| Topic Name: |
Peace Corp to Graduate school |
| Message Name: |
Peace |
| Date Posted: |
03/02/2000 |
| In Reply To: |
the peace corp would be an admirable decision and something bschools would look favorably upon, as cbs student mentioned. however, you can expect to be out of touch when/if you return to the states. i know some pc volunteers who were thrilled to finally get email capabilities at their location in '97, and were overwhelmed by how much things had changed since their assignment began. i am currently working in china (not for the pc, i'm in manufacturing)and i know that without constant access to the internet i would be woefully behind as far as technology is concerned. i'm still behind mind you, but it could be a lot worse. just understand that two years (what is the commitment, 2 years and 3 months?) is longer now than it ever has been before...things move at an incredible rate.
everyone i've known to work in the pc (not many...maybe 5 total) has been in a very remote area. either southwestern asia, or africa. i'm sure there are other locales, but i'd be surprised if any were technologically up-to-date. i have heard of many volunteers going to grad school afterward, although it's mainly for teaching and not business. incidentally, more than a few of those are at columbia's teachers college which is considered one of, if not, the finest.
if you already have language skills, i think you'd be better served by trying to land a job internationally (easier said than done, i know) than volunteering for the pc. also, if you realize halway through that the pc is hurting your future goals, finishing only part of your commitment does not help your resume.
i have trouble writing this because i have a lot of respect for the peace corp, and those who volunteer. i'm just not sure it's your best path to an eventual mba. |
| Message: |
I have mixed feeling on this. First, two years is not terribly long and if the Peach Corp would be a valuable life experience to you, then I'd say do it.
Bear in mind though, that a top MBA is hard to get with two years of any experience, but perhaps the Peace Corp could augment another couple of years of work experience.
Without that extra couple of years of work experience, not only will the admissions process be difficult, but the job search after business school will be more constrained than it will be for the majority of your would-be class. A top MBA is great for job changers, but the companies frequently want to see some overlap. I'm sure you could sell the Peace Corp in an interview, but you would need to make sure you get the interview first. For the big firms, pretty much everyone will get an interview but the smaller firms do not have the luxury of interviewing everyone.
Finally, I don't think that being out of touch with business will kill your application as long as you're building other good skills. For example, military types do quite well in Business school applications, even after 4-8 years in the military (versus 2 in the Peace Corp), but they can really address the Leadership questions in their applications. What skills will the Peace Corp help you build? If it's just language, then I would advise against it. If it's project managment, leadership, etc, then it could be worthwhile.
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