I am interested in applying for my MBA, however have some rather different goals than the usual applicant:

At matriculation will have worked as an analyst for the DoD for 3.5 years (where I deployed to Afghanistan and traveled in the Middle East), prior to that I was a management consultant (Big Four) in strategy, primarily focused in the Oil & Gas and Defense sectors for a year and spent a year consulting to the Civil Service and energy sector in a Western European country.

Education-wise, I hold my BA in International Relations from a Top 50 university (top 10 in IR) and a master's from a top UK university in IR also. Grade wise I did alright, earning a 3.1 UG GPA (3.55 in my major) and a 2i (equivalent 3.4-3.7 GPA) in my master's. In terms of the GMAT, I took a couple practice exams and scored 700 and 710 a little over a year ago and have always been a strong standardized test taker (SATs (98th/99th percentile), SAT IIs, etc).

My reason for wanting a MBA is fairly specific. I have a long term interest in DoD reform and Civil Service reform as a whole. Particularly I am interested in developing a more dynamic and professional civil service, which can attract the top applicants similar to the UK and French Civil Services, which the US does not do at present. Additionally, in the coming years with a reduced budget, I believe the DoD will have to learn to do more with less so to speak and there are many areas where this can be achieved via reorganization and the elimination of the duplication of effort.

With all that said, I am particularly interested in Yale SOM given its history with and to a large extent its engagement with the public sector and emphasis on service. Would I be at all competitive as an applicant? If so what can I do to improve my chances? And finally, are there any other MBAs of a similar note that emphasize public service?

I agree with Maichichi. Yale is known for their public service and nonprofit management programs, but many other schools have great connections to public service. I actually met with the leaders of the Social Enterprise club at Sloan yesterday and was really surprised how active their club is and how much support they've gotten from the school. So even schools that you might not expect to have people interested in public service may have it.

However, Yale definitely should be on your list and your goal is really interesting. You'll want to be very specific as to how the MBA will help you--i.e., what will you be doing right after your MBA? How did the MBA help you get that job and why did you need the MBA to get it? etc. Would you go directly back into gov't or would you do consulting first?

The other thing that is attractive about Yale for you is their loan forgiveness program for graduates who work in nonprofit. If you don't know about that, check it out on their website.

Good luck