Steps to take when looking for a school
Congratulations on making your decision to head back to school! For most veterans this decision is a very personal one that is filled with a lot of unknowns and uncertainity. This is further exaggerated by the fact that much like the military, there is almost a unique sub culture and language to learn in preparing to apply to an MBA program. Everything from understanding the differences between what a GMAT or GRE is to finding the right program fit can be overwhelming at first.
Our goal with this guide is to help illuminate the path forward. As a veteran you have honed traits that will undoubtably make you successful in this transition and we at Service to School want to ensure that you are set up for success. Our community of over 300 volunteer veteran ambassadors have been there and done it and have contributed some of their vital lessons learned to this guide. Use it like you would use any good after action review. Read it, take from it what you need, and apply it to your situation to enhance your chances of success.
The following has been adapted, with permission from the author, from the upcoming book: Breaking Business School: A Military Veteran's Ten Step Guide to MBA Success.
According to Merriam Webster: “A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a graduate degree in business. An MBA typically involves the study of accounting, financial markets; and instruments, corporate strategy, negotiation, business ethics, statistical analysis, marketing; and management.” While this definition is technically accurate, it misses much of the degree’s true purpose. In short, an MBA is meant to set you up for the next stage of your career, whether it be starting a company, landing a job as an investment banker, or simply moving up the corporate ladder. The degree comes in multiple formats: full-time, part-time, executive, and online, each tailored to an individual’s specific objectives.
The vast majority of veterans in full-time MBA programs have recently separated from active duty and are using the degree to help them transition to the civilian world. However, some have worked in the private sector for a few years before starting school. Conversely, those in the other formats are usually already working and use the degree to strengthen their business acumen and add a qualification to their resume. Therefore, you must decide which type of program works the best for you.
A full-time MBA often requires a greater financial investment than other formats due to the tuition and opportunity cost of two-years' lost income while attending school full-time. The part-time formats allow you to continue working while pursuing the degree, which offsets some of the cost, but they still require a financial outlay. As with most investments, there is some risk involved. Committing to a full-time MBA program means that you are betting that the benefits you get from the degree will outweigh its costs, both financial and personal. However, this higher investment brings the opportunity for greater professional rewards.
Although getting a full-time MBA is not the best course of action for everyone, the degree has clear, universal benefits. As someone who went through the job search process both before and during my time at business school, I can speak to the benefits full-time programs provide. I refer to the most significant advantages as the three “E’s:” Education, Employment, and Experience.
Do you know what the following abbreviations mean or how to calculate them: CAGR, EBITDA, NPV, IRR, and DCF? Can you read and understand an income statement, balance sheet, statement of cash flows? Have you ever read (not run) a 10K? If the answer to these questions is “yes,” you are ahead of most of your fellow veterans. If not, this knowledge forms the foundation of what you will need to understand to succeed in the corporate world. You will have these concepts drilled into you during your MBA in core classes like accounting and corporate finance. Additionally, you will be able to study concepts ranging from venture capital funding to corporate valuation to impact investing. While you can certainly study this material on your own, learning it in a structured, immersive environment has clear advantages.
You may be asking yourself: when there are so many good career options for veterans leaving the military, do I really need an MBA? Going to business school full-time will help you professionally in several ways. You typically have a higher starting salary with an MBA, you will have more job options available to you, and you will be better prepared for your interviews.
Although your post-MBA salary varies with the type of job you take, generally speaking, you can generally expect to make about twenty to thirty-percent more if you have an MBA from a top program than if you enter the private sector straight from active duty. You will also have greater access to both corporate recruiters and potential investors if you plan on starting a company. The higher ranked your program, the more actively these individuals will make themselves available to you. Firms like McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, and Amazon regularly host recruiting events and veteran-focused meetings and dinners for students at select business schools. Likewise, prospective investors often put on start-up pitch competitions for MBA student-entrepreneurs. You cannot get this level of access to both companies and capital outside of a prestigious, full-time MBA program.
One more consideration is that, even if you are lucky enough to get recruited by a top firm straight out of the military, you will have a steep learning curve to get up to speed for its demanding interviews. However, if you go to business school, you will learn what you have to know to succeed through the interview process. You will also have industry-focused clubs and a career services office at school that will help you prepare for these interviews. On the other hand, you will have to do the bulk of your job hunting and interview preparation on your own if you do not attend a full-time program.
