Naval Veteran Profile for US MBA Schools

Hi, Pratik2903,

Thank you for your post!

First, I would like to say you have a very interesting profile in terms of relevant work experience and did a great job backing a score of 730+ on your GMAT. Moreover, your overall GPA is good. Additionally, you would need to back them up with substantial examples of leadership, decision-making, and analytical skills in your long tenure. Finally, your profile is quite strong academically, and you have a realistic chance at your target B-schools.

Coming to the profile, I would like to say it's great how well you have mentioned your current and past roles & responsibilities. However, it's also important to add stellar leadership examples. Therefore, I would like you to bank upon your experience by elaborating more about your crucial projects assigned, examples of leadership, skill-set developed, promotions & professional accolades, and the impact generated during your diverse tenure. Moreover, since you belong to a military background, I suggest you go through our article on MBA for Indian Defense Veterans, you will get some valuable insights. Regarding your ECAs, it's quite interesting but at the same time a bit brief; I would suggest elaborating on the challenges faced.,Stories related to squash will start an interesting conversation between you and AdComs.

All in all, a decent profile along with a well-defined relevant post-MBA goal. However, you need to have a stellar academic profile and unique leadership examples demonstrating your relevant skill-set for merit-based scholarships. You should look at the recruiter and select your target business schools regarding your questions. The schools you have chosen are perfect, and you can add Haas to your list. We have assisted a military veteran (Airforce commander), in getting into Top business schools like Ross, Kelly, McCombs, and Emory with 130K scholarship. So you definitely have a chance to earn a scholarship. Deadlines are approaching for R1, so I suggest starting your application asap! Starting now can also give you more time to work on your gaps simultaneously. You may want to read a story of a military candidate who got into Schulich after 15 years of military experience. It may help you better relate, and you will gain valuable observations. I suggest you go through our article on How to strengthen your MBA application for Round 1 MBA? for your reference. If you'd like, we are happy to hop on a call with you sometime this week to discuss your profile in length and further help you with your strategy for essays and interviews regarding MBA programs; feel free to book a free session with us at your convenience.

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Cheers!
Neha Hadke
Profile Analyst & Channel Manager, MBA and Beyond
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Email: neha@mbaandbeyond.com

Hello Pratik2903,

Thanks for your query.

Your background is going to be very advantageous in differentiating you from the pool of Indian applicants. The score also looks very much in line with your target schools as do your career goals. You could, however, apply to more schools in the "target category" with high chances of scholarship, as well.

With your GMAT out of the way and your school selection largely in place, you should spend the next few months focusing on your essays. As a military veteran, you would be having a number of stories that focus on your leadership and problem-solving abilities in challenging scenarios. Ensure that you have all such stories in place. You should also spend some time connecting with school alumni. This will not only help you build your networks but also showcase your commitment to the program in question. Needless to say, please also consolidate facets of each program that appeal to you so you can aptly demonstrate your intent towards joining the same.

Should you wish to have a detailed discussion, please feel free to get in touch with us.

All the best!

Hello Pratik2903 hope this finds you in good health

My two cents

1. Tepper, McCombs, and Foster are likely admits given you provide your 100% to the application process in early rounds. I think you will get into these even if you apply a little later. For this reason, I suggest you broaden the range for applying in R1 to add some high-ranking schools in addition to Sloan and Ross. I am not naming any schools here because I suggest you do your own research and see what programs appeal to you the most in terms of the cohort size, geography, culture, and values. But I can tell you that with a background in aeronautical/naval operations, you would be able to follow the pipeline for getting into the Pathways program from any of the prestigious B Schools in the US and Europe.

2. Having said the above, I think that some effort put toward increasing GMAT to a 750+ range can yield good scholarships from the top 15 US Schools. The choice, of course, is yours and how you wish to utilize your time.
You can also consider applying to at least one school in Europe, because if you do not get any scholarship from your reach schools in the US, getting into top ranking European B School (1yr MBA) with scholarship might be a cheaper way to get into the Amazon Pathways.. Of course unless immediately starting in the US office is your prime motive.
You may also ask yourself why do you want to do a 2yr MBA if you wish to further your career in the field of operations mgt when you come from operations background.

Best wishes