Goodbye JC100021, Hello Military_MBA_Banker
Hello WSO Members,
I recently changed my WSO handle from JC100021 to this. You might also notice I went from Gorilla to King Kong & Certified User overnight. Below is an explanation why, but I want to first state that my aim now is to help people looking to change careers through an MBA, especially military guys (though all walks of life welcome).
Long story short, I have been on WSO since early 2007, when it was "ibankingoasis.com." I raked up about 600 bananas, and then after feeling I may have lost my anonymity, made a completely random name "JC100021" to start fresh. My initials aren't JC, I literally hit the keyboard with my eyes closed and that is what came out.
When I first started using this site, I was a brand new officer in the military with no idea what banking or PE was. I found the site by Googling "how to get into investment banking"
I asked the site moderator to allow me to take my credits & bananas from my old account, and add them to my new account, and for certified user status because I felt I could contribute from my past experiences.
My story:
I grew up in NYC and came from a family of civil servants with no idea about finance or Wall Street. I thought my friend going to Wharton undergrad to study business was a sucker because being an entrepreneur was so risky (because obviously, business means starting your own business). I thought I was the shit for getting into Rose-Hulman and RPI for engineering, because that is where the money was (shows how little I knew in High School).
So I go to a U.S. Service Academy, get my commission as an officer in the military, and earn a degree in engineering.
Let me squash any notions you might have about me—I was not a grunt, a ground pounder, a trigger puller. I was not a SEAL, a Ranger, and PJ, or any type of Special Forces nut. Those guys are the real heroes. I spent my first 3 years sitting behind a desk managing weapons Research & Development. Don’t get me wrong, it was cool stuff, and got to travel to a lot of sites. I even earned a Masters Degree in engineering while working. I did a year in Iraq, but it was as an intelligence guy working in the main headquarters—more like a bank that one would think. Ironically, my deployment consisted of 120 hour weeks of making spreadsheets and slides, and printing 100-page handouts 20 minutes before a meeting and then having to switch the 37th page for 20 copies because my boss wanted to make a pen and ink change at the last minute. Meetings with the Generals were like pitches where the General was the CEO, the Colonels were MDs and I was an Associate keeping my mouth shut, even though I wrote all of the content. My enlisted who were there before I was were like Analysts who knew more than I did, but after 3-6 months I knew more about doing the job and the “big picture” than they did, and I was checking their work.
Rewind back to about 6 months after I graduated the Academy. I met an investment banker while sitting in an airport coming home from a contractor site. I thought he was a stock trader, because that is what they do on Wall Street, right? Well he gave me a quick dose of what bankers did—taking companies public, advising on mergers and acquisitions, managing LBOs for private equity investors. I realized that banking was about grinding out crazy hours and making a lot of money, and not nearly as risky as some other parts of the finance career fields. This lack of risk attracted me. I also liked that I could work in an industry group, and over 10 years or so make it to the SVP/MD level becoming an expert in that industry.
So, I looked into banking online and found this site. Then I learned about PE…..and how I probably was not going to get into it because I wasn’t informed in high school like my friend who went to Wharton. Oh well, what can you do. I still see myself trying for it but I am not holding my breath.
So, where were we…oh that’s right I am 6 months into a 5 year commitment in the military and I already know I want to do Investment Banking 4.5 years into the future. I was enrolled in a part-time MBA program at the time, and was sad about it, but WSO convinced me I needed a top MBA. I dropped the program, but I think the MBA primers I took in finance, accounting, management, and econ were very helpful later in the future when applying to top MBA programs.
At this time I planned my whole approach. I wanted to get into banking, and for that I needed a top MBA. My next 4 years were “Operation: Get accepted into a top MBA”. I had an uphill battle. I took the GMAT previously for the hell of it and scored a 480 (33rd percentile). My undergrad GPA was under a 3.0. I was not in the sexiest of military jobs, working with civilians and no soldiers reporting to me, when other guys had whole platoons/flights underneath them.
I had to kick ass in my job, do something to cover up my undergrad GPA, and rock the GMAT. I ended up getting a Masters in engineering while working full time, graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA, got a 720 gmat score after 2 additional attempts (and months of painful preparation), and by getting my Masters in engineering combined with the MBA primers I took I was able to do better in my job as an engineering manager. I won professional awards and was the top ranked junior officer in my unit. This was all done just 2.5 years after I decided I wanted to be a banker. For those of you keeping up, I had 3 years in at this point.
Deciding I wanted to do something more meaningful, I volunteered for a deployment to Iraq. I thought “I need to escape the desk.” Joke was on me. I volunteered blindly for a job without know where, or what I would be doing. I ended up in headquarters pushing paper—just with the occasional rocket flying overhead.
So, I have my “transformational” experience in the sandbox while at the same time applying to business schools. I hired Stacy Blackman and went 2/4, dinged at HBS/Wharton and accepted to Booth/Columbia. I also got into Darden & NYU on my own. For many reasons previously stated on this site, I chose CBS. For reasons I won’t bore you with, I had to defer a year due to the military being unclear about my retention. Now I am finishing my time and about to start school in the fall.
