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Military MBA Applicants – 7 Winning Tips

Military MBA Applicants are conditioned to categorize obstacles to smaller problems, allocate the right resources to tackle each of them and apply the full force of their might to achieve the objective. Not many applicants have this natural inclination to systemize the problem and hit one goal after the other.


When regular applicants spend an inordinate sum on improving their status (through college, employer) acquiring the skills through private courses and embracing one extra-curricular experience after another, the ‘outside’ work for Military applicants is limited to the zone of their operations and path to military confined to a few schools.

Most are in deployment at far corners of the world, dealing with the fallout of the geopolitical turmoil. The risk is real and the challenges of integrating multi-national forces many. For the military applicants guarding the borders, the challenges could be in the form of a hostile neighbor or the terrain in which they are operating.

While applying for MBA Admissions, many assume that the adaptability without incentive, discipline, emotional intelligence and the bias toward action is the norm in the corporate world.

They are not.

Here are 7 Winning Tips for Military applicants:

1) Lose the Jargon

One common pattern between applicants from Technology, Banking, and Military is the incessant use of short forms and jargons. Most applicants don’t realize this when they share the essay with a Business School alumnus from the military. Although they might have fine-tuned and eliminated the use of jargons while applying, old habits don’t die hard.

Depending on the years away from the military, the alumnus might miss many terminologies that sound alien to the general audience. This is not a plug for our Essay Review Service. Choose an independent reviewer or family/friend outside the military to review the essays. Give them the authority to scrutinize each jargon and incoherent achievements captured in the resume.

2) Capture the Scenery

Evaluation reports in the military require cutting the fluff and focusing on the quality of the outcome, leadership, and character. Excessive capture of the scenery is not encouraged for MBA applicants, but we have noticed a concentrated effort from Military applicants to eliminate context or limit the context while explaining a challenging scenario. Not many of us have lived through life and death decisions and remained focused on the goal. Even in non-combat operations, the interactions between complex systems and documenting the plan and resource utilization is not what a traditional job entails. Offering a bird’s eye view of the interactions and why it is relevant for smooth operations of the military is a narrative that many don’t spend too many words on.

3) Chain of Commands

Another common error in perception I have seen in Military MBA Applicants is the assumption that the ‘general audience’ that includes the admission team is aware of the various terminologies used to separate military units, the rank in charge of the unit and the scope of the responsibilities.


With the word count going down by half and the questions in the essays limiting the scope to goals, strengths, weakness and leadership, offering context on what it takes to receive a promotion or the responsibilities under each rank is a duty that military applicants should take seriously. Optional essay is an ideal place to educate the reviewer on the nuanced difference of Squad, Platoon, Battery, Battalion, and Brigade if you have used the terminologies to demonstrate growth and uniqueness of the achievement.

4) Responsibilities vs. Result vs. IMPACT

Since the organizational hierarchy in Military is clearly defined with expectations set on the results, applicants are less enthusiastic about connecting the impact the unit’s work had on achieving the country’s strategic objective. Maybe a show of military strength and aggressive maneuver might have forced a controversial political head to seek a diplomatic solution. However, Military personnel are discouraged from thinking in terms of IMPACT.  In MBA Admissions, ‘IMPACT’ is the one differentiator that separates an applicant with GMAT 720 from a 770 candidate. Academics and GMAT could separate you out of the crowd of underperformers, but true magic happens when you articulate the IMPACT your work had at the highest level.


5) Creativity

The military does not encourage creativity. At least that is the perception the general audience have. With roles, responsibilities and outcomes clearly defined, anyone rebelling against the commanding officer and taking over tasks that help the unit achieve strategic objective would be seen as a misconduct.

The exception is in Combat operations.

When the enemy becomes creative, the rules of engagement and tactics in accordance with the military playbook does not bear the desired results. The only way to combat ‘out of the box’ thinking is to be creative.

That is why Business Schools and MBA Admissions team have a high affinity towards applicants with experience in combat. There are no corporate challenges big enough for someone who saved ‘5 fellow soldiers’ while disengaging the ‘enemy’ and limiting civilian casualties.

