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The Military to MBA path is a popular one for veterans. An MBA from a top school can put you immediately onto the path of high earnings. Additionally, veterans tend to seek managerial positions, so an MBA seems like a natural. fit.
Interested in getting an MBA after the military? Start here.
And schools also want veterans. We bring a unique set of experiences to the classroom. It’s one thing in a negotiating class to hear about someone talking to a manufacturer in China, another to hear a veteran talk about influencing a corrupt police chief in West Africa to provide his men for an upcoming medical clinic.
Veterans also usually have more practical leadership experience than most MBA students. Most students have never had a direct report, let alone a squad or platoon worth of them. So MBA programs enjoy having veterans in their class.
But we are just a piece of the pie.
They also want former consultants, people of color, international students, bankers, and teachers. You think the class should all be former military? Great. Stay in and go to the War College.
Look, MBAs and veterans are a win-win. But there’s a lot of myths out there you need to know about before shooting your shot at a top MBA program.
Myth #1: You will get in wherever you want
Holy hell everyone and their mother told me this when I was applying.
“Oh, Mark, I’m sure you’ll get in to everywhere you apply!”
Spoiler alert: I didn’t. I didn’t even get an interview invite at my top school and was still on the waitlist at another school when I decided fully on Darden.
Oh, but you were an infantry company commander? Great, so is everyone else applying.
The fact is, you are really competing against other veterans. What you will find is that most schools have someone on their admissions committe that specializes in veterans. They will also have someone who specializes in investment bankers and someone else from consulting. This gives them a subject matter expert who knows what a good veteran resume looks like or a good consultant resume looks like.
Look, your military experience is impressive, I’m sure. But you have to make yourself stand out from all the other military candidates as well.
Which leads me to the next myth.
Myth #2: Your test scores and GPA don’t really matter
Bull.
Shit.
Guess what, they matter.
Great, you were a Navy SEAL Platoon Commander and led unilateral missions against Al-Qaeda? Congratulations-but can you academically cut it in first-year accounting?
And sorry Mr. Navy SEAL, right behind you are 10 qualified military candidates also with impressive military records who scored higher on the test.
The fact of the matter is that schools want you to have high grades and test scores because:
- It makes them look good in the rankings
- They want to know you can academically cut it
I will say that there MAY be some leniency with GPA, given that most veterans are further removed from their undergraduate days. The school may expect that you’ve matured some since then and can work hard to make up for it.
But don’t lean on that too much.
Are you looking to up your game on the GRE or GMAT? I tried a couple of different study programs and was unhappy with them…until I started The Princeton Review. I did their GRE Self-Paced Online course and absolutely loved it. To learn more check out their GRE and GMAT programs.
You all need to take a big ol’ slice of humility pie and come to terms that no one is going to hand you an acceptance letter just because you are a veteran.
Myth #3: You have to be an officer
Lots of enlisted feel intimidated by applying against what are mostly officers applying to MBA programs. They usually have the concern that serving as a Squad Leader, in charge of 9, won’t be able to compete against a former Company Commander who led a 120-man infantry company.
What really matters?
Your impact.
People in the military and those freshly leaving the military lean too heavily on responsibility and not enough on impact. We love to say things like:
“Responsible for 120 Paratroopers and $5 million worth of equipment” and puff out our chests and think, “Look how important I am!”
Ok…..but what did you do with it? Because if you can’t articulate the impact you had with those 120 Paratroopers and $5 million worth of equipment, we are all going to assume you were basically just a figurehead. And schools don’t want figureheads.
You could be a Team Leader in charge of three and be able to talk about the serious impact you had, regardless of the scope of responsibility you had in the military.
Don’t let being former enlisted hold you back.
Myth #4: You have to be SOF/Fighter pilot
Do these veterans have a slight edge?
Maybe.
My personal take is that there is a large selection bias in the process. SOF and fighter pilots are so because they are driven and accomplished. So then they are likely the types going to apply to top schools because that’s their personality. Do they get in BECAUSE of that? I’m not convinced. It helps, but it’s not everything.
I’ve interacted with veterans at lots of MBA programs and they’ve come from every background in the military:
- logistics
- intelligence
- engineering
- everything else
Just because you didn’t go to HALO school or know how to fly an F-22 doesn’t mean that schools don’t want you.
I spoke with a former Tier-1 commander who went to a Top 20 MBA program. He said that he expected the SOF folks at his school to be the stand-outs in the class. Expectation met reality when it turns out the smartest person, not just a veteran, but the smartest person in the class was a former Army logistician who looked like he couldn’t pass the tape test and probably wasn’t in the top percentiles for the PT test. But the guy was smart as hell and totally changed this operator’s thoughts on who can be successful in the business world.
Myth #5: You have to go into consulting
Consulting is really attractive for a lot of veterans:
- High pay
- Exposure to a lot of industries, helping you decide where you want to focus after consulting
- Chance to work with senior executives very early in your career
Veterans also tend to think that because the military places a premium on producing leaders who are generalists, their only real shot for a post-MBA job is in consulting, where you might be expected to work across a wide swath of problems. The thought being that “Well, I was a generalist in the Marines so let me go be a generalist on the outside.”
If you want to go into consulting, go for it. But you have lots of other options.
I know of veterans who went from their MBA into:
- Cryptocurrency operations
- Tech product marketing management
- Internal strategy
- Operations
- Corporate finance
You absolutely don’t have to go down a certain path because it’s expect or you think that’s the only opportunity you have.
The world is your oyster, y’all.
Myth #6: The GI Bill will cover you
Look, the GI Bill is freaking amazing. Coupled with the Yellow Ribbon Program, you can get a ton of money for school.
But that may not be enough to cover it all.
If you don’t have 100% GI Bill benefits, then you also aren’t eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program. And the fact is that if you choose to go to a private school, then even the GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon Program together likely won’t be enough to cover everything.
Before you commit to a school, make sure you have a fully accurate picture of the costs you are incurring.
To find out everything you need to know about financing your MBA as a veteran, read this full post I did here.
Myth #7: Your military accomplishments matter
This will be a hard pill to swallow.
But you need to stop leaning on your military accomplishments.
No one (really) cares.
What they care about is what that means going forward. You need to be able to explain why what you did in the military shapes who you want to be.
What about your military career makes you want to go be an investment banker?
Why does working at a tech company interest you after serving in the Navy?
You have to be able to articulate this. You cannot totally depend on what you did in the military to impress people to the point that they are just going to trust that means you are going to be a great product manager at Apple.
Don’t let any of these points stop you from going after your MBA. I’m just here to give you the hard-hitting advice you need.
Why? Because you need it to succeed.
Now go crush it.
Related Articles:
5 Reasons Enlisted Don’t Go To Top Grad Schools
How the DoD Skillbridge Program Works