Work Experience for B-School App

[uamaukeeaokaaina]

hey guys. here's my situation. i go to a large state school, with a high (3.8) GPA, solid ECs (president of tutoring group, student instructor, volunteer organizer for local congressman's campaign. i'll also be interning under a senator in DC next semester. after i work for a few years out of undergrad, i'll be applying to top b-schools (HBS, Whart, Tuck, Yale). the trouble is that i clearly don't come from a blue chip educational background, and i probably won't be going into blue chip full-time work (IB, Consulting, etc).

i guess my question is: with my work in the future, how can i plan to position myself best to get into the schools im aiming for? should i go try to get into a top think tank like Brookings? as far as WE goes, i've heard a variety of opinions: that top b-schools want diversity of WE in an entering class, and so they value non-traditional backgrounds as long as you show a history of success. on the other hand, i've also heard that if you aren't working in a prestigious firm or organization, you'll have slim chances of admission.

i know i'm probably going at this from the opposite direction i'm supposed to, but any input would be appreciated.

[tskinner]

What year are you in school? If you're going to be a Junior, I would look into this program:

http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/2+2/timeline.html

[uamaukeeaokaaina]

What year are you in school? If you're going to be a Junior, I would look into this program:

http://www.hbs.edu/m...2/timeline.html

Yeah, I'm a Junior, so I'm thinking about the 2+2 program. However, I'm a double major in Poli Sci and Econ, and I know the 2+2 program was designed for non-business, non-econ majors, so I'm not sure if they'll even look at me. What do you think? Yale also has the silver scholars program for college seniors, so i'll probably apply for that as well.