Liberal Arts degree/Military service - MBA admissions
Hi everyone, long time lurker here.
I am currently a liberal arts major at a non target university, who would eventually like break into IB. I fully understand that graduating with a soft degree like history from a non-target is essentially useless. With that said
I plan on commissioning into the Military as an officer after I graduate. I hope to one day serve in a Special Operations unit (be it 75th RR, NSW, or SF). I have always wanted to do this, make no mistake I'm not doing this in order to break into IB in the slightest - it is one of my goals in life to serve.
My question is, would a retired SOF officer with a liberal arts degree be able to make it into several MBA business schools">M7 schools? From what I understand, most admission boards favor veterans. And provided one did graduate from an MBA business schools">M7 school, coupled with prior Military experience - would employers necessarily care about his undergrad degree? And would he be in a favorable position?
Thanks, any help is appreciated.
Yes, but what level you get promoted to is SUPER important. Adcoms don't understand the military that well, so go for the highest officer title you can get, they won't understand the nitty-gritty of what people inside military truly view as prestigious.
I'm a vet. Do you have any idea how long it will take you to make O-5?
Yes, you can absolutely get in with what you’ve told us. Special forces that AdComs are aware of as being elite is always a plus.
My understanding though, is that stats are incredibly important for military applicants. Unlike MBB or IBD or other “standard” jobs, AdComs don’t really know what you’re doing in the military, and they don’t necessarily relate it all that well to b-school. Basically, I understand that to mean that every single military officer sounds pretty damn impressive, but it’s hard to distinguish between someone in the the 101st Airborne and Weapons Officer on a submarine (I think those are both things).
So you haven’t given us GPA, or what you’d expect your GMAT to be (based on SATs?). As a history major, your GMAT is even more important, since you’ll need to prove quantitative ability somewhere, and your degree and work experience likely won’t do so.
As for jobs, plenty of jobs are available to veterans, and there are a number of programs to help veterans get jobs, especially in banking.
Banking: https://credit-suisse.tal.net/vx/lang-en-GB/system-32/brand-1/xf-414525…
http://careers.jpmorgan.com/student/jpmorgan/careers/earlyadvantage/mba
Tech: http://www.google.com/edu/programs/google-student-veterans-summit/
BGP2587, The Banking links that you gave are awesome! I am applying right now for both. Do you know of any other programs such as these for military people?
I've worked with a number of military candidates, and it isn't entirely true that admissions folks are unaware of your military bona fides. Some schools have Vets Club members help with both outreach and screening, and those guys surely know their stuff.
Also, many military guys are competing against each other, so you need to stand out based on your peer group. @"wannabeaballer" -- can you chime in?
I personally like a liberal arts degree combined with military training, but make sure you get your quant courses in -- I've seen some very strong military guys who figured it was just leadership in extreme environments. But you are competing against ROTC and Academy guys who have taken STEM courses in undergrad
I don't think you understand that as a college student, stating that you want to want to commission and serve in a special operations unit is about the same as me saying that my plan is to graduate from college and work at KKR as a post-MBA associate. I'd focus on your immediate goal in school, which is to do well enough that when you commission you aren't stuck in an unsexy branch.
With that said, in order to command a troop at the special missions unit level (think delta force or ST6) you have to be an O-4. I was told that former SMU Officers are highly valued in finance, is there any truth to that? Thanks
I love the ambition but let's stop and think for a second. Why are you even talking about ST6? You haven't graduated from college, been accepted to OCS (which is a bitch in of itself), been accepted to BUDS as an officer, passed BUDS, passed advanced training, etc.
Many kids think that just because they have a college degree that they're a sure thing for OCS. It's not that easy.
Qui rerum laboriosam possimus nihil itaque. Similique maiores magni dolore sit.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...