Veteran MBA Applicants Need These School Research Tips
Graduate management education provides many benefits for veteran MBA applicants. Besides the skills-building and networking opportunities, it can be an incredible launchpad for a civilian career. Top business schools admire the leadership skills, grit, and discipline these MBA applicants typically possess. Also, military veterans often have more practical leadership experience than most MBA students.
Yet some veterans don’t see the correlation between their military experiences and those needed to lead a Fortune 500 company. Don’t let that be you! Harvard Business School asked its Armed Forces Alumni Association members to share advice for other military members considering an MBA.
“Leaving the military for business school is a huge life change, and the admissions process can seem intimidating for any servicemember considering this path,” writes AFAA co-president Tom Brown (MBA 2025). “While there are plenty of online resources professing to help veterans get into top MBA programs, it can be difficult to get a realistic picture of what everyday life is like at school, or what admissions committees are really looking for.”
“AFAA members went out of their way to help me refine my application and figure out that HBS was the right school for me. I would not be here without that support, and for that reason I joined club leadership to offer that same assistance to the next class of veterans.”
Military service members typically comprise 5% to 10% of any cohort in the top 25 programs. If you’re considering transitioning from active military service to business school, begin your research by finding out how each program measures up in the following areas.
Curious about your chances of getting into a top B-school as a veteran MBA applicant? We have ample experience with this applicant pool and numerous success stories to share. Contact us to talk strategy with a free 15-minute advising session with an SBC Principal Consultant.
Veteran MBA Applicants Should Explore Culture and Fit
All applicants should consider whether the business schools that interest them are good fits in terms of class size, teaching method, location, and general culture. However, a good fit is even more critical for veteran MBA applicants.
Their background is quite different from most candidates, and going from active service to a classroom can be challenging. Having strong outlets of support from the school makes a world of difference.
Listen to B-Schooled Podcast Episode #209: Advice for Military (and Other Non-Traditional) Applicants
Begin by finding out how many military veteran students are in the MBA program. Too few fellow servicemen and women may leave students wishing for more relatable peers. Next, find out what kinds of special programs for veterans exist.
Does the business school have student clubs or organizations created specifically for veterans? Also, learn whether it offers personalized academic and career support to help veterans translate their military skills into civilian life. Reach out to current students for their honest feedback about daily life in the program. Listen for details beyond what you see on the school website or hear from admissions officers.
Veteran MBA applicants can also check out specialized programs, such as Emory Goizueta’s Master in Business for Veterans. Created specifically for military veterans, active duty, National Guard, and Reserve personnel, the program helps veterans leverage their management and leadership experience from the military and pair it with business knowledge. In just 11 months, candidates are ready to launch into a successful career in the business world.
Consider Recruiting Efforts and Admissions Guidance
Another sign of a military-friendly school is whether it hosts MBA admissions events or offers targeted application advice for veteran MBA applicants. To get started, you can:
- Read over the admissions FAQs provided by the Tuck Veterans Club at Tuck School of Business.
- Take advantage of the application and mentorship provided by Wharton’s Veterans Club at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
- Check out these links to insights from Chicago Booth students and alums who joined the program after their military service.
The Fertitta program at NYU Stern School of Business gets high marks for its comprehensive support of military veterans. In a post about his experience on the school’s MBA admissions blog, veteran Benjamin Davies says, “From the outside looking in, I thought the Fertitta program was too good to be true.”
“NYU Stern truly stood out in the way that it supported its veterans in such meaningful ways. The program deliberately bridged the gaps that most veterans inherently have when transitioning to corporate America.
“The Fertitta program allows veterans to take Financial Accounting and Statistics – requisite 3.0-credit core classes— over the summer, which reduces the course load during the fall, and ultimately enables us to focus more on recruiting and securing a summer internship. During the summer semester, the veteran cohort also had the opportunity to participate in company treks to tour offices and meet Stern veteran graduates who were working in top-level companies.
“The final piece of the Fertitta program is the financial aspect which greatly assists the change in lifestyle that all full-time students undertake. Looking back on the experience, I was also able to build incredible bonds with my veteran cohort from an early stage and give me a close circle of friends that I can always rely on.”
And if there’s no affinity outreach for veterans?
If the school doesn’t host an admissions event specifically for veteran MBA applicants, your job is a bit tougher. However, you can still determine how eager the program is to recruit veterans by looking at whether it provides support services starting during the application phase—not only once you get in.
Finally, see if the school offers deferment flexibility to candidates whose needs may suddenly change if still on active duty.
Look into Financial Aid
The high cost of business school often deters veteran MBA applicants. Many already have families, and the concern over lost wages while studying cannot be overstated.
However, many financial incentives exist specifically for this group. For instance, many MBA programs—including HBS—waive the application fee for active duty applicants. Your out-of-pocket expense decreases dramatically once you factor in Veterans Affairs benefits, dedicated veterans scholarships, waived application fees, and the Yellow Ribbon Program.
Under this program, the federal government matches, dollar for dollar, any financial aid that participating schools commit. This essentially provides eligible student veterans with free or reduced-cost tuition. It is designed to make out-of-state public colleges, private institutions, and graduate programs more affordable for veterans.
The Yellow Ribbon Promise
Schools offer varying levels of support under the Yellow Ribbon Program. For example, NYU Stern School of Business offers up to $32,060 per academic year to each eligible MBA student who uses Yellow Ribbon benefits. The Veterans Administration will match these funds for a total award of up to $64,120 per year per student.
Meanwhile, Stanford GSB will match up to full tuition and mandatory fees (minus Stanford medical insurance) for veteran MBA applicants who are Yellow Ribbon eligible and opt to receive these benefits.