The fast thinking, assessment of the hostile environment and the adaptability to ‘pivot’ by the second is not something any MBA can teach.

For non-combat applicants, differentiating and showcasing creativity becomes tricky. Luckily, with the proliferation of technology into military operations, Generalist with skills just in ‘warfare’ is not enough to excel as a leader.

You should have the creative problem-solving skills to resolve personal problems of your troop, integrate and operate complex systems, change the perception about your country to seek local support in a combat zone, or address numerous logistical and cultural challenges in a partner country – skills that are transferable to general management, technology, marketing, and operations respectively.

6) Agreeability and Innovation

Another contentious trait many admission team members might not reveal is the high level of agreeability among Military applicants. This is a required trait to work efficiently in a well-defined organization like the military, Fortune 500 company and in Manufacturing, Healthcare, or the Investment Banking industry. Creative rebels don’t thrive in such environment.  However, the trait might not encourage recruiters to employ military applicants in roles that require process or product innovation as agreeableness has a negative correlation with individual innovativeness.

A healthy level of disagreement in marketing and Management Consulting is required for ideas to clash on campaign choices, process changes and market strategy. Without a propensity to question the assumptions of the team members, the brainstorming would turn into a session of confirmation bias. Choosing examples within the military communication framework where you initiated a change in procedure or a practice is sufficient to demonstrate that you have the inclination to innovate. The challenge is at offering enough context to avoid translating the example as trivial or too complex.

7)  Honesty vs Narrative vs Spin

Ask MBA Applicants from marketing or with the penchant for blogging on what is their biggest achievement; they would be ready with at least three plot points with the right amount of suspense, fear and joy mixed into the narrative. It is not a big stretch for applicants with a creative background to engineer an interesting narrative. MBA Admission team will have a problem if mediocre achievements are converted to creative narratives or what we call a ‘spin’. Fearing this tendency, competitive applicants learn to mix the right amount of narrative, numbers and objectivity to their essays.


Military applicants trained to think about the team over themselves, choose to mention their achievements with the objectivity of an accountant. They are boring, and the admission team would find it hard to differentiate the daily responsibilities from the grunt work of a professional. When the work is translated to the impact at the unit, organization and the country levels, the admission team would appreciate your understanding of the ‘larger’ objective.

Honesty is essential but feel free to simplify the jargon, include storytelling while offering context and tie it all together to the impact your work had on the country’s diplomatic ties and positioning in a global economy.

Need help with storytelling and capturing the most relevant military achievements? Subscribe to our Essay Review Service (Free Resume Editing and Winning MBA Essay Guide)


About the Author 

Atul Jose - Founding Consultant F1GMAT

I am Atul Jose - the Founding Consultant at F1GMAT.

Over the past 15 years, I have helped MBA applicants gain admissions to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, MIT, Chicago Booth, Kellogg, Columbia, Haas, Yale, NYU Stern, Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, IE, IESE, HEC Paris, McCombs, Tepper, and schools in the top 30 global MBA ranking. 

I offer end-to-end Admissions Consulting and editing services – Career Planning, Application Essay Editing & Review, Recommendation Letter Editing, Interview Prep, assistance in finding funds and Scholarship Essay & Cover letter editing. See my Full Bio.

Contact me for support in school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative advice, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing and guiding supervisors with recommendation letter guideline documents. 

I am also the Author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, covering 16+ top MBA programs with 240+ Sample Essays that I have updated every year since 2013 (11+ years. Phew!!)

I am an Admissions consultant who writes and edits Essays every year. And it is not easy to write good essays. 

Contact me for any questions about MBA or Master's application. I would be happy to answer them all 

Winning MBA Essay Guide - A Complete Guide for M7 and Top 15 MBA Application Essays 


F1GMAT's Winning MBA Essay guide will teach you how to transform your essay into a life journey with trials and tribulations that will move the admission team.

