steveknight wrote:
I am an ex-military enlisted NCO who wants to get an idea of what everyone thinks about my application package and what I can do to make mine as strong as possible. I have 7.5 years of work experience, all with some form of technology/IT, in a military or public sector setting.
At my current job I have very few chances to lead others, but I am part of an understaffed four person team that provides technical support in a setting that is larger than 99.9% of the businesses that would be hiring. I have strong leadership skills and experiences from my enlisted time; I had seven direct reports, managed missile defense systems with an operating budget approaching one million dollars, and led non-compliant boarding missions off of the coast of Somalia.
While my G.P.A. is high (3.9), I have taken courses from five different schools and my degree is ultimately from DeVry. I have taken seven courses and received great marks while enrolled in the Master's in Public Administration program at The Ohio State University, and I was accepted into the part-time M.B.A. program at The Ohio State University (Fisher). I am a first generation college student who was very naive about the entire college prestige issue, but I do excel in the classroom.
In discussions with the admissions team at Fisher, their only hangup is my current GMAT score (560 32Q/35V). I was unprepared the first time I took the test and I am currently shooting for a late March/early April retake. I plan on applying to the full-time program at Fisher, and depending on my GMAT score, apply at a couple of other schools. I have been scoring in the 660 range on my recent practice tests. Any idea if I could get into Indiana (Kelley), Texas (McCombs), or UCLA (Anderson) with my undergrad institution?
Thoughts?
Military applicants are always solid. You've got a really interesting story and can talk about leadership in ways that other applicants can only dream of. There's an Admissions Consultant thread at:
admission-consultants-124/ Check it out and throw your story up there. There's also a military candidate thread that's probably one page back here.
Your academics are going to be suspect if you can't get your GMAT up. DeVry isn't going to be considered a solid undergrad institution, although your coursework at Ohio State will definitely help. You'll need to highlight why you went to so many schools, which is easy for a servicemember, and highlight your high grades at OSU. Work on getting your quant score up, it's very important for schools because they want to know you can handle the math they'll present you with. Another great way to demonstrate your quant ability is to take, and get As in, courses like calculus, stats, and finance.
Kelly is definitely doable, McCombs and Anderson may be stretches, but it depends on your GMAT score. Good luck.
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Updated on: 10 Jan 2011, 13:37