In my case, I saw the value of my full-time MBA firsthand when comparing my experience recruiting right after leaving the military and during my MBA. I went to the Service Academy Career Conference (SACC) and worked with some military placement firms. My background as a nuclear submarine officer got me attention from prestigious companies including, McKinsey, the Boston Consulting Group, Google, Bridgewater Associates, and Morgan Stanley. None of these interviews resulted in a job offer. However, I got both an internship and a job at McKinsey while I was at business school. I have the same raw IQ now as I did when I left the military. Why did I get a job offer from McKinsey now and not before?
When I interviewed for jobs immediately after leaving the military, I did not understand EBITDA, nor could I calculate Net Present Value or a break-even point. I felt like I was drinking from a firehose as I attempted to learn business basics on my own. By contrast, my interviews during my MBA were much smoother because I knew what I was talking about and had prepared tirelessly with my classmates. To be clear, I do have friends who have broken into top consulting and tech firms without an MBA, so it is definitely possible. But these people are fewer and far between than those who got these roles from business school. Full-time MBA programs set you up for success in your job interviews, especially with highly selective companies.
When I started my MBA, I remember thinking: “I have the next two years to focus on developing myself.” Going to business school full-time is one of the only times where it is professionally acceptable to take a couple of years off from the corporate grind. As a student, you can participate in various activities, from sports to musical theater to technology conferences. You can travel to foreign countries on global business ventures and learn about diverse career fields from investment banking to social entrepreneurship. In my case, I used my time at Wharton to participate on the school’s rugby and boxing teams and lead a sailing venture in New Zealand. I would never have had the opportunity or time to participate in these activities had I not pursued my MBA. This time to decompress and expand your horizons is hugely beneficial as you enter the civilian world.
You also will get the chance to a diverse group of people who are very different from those you knew when you were in the military. These individuals will broaden your horizons from the world you knew in the military. They will also be the core of your professional network that will be a resource to you both at school and after graduation.
As previously discussed, MBAs come in several varieties: full-time, part-time, executive, and online. I earned a part-time Master of Science in Finance (MSF) from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. So, I have a fairly good perspective on the benefits and drawbacks of the part-time programs. Part-time formats are geared towards people who want to strengthen their resumes, learn business fundamentals, and improve their position with their current employer. However, career services departments and recruiters tend to focus more on an MBA program’s full-time students than their part-time counterparts. If you are working full-time, you cannot pursue an internship, one of the best ways to get experience in a particular industry.
Excepting online programs, the price tag for each part-time program tends to parallel its full-time counterpart. However, you will not have to sacrifice two years of income while pursuing the degree, so there is no real opportunity cost. You are also eligible for similar veterans’ tuition benefits.
Here is a quick summary of each of these programs:
As its name suggests, a part-time MBA is generally conducted on campus a few nights a week. Students typically receive the same curriculum as the school’s full-time program. They also have the benefit of spending time with their classmates in person, thus broadening their network. However, one generally has to live in the same city where the part-time MBA program is located, making this option more limiting. The on-campus option requires a substantial time commitment meaning that free-time will be scarce while completing the degree.
These programs typically take place in week-long intensives or on weekends and are geared towards more experienced professionals. Like on-campus, part-time programs, EMBAs equip students with the same academic education they would receive in a full-time program. There is also the added benefit of being able to attend a program outside commuting distance. This flexibility makes these programs ideal for people who do not live in major cities or around top universities. However, as with part-time MBAs, completing coursework while working full-time is never an easy task.
Some schools, notably the University of North Carolina, Indiana University, and Carnegie-Mellon University, offer online MBAs. You can complete these programs anywhere and do not have to worry about commuting to class. I completed the first half of my Georgetown Degree in Washington, D.C., and the second half overseas. This flexibility does come at a price, though, as you lose out on the opportunity to get to know your classmates and broaden your network.
Service members often ask whether they should pursue an MBA while they are on active duty. My answer is that it depends on what you are looking for with the degree. You will learn business fundamentals and be better prepared to enter the workforce once you separate from the military. However, you will miss out on many of the benefits you get from a full-time program. Depending on how much time you have left on active duty, you may not be able to leverage your school’s career services department to the same extent you would in a full-time program, and you will also most likely not be able to pursue an internship. So, if your goal is to use the degree to set yourself up in a new career when you leave the military, especially in banking, consulting, or tech, you should seriously consider a full-time program. However, if you are looking to learn business basics and check the box that you hold an MBA when you leave the military, getting the degree while you are on active duty is not a bad idea.