+ Over 245 Sample Essays (Read Previews of F1GMAT's Winning MBA Essay Guide Sample Essays here)

+ Top 15 MBA Programs (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Columbia, Booth, MIT, Kellogg, Yale, Haas, Darden, INSEAD, LBS, NYU Stern, Tuck, Duke Fuqua, Ross)
+ The Art of Storytelling 
+ Leadership Narratives
+ Review Tips
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+ The Secret to "unleashing" your unique voice
+ How to prepare and present for the Video Essay
+ How to write about your Strengths
+ How to write about your Weaknesses
 
 

Want to try the individual school Essay Guides before upgrading to the Winning MBA Essay Guide? Try below.

F1GMAT's Essay Guides

  • Harvard MBA Essay Guide (20 Sample Essays)

    Growth-Oriented Essay: Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words) 

    Example #1: Persistence Narrative 
    Background Information: The applicant – a design and music talent, shares her journey through several setbacks. She attributes curiosity to her growth.  
    Curiosity: Philosophy  
    Curiosity (Explained): Curiosity as a philosophy is tough to translate into a narrative unless you are from the creative industry or your contributions had an influence on a solution or an initiative.  
    MBA Essay Strategy: I wanted to capture the humanity of the applicant and her influence in music instead of just highlighting how she overcame multiple roadblocks to gain attention as a designer.  
    Theme: Persistence  
    Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Life Starts at NO (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example) 

    Example #2: International Community Building 
    Background Information: The applicant, a Machine Learning (ML) entrepreneur specializing in healthcare diagnostics, shares how his curiosity to learn other ML algorithms’ evolution in diagnosing Alzheimer’s, cancer, and heart disease transformed his platform into a global community. 
    MBA Essay Strategy: I wanted to show the applicant’s contributions in diagnostic from 2020 to 2024 by citing two events. Such examples build credibility instead of engagements that were recent. The evolution of the platform from an AI development community to a community for discussing the application of AI in diagnostics is captured through a ‘curiosity’ angle.
    Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Growth through Collaboration (AI in Healthcare) (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)

    Example #3: Culture
    Background Information: The applicant, an Entrepreneur from India narrates his first entrepreneurial experience – facilitating exchange of stamps in the late 1990s.
    Theme: Culture
    MBA Essay Strategy:  Instead of addressing the biases in the investor community that could turn preachy, I wanted to focus on the applicant and his entrepreneurial journey by citing two entrepreneurial experiences – a platform(club) for stamp collection and his Grocery delivery App.
    Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – The American Dream (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)

    Example #4: Addiction
    Background Information: The applicant – a beneficiary of the foster home system, captures the sacrifice his adopted grandparents made to save him from a path of addiction. Paying it back through early intervention among teenagers and community engagement is the curiosity narrative.
    Theme: Addiction
    MBA Essay Strategy:  My strategy is to capture a gratitude narrative in the first one-third of the essay to demonstrate motivation for starting the venture and dedicate the latter part of the essay to the unique solution
    Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Drug Addiction and Gaming (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)

    Example #5: Scarcity
    Background Information: The applicant, an education major, recognizes that 70% of all students in Kenya don’t have a computer. The curiosity that drives him to pivot from one solution to another is the growth narrative.
    Theme: Innovation
    MBA Essay Strategy:  Often, innovation is captured with a ‘hero’ narrative where the applicant is the sole originator of an idea. I wanted to break that cliché and include a person from whom the applicant learned to use a concept called ‘scaffolding.’
    Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Scarcity (Growth-Oriented HBS Essay Example)

    Example #6: FinTech
    Background Information: The applicant captures a vulnerable moment of a beneficiary to compare his journey of side hustle before a technology giant noticed his talent. Although cryptocurrency is not a flavor for the year, capture niches where innovation is still happening. 
    Theme: Education, Child Welfare
    MBA Essay Strategy:  Empathizing with a techno solution is tough without a strong backstory around the beneficiary. For the essay, I wanted to clearly establish the beneficiary – Rami, before the applicant narrates the similarities to his journey and finally shares the solution that emerged from his curiosity.
    Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – FinTech as a Tool for Good (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)

