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Haas is a school that tends to fly under the radar. It often gets overshadowed by its neighbor, Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. But when you start looking at their numbers it’s hard to ignore the value and impact. And yes, Haas is great for veterans.
Location
The top business schools are clustered on the East Coast. Then you have the Chicago schools in the Midwest, and there are only a handful of options on the West Coast. In the top 25, the traditional options on the West Coast are Stanford GSB, Berkeley Haas, UCLA Anderson, USC Marshall, and Washington Foster.
The good news for veterans looking to be on the West Coast after business school is the density of public schools, where GI Bill benefits can cover your educational costs.
Haas grads tend to stay on the West Coast. For the class of 2019, which listed 165 graduates seeking employment (some people already had jobs or were starting companies), 153 ended up on the West Coast.
Entrepreneurship
I’m a big believer in the power of veterans as entrepreneurs. And while you definitely don’t need an MBA for this path, if you have the GI Bill, it’s a hard opportunity to avoid.
Beyond their extensive course offerings in entrepreneurship, Haas’ location in Silicon Valley puts it at the heart of the tech entrepreneurship landscape. What I really like is their formal program of mentorship. It doesn’t mean much to just be next door to influential people — you want to be able to speak with them as well.
Ok, great. There’s a lot to help you learn. But what about help with the actual doing?
Launch is an accelerator to help turn your idea into a reality. The school also offers $5,000 grants, along with office space and support, to help new companies get started.
There is also the extremely unique Berkeley SkyDeck. This private-public partnership works with Berkeley startups, providing $100k in initial funding and a place in their accelerator (if accepted). It’s maybe the only program of its kind available to MBA students.
Also available to Haas students specifically, is the Haas Startup Squad. It’s a program that helps MBA students connect with Berkeley Startups that are not necessarily at Haas but are looking for MBA advisors. This helps MBAs who don’t know anything about entrepreneurship to get their feet wet with little risk.
Another great resource for aspiring entrepreneurs is the Berkeley StEP program which connects the top graduate schools at Berkeley (engineering, law, public policy, design, Haas) and helps you find co-founders/or expand your ideas. MBA students aren’t the only ones looking to start a company.
Are veterans welcome?
When I told people I applied to Haas for my MBA, EVERYONE immediately commented something to the tune of, “What?! Are you going to be welcome at a super left-wing school like that as a vet?!”
When I initially talked to Pat Hyde, a former Army Special Forces officer who graduated from Haas in 2020 and now works at Adobe as a Project Marketing Manager, he brought this up in the first 10 minutes of the conversation. He said something along the lines of:
“I want to address the elephant in the room. Every vet worries about being accepted on Berkeley’s campus. Yes, the undergraduate population has some radical views, but I have felt nothing but acceptance here and appreciation from others for my time in the military. Veterans are wanted and welcome.”
I personally visited Haas for their Military Visit Day and sat in on a class. The professor made a sincere effort to express her thanks for us being there, and the class was extremely welcoming. There was an Army veteran who told a story from his time in the military and it was greeted with appreciation from his classmates. I witnessed nothing but positivity while I was there and felt Haas was great for veterans.
Haas wants veterans
In the last few years, Haas has made a deliberate effort to increase veteran enrollment. A former Haas veteran who went to Mckinsey’s DC office worked hard to change the admissions process.
The Veteran’s club started informational webinars and also began a military visit day for veteran applicants. They also made a deliberate effort to strengthen the ties with the admissions committee to help improve their understanding of the value veterans bring. Lastly, the club increased their outreach effort with applicants to stay in touch with them throughout the process.
Let me provide an example of how “wanting veterans” looks in real life.
I first found out that I was invited for an interview at Haas not by the school, but by the Veteran’s Club. A fellow army veteran at Haas sent me an email congratulating me on my interview and letting me know that they were ready to help me prepare.
Honestly, I was confused. First, I thought that because of a late letter of recommendation, my application was getting kicked to the next round. Also, I hadn’t heard anything from the school yet — did he know something I didn’t?
Yes, he did. About an hour later I received the official notification of my interview invite.
What does this tell me?
First, the school is in direct contact with the veteran’s club about veteran applicants. They want to keep the club updated into applicants’ statuses so that the club can help out where it can. That means Haas wants veterans.
Second, people at Haas legitimately care. I can tell you that the veteran’s club at Haas was the only one at the schools I applied to that reached out to me like this. That doesn’t go unnoticed.
This approach paid immediate dividends. The class of 2019 had only six veteran graduates, but the class of 2020 increased over 100% to 14 veterans. And the class of 2021 increased in size to 24 veterans.
Numbers talk.
Key stats about Haas (Class of 2021):
- Rankings: 2019- US News and World Report (7), Economist (7), Forbes (11),
- Class size: 283
- 32.9% of the class of 2019 went into tech.
- Average GPA: 3.67 (3.37–3.91 80% range)
- Average GMAT: 725 (680–760 in 80% range)
- GRE Verbal: 162 (157–167 in 80% range)
- GRE Quant: 162 (153–166 in 80% range)
Haas Veterans’ information
- Waived admission fee
- If you have 100% GI Bill benefits, then 100% of your education expenses will be covered at Haas. This also does not stop Haas for awarding merit-based scholarships.
- If you are out of state, Haas will waive the non-resident difference between the fees.
- Medical coverage through Berkeley SHIP (Only for the student, not dependents).
- The Haas Veteran’s Club site has perhaps the most thorough breakdown of what all you need to do to use your GI Bill benefits as a student.
- For those eligible, Voc Rehab can also be an option .
- While Bay Area housing is some of the most expensive in the country, having the BAH based on zip code from the GI Bill, can help make housing much less of a headache for veterans with GI Bill benefits.
- The Vet’s Club also informed me that Berkeley offers University housing for families that is heavily subsidized. The 9 months you are in school and receive Berkeley BAH will more than cover you for the whole 12 months at UC Village. This is a great option for veterans with families or that are married (oh, and they wanted me to let you know that despite the website, pets are welcome.)
“GI Bill®” is a registered trademark of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.
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