Background: I'm a white male who grew up in a working class family and was the first in my family to attend college. I graduated in 2006 (I'm 34 YO), and served in the armed forces, where I excelled in Ranger and DLI schools (I learned Persian there). My service lasted ~7.5 yrs, included time in Afghanistan, and built up my leadership and cross-cultural collaboration skills. Since, I have worked for 2.5 years for a top-3 US defense contractor, for whom I continue to work in Afghanistan for part of the year. My prior military experience gave my some tech exposure and inspired me to begin learning Python on my own and to pivot to the tech. industry after b-school. Hence, I am focusing on tech MBA programs.
Scores: 3.0 undergrad GPA (West Virginia Univ., pre-med) with higher grades in grad school coursework I've taken since
620 GMAT (taken twice)
Target Schools:
- Michigan
- Carnegie Mellon
- UCLA
- U. of Washington (Foster)
- U. of Texas
- UNC (Kenan-Flagler)
- Vanderbilt
Requesting your Advice on:
- How do I address my lower scores, older age?
- What are my chances of getting in to target schools?
- Are there other MBA programs I should be considering?
- Should I be considering EMBA or other graduate programs?
Thank you in advance for any tips you can offer!
Scores: 3.0 undergrad GPA (West Virginia Univ., pre-med) with higher grades in grad school coursework I've taken since
620 GMAT (taken twice)
Target Schools:
- Michigan
- Carnegie Mellon
- UCLA
- U. of Washington (Foster)
- U. of Texas
- UNC (Kenan-Flagler)
- Vanderbilt
Requesting your Advice on:
- How do I address my lower scores, older age?
- What are my chances of getting in to target schools?
- Are there other MBA programs I should be considering?
- Should I be considering EMBA or other graduate programs?
Thank you in advance for any tips you can offer!












