Graduate Blog / Graduate Admissions

Living the Babson Mission: Embracing and Rewarding Social Impact

The F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business is committed to living Babson’s mission of educating “entrepreneurial leaders who create great economic and social value—everywhere.” My colleague Johanna Beers summed up one way we practice this in the Graduate Admissions office in the post below. Enjoy!

 

What do the ideas below have to do with the Babson MBA application process?

  • Vinegar infused with calcium from eggshells and donated to a local nursing house to help increase the amount of calcium its residents consumed each day
  • A detailed instruction board assembled in a community playground so everyone who reads it understands the value of a public park’s exercise equipment and can use it safely
  • Hours spent volunteering after a devastating earthquake in the hardest hit neighborhoods – organizing and handing out supplies to those effected
  • Composing bins donated to families in a neighborhood and providing education on the value and use of these bins resulting in decreased waste and new family gardens

Well, this year, the Office of Graduate Admissions created a new initiative in the spirit of Babson’s mission to create economic and social value everywhere. Applicants to the full-time MBA programs were offered the option of creatively re-purposing their application fee to positively impact their community. Anyone who did this and submitted a video documenting the activity they undertook to benefit their community had the opportunity to receive an application fee waiver and be guaranteed an admissions interview.

We received videos from all over the world and were very impressed by the diverse, creative ways that each person found to help their local community. The list above is just a few examples of the types of projects prospective students completed in response to the inaugural year of this program. We look forward to continuing to partner with future prospective students by offering this program again next year and seeing the impact they have spread further around the world.

We hope to see your application soon! Feel free to contact us if you have any questions!