    Example #7: Learning from the best
    Background Information: The applicant – a Remote Engineer in the Oil and Gas industry, reflects on a value that has helped her learn from the best regardless of her geographical limitations.
    Theme: Learning
    MBA Essay Strategy:  The effectiveness of the case-study method depends on the assumption that peers in a Harvard MBA class will help elevate your learning experience. For the essay, I have highlighted the applicant’s recognition of this value proposition with three examples.
    Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Learning from the Best (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)

    Example #8: Military & Search for IMPACT
    Background Information: The most common narrative for US military applicants is to quote 9/11 and the reaction your immediate family had while watching the events unfold. The horrifying moment is captured as a motivation to join the Military. On digging deeper, most applicants would share that their motivations were diverse.
    Theme: Career Choice
    MBA Essay Strategy:  I wanted to quickly highlight that the applicant had the choice of entering any industry. One achievement to demonstrate his curiosity that I shared in the first half is the invention of a game. Since the game is mentioned in the resume and verifiable through search, I didn’t quote the name. By clearly highlighting the person’s curiosity and career options, the family legacy is used as a factor in joining the military.
    Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Career Choice after a Military Career (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)
     
    Leadership-Focused Essay: What experiences have shaped who you are, how you invest in others, and what kind of leader you want to become? (up to 250 words)

    Example #9: Small Business Values
    Background Information: The applicant - a second-generation Asian American, is familiar with the values of fiscal conservatism, building relationships, and understanding the daily struggles of the community through his family’s department store.
    Theme: Customer-Centric
    MBA Essay Strategy:  The applicant’s role in developing an App for the store is highlighted in the essay at a crucial part of the narrative so that the essay is not all about his father. I have also humanized the journey – by sharing how upset the father was when the revenues fell by 40%. The essay is about the transformation in the applicant’s value from a person chasing productivity and optimization technique to someone who is truly thinking about the customers. 
    Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Small Business Values (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)

    Example #10: Breaking Away from Family Business
    Background Information: A unique challenge that applicants whose parents are public figures or CXOs of businesses or entrepreneurs are the pressure to live up to the parent’s standards or milestones. For the leadership narrative, the burden of legacy is established before the narrative addresses his leadership principles.
    Theme: Authenticity  
    MBA Essay Strategy:  For the essay, I want to capture an entrepreneur’s journey to rise above his entrepreneur father’s image. But I didn’t want to make the entire essay about this complex dynamics. The narrative is around the applicant’s focus on customers and surrounding with teams who keeps him grounded. 
    Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Breaking Away from Family Business(Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)

    Example #11: Creativity and Communication 
    Background Information: When the overall percentage of users with internet access is 62% in South Africa and the inequality accentuated by the rural and urban divide, the applicant endured the lack of digital infrastructure, and spending close to 22% of the family income on gaining relevant information on schools, global exams, and financial assistance. 
    Theme: Creativity, Communication
    MBA Essay Strategy:  The strategy is to share why the applicant values no distraction in a child’s home for optimum education experience. Then I highlight the many roadblocks the applicant’s non-profit faced in receiving fee waiver for their cooperative run ISP.
    Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Non-Profit (Telecom) (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)

    Example #12: Mental Health
    Background Information: The applicant like most didn’t pay much attention to the mental health epidemic until tragedy hit home.
    Theme: Communication, Innovation
    MBA Essay Strategy:  A question we frequently get from applicants is whether they should cite tragedy in the family as a motivation for a venture or a non-profit initiative. As long as you don’t linger too much on the tragedy and offer a balanced narrative, there are no restrictions on leveraging unique stories from your life. 
    Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Mental Health (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)

