No technical work experience.
I'm currently working on my UG and will have 9 years total prior military experience. The reasons for staying so long in the military is because the field I worked in, nuclear power, has 6 years as your minimum obligation time. Also, there's a program that you can do where your contract is dropped and you reenlist for another 6 years, usually it works out to 2-3 years more. You're given rank and a large bonus for this.
Now that we have that out of the way I'll explain my worries. I've read that work experience is only usually counted for work after UG and since I want to make it into a top MBA program, I'm concerned about my lack of after UG experience. I'm going to make the jump from UG to MBA due to my age and would like to know if it's really considered that big of a hit to have pre-UG work experience. Somewhere on one of these rate my application things I remembered reading that if you worked in a technically demanding job before college it could count and people who work nuclear power don't always get degrees, instead they're concerned about getting licensed. Does anyone think I could spin this into something neutral or positive by pointing out that I worked in a technical field in the military, maybe point out how people get licensed instead of degrees due to the specific level of knowledge required? Any advice would be appreciated.
Veterans are usually evaluated pretty differently. No MBA program will expect you to go and get ANOTHER 2-3 yrs work experience after you've already amassed 9(!) in a technically demanding field. I'm a veteran myself and I've seen guys make the same exact jump you're describing-admittedly not at top 10 but def top 25 MBA programs. And not in nuclear power but more along the lines of air traffic control.
The truth is, MBA programs prefer officers, special forces, etc...but an enlisted guy who was a Nuclear Engineer?? There's probably not many other ex-military to which they can compare you. I think that if you get the grades and GMAT you'll be fine. If the post undergrad work experience bugs you that much, just get a decent internship and that should keep you afloat. But really, I think you'll be good.
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