunteer activities are important to many schools.
Diversity, social justice, and a spirit of giving back are all important
points of any school's identity, and brand. Schools use these values to sell
themselves to potential students, and need to find a student body which
matches up with those values. When you volunteer at the Red Cross, start a
nonprofit organization, or tutor underprivileged children, it shows
admissions officers that you care about giving back to your community,
and that your values match up with the values of their school.
If Terry says that social justice is important to him in his MBA application,
but spends all of his time surfing the internet, an admissions officer
doesn't have a reason to believe that social justice is important to him. If
Terry had built a website which gives people an opportunity to donate money
to a children's charity, or to the fight to cure cancer, then admissions
staff have proof that Terry cares about social justice.
Your volunteer & extracurricular activities show admissions staff your values
better than a list or a essay ever could. They show a clear narrative story
about the type of person you are, the things which matter to you, and are
hard evidence of how you are likely to continue spending your time and
contributing value to your community once you are admitted to your new MBA
program.
--
David Johnston
[email protected]
--
All Comments