Visit the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website to learn whether the business school limits the number of recipients eligible annually—some are unlimited—and to see the exact dollar amount of the maximum school contribution per student per year.
Finally, check out this evergreen four-part series on Transitioning to a Top-Tier MBA from the Military Money Matters site. Written by a Wharton alum who received admissions offers from six out of seven top MBA programs, it offers tons of useful information for veterans applying to business school.
Veteran MBA applicants should know that business school admissions teams prize their experience. So, if that’s your background, make sure your applications highlight those powerful and unique qualities.
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Stacy Blackman Consulting offers multiple services to meet your MBA application needs. From our All-In Partnership to interview prep, essay editing, resume review, and much more, we’ve got you covered. Contact us today for a free 15-minute advising session to talk strategy with a Principal SBC consultant.
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Ashley
Ashley is a former MBA Admissions Board Member for Harvard Business School (HBS), where she interviewed and evaluated thousands of business school applicants for over a six year tenure. Ashley holds an MBA from HBS. During her HBS years, Ashley was the Sports Editor for the Harbus and a member of the B-School Blades Ice Hockey Team. After HBS, she worked in Marketing at the Gillette Company on Male and Female shaving ...
×Kerry
Kerry is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). During her 5+ year tenure at HBS, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a wide range of backgrounds across the globe. She also led marketing and outreach efforts focused on increasing diversity and inclusion, ran the Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP), and launched the 2+2 Program during her time in Admissions. Kerry holds a B.A. from Bates College and ...
×Pauline
A former associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School, Pauline served on the HBS MBA Admissions Board full-time for four years. She evaluated and interviewed HBS applicants, both on-campus and globally. Pauline's career has included sales and marketing management roles with Coca-Cola, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and IBM. For over 10 years, Pauline has expertly guided MBA applicants, and her clients h ...
×Geri
Geri is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). In her 7 year tenure in HBS Admissions, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a diverse set of academic, geographic, and employment backgrounds. Geri also traveled globally representing the school at outreach events in order to raise awareness for women and international students. In additio ...
×Laura
Laura comes from the MBA Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is an HBS MBA alumnus. In her HBS Admissions role, she evaluated and interviewed hundreds of business school candidates, including internationals, women, military and other applicant pools, for five years. Prior to her time as a student at HBS, Laura began her career in advertising and marketing in Chicago at Leo Burnett where she worked on th ...
×Andrea
Andrea served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years. In this role, she provided strategic direction for student yield-management activities and also served as a full member of the admissions committee. In 2007, Andrea launched the new 2+2 Program at Harvard Business School – a program targeted at college junior applicants to Harvard Business School. Andrea has also served as a Career Coach for Harvard Business School for both cu ...
×Jennifer
Jennifer served as Admissions Officer at the Stanford (GSB) for five years. She holds an MBA from Stanford (GSB) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jennifer has over 15 years experience in guiding applicants through the increasingly competitive admissions process into top MBA programs. Having read thousands and thousands of essays and applications while at Stanford (GSB) Admiss ...
×Erin K.
Erin served in key roles in MBA Admissions--as Director at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Assistant Director at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB). Erin served on the admissions committee at each school and has read thousands of applications in her career. At Haas, she served for seven years in roles that encompassed evaluation, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. During her tenure in Admissions at GSB, she was responsible for candidate evaluation, applicant outreach, ...
×Susie
Susie comes from the Admissions Office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she reviewed and evaluated hundreds of prospective students’ applications. She holds an MBA from Stanford’s GSB and a BA from Stanford in Economics. Prior to advising MBA applicants, Susie held a variety of roles over a 15-year period in capital markets, finance, and real estate, including as partner in one of the nation’s most innovative finance and real estate investment organizations. In that r ...
×Dione
Dione holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School (GSB) and a BA degree from Stanford University, where she double majored in Economics and Communication with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Dione has served as an Admissions reader and member of the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee at Stanford. Dione is an accomplished and respected advocate and thought leader on education and diversity. She is ...
×Anthony
Anthony served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise. During his time as a Wharton Admissions Officer, he read and reviewed thousands of applications and helped bring in a class of 800+ students a year. Anthony has traveled both domestically and internationally to recruit a ...
×Meghan
Meghan served as the Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute, a joint degree program combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies. In her role on the Wharton MBA admissions committee, Meghan advised domestic and international applicants; conducted interviews and information sessions domestically and overseas in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe; and evaluated applicants for admission to the program. Meghan also managed ...
×Amy
Amy comes from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she was Associate Director. Amy devoted 12 years at the Wharton School, working closely with MBA students and supporting the admissions team. During her tenure at Wharton, Amy served as a trusted adviser to prospective applicants as well as admitted and matriculated students. She conducted admissions chats with applicants early in the admissions ...
×Ally
Ally brings six years of admissions experience to the SBC team, most recently as an Assistant Director of Admission for the full-time MBA program at Columbia Business School (CBS). During her time at Columbia, Ally was responsible for reviewing applications, planning recruitment events, and interviewing candidates for both the full-time MBA program and the Executive MBA program. She traveled both internationally and dome ...
×Erin B.
Erin has over seven years of experience working across major institutions, including University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School, and NYU's Stern School of Business. At Columbia Business School, Erin was an Assistant Director of Admissions where she evaluated applications for both the full time and executive MBA programs, sat on the admissions and merit scholarship committees and advised applicants on which program might be the best fit for them based on their work experience and pro ...
×Emma
Emma comes from the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School (CBS), where she was Associate Director. Emma conducted dozens of interviews each cycle for the MBA and EMBA programs, as well as coordinating the alumni ambassador interview program. She read and evaluated hundreds of applications each cycle, delivered information sessions to audiences across the globe, and advised countless waitlisted applicants. ×
