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I will be retiring from the Army in 2025, at the age of 40. I am trying my hand into getting accepted to Duke or Darden MBA programs. Just a heads up, I’m not a military academy grad. I joined as an enlisted man and got my degree in Business Administration from University of Louisville, on-line. Switched over as an Intelligence Warrant Officer.
Target School: Duke Fuqua
Considering: Darden
See More Profiles For: Duke Fuqua
Application Status: Open
Undergrad School: University of Lousville
Undergrad Major: BS Business Administration
GPA: 3.3
GMAT: 660
Age: 35, Ethnicity: Asian or Indian
Extracurriculars:
Title: Army Warrant Officer
Industry: Government / Military
Company: Army
Length of Employment: 10 yrs
I oversaw the establishment of the Signals Intelligence infrastructure in Iraq, and managed an intelligence section comprising of 14 military and government agency personnel across four field sites.
As an enlisted Soldier, I have witnessed numerous accounts of personnel mismanagement. When I crossed over as an officer, it was only then that I was able to implement ways to fix internal mismanagement. The military is ran like a business. I want to use the influences that are associated with a top 20 MBA program to restructure Army management.
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Hi Mr. Army Warrant Officer, this is Kate Richardson with mbaMission. I have seen several military candidates (those who were and were not academy grads) go on to be accepted at Darden and Fuqua, so I think those are great programs to be considering. Do make sure you connect with the Military Association / Group on campus, as they can be helpful connections throughout the application process. I also have no doubt you could gain a lot from an MBA program to help restructure and optimize management practices. Your higher amount of experience/age is a slight concern, though I’ve seen military applicants at a similar level do fine as long as they show realistic expectations for the MBA and clear learning goals. Your GMAT also …
Hi Mr. Army Warrant Officer, this is Kate Richardson with mbaMission. I have seen several military candidates (those who were and were not academy grads) go on to be accepted at Darden and Fuqua, so I think those are great programs to be considering. Do make sure you connect with the Military Association / Group on campus, as they can be helpful connections throughout the application process. I also have no doubt you could gain a lot from an MBA program to help restructure and optimize management practices. Your higher amount of experience/age is a slight concern, though I’ve seen military applicants at a similar level do fine as long as they show realistic expectations for the MBA and clear learning goals. Your GMAT also worries me, so I’d love if you could raise that to around 700 to improve your chances. Best of luck and thank you for your service!
Hi Mr. Army Warrant Officer, Melisa here from Stratus Admissions. First, thank you for your service. With your goal of retiring in 2025, I think that a part time or executive program would allow you to gain the knowledge of which you are speaking from a Top 20 program while continuing to work on opportunities to restructure military management. Clients of mine with similar years of experience have chosen part time or executive programs for a couple reasons: the ability to work and study at the same time, sitting in class with those of similar work experience, less stringent testing requirements with the increase in work experience. The key for these programs is that you must be fully employed. And I have found that executive …
Hi Mr. Army Warrant Officer, Melisa here from Stratus Admissions. First, thank you for your service. With your goal of retiring in 2025, I think that a part time or executive program would allow you to gain the knowledge of which you are speaking from a Top 20 program while continuing to work on opportunities to restructure military management. Clients of mine with similar years of experience have chosen part time or executive programs for a couple reasons: the ability to work and study at the same time, sitting in class with those of similar work experience, less stringent testing requirements with the increase in work experience. The key for these programs is that you must be fully employed. And I have found that executive programs in particular are very accessible to have conversations about your fit with the program. So it might be worth setting up a conversation with admissions at Duke and Darden exec programs. Whether or not you decide for full time, part time or full time, you may want to consider taking the EA (Executive Assessment) that was originally developed for executive programs, but is now accepted by many full time programs – specifically they are accepted at Duke and Darden. This test is geared to someone with more work experience. All programs will be interested in your leadership, which I am sure you have had experience with in your transition to officer – make sure this comes out in your essays. A question you will want to answer as well – is where would you like to be long term? If you are retiring in 5 years, do you want to continue on the civilian side as a consultant to the military? Or maybe leverage your military experience into another industry? My assessment is based on exec program likelihood. Best of luck to you!
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