Every MBA format has its unique benefits and drawbacks. There is no concrete answer as to which is best. That answer comes down to your individual goals and personal situation.
Generally speaking, you should target a full-time MBA program if you are looking for an immersive experience that will transform your career.
One of the part-time programs is not a bad option if you want to increase your academic knowledge and get a solid resume bullet but are not looking to change careers.
Once you have decided that an MBA is right for you and researched various programs, it is time to decide which schools you would like to attend. In deciding on your top choices, you must ask yourself several questions: what career do I want to go into? Where do I want to live? And how much am I willing to pay for the degree? I call these elements “The Three C’s:” career, city, and cost. You should prioritize these three and focus on schools that best meet these goals.
The programs you consider should have a strong track record of placing their graduates in your top industry choices or in the region where you want to live. For example: if you are dead-set on investment banking, you should focus on highly ranked schools that have a track record of placing well in this competitive industry. If your priority is to pay as little as possible for your degree, you should look at state schools and those with generous veterans’ benefits. Finally, if you want to settle in a particular city or region, focus on schools in its vicinity.
After researching MBA programs and getting an idea of the scores you need to get into them, it is up to you to decide which of these fits your profile and goals. I recommend looking at a broad spectrum of schools and place them in several categories. Generally, you can categorize schools as “reach,” “50/50,” and “safety.” Reach schools are those where your GMAT and GPA are below average, and you have about a one-in-five to a one-in-ten shot of admission. Because of their selectivity, I would consider highly competitive schools such as Wharton, Stanford, HBS, Booth, Columbia, MIT, and Northwestern (referred to as the “M7”) to be reach schools for any applicant regardless of scores and background. A 50/50 school is exactly what it sounds like: one where your numbers are around its averages and thus have about a 50/50 shot of being accepted. A safety school is one where your numbers are above its averages, and you have upwards of an eighty-percent chance of admission. You should definitely put time and effort into researching your back-up schools because, even if you get into your top choice, one of your second choice schools may provide you with a scholarship that could make you choose to attend it.
When speaking to veterans about MBA admissions, I typically recommend applying to one to three reach schools, two to four 50/50 schools, and one or two safety schools. Therefore, you should develop a list of about four to eight schools of varying degrees of selectivity based on your priorities. You can then identify which of these are your absolute top choices. Narrowing your focus will allow you to set your GMAT goal and figure out how hard you need to study and any additional work you need to strengthen your profile. For example: if you target an M7 or you have a low undergraduate GPA, you will want to do all in your power to break 700 on that GMAT. If your goal is not quite as lofty, you may not have to stress out as much about the test.
This one is near and dear to my heart because it almost kept me from applying to Wharton. People repeat this over and over again, and they are wrong. I started considering an MBA when I was 33. I thought I was too old but, luckily, I got some good advice from my Naval Academy roommate, who graduated from Wharton. He told me that there were numerous people over 30 in his class, especially veterans. I listened to him, applied to Wharton when I was 34, started my MBA when I was 35, and graduated at 37. I was not the oldest person in my class, but I was one of them. There is no specific age cutoff for MBA admissions, but you may want to look into EMBA programs if you are in your late 30s or older as they may be more in line with your career goals and progression.
Another age-related myth I heard was that top consulting firms and banks do not want to hire Associates in their 30s. Again, I am living proof that this rumor is completely false. I was hired by McKinsey when I was 36. My intern class had multiple people over 30. Age is certainly not a disqualifier for a full-time MBA or a job in consulting or banking.
Although schools and companies will not discriminate against you for your age, you will have to provide a compelling answer to why now is the right time for you to go back to school to change your career if you are older. The average age at most MBA programs is about 27. if you are like me and apply when you are in your mid-30s, you will be significantly older than your peers and on a different social wavelength. Furthermore, even though you can definitely still get a job in consulting or banking in your 30s, your boss will most likely be your age or even younger. If you are ready to accept this reality, you should not let your age get in the way of your goals.
I got into Wharton with an unspectacular GPA as a Naval Academy English major. This fact alone should give you hope. I know many veterans whose GPAs were even lower than mine and still got into elite programs. My mediocre grades as an undergraduate did not hold me back, but I did have to make-up for them in other ways. For your reference, in most veterans’ cases, I would consider a sub-3.0 undergraduate GPA low, one between 3.0 and 3.5 average, and one over 3.5 strong. However, these are general guidelines as several other factors come into play, such as your major and undergraduate institution's strength.
