Mr. Naval Submariner

Unless you completely screw up the team-based discussion and interview at Wharton, you should be able to march into the MBA program. Everything about your application is first rate from your U.S. Naval Academy degree with a 3.83 GPA to your jumbo GMAT score of 760. And while I don’t know how the Navy decides who is a Submarine Junior Officer of the Year, the fact that you were first out of 100 is mighty impressive. Honestly, Wharton will be lucky to call you a student. I also very much like your other choices and congratulate you on your interview invite at Darden. My odds for you are based on your superb profile but also the fact that you’ve been invited to interview which means you have already made the toughest cut.

Hello Mr. Naval Submariner! Thanks for posting. Krista Nannery from mbaMission here. Congrats on scoring the Wharton and Darden interviews. Bummer about HBS but that’s a tough nut to crack. Please take advantage of mock interview opps for the Wharton TBD. (Assuming your interview wasn’t today that is!) We offer a mock session — contact our HQ if you are interested. For Darden, they love to ask Darden question. So be ready for “Why Darden?”, “Why Charlottesville?”, “What will you contribute to Darden?” etc. Both schools love military candidates so I have a feeling you will do great!

Mr. Naval Submariner, Lisa Cummings of Stratus Admissions and a Blue Star family member. First off, we appreciate the sacrifices you have made in choosing to serve our country, thank you. Your stats are impressive- a 3.83 in physics from Annapolis is no easy feat and your GMAT should wow your schools too. When I was on the adcomm at Sloan we always loved military candidates other schools do as well. Definitely practice for that team based discussion interview. You want to be sure to add value in the group without being the loudest voice in the room, something that should come naturally for you given your training. You will really want to focus on the Why MBA question and Why Wharton/Darden questions. What skills are you hoping to pick in these 2 years and how will you use them going forward in your naval career and perhaps beyond if you are not in it for the long haul. That is what is missing above and what the committees will need to hear. Either school would be a good fit for you. Best of luck and, as always, Beat Army!