I'm told that noteworthy leadership activities outside my career are essential to demonstrate my interests, talents and values. This is a major but addressable vulnerability in my current profile.

Does anyone have ideas how I can identify and present significant leadership roles that require minimal time and avoid the perception of expediency?

Any success stories?

Thanks...I'm applying this fall (Oct) to top 10.

First find something you enjoy and want to keep as a lifelong ongoing activity. There are so many to choose from. In my town, there are open commission positions and not enough applications to volunteer. Town commissions and committees are a great way to learn about your community, and to develop leadership skills. Surprisingly, you have to utilize the same skill sets you need in a leadership environment in the corporate world.
Just my two cents....

My 2 cents -
Its too late to get involved in any extra-curricular activity and present it as significant leadership experience. There is no way to avoid perception of expediency with just 3 months of involvement. Adcom will not see your efforts as genuine.

Focus and build on your current strengths and experience.

Thanks for your feedback. I should have clarified; I have been involved in both youth leadership and work with the disabled for the past 10 years. I'm currently leading on a committee for a non-profit that helps teenagers with disabilities in northern Virginia. In addition I actively lead fundraising efforts to support the kids, their families, and the local community.

I think the town commissions is a great suggestion. Any other ideas out there on how applicants can add to their current leadership activities?
Thanks!

Thanks for your feedback. I should have clarified; I have been involved in both youth leadership and work with the disabled for the past 10 years. I'm currently leading on a committee for a non-profit that helps teenagers with disabilities in northern Virginia. In addition I actively lead fundraising efforts to support the kids, their families, and the local community.

I think the town commissions is a great suggestion. Any other ideas out there on how applicants can add to their current leadership activities?

Thanks!

I don't think you have anything to worry about if you can discuss a commitment going back ten years and lead fundraising efforts and a committee as described above. I'm assuming of course that the fundraising has been successful and the committee has had impact.
Best,
Linda

You can also do what most applicants do and pick something you have been involved in (like your helping disabled kids) and "get creative" with how you actually demonstrated leadership....

I am not sure what more you can do to strengthen your volunteer work because you already do a lot. It's nice to hear how committed you are to serving your community. If you have decent scores and grades, you should find yourself in a top program soon enough. Going through the application experience, schools have their own formula and the end result sometimes is not what you expect.

Question: why are you going to business school? Career change? make more money? based on your background, you might be able to achieve all that and more without the degree. Good luck regardless and hope you find success in anything you do.

Thank you for the feedback. I guess I'm in an uphill battle and hoping to find every way possible to improve my application.

My undergrad GPA was beyond horrible (2.53), a result of having to work full-time and choosing to volunteer.

I scored 740 on the GMAT, which will help, but the undergrad GPA is going to kill me. Business school is definitely the next step for me. It's now a process of getting into a top school.

I've heard of people making a turnaround from a poor undergrad to a top 10 school...but that's the exception and not the rule.

What else can I do to sell myself?

dam that is a bad GPA for top 10, I hope it was at least a hard major. You probably need an alternative transcript to stand a decent chance. Sign up for a couple classes at your local college (accounting, stats, econ, etc) and make sure you get an A in them. Its probably too late to do it this summer, so do it in the fall and apply to schools in round 2. Or just lower your expectations to top 30 instead of top 10. Of course if you have started a multi-million dollar biz or work for Obama directly, you won't need to worry about the GPA. If not, take some classes...

Well, does everyone agree with JPZ? Does my undergraduate performance doom me? My major was not hard and it resulted in a BA.

Def do something you're interested in and create leadership opps.

I'm a big brother with a nonprofit. There aren't any leadership opportunities available, so I took initiative and led a fundraising initiative where I ran a half-marathon and raised 1200 bucks for them.

And, I started a start-up. If there's nothing out there that interests you, then create something that does.

Folks,
Can you mention the top 10 healthcare management programs in the US?
Regards
Vineesh

You're looking specifically for MBA programs? If so, check out Wharton, Kellogg, and Duke.

I know this suggestion is not in the exactly the same league as Wharton or Duke but it is worth mentioning. Vanderbilt has a pretty strong Healthcare MBA program.

I will def say Harvard and Wharton. I dont know much at stanford.

I'd probably wait until the healthcare destruction - er, reform bill plays out before making any career decisions.

Washington University in St. Louis has a healthcare mgmt program that's well respected. One of my buddies went through the program and had some very good offers nationally at graduation.

For the most part being married in b-school is a huge asset, but I wouldn't have guess that it would become such a concern in the job search. I would have thought that being married communicated stability and a desire to establish roots in a company and community, but I wonder if employers really see it that way or if it is more of a liability. I know they are not supposed to ask about marital status in interviews, but let's face it the bling gives it away pretty quick. The question always comes, "what does your husband do?" I dread this question, although I am very proud of what he does. My husband has a fantastic job that is honorable and requires sacrifice on both our parts. It also offers more flexibility than most companies in where we can live, albeit not as flexible as an un/self-employed spouse or one who is willing to leave a company. On that note, let me qualify my question, "is being a married female MBA an advantage or disadvantage?"

Look, I knew what I signed up for when I married and that my employment choices were somewhat limited by location when I started school. I am just surprised that people think I would follow my husband around rather than we both work together to find a compromise that works for both of us, i.e. a longer commute or special living arrangements. I'm not sure my male colleague would get the same insinuations. I guess, I am also of the mindset that you can do most work with a laptop and phone from pretty much anywhere. I've worked in a few companies that embraced that philosophy. Following that, I would love to see more companies trust their employees to get their work done without physically occupying a cubical. Think about the environmental impact (positive) if we all worked from home one day a week! Productivity would probably also improve because there would be less water cooler conversations to distract us. I love face to face meetings and think they add a lot of value especially with complex or creative discussions, but couldn't we just have them all on one day or come into the office for them? Maybe we'll never get there entirely because the human factor is so important, but this married MBA would like to see a little more creativity in dealing with less conventional work/life situations.