Chicago Booth - 11-11-2025 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

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November 11, 2025 11:09am ET

Applying: U. Chicago Booth, MIT Sloan, UPenn / Wharton

Intake Year: 2026

Pre-MBA Career: Military

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting Companies: Bain , BCG

GRE: 326

GPA: 3.2

Years of Work Experience: 5

Location: Southern CA

Post MBA Location: Chicago/NYC

Notes:

Greetings Friends,

I'm currently a Logistics Officer in the Marine Corps, looking to transition out into consulting. In addition to leadership, my job has been heavy in data analytics, and I'd like to build upon that skill set in an MBA program to set me up for business analytics/optimization at MBB. I also have a lot of experience in Lean Six, Scrum/Agile, and analytics software like PowerBI.

I have a 3.2 in Industrial Engineering from a top 5 engineering school in the US, and and looking to take the GRE again (initial 164 V/162 Q) after a bit more study.

My top picks are honestly Sloan for the analytics bent and Booth for the flexible curriculum and location. Wharton for the same reasons, but it feels a bit out of reach with a 3.2. How realistic are my odds and what can I do to improve them?

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Show Comments (7) Last: November 24, 2025

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1830 How much improvement might you get from retaking the GRE? That might help mitigate the lower GPA.

Military experience can resonate well with adcom. Make sure to reach out to your target schools’ veterans’ clubs.

What are your longer term goals, post consulting? I’d think with a strong GRE score, coupled with good military experience, supported by strong recommendations, your plan may be realistic. Might be worth adding 1-2 programs from the next tier, like Tuck/Yale/Haas.

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vet_hopeful Likes Earned: 2 I can definitely improve Q and get the overall to 330 or so. Long term, I'd like to be in some sort of leadership position. Either in a corporation, for my own company, or as a part of a startup. I want to use consulting to get the requisite business experience and experience dealing with C-suite execs. I'm really shooting for Sloan/Booth for their specific curriculum structures (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1830 If you can get the 330+ GRE and apply in Round 2, then that makes good sense. I’d keep Wharton in the mix, too. Especially with an improved score. (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1830 more details on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2025/11/mba-wire-taps-456/ (0)

vet_hopeful Likes Earned: 2 Funny enough, I retook the GRE and scored a 323 (158V/165Q) so the quant in fact did improve, but I bombed the verbal (and I knew it during the exam). Should I just call it at this point? I don't want to get an even worse score and have to report all three with a downward trajectory... Booth is really my top choice tbh. Sloan and Kellogg as well. Wharton would be neat for prestige but its not as good a fit for me (0)

vet_hopeful Likes Earned: 2 Also, I listened to the podcast and it was awesome! Thanks for looking over my profile. I felt like a celebrity (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1830 Glad you enjoyed the podcast. The higher quant score is decent, for sure. Does make sense to settle with where you are for the GRE, I’d think, gearing up for Round 2. Best of luck. I’d still apply to Wharton, as well. (0)