Calling all US Military Fall 2012 Applicants!

Right there with ya.

Posted from GMAT ToolKit

same here. no luck for me this early.

Congrats to all who already received HBS invites, and good luck tomorrow to vets who are still waiting...

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Still nothing from HBS or Wharton but trying to hold out hope.

Waitlisted R1 at HBS, application deferred to R2 for further review.

Best Value MBA Programs for Vets Using Post-9/11 GI Bill

Year 2 (2010-2011 Analysis Below)

Group I
High MBA School Ranking, 80-100% Tuition Waiver
Each MBA school in this category rated high academically and also committed to reduce costs for veterans in an effort to lower their overall tuition rates. All of the schools in this category rank Top 20 in quality and they cover 80% or more of tuition costs for veterans. Four of these MBA schools waive 100% of their tuition for veterans who qualify, which makes them obvious choices to attend if you can get in and receive funding.

Dartmouth College
Tuck School of Business
University of Michigan
School of Business
Cornell University
School of Management
Carnegie Mellon
Tepper School of Business
Duke University Fuqua School of Business
Washington University St. Louis Olin Business School

Group II
Highest MBA School Ranking, 20-40% Tuition Waiver
MBA schools in this group rate high for the quality of their MBA programs. In fact, all are in the Top 7. However, these MBA programs committed less funding relative to other schools to help veterans offset high costs of tuition. There are quality-price tradeoffs to attend these schools, but higher tuitions could be offset with better reputations, future careers and higher compensation. The challenge for this group of MBA schools continues to be stepping up their financial commitments, which are subsequently matched by the VA, to make their programs even more valuable for veterans and their families.

Harvard Business School
University of Pennsylvania
Wharton School of Business
University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business
University of Chicago
Booth School
Northwestern University
Kellogg School of Management
Stanford University
Graduate School of Business
M.I.T.Sloan School of Management

Group III
Lower MBA School Ranking, 25-70% Tuition Waiver
Even though none of these universities rate in the Top 7 academically, there are many outstanding programs from well-regarding MBA schools in this cluster. Several in this category compete on a tuition basis with Group I and the majority are Top 20 in terms of quality. You should evaluate any meaningful tradeoffs, include factors such as location and consider your situation in deciding to attend these MBA schools.

UCLA Anderson Graduate School
University of Virginia Darden School of Business
University of North Carolina School of Business
Emory University
Goizueta Business School
Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School
Georgetown University McDonough School of Business
USC Marshall School of Business
University of Notre Dame School of Business

Year 3 (2011-2012 Coming in July) has yet to be updated
https://militarymba.net/schools-and-prog ... grams.html

A nice little article & video about a few of the veterans we have here at Kellogg.

https://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/ ... urce=enews

That's good news, I interviewed there Friday and I think it went really well. I haven't figured out if my AFSC is helping or hurting me though as an acquisitions officer. I've never deployed and never led troops in combat, however I have significant team leadership and business experience working with defense contractors. So far I'm 0 for 2 with a ding at both HBS and Wharton but the interview went well at Kellogg and CBS hasn't even started reviewing my app yet so I haven't given up hope.

....

Sorry to hear about the dings Mappleby. The one lesson I learned last year was to always always apply to a safety school, it really takes the heat off. I didnt, only applied to cream of the crop schools, and I regretted it when crunch time came and dings started rolling in. I wish I had gotten in somewhere R1, because all R2 would have been was me trying to trade up. I got lucky but I hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't been admitted.

tA

I had originally planned on applying to more schools but ran out of time. Unfortunately the Air Force is going to match me up with a new assignment towards the end of January so I have to know in R1 if I got in anywhere, by the time the R2 decisions come out I will have already had to commit to either leaving or signing up for 2 more years active duty. My fiance is in grad school right now so I really don't want to take the risk of dropping my separation paperwork without having a B-school acceptance in hand. I'll just take a new assignment and re-apply in 2 years if I get 4 dings this year.

I have family ties to Kellogg so I'm hoping that helps boost my chances. I guess I'll find out in a couple of weeks. I think I'd be very happy at either Columbia or Kellogg so getting dinged without even an interview at HBS and Wharton certainly hurts my pride a little it's not the end of the world.

I will be heading to B school in about two years and leaving behind 8 years as a Navy SEAL. Couple combat tours and I am confident that my experience will help me. I have heard a lot about Special Forces guys heading to B school so I am wondering if Admissions Offices at the top schools are desensitized to it? On one hand, I hear we are considered like any other vet transitioning and on the other, I have heard they will overlook a average GMAT score (650 even) to get a SEAL within the student body.

I'll be looking at HBS, Tuck, Darden, Kellogg. Does anyone know the real deal?? Thanks

Other than the initial "wow" factor I doubt they'd consider a SEAL any differently than any other military applicant. It'll still be all about how you sell yourself in your essays and the rest of the application. As far as I know at HBS there's only one SEAL in my class and another one who's a second-year, along with a handful of Army Rangers and one Air Force PJ. I've got no way of knowing how many SF types apply compared to general population military, so I don't know if that makes them over or underrepresented.

For those of you who've already received fee waivers, I was wondering if you can share your experience. This is what I read on Columbia's application website:

"Applicants requesting a fee waiver should contact the Admissions office PRIOR to submitting your application. Fee waivers are available to individuals for whom paying the application fee would be a financial hardship, including full-time students, currently serving members of the Peace Corps, military persons who have been on active duty within three years of applying, and citizens of developing countries who currently reside in that country. Applicants should fax a fee waiver request letter to 212-662-6754 and should explain their need for a fee waiver. Please allow up to two weeks for a fee waiver approval."

This sounds to me like military applicants do not automatically rate a fee waiver, unless it constitutes financial hardship. Even as an E-5, I can't ethically state that the $250 fee will break my back, so I don't know if I should be writing a request letter saying that "the fee waiver would be nice to have." Any thoughts? I sent an e-mail to them asking for clarification, but my finger is itching to hit that submit button ASAP. Haven't applied to other schools that offer fee waivers yet, but I wonder if they all ask for justification...

Kellogg gives automatic fee waivers, you just email them a scan/copy of your ID card and they update your file for Part I. I was in the same boat as you at Columbia though. I couldn't in good conscience say that $250 was a hardship as an O-2, I also didn't want to lose the time waiting for the fee waiver to be processed. Ultimately $250 isn't really that much.

Thanks for sharing your exerience, mappleby. I just finished submitting my CBS application two minutes after reading your post. You're right, $250 isn't that much. But what really turned me off was that I would need to wait 2-3 weeks for processing it, and then my application would then be considered complete. I didn't want to risk losing my advantage of submitting relatively earlier than others, especially with the rolling admissions system.

I really wish the best of luck for you regarding Kellogg and CBS. I was dinged by HBS too, and I feel the pain.

For those who haven't applied to Columbia yet, I heard back from the office a few days ago. The request letter and explanation are mere formalities, so all they require of you is that you state your active duty status in each. The catch is that you'll need to wait some days for it to process. I've already paid mine and moved on, but hopefully there are others that will find this info useful.

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