B-School Application Steps + Gouge
written by a Military Success Story from a past year! [“Military MBA” access required to view]
Are you transitioning from the military and looking to the MBA as your next challenge?
We can offer some free resources to you as a military candidate to help you get there!
EssaySnark has been seeing MBA admits from the military contingent to: Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, UCLA, Yale, Columbia, Booth, MIT, Darden, Tuck, Wharton and Ross — and lots more schools, including European programs like Cambridge and INSEAD and plenty more!
Want to understand how you stack up? We offer several ways to help you in the journey from the military to MBA – see below for details – or you can start by browsing through our archive of blahg posts tagged for military candidates (some require signing in under an account with Military MBA permissions, which you can get for free based on instructions below).
Military MBA Opportunities
A few highlights:
Yale SOM makes sure you have 100% tuition coverage matching your Yellow Ribbon benefits – though other schools like Chicago Booth were already doing this too, right?
NYU Stern also has a very generous scholarship and pre-matriculation program available to military students coming into their full-time MBA. The Fertitta Veterans Programs is unique among top bschools and this will be making NYU a preferred choice for many, we expect.
In addition, Cornell Johnson has been VERY welcoming to the military candidate lately. Military students went from 2% of the Class of 2013, to an incredible 11% of both of the Classes of 2018 and 2019. We don’t know of any other school that’s admitted such a high proportion, though the Johnson class tends to be smaller (~275 students) so in absolute numbers it’s not as extreme as it sounds.
The Class of 2020 profile at Darden also showed an appreciation for the military candidate: 6% of their full-time class are transitioning or active duty.
That being said: It is definitely harder for you folks if the profile has significant weaknesses, since there are simply more to choose from nowadays. A solid GMAT score is going to be important this year. You don’t need to get into the stratosphere with your score — but lots of military candidates do report much more impressive totals than used to be common. It’s getting tougher for everyone!!
“Just emailing to confirm that I received my Comprehensive Review. I have to say that I am extremely impressed with all the feedback. Your honest assessment really helped me feel better about my choices. Thanks again for what you guys do for guys like me. “
Since 2012, EssaySnark has provided $39,108 in pro bono services to transitioning servicemembers.
Here’s a testimonial from a 2015 military candidate that attests to some value.
Some of this page is accessible to approved military candidates only.
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Please follow these instructions for access to the Military MBA Microsite!
Offer available to current or former members of the U.S. Armed Forces.
1. Email your request for access to military at essaysnark dot com
2. Please tell us your full name
3. We need at least two of the following:
- your resume (can be a work in progress, need not be beautiful or final)
- a current set of orders
- your Proof of Service letter
- a scan of an official form of ID (state driver’s license or passport, or selfie described below)
- send the email from your .mil address
We understand that you can’t photocopy your CAC but how about taking a selfie holding it, with your thumb over the QR code, and sending that? We just want to see that you possess one; it doesn’t have to be a close-up with the details. (We’ve had some fakers try to take advantage of our generosity – wtf? – so we need to get some evidence that you are qualified for these services.)
We also have special deals for Peace Corps and Teach for America alumni.
Every single year – including these recent ultra competitive ones – EssaySnark has helped military candidates with successful applications to:
- Harvard
- Stanford
- Wharton
- Columbia
- Tuck
- MIT
- Duke
- Tepper
- Darden
- Cornell
- Berkeley
- Yale
- Ross
- LBS
So pretty much, ALL THE SCHOOLZ. We’d be excited to help you, too!
We also published The Military Candidate’s Guide to the MBA, a complete how-to from EssaySnark. You can pick yours up here or, if you purchase any MBA admissions consulting services from us, then we’ll throw in the Military MBA Guide for free.
Here’s what one servicemember said after receiving their pro bono Comprehensive Profile Review:
EssaySnark,
“That might have been THE most helpful thing I’ve received throughout this entire b-school application process. Thank you.”
And another comment:
“Thank you for the great feedback! It was far more than I ever expected.”
One more:
“I just wanted to acknowledge receipt of the profile review and thank you for your analysis. It is clear from my initial read that this product definitely took some time and you did it for free- I really appreciate it. I also appreciate the frank assessments and recommendations- it made me do some hard thinking and I already contacted (school) for more information and contacted their veterans group. So that was a great initial takeaway and recommendation.”
Thank you for that!
If you’re a current or former member of the U.S. military, email military at essaysnark dot com with the verification items above to request access.
And one more…