Estimated reading time: 12 minutes
There is a lot of interest in the veteran community in heading from the military to an MBA.
This will be the first in a huge 7-part series detailing a path for veterans to move from the military into a top MBA program. This first part is meant to help veterans decide if an MBA is right for them.
Why Veterans go after an MBA.
The military is known for developing strong leadership, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. After they take off the uniform, and veterans typically feel confident applying these attributes. This tends to lead veterans to an MBA, as these skills seem potentially attractive for a business manager. And let’s not overlook that average starting salaries for MBA grads are well into six figures.
There can also be a feeling after leaving of:
“None of my military skills directly transfer into a civilian career. Other graduate degrees seem too “niche” and so the general nature of an MBA seems to fit my jack-of-all-trades military experience. “
Most veterans
There are some flaws in this logic that will come out later in the series, but the mentality still remains.
I’ll share with you my own decision-making process.
- “Ok, I’m sure I want to leave the army.”
- “I don’t know exactly what it is I want to do. I have the Post-9/11 GI Bill so I should go to graduate school.”
- “I’m not a science guy so definitely nothing medical or science. People in law school look miserable, so not that. And I don’t want to be an academic or researcher. So basically that looks like the only thing left is an MBA.”
I put this out there because I think most veterans who pursue an MBA are thinking along a similar path. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this. It can just be good to look at the process to understand how you got to your decision point.
Looking at my own decision process, a huge part of it was the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Knowing that I could get a graduate education at no cost was absolutely too good an opportunity for me to pass.
Before you commit to pursuing an MBA, there are some factors you need to seriously consider.
Figure out what you want to do first before deciding on the degree.
Think first:
“What am I trying to achieve? What are my career goals and aspirations?”
Just like with military planning, start with the endstate in mind. Next, B]backward plan to figure out how you will achieve that. If you look at your end goal and see that in order to get there, you will need an MBA, then go ahead and pursue it. If not, then it may not be worth it.
By first deciding on the degree, you may find yourself trying to fit your career around that. Instead, the degree should be a tool to help you achieve the career you want.
Going to school to figure out what you want to do is a recipe for being pushed into a career you may not really want. Within a few weeks of the start of the semester, firms will begin recruiting on-campus. Without a good idea of what you want to do, you may find yourself spread thin trying to learn about every new industry and every job opportunity. Worse, you may end up pursuing something because it was the easiest path — and end up hating that career.
The reality of the rankings.
You need to have a hard conversation with yourself.
Do you have the undergraduate grades and test scores to get into a Top 20 MBA program?
From everything that I’ve researched, an MBA really does not appear to make a significant difference unless you are going to attend a Top 20 program. There are A LOT of MBA programs on the market. The market is saturated with MBAs, a lot of them more or less worthless.
To give you an idea of the grades you need, check out these stats:
- Wharton‘s most recent class had an average 3.6 undergraduate GPA and a mean GMAT score of 732. That’s at the top of the rankngs.
- UNC’s Kenan-Flager Business School ranked #20, had an average GPA of 3.4 and an average GMAT of 697.
Use these numbers to bracket yourself.
(Quick note: Many people will tell you to ignore these stats as a veteran. Take that advice with a big grain of salt. There are indeed some factors for veterans that can make the stats a little less to worry about. If it’s been 8+ years since you were in undergrad, and you’ve shown academic excellence since then through taking additional coursework, you may get by having a lower GPA. Also, if you went to a really tough undergraduate program like the service academies, the admissions committees understand that the rigor of the program likely impacted your GPA. Even with all this, you should aim to be within the 80% range across all metrics. )
If you don’t have the academic credentials to support you going to a Top-20 program, your time and energy may be better spent elsewhere. After the Top-20 range, you may just be paying a university for a piece of paper that isn’t worth the opportunity cost. There are a lot of garbage degrees out there.
The value of a top MBA comes from a few sources:
- The network. The access to faculty, alumni, and fellow students is really the long-term value that comes from a top MBA. Having those connections and access to those resources is a huge part of what makes going from the military to an MBA worth it. But there are only so many top people, and so they tend to cluster around the best schools. At these schools is where you will find the most value.
- Education. This is, ya know, the point of school. The best schools will be able to bring in some of the best business thinkers and doers out there.
- Prestige. Let’s face it, saying you have a top MBA will open a lot of doors for you. You will still have to put forth the results and deliver, but brand names can open doors.
Putting all this together is why these schools are extremely competitive to attend. Everyone is fighting to get into the top to get the most value out of the experience.
There may only be two exceptions to attending a program outside the Top 20.
1. If you know you and your family really want to live in XYZ state forever, and you plan to work in a company or industry that is mostly confined to that state or region, then getting an MBA from the best program in that state could be your best option.
For example, going from the military to an MBA from Stanford (a perennial Top-5 program) is uber-impressive. But if you really want to stay in Arizona and work in the mining industry, then going to Arizona State (ranked far lower than Stanford) will likely provide you a better business network to help out your career. The Arizona miners may care less about your Stanford degree and want to know more about how much you know about Sun Devil football because that’s what you can build relationships over.
I would only recommend this strategy if you are REALLY sure you want to stay in a state/region. Otherwise, having a top tier MBA can be transported across all industries and locations.
2. You already have a career that you enjoy and a company you want to continue working with. You just need to get the degree to help management feel comfortable with you and get you to the next level. In this case, figure out the MBA format that is best for you to keep crushing at work and get the degree, get promoted, and keep conquering.
