I have always committed my time and energy to helping others. I thought that having a law degree would give me the best skills to help others and a path I would take to making a social impact. With a law degree, I could dedicate myself to public service. Through law, I could fight for justice and speak for those who feel they have no voice in our society. I could protect the civil rights and liberties of all Americans despite their social status. However, after much reflection, I came to the following conclusions: law involves a lot of paper work and I prefer to actually interact with the group I am serving, lawyers working in the public sector burn out quickly and become jaded, injustice is very hard to fight with the laws currently in place, etc. I felt that if I went into law I would have to fight an uphill battle.
I had never considered business school so I continued with my daily life. Eventually, I ran into an old college friend and we discussed my future career goals. He told me that if I wanted to have a social impact and be able to control exactly how the organization would run that I should look into social entrepreneurship. What was that? How does it work? What kind of skills do I need to start an organization dedicated to helping others? I researched social entrepreneurship programs online which resulted in MBA program listings that specialized in this field.
I never considered how business could lead to social impact. My impression was that businesses were just profit-seeking organizations until I learned about things like corporate social responsibility and the double-bottom line. I began to see business as a tool for social change. I am currently on the path towards attaining an MBA. I have applied to MLT's MBA Prep program and have enrolled in a Kaplan course. I have researched potential schools online and have visited both Yale School of Management and Columbia Graduate School of Business.
Once you make that decision, first 3 things to do before you begin applying:
1) Start studying for the GMAT.
2) Research schools you are interested in. Look at the curriculum, professors, teaching style, facilities, etc.
3) Visit schools. You don’t want to waste time applying to a school that you can’t picture yourself attending.
