Mr. Navy Electronics

Congrats on your forthcoming graduation. That is a real achievement and super impressive after having served in the U.S. Navy for five years and starting up your own company. You are not a slam dunk at Haas because your 316 GRE is below the latest class average of 323 and your 3.24 GPA is below the class average of 3.67 and with a class size of just 283 incoming students the acceptance rate is 12%, the same as HBS. On the other hand, you are a more than viable candidate given what you have accomplished. And getting a 3.24 GPA in electrical engineering while starting and running a company is like getting a 3.9 or 4.0 to me. I think your chances at NYU Stern and Cornell are much better, and you may have an edge at MIT thanks to your robot-building exercise and your paper on it. Any of these schools will allow you to achieve your goal in product management so if you are an admit at any of your target schools you’ll do very well. Bottom line: I think your odds of getting into Haas are about twice the overall accept rate there.

Hello Mr. Navy Electronics! Krista Nannery from mbaMission here.
You have one of the best networks available to you so if you haven’t already, please reach out to the Vet clubs at each of your target programs. The Cornell Vets are especially helpful in my experience. Your path is a little different than the average candidate which is not a bad thing BUT you will need to explain it. For schools where the essay question doesn’t exactly ask “Tell us about your path,” I want you to write an optional essay that explains your order of activities and why.
To be fair, your stats will put you at a disadvantage at schools like Haas and Sloan BUT your military service might help you out. I worked with a quirky military candidate a few years ago — different from you but a circuitous path that needed to be explained — and he got to the interview stage at Haas which was great. (Higher GRE score though.)
I would suggest adding Ross to your list. They have great career placement and they LOVE military candidates.
I think you will do well in this process. Because you are a bit less straightforward than other military applicants though, make sure to hedge your bets with a school like Johnson. Maybe add Tepper as well.
Hope that helps!
Krista

Hi, this is Melisa from Stratus Admissions. Your entrepreneurial and military experience will definitely make you a stand out in the application process. While your stats and experience are strong in general, your GRE score falls below the average at Haas and MIT, but an engineering degree will augment your GPA and show that you can handle the academic rigor of the program. Sloan is going to be more competitive for you as you will be competing with more applicants with engineering/technology backgrounds, so your stats will be more of a disadvantage – but they will value your experience and like unique backgrounds. Because yours is a unique path, I would want to know more about why an MBA is the right next step for you and why not to join product management straight from UConn. Your involvement at UConn and mentoring other Vets will speak to Haas and other programs. I think you are a good fit for Haas, but with the small class it is a reach. As you look at Cornell and Stern, you should look at their Tech MBAs – both give you the option to be very tech focused in New York City with amazing experiential learning opportunities and are both a year long. If you want other options on the West Coast – UCLA and Foster have great ties to the tech industry in CA and Seattle. Wish you the best of luck!