Tips for Applying to Business School

If you are a current military service member or veteran applying to business school, please email one of the co-chairs for information about the process. One of our goals is to help ALL veterans succeed in their efforts to be accepted into a top business school.

In addition to the tips below, military applicants might find the following helpful:

MBA Applicant (Check out the section on "The Seven Admissions Criteria")

1. Have a complete and logical story for:
A. Why you need an MBA to achieve your career goals
B. Why Kellogg is the best school for you to achieve your career goals
C. What you can bring to Kellogg and your potential classmates.

2. In order to have a successful application, you need to differentiate yourself from the pack. Military service often gives us experiences that make us unique compared to the average B-School applicant. Show your uniqueness by the breadth and depth of international experience, high levels of responsibility, demonstrated aptitude in high-stress situations, and ability to succeed in a changing environment.

3. Develop your strategy and ensure your essays all serve a purpose in accomplishing your strategy. I spent a majority of my time preparing to write my application – that is developing a sound strategy that would demonstrate why I was more qualified than other military applicants through my academics, my positions, and my accomplishments in the both the military and my personal life. Schools will never admit it, but I guarantee they are seeking a certain range of people from each non-business industry like the military.

4. Essays must compliment one another and letters of recommendation must support/compliment what you said about yourself. An average recommendation to Kellogg is two full pages. Ensure they answer each question specifically – I’d have #1 then answer, #2 then answer – also, when you scour your great accomplishments ensure you tell some of the stories in your essays and leave some to be told by the recommenders.

5. Have a recruiter help you identify transferable skills – they are more than willing to help since they are hungry for business. I worked with a recruiter as a hedge to not being accepted by a top school. They will help translate your resume to business speak from military speak.

6. Interviews: Every one of my interviews focused on what I did specifically in the Army, what ranger school was like, about my time with Baywatch Hawaii, and about West Point. Only by the end of the interview did they start asking the typical questions. People are very interested in the military. Have some great conversation points on your essay and they will focus most of the discussion on those areas – areas you are already comfortable telling a story about.

7. Get good grades, do well on the GMAT, and throw as many unique and interesting things about yourself into your essays as possible.

8. Leadership and teamwork experiences from the military make for great essays! Also, in addition to my career progress survey, I submitted a letter of recommendation from my last Commanding Officer. A letter from a C.O. who is willing to invest the necessary time to write a good one can be very powerful and can speak to your leadership and teamwork experience.