The easiest way to compensate for a low GPA is to crush your GMAT, which means getting about 20 points above your target school’s average. Also, taking post-graduate, quantitative courses, or even getting a Masters’ Degree are good ways to show MBA admissions committees that you have what it takes to succeed in their program. In my case, I earned a Masters’ in Finance from Georgetown University. If a Masters’ Degree is too much of a commitment, completing Harvard Business School’s online Credential of Readiness (CORe) program is an excellent way to strengthen your academic profile. You will need to address your poor undergraduate academic performance in your application by explaining it and then detailing ways you have grown since your undergraduate days. My story shows that you can definitely overcome a low undergraduate GPA and get into a top program.
Yes, the vast majority of veterans in MBA programs are former officers. However, this reality is not because admissions committees discriminate against enlisted veterans; it is more because the path to business school is more well-trodden for officers who complete their initial tour of duty following commissioning and then go to graduate school. There is a contingent of enlisted veterans in every class at Wharton, and I have known several in other top programs. Admissions committees are more interested in what you did in the military, your academic credentials, your long-term career vision, and how you will benefit your community at school than your military rank.
You do not need to have attended an “elite” college for an MBA admissions committee to take you seriously. Although many of my veteran-classmates at Wharton were Service Academy or Ivy League graduates, quite a few went to state schools and smaller colleges. Admissions committees want leaders who will benefit their communities. So, they care less about where you went to school or how you got your commission and more about what you actually did while you were in the military.
Some military jobs such as serving in special forces or as a fighter pilot will get admissions committees' attention. Since these roles are typically reserved for high-caliber individuals, it is only natural that veterans who selected for them should have strong grades and test scores. Even if they do not, having served in an elite capacity may get an admissions committee member to forgive a lower GPA or GMAT. However, the ability to skillfully fly a jet or lead a raid does not mean that someone will succeed in business school. Admissions committees look for high-quality people who will add value to their programs and want veterans who excelled at their military role, whatever that was. The most important aspect of your military service was your impact on your unit, not your specific job. While there was a heavy contingent of pilots and operators in my class at Wharton, we had numerous veterans who served in roles including Human Relations, Logistics, Acquisitions, and IT. These veterans were often some of our top performers as they leveraged their specialized skill sets to succeed in the business world.
The following has been adapted, with permission from the author, from the upcoming book:
a. Yes, we know you are still figuring it out, and you just got out of the military and know very little about the civilian world. However, on the other side of the admissions window is a person who is assessing you based on who you are and more importantly, what you are going to do. “I’m still figuring it out” is not good enough. You have networks, friends, blogs, conferences, at your disposal. You have the entire internet.
b. Find something and stick with it as your story, your goal picture. No one knows exactly what they’re going to do, so you pick something and you research it. Try it out. Attend a cryptocurrency conference and follow up with fellow attendees or speakers, take a small class on French pastry, delve into the world of third-party logistics and talk to old classmates who are doing it now
c. Look up industries and how they’re structured. Healthcare is vastly different from CPG (consumer packaged goods), AI/Machine learning spans across industries, logistics serves other industries B2B, finance has many different levels of risk and reward for varying growth stages of companies. Some are more dynamic than others: pay more, riskier, more corporate, closer to helping people, better for the environment, infused with tech, etc.
a. It’s not boasting; it’s stating the facts of your accomplishments. If you don’t advocate for yourself, no one else will.
b. You can frame it as “I did XYZ, and what I learned from that was ABC. I hope to take that experience to the next level in my goal to start a social enterprise in saffron in Afghanistan to help those Afghan women I came across while deployed. Harvard Business School has a terrific track record of producing social entrepreneurs. I talked to ____ and ___ who are both graduates and they told me what great resources HBS offered: the iLab, Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, and the Social Enterprise Fellowship…I am excited to do XYZ after HBS…”
c. You should talk about your accomplishments as it relates to how it supports your goals in the future
Veterans sometimes target MBA schools superficially based primarily upon perceived program prestige or school location. What is often absent is doing the homework to fully appreciate the pros and cons of each school. It is important to have a good understanding of how each potential MBA school’s strengths really align towards individual personal and professional goals. Additionally, it is important to know these strengths in order to highlight sincere interest in an MBA school for MBA admissions essays and interviews.
