Candidate:

Mr. Marine To Finance

About Me:

Eight years in USMC leading teams of 50 Marines in combat and security operations across five continents. Looking to transition to a new set of challenges in investment banking.

Schools:

Target School: Stanford GSB

Considering: Wharton, Columbia, Berkeley Haas, Kellogg SOM, UCLA Anderson, Cornell Johnson

See More Profiles For: Stanford GSB

Application Status: Open

Details:

Undergrad School: UMASS-Amherst

Undergrad Major: Journalism & PoliSci

GPA: 3.34

GMAT: 700

Age: 33, Ethnicity: White

Other Degree/Certification: Post Grad Certificate in Intelligence

School Name: Johns Hopkins University

Extracurriculars: Pro bono financial counseling for indebted service members, Literacy development volunteer in local under served high school, Lots of writing experience, several articles published in Marine Corps trade journal

Work History:

Title: FAST Platoon Commander

Industry: Government / Military

Company: Marines

Length of Employment: 3 yrs

Title: Weapons Platoon Commander

Industry: Government / Military

Company: Marines

Length of Employment: 2 yrs

Big Life Wins:

Commanded decentralized simultaneous operations against Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and ISIS. First place in class in Baja 4000 charity rally race. Started a successful business while active duty. Pre-military, ran operations for a successful political campaign. Undergrad semester abroad; development service learning in rural Senegal.

Post MBA Goal:

Investment Banking, ideally Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan. Ultimately lead boutique impact investing firm in order to help people build the firms and businesses of tomorrow.

Odds:

Join in! Click here to assess the odds of Mr. Marine To Finance

The Experts Rate The Odds At: 5%

See what the industry experts have to say:

mbaMission Odds Assessment: 5%

Hi Mr. Marine to Finance, Julie-Anne Heafey from mbaMission here. I like a lot of things I see here– leadership in what sounds like complex and stressful situations, entrepreneurship on the side of your service (doing what?), meaningful volunteer work…but I have to say, I agree with the consensus so far that your stats are just a hurdle that will be hard to overcome for GSB (and many M7s). Melisa has an interesting contrarian goal strategy–look for programs who don’t often attract people who want finance– but I actually would include schools who DO send people to finance as well, just ones that have more flexibility on stats and a higher admit rate. In particular, I’ll highlight Cornell from your list as a …

Hi Mr. Marine to Finance, Julie-Anne Heafey from mbaMission here. I like a lot of things I see here– leadership in what sounds like complex and stressful situations, entrepreneurship on the side of your service (doing what?), meaningful volunteer work…but I have to say, I agree with the consensus so far that your stats are just a hurdle that will be hard to overcome for GSB (and many M7s). Melisa has an interesting contrarian goal strategy–look for programs who don’t often attract people who want finance– but I actually would include schools who DO send people to finance as well, just ones that have more flexibility on stats and a higher admit rate. In particular, I’ll highlight Cornell from your list as a school with excellent ties and a pipeline to banking…strong recruiting connections can be important! UCLA might also be a good choice, but likely has more of a West Coast bent to its finance jobs…so think about your target geography. Best of luck!

4 years ago Read the full review
Stratus Admissions Counseling Odds Assessment: 5%

Mr. Marine to Finance – Thank you for your service on the front lines!

Susan Cera here from Stratus. I won’t be the first to tell you that your stats are below average for Stanford. While your community engagement through financial counseling and literacy development are admirable, I’m not seeing the ‘spike’ that Stanford will be looking for. Frankly, Stanford is a crap shoot even if you have amazing stats and started a non-profit. Right now your ‘story’ feels somewhat disjointed.

I do think you have a good shot at T15 schools. If ibanking is the direction that you want to go, look for programs that want more students looking to recruit into IB. Darden and Kellogg come to mind and would be more achievable.

Wishing you …

Mr. Marine to Finance – Thank you for your service on the front lines!

Susan Cera here from Stratus. I won’t be the first to tell you that your stats are below average for Stanford. While your community engagement through financial counseling and literacy development are admirable, I’m not seeing the ‘spike’ that Stanford will be looking for. Frankly, Stanford is a crap shoot even if you have amazing stats and started a non-profit. Right now your ‘story’ feels somewhat disjointed.

I do think you have a good shot at T15 schools. If ibanking is the direction that you want to go, look for programs that want more students looking to recruit into IB. Darden and Kellogg come to mind and would be more achievable.

Wishing you all the best!

4 years ago Read the full review

The Community Currently Rates The Odds At: 3%

5% | 4 years ago
10% | 4 years ago

Hi Mr. Marine To Finance Krista from mbaMission here. Thanks for posting and thanks for your service. Military applicants are always welcomed by all the top b-schools, and your realistic portfolio of schools means that you'll do well during this very competitive process. You've listed your target school at GSB, which is the toughest b-school to crack. What we typically see at the GSB/HBS level are the most elite of military applicants, and while I definitely think the Marine Corps does well here, the challenge is that we don't know what your Marine competition looks like. You might be better positioned to evaluate that -- think of who you might be competing with and how you stack up. The other question mark here is stats...at ...

Hi Mr. Marine To Finance
Krista from mbaMission here. Thanks for posting and thanks for your service.
Military applicants are always welcomed by all the top b-schools, and your realistic portfolio of schools means that you’ll do well during this very competitive process. You’ve listed your target school at GSB, which is the toughest b-school to crack. What we typically see at the GSB/HBS level are the most elite of military applicants, and while I definitely think the Marine Corps does well here, the challenge is that we don’t know what your Marine competition looks like. You might be better positioned to evaluate that — think of who you might be competing with and how you stack up. The other question mark here is stats…at the top level, we tend to see military applicants with stellar stats…great GMATs and great GPAs. This is where I worry about about your 3.3 and 700. Not to say you won’t be successful, of course. A few years back, I worked with someone like you who did well at Haas so I love that you have that on your list. Anderson and Johnson feel very realistic as well. With GSB, my advice is to reach out to the Vets Club and compare your experiences with the people you speak with. That might give you a better sense of how you stack up.
I hope that helps and I wish you all the best for your applications!
Krista

Read the full review
5% | 4 years ago