Calling all US Military Fall 2016 Applicants!

Ahh...gotcha. Thank you very much! Good luck to everyone!

So since Jan I've been focused on studying real hard on the GMAT and after my 3rd try I went with a good enough score to get me into 2 schools, 1 invite (fate unknown), and awaiting 2 more invites. I went very narrow on just "trying to get in a top program" that I didn't think about the 2nd order of effects of admittance.

So my question deals with the REFRAD process and funding.

1) I'm guessing I need to REFRAD now? What would be the ideal date? I'm currently in command and would like at least a month to get everything prepared for my move to the school.

2) Funding. I'm married and have a baby. How the hell do people with families able to make it through the 2 years?! Yes, didn't consider this and instead focused on just getting into school. I'm tracking what the GI Bill brings and planned on joining the reserves but I'm guessing that still wouldn't cover food, gas, bills, etc. How do you all do it?

1) What did you score on the GMAT? What did you do to improve your scores between your 3 tests?

2) The wife and I are in intense savings mode. I am looking at schools where GI Bill covers 100% of tuition or YR covers the rest. Endstate - paying for less than 10% of tuition. We will use our savings to pay for everything that BAH doesn't cover.

I am very curious to hear from veterans with families about how they made it through school.

The first time I took the GMAT I studied from a book and went in blind... I did very bad. I ended up taking the PR course and brought my score up alot then ended up taking it after I was complete. I scored ok on the 2nd then took a cheaper course (about $800) from a guy who does it on the side and after that I got the score I wanted (or least good enough... I totally checked out with the GMAT after that test haha).

I have lots of money saved up with my wife and some investments but don't think it's honestly good enough. The vets I met at the programs I visited were either all single and the one married guy with kids was in the ACS program so he was still in the service.

What schools are you applying to? There are a ton of scholarships out there, including ones specifically for veterans.

Hey guys(gals),

I did not realize this thread was out there, better late than never.

Take my advice on the savings questions with a grain of salt - I'm single and my savings was supplemented by three years of COLA from overseas. But I have talked with a few veterans with families and you shouldn't ignore student loans. You get a few minor benefits in terms of capped interest and delayed payments, plus student loan interest is tax deductible. So when you combine GI Bill, YR, summer internship, and a few loans it seems manageable (again really easy for a single guy to say that). I personally hate debt, but given your lifetime earnings after a top-20 school it seems worth it.

My two cents on the GMAT, do internet-based prep. I used the economist's gmat service and it helped a lot. Not having to go to a class was huge considering how unpredictable my schedule was (I'm a pilot) and the skype tutoring sessions nicely filled in the gaps that the software couldn't cover. And since the test is computer-based it made sense to me to do all my studying on a computer. My first practice test score was a 620 and my final came out pretty well, I historically test well too so take that for what its worth. Also, the prep stuff from mba.com was free and pretty useful.

BTW any advice on the Sloan interview?

Skifree,

How was the interview?

Honesty, I have no idea. It wasn't obviously bad, and I don't really know what's good. It seemed like a pleasant and direct conversation, and there wasn't anything substantially awkward or difficult to answer. I've read that bad ones are obviously bad - so at least that didn't happen. It seemed like the chemistry was good, but who knows?

I have a friend who went to a different b-school a while ago which let him see his interviewer's feedback. He thought he nailed it; the review was actually pretty critical. And this guys is very sociable. So maybe mine was worse than I thought. Plus I figure convincing myself it was bad will temper my expectations come judgement day.

About 4-6 weeks. Mine took about 5, with Thanksgiving in between.

Mine was super quick, 2 weeks. A rare effective DOD program. I thought it was a little weird that I had to send them my scores though.

Anybody in at Kellogg or CBS?

In at Kellogg

Bump

Military folk... I've asked this question before but having no luck with getting my questioned answered (hopefully someone is in the same boat as me). My friends that got out and now getting their MBA are single and the GI Bill along with their savings has got them along fine from what they tell me.

Me, on the other hand, married, kids, mortgage. I'm 100% GI Bill and plan on renting out my house when I leave but actually starting to get a little worried about the money part. I've got pampers and food to provide for but is highly unlikely that E-5 w/dep will help cover that. Do loans that I take out to attend take that into consideration and/or how do most do it when it comes to paying bills?

Yes I have savings and no it won't last even 6 months.

I'm in the same boat: married, two kids, mortgage. It's definitely nerve-wracking, even with the GI Bill. I wish I could say that I've figured out the magical solution but I'm ultimately looking at these two years as lean years. We've been saving for two years, are stopping retirement investments while in school, and my wife is going to pick up a part-time job. I'm going to ride a bicycle and may not travel as much as other students. I think the only way to get through it (relatively) unscathed is by making a bunch of little changes/sacrifices.

I doubt this helped at all, but if nothing else you know you'll have a sympathizer on the west coast.

Think about it this way. Most students have to take out loans to cover tuition, books, housing, and living expenses - resulting in huge debt. If you're going to a good school and are coming out with a good salary, this is relatively trivial in that they will be able to pay it back rather quickly.

We have the advantage of the GI Bill which knocks off tuition, some books, and a huge chunk of house. Sure you're going to have to find a way to cover the rest, but it is still a fraction of what most students are going to owe.

You could also look at part time MBA's. I have a friend who does the part time program at Booth. He works full time and then flies from Denver to Chicago every weekend for class. This is a huge sacrifice, obviously, but there are a lot of people in that program.

This...particularly if you're at the 100% GI Bill rate plus Yellow Ribbon, or if you attend a school that does some version of YR-matching or in-state tuition for vets. And even with all that money you're still eligible for grants, fellowships, and scholarships, many of which are targeted directly towards veterans either at the national level (i.e. Tillman Foundation) or school level.

Worst case scenario, paying off $20K or even $50K of private loans that you took out to cover living expenses is not a big concern if you're making the kind of salary that grads typically make out of top MBA programs.