Granted, having a strong appreciation of individual MBA school dynamics is something many prospective MBA students struggle with, veterans struggle with it more simply due to being less familiar with civilian career dynamics. The best way to navigate through information gaps is to simply ask the admissions office to talk to a military-connected student and most schools have student clubs or admissions programs dedicated to helping veterans.
Veterans do not give themselves enough time. When they decide to leave the service, most active-duty soldiers and officers have been promoted a few times and have a very important and demanding duty position. It is very difficult to manage both the grueling applications process and the demands of leading soldiers or planning operations. Even more difficult, many veterans find themselves trying to apply to schools from Iraq or Afghanistan or trying to apply right after returning from such a deployment.
In balancing these demands, transitioning veterans find themselves on very tight timelines and try to mitigate their situation by working on applications for an hour a night or on weekends. This can work, but any snag, such as a low test score, can wreak havoc on an admissions packet. Further, veterans are often competing against folks who treat school applications as a full-time job.
The Solution: Preferably, a veteran can steer their career into a less demanding job such as being an ROTC instructor or working as an active component supporting the Army Reserve. Since such jobs are often difficult to get, and the operational tempo of many active units do not allow for such planning, the best solution is to plan alternatives:
Cast a wide net for schools – if a veteran is determined to leave the service, then they need to make sure to apply to more than just one or two top schools.
Plan for testing snags – Of course, veterans always ace standardize tests, right? But if they do not, vets need to make sure to plan for multiple takings of any standardized tests and for the ability to take an online or in-person preparation class (like Kaplan)
War-game worst-case scenarios – If the worst happens, a veteran should still have a plan. There are other options to school such as Teach for America, going into industry, or just staying in the service another year. In the unlikely event that a veteran does not win gain admission – they should know what route they can take to make themselves more competitive for the next cycle
Among MBA schools, there are some noticeable differences among schools on what careers each of them historically is strong at sending their graduates to. Sometimes it aligns with general brand perceptions like how Stanford GSB has a strong history of graduates entering technology venture capital firms. Other times it is more nuanced such as how Vanderbilt Owen has an exceptionally strong pipeline to the healthcare/hospital management industry or how both UNC Kenan-Flagler and Georgetown McDonough have strong real estate pathways. As industry exposure is becoming more and more important for hiring, going to the program that gives you good industry access will only matter more.
Every MBA program has relative regional strengths in terms of where the brand and alumni base provides career leverage and it is smart to tap into that. For example, if you want to live in Seattle, it might be smarter to go to the University of Washington Foster rather than Emory Goizueta.
Although the MBA core curriculum is nearly universally the same, how the curriculum is delivered and additional learning opportunities can vary greatly. Personally, I am a big fan of the “case method” of learning made famous by Harvard Business School, but I also fully appreciate that it is not for everyone. I think most veterans have at least a sense of how they learn best and it is smart to dig into the prevalent teaching approaches of each MBA school to make sure it is a good fit. Additionally, each MBA school has a different portfolio of learning opportunities based upon what is internally available at the MBA school and what MBA students are eligible to partake in via partnered learning opportunities (other schools within the University or neighboring University experiences). For example, if a veteran is really interested in sustainability, it makes sense to go to Duke Fuqua or the University of Michigan Ross, as they can do a dual degree with an environmental program or have a good suite of elective learning opportunities.
Once you accept admissions into the MBA school of your choice, it is smart to take some time to set yourself up for success. Some key things I recommend that veterans should do is:
MBA admitted veterans have often been witnessed to highlight interest in finance or consulting, but they struggle to highlight a baseline understanding of potential post MBA career trajectories. The best position to be in coming into an MBA program is having a good idea of what career fields are of interest and can coherently speak to it based upon a strong understanding of the industry and career trajectories. The best way to get there is to do your homework. Between Google and talking to veterans in career fields of interest, veterans can learn a lot to better focus their career interests.
MBA school is intensive and can be all-consuming, especially in the first year. You want to ensure that you minimize your life distractions so that you can fully take advantage of the MBA experience. It is smart and healthy to proactively make arrangements with your family and close friends to best support your success for your MBA experience. Veterans often present questions about conducting a part-time job or a major time-consuming extracurricular activity while pursuing a full-time MBA - which is ultimately something strongly recommended against.
