No Community Service

Vivek’s heart started to sink as he read the MBA message boards: so many people kept mentioning their volunteer work in their profile reviews, but his busy job had given him no time to engage in meaningful community service, ever.

Was this really going to keep him out? Should he start doing some last-minute volunteering, to try to catch up?
  • Our solution: Thanks to the ApplicantLab strengths & weaknesses lesson on why Admissions Committees really care about community service, Vivek’s mind was put at ease, and made him realize that “community” can be very broadly defined. While it’s true that he had never really volunteered, he’d still be able to demonstrate those core traits when completing his branding module.

    Then, thanks to the step-by-step essay guidance for tackling Columbia’s question about what his classmates would be “pleasantly surprised” to learn about him, he resisted his initial temptation to write about a school prize from years ago, and instead focused on a charming story that emphasized his community-minded brand traits.
  • Result: Vivek was accepted to Columbia Business School!