B-School Admission Essay

My career vision is to transform the management of education in India.

My Teach For --- experience has exposed me to the stark realities of Indian education. Myopic processes, data drought and absent accountability render schools inefficient. Compounded by weak management and poor leadership, pedagogical practices decline. Student achievement plummets, dropout rates skyrocket. 160 million children dropped out of elementary schools in India in 2005.

My goal is to establish a world-class education non-profit that will employ effective management techniques to improve underperforming schools in India. I believe innovative customer-centric models from the private sector can become templates for student-centric school operations. Public-private partnerships, technology, edupreneurial ideas and latest research can revolutionize the 'business of education'. Expert networks can effectively intervene to re-establish roles, re-engineer practices and re-allocate resources in schools.

I want to spearhead school reform by combining my unique on-the-ground perspective with advanced business strategies and global best practices. The Harvard MBA, with its devotion to creating transformational leaders, is vital to making this a reality.

My research and conversations with alumni and current students confirm that HBS provides unique learning opportunities relevant to my career aspirations. I strongly believe that the case method, with its discipline of Socratic inquiry and collective problem-solving, will enable me to think deeply about solutions to complex problems such as the downward spiral of public education. I wish to engage with the best minds in business: discuss strategic partnerships for low-income schools with James Austin, understand effective management practices for under-performing schools from Allen Grossman and Public Education Leadership Project (PELP) and ideate with Michael Porter on introducing competition into public education.

Through electives such as "Entrepreneurship in Education Reform", I intend to develop a deep understanding of my chosen sector and through "HBS Board Fellows" program, learn non-profit board governance and strategy. I am excited about participating in the Social Enterprise Club initiatives and organizing the Social Enterprise Conference.

My plan, after HBS, is to absorb tangible insights from world-wide education reform at McKinsey's