Is it worth the opportunity cost?
Committing to business school is a significant allocation of time, energy, and money. Before you commit, you should really weigh the pros and cons.
Most full-time MBA programs are two years long. That’s two years out of the workforce where you will not be earning money and not contributing toward a retirement plan. And that time will be busy, with classes, clubs, and the recruiting process to land your post-MBA career.
MBAs are expensive. If you go to a private school you can still expect to owe tens of thousands of dollars for your degree, even with the Post-9/11 GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program.
It’s a good general rule of thumb that getting a top MBA degree will be worth it over the long run, but once you start falling down the rankings this may get harder.
Are you just going for the prestige?
Having an MBA has a nice sound to it. It’s some extra letters you add onto your resume and it just sounds like it’s probably a good thing.
But are you just chasing a fancy title from a prestigious institution that in the long run will not equate to long-term happiness? Check out this great article from a Harvard Business School grad about his reflections on going to HBS and pitfalls of thinking that a top degree and money will bring you happiness.
Entrepreneurship.
If you are someone who really wants to go down the entrepreneurial path, you may not need to go from the military to an MBA. Graduate business programs are mostly designed to help educate future business leaders on how to build value, mitigate risk, and manage people. Not necessarily start the next big tech company out of their garage.
Let’s say you already have a business that’s going forward. You are already making money. Do you need an MBA? Probably not. The opportunity cost of taking yourself from the business to spend time at school may end up hurting your business.
Maybe just taking some weekend or night classes on accounting and finance might be all you need. There are thousands of stories of entrepreneurs who made their business succeed without a formal business education.
If you don’t have a business that’s already running but have ideas and drive, then an MBA could really help. As a student, you may find it way easier to get access to resources and mentorship. You can also take entrepreneurship classes and participate in events to help move the ball forward on your idea.
Paired with a fully funded Post-9/11 GI Bill, getting an MBA could be a way to even help subsidize your startup. You will be receiving BAH and can receive student discounts and access to resources that you couldn’t otherwise.
Timeline for Military to MBA.
Let’s say you do decide that getting a graduate business education is the right move for you.
What’s next?
Planning.
MBA programs, the ones you want to enter, start in the fall. Somewhere in late July or early August of the year you begin, you should expect to be at your school.
What you should strongly try and avoid is getting out of the military on a Friday and starting your MBA that Monday. I even know a few veterans who were still on active duty during the first month of class.
There is absolutely no need to impose that extra stress on yourself. Knowing your ETS date, make the effort to plan some time off before you start. For basic logistics, you will need to pack up and move from your last duty station to your new school. You don’t want to start school still stressed and flustered from the move and the transition process. Every school will likely start with fundamental business courses like finance and accounting, which will be stressful enough for you.
Prior to your ETS, you may also want to consider doing a DoD Skillsbridge internship. This can do a few things for you. First, you may be able to land an internship in an industry that you think you want to enter. This can give you the opportunity to try it out for a few months. If you do it far enough out, this could also provide you a really unique opportunity and some great experience. That experience can help your MBA application stand out from other veteran candidates.
Even after your ETS, you could pursue a banking internship. Many veterans are interested in pursuing careers in the financial sector post-MBA. This can be a good way to test it out and start to build your network in that industry. Doing this may also get you some connections in the business world that can help you learn more about certain schools from alumni.
The MBA application process can be hectic and stressful. Ideally, you want to start researching schools about 18 months prior to starting school. This will allow you enough time to pick your target schools, study for the GMAT or GRE, and start putting together your applications — ideally so you can apply in Round 1.
You also want to give yourself time to visit schools and potentially travel for interviews. Once you decide on an MBA, let your chain of command know. Give them a heads-up on when you might want to take a 3-day pass to go visit some schools.
If you really want to crush it as business school, you have to do more than just get in. There’s a lot to be learned and gained from your professors, classmates, alumni, and recruiters. So you want a plan in place to make the most of your MBA. That’s why I strongly recommend “What Now? The Admit’s Start to Maximizing the MBA”. It’s written by a couple of Northwestern Kellogg School of Management grads, so they aren’t slouches (and yours truly contributed as well!). Using the “coffee chat,” as a format, they lay out a gameplan you can use to stay focused and productive at business school. Get your copy here.
I spoke with a former company commander of mine and he said that it seemed that all his subordinates who were getting out seemed to be going from the military to an MBA. My response was, “It seems like the best idea when you don’t know what else to do in life.”
I challenge you to be more deliberate in thinking about your future than that. Through thoughtful evaluation of your goals and aspirations, along with research and understanding of how to achieve them, you can make an informed decision that will not only help you achieve career success but more fulfillment in your post-military life.
Related Articles:
Veterans at Georgetown: W. Isaac Lyons
Top 10 Career Change Books on Amazon
Related Podcasts:
EP 02- Mark and Brendan talk MBA applications
Ep. 05 Getting an MBA In Barcelona: Steve Jewell at IESE
Ep. 16: Jonathan Miller on MBA and Entrepreneurship
Ep. 24: Marine, MBA, Consultant, and Blogger: John McCarthy
Ep. 42: 1st MBA Semester recap with Brendan from Wharton
Ep. 56: Starting a Company While Getting a Wharton MBA: Chase Hobby and VRB Labs
Good info
I like it.. this was pretty similar to my own process in choosing Darden — Post 9/11 GI Bill, prestige, network, geography!