Some MBA veterans go into MBA school with the mentality that between their military experience and their attendance of an MBA program, they should be set for acquiring recruiting opportunities in a competitive job market. There are military career impressive MBA students (Special Forces, Aviator, #1 Surface Warfare Officer on a ship, and etc.) that struggle with recruiting every year. Oftentimes, this is an issue with not taking sufficient time and mentorship to properly message military experiences for the job market. The important thing is to take the time to appreciate what it takes to be the most marketable and make the necessary effort to get the desired position.
Increasingly, there is a broader range of pre-MBA recruiting and career preparation opportunities out there that every incoming veteran MBA student should take advantage of if possible. Speaking specifically to each type:
Pre-MBA recruiting:
Pre-MBA recruiting is becoming more prevalent. Historically, many of these Pre-MBA events and programming catered towards diversity groups (which military veteran is often considered a target diversity area), but are increasingly occurring for the general population. For some companies, they do the bulk of their MBA internship hiring for non-core schools via pre-MBA recruiting. Some MBA students start school with summer internship offers stemming from these activities, which is an envious place to be.
Pre-MBA civilian professional experience
Any credible civilian professional experience on top of a quality military career strengthens both the resume and narrative. For those leaving the military, programs like the Army’s Skillbridge are terrific opportunities to gain that civilian exposure. Some firms are offering pre-MBA summer internships/mentorship programs targeted towards MBA accepted students, and it is very smart to jump on those opportunities if possible.
Ideally, you should decide to pursue a full-time MBA about two years before you aim to start business school, which is about one year before Round 1 applications are due (think August or September of any given year). This timeline will allow you plenty of time to study for the GMAT, research schools, and craft your applications. In an ideal world, here is how you could time your MBA application steps:
Enroll in a GMAT prep course, take six or more practice tests, and get a score that will be competitive for your top choice programs. Giving yourself this much time gives you a buffer if you need to take the test several times. Once you have a competitive score, you can focus on narrowing your school selection.
Research your top choice schools, get in touch with their veterans’ clubs, and get paired with a Service to School Ambassador. You should use the time between your GMAT completion and MBA applications’ opening to finalize your school list and get a support network to help you with your applications. Often veterans’ clubs will put you in touch with their members who share a similar background and give you insights into how you can best convey your experiences on your application. Likewise, Service to School will pair you with a dedicated MBA ambassador who will help you with all of your applications.
Prepare and submit your Round 1 applications. Schools typically release their applications in June, with a Round 1 deadline in September. I recommend applying to about four schools in Round 1. You should aim to craft thoughtful applications, and you should not sacrifice quality for quantity. If four applications are too many, then hold off on submitting some until Round 2. There are some benefits to submitting your applications in Round 1, but your admission chances are similar. Therefore, you should prioritize submitting high-quality applications over making the Round 1 deadline.
Get ready for your Round 1 interviews and prepare a couple of Round 2 applications. Schools that offer interviews should let you know whether you were selected about four to six weeks after submitting your application. If you were chosen for an interview, your application is heading in the right direction. Reach out to your contacts at the schools' veterans’ clubs and your Service to School Ambassador for advice on interview preparation. You should also take time to prepare a few Round 2 applications as a backup should you not get into any schools during Round 1.
Make your decision. Hopefully, you will receive good news in December when Round 1 decisions are typically released. If this is the case, you have much to celebrate as all of your hard work has come to fruition. Attend schools’ welcome weekends and make your decision on your top choice. If you were unlucky with your Round 1 applications, you will have another chance in Round 2, so finalize and submit these applications, ensuring you include a couple of safety schools.
Prepare yourself for school. Get up to speed on business news and take some preparation courses for your core classes (most schools have some online programs). Complete your military transition and discharge. Submit any disability paperwork to VA so you can get a rating that will provide you with income to help support you during school. This rating may also make you eligible for Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) funds. Go house hunting and pick a place to live. You should look to move to your new home about two weeks to a month before school starts so you can get settled in and acquainted with your new surroundings.
This is an ideal timeline, but many have been able to succeed in much more compressed circumstances. Deployments and service commitments often make studying for the GMAT and crafting your application a chaotic process. Veterans are highly adaptable and know how to achieve their goals in less than ideal circumstances. So, do not worry if you cannot make the dates on this timeline. It is more general guidance than the hard truth.