    Example #13: Trauma, Healing & Finding Authentic Self
    Background Information: The applicant narrates the absurdity of war in the narrative about the duties in Kabul, and the trauma. Instead of wallowing in on the horror, the applicant takes what makes military applicants strong and guides unprivileged children build life and leadership skills.
    Theme: Resilience
    MBA Essay Strategy:  Capturing PTSD in an essay, the healing process, and the cues that helped the applicant are too sacred to be shared in a Harvard MBA application essay. However, with the right motivation and narrative arcs, you can capture the essence of your journey without sharing the darkest secrets. That is what I did by merging two stories – the horrors of the war with a non-profit engagement.
    Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Military & PTSD (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)

    Example #14: Addiction, Setback and Leadership Mantra
    Background Information: In this narrative, the applicant captures Peru’s Silver mining boom of 2006. The growth experienced in her father’s business shifted the family’s economic status to a new stratosphere. Through the changing economic and family dynamics, the applicant finds her voice in a unique way, initially to record her unheard voice but later as one of the youngest subject matter experts in mining and commodities.  
    Theme: Failure
    MBA Essay Strategy:  For the essay, the strategy is to show how life’s unpredictability is a blessing. By narrating two setback events, the essay demonstrates the applicant’s resilience and her acknowledgment of people who made a comeback possible.
    Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Addiction, Setback and Leadership Mantra (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)

    Example #15: War, Immigration and Starting Over Again
    Background Information: Despite a raging war in Syria, the family of the applicant was unblemished by the chaos. The strategic government assets near the applicant’s house would have made the region an easy target, but it was not. The calmness of her journey is shattered in one event. From the privileges of a cocooned life, the applicant is forced to think about survival, her sister’s future, and her future in the US. The second half of the narrative captures the change that was forced on her. 
    Theme: Gratitude, Resilience
    MBA Essay Strategy:  I consciously chose not to start the essay with a dialogue or trauma. Two lines are allocated to set up the narrative before the trauma event.
    Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – War, Immigration and Starting Over Again (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)

    Harvard MBA Business-Minded Essay: Please reflect on how your experiences have influenced your career choices and aspirations and the impact you will have on the businesses, organizations, and communities you plan to serve. (up to 300 words)

    Example #16: Creative or Finance
    Background Information: The applicant starts the narrative with the origin of her talents. The unbridled enthusiasm receives a reality check when in high school, the applicant’s father has a conversation with her about academics. While the applicant picked up her quant skills, she was reaching over 50,000 loyal fans, and her videos captured 1 million views. 
    Theme: Passion, Talent
    MBA Essay Strategy:  Capturing vulnerability is the toughest part for Harvard MBA applicants. For this essay example, I have captured the applicant’s uncertainty about career choice throughout the essay. Here the goal is to show vulnerability in the career choice essay while for leadership and growth essay, I could capture one example each from creative and PE industry respectively to balance the narrative. So don’t follow this example without a strategy.  
    Read: Harvard MBA Business-Minded Essay – Creative or Finance (Business-Minded HBS MBA Essay Example)

  • Stanford MBA Essay Guide (24 Sample Essays)
  • Columbia MBA Essay Guide (21 Sample Essays)
  • Wharton MBA Essay Guide (15 Sample Essays)
  • INSEAD MBA Essay Guide (19 Sample Essays)
  • Darden MBA Essay Guide  (21 Sample Essays) 
  • Yale SOM MBA Essay Guide (15 Sample Essays)
  • Tuck MBA Essay Guide (15 Sample Essays)
  • Haas MBA Essay Guide (18 Sample Essays)
  • NYU Stern MBA Essay Guide (15 Sample Essays + 6 Examples - Visual Essay)
  • LBS MBA Essay Guide (6 Sample Essays)
  • MIT Sloan MBA Essay Guide (6 Sample Cover Letters + 3 Sample Video Statement Scripts + 3 Sample Optional Essays)
  • Kellogg MBA Essay Guide (11 Sample Essays)
  • Chicago Booth MBA Essay Guide (12 Sample Essays)
  • Ross MBA Essay Guide (31 Sample Essays)
  • Duke Fuqua MBA Essay Guide (10 Sample Essays + Two 25 Random Things Samples)
  • Cambridge MBA Essay Guide (12 Sample Essays)

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