This is a long time coming, but I am realizing a goal I have had for close to 5 years. I got a lot of advice and help from people on this site, and now rather than just asking questions, I want to start helping others in a similar position I was in.
So, PM me, reply to this post, whatever. I can talk about the military, engineering, GMAT prep, MBA applications, career changing, mapping out goal setting, and my recently discovered talent, networking like a motherfu*ker. I am not a consultant, I don’t want money, I just want to help…a Banana or two is always appreciated though ;)






Great story (I read it all
Great story (I read it all the way through).
Congratulations on getting into Columbia.
- Bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs get slaughtered.
- The harder you work, the luckier you become.
- I believe in the "Golden Rule": the man with the gold rules.
SB to you sir. First and
SB to you sir.
First and foremost, thank you for your service – and don’t ever downplay the fact you weren’t a SEAL, what you did was just as important. Given your superb planning and execution, I am positive you will have an extremely rewarding future. It is very inspiring to see people reach their goals, regardless of the odds. CBS will be a wonderful experience, succeed there as you have in your other endeavors and I don’t see you ever having a problem scoring a gig in banking.
"Jesus, he's like a gremlin; comes with instructions and shit"
Good write up man, congrats
Good write up man, congrats again.
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
Congrats on your acceptance.
Congrats on your acceptance. That is a great write up.
"yeah, thats right" High-Five
Great story man. You've been
Great story man. You've been working your butt off for so long, glad to see its finally paying off.
Learn Financial Modeling
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Congratulations!
Congratulations!
It's what you put into it
Excellent story. Glad to see
Excellent story. Glad to see you're now certified. +1 SB
looking for that pick-me-up to power through an all-nighter?
Inspirational. +1
Inspirational. +1
Beat navy. Beat air
Beat navy.
Beat air force.
Otherwise I have no concerns.
For the sake of not giving
For the sake of not giving away what service I am in (for anonymity reasons), I cannot agree or disagree with the above statement.
BTW, it is Sink Navy, Beat
BTW, it is Sink Navy, Beat Air Force, Beat Army
+1 SB. Thanks for your
+1 SB.
Thanks for your service and Congrats on Columbia.
Talk a little bit about your GMAT prep. What service did you use? Strategies?
After four years of freezing
After four years of freezing my ass off in a Veteran's stadium parking lot at 7 AM, waiting to go inside for a 2 PM game or getting hazed in the "Beat Navy" tunnel I'm 100% sure its beat navy. Beat 'em with a stick.
I guess that rules out the king of service academies. So you are either a lazy cowardly zoomie, a filthy smelly squid, a glorified lifeguard or even worse one of those merchant marine academy people.
Plus who would want to sink navy, those ships are awesome. Hot food in an officers only mess, beds with sheets, total safety at all times, chicks walking around,aviators with cases of booze hidden in the officers only quarters and the occasional marine I can give a barely usable hand-me-down item to that he will thank me for. I've been on Caribbean cruises that weren't as nice as the 3 days I got to spend on a Nimitz class carrier.
Jokes aside, congratulations on the acceptances.
Great post man. I'm just
Great post man. I'm just glad I knew you before you were famous!!
Regards
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so."
- Ronald Reagan
congratulations man.
congratulations man. definitely gives me hope of achieving 700+ GMAT despite an average GPA + NonTarget. Good Luck
Ben Shalom Bernanke wrote: +1
Congrats! And thank you for
JC/Military_MBA_Banker -
- Capt K -
"Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
Great post and congrats on
You just motivated me to
JC/Military_MBA, You got 6
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
happypantsmcgee
SB for you sir! I bet the
"Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."
Bro, you are by far the most
whateverittakes wrote: Bro,
Military_MBA_Banker
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
Military_MBA_Banker
happypantsmcgee
Inspirational story.
I served in a Joint HQ--I
Military_MBA_Banker
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
Awesome story! Now I just
happypantsmcgee wrote: Can't
Military MBA, Thanks for the
Ben Shalom Bernanke
Ben Shalom Bernanke
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
Awwww they took me off the
.
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light." - DT
Thank you for sharing your
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light." - DT
Military_MBA_Banker
happypantsmcgee wrote: Ben
The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee
WSO is not your personal search function.
MBA banker now what do I call
The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee
WSO is not your personal search function.
blackfinancier wrote: MBA
Great story man, looking
"WSO is like the 300 for anti spamage. None shall pass." -happypantsmcgee
"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer
Great story. You sound like a
Wow definitely very
Not sure if you are still
nice see a fellow service
Very inspirational. Thanks
Ordinary guy. Extraordinary mindset.
I had a flair for languages. But I soon discovered that what talks best is dollars, dinars, drachmas, rubles, rupees and pounds fucking sterling.
Great story. Always