Profile Eval: Former Army Officer, Current Operations Manage

Hi armyoftim - thank you so much for writing in.

You have a really interesting profile! Definite strengths in leadership, and military candidates are generally considered quite favorably at business schools. You did not provide any information about your current accomplishments at work, but the one promotion does indicate that you perform well and that your recommendations will be strong.

Weaknesses: that GPA is really hard to look at isn't it? You definitely will want to write the optional essay explaining it (without excusing it) and offering evidence to show that it is not representative. The best evidence is a strong GMAT score so keep focusing on that. If you took any courses through your military training, that can also be good evidence, as is any courses you took through work or on your own. The other "weakness" (not the quotation marks) is your age. Business schools are trending younger. But a bit more leeway is given to military candidates and after all, you cannot do anything about your age except position it as a strength.

The unknown: community involvement that is more current than the youth pastor work. When were you working with the Iraqi immigrants? What do you do now outside of work?

Business schools have admissions officers who are dedicated to military candidates, so you will be compared against that pool. To some degree that makes things more challenging for you, since you will be compared to a group of candidates with similar stellar leadership, but your GPA and age may be differentiating in a negative way. But it is hard to say since your years in the Army were clearly stellar and may offset the other issues.

I do think your list is a bit of a stretch, but I don't think it is impossible. Definitely apply to Wharton and Booth - they are stretches given the GPA but they actually gravitate more towards older candidates than other schools. CBS tends, in my experience, to focus heavily on the grades and scores so if you are seeking to diversify your list that may be one school to drop. I think you could be competitive at Kellogg and Anderson and probably at Haas too (depending on the GMAT and current extracurriculars). Maybe look at replacing CBS with a school like Ross, or Duke, still an excellent school but one where you may be more competitive.

Oh - if your company is sponsoring you or is guaranteeing you a spot upon graduation, definitely make sure that comes through in your application. AdComs like to know their graduates will be getting jobs when they finish!

Best of luck,

Jessica