Duke / Fuqua - 08-06-2019 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

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August 6, 2019 3:58pm ET

Applying: Duke / Fuqua, UCLA Anderson, UNC Kenan-Flagler, USC / Marshall

Intake Year: 2021

Pre-MBA Career: Supply Chain Management US Air Force

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

GPA: 3.7

Years of Work Experience: 7

Location: Florida

Notes:

Worked 7 years in Supply Chain Management as an enlisted member of the US Air Force. I earned an Associates in Supply Chain Management while I was in the service and I am now working towards my bachelors in International Business. My biggest concern is that my work experience came before I earned my degree. Will the adcoms hold this fact against me and/or would this put a ceiling on the level of b-school I should be applying to? My plan is to parley my work experience and a competitive MBA into a supply chain consulting job for MBB. I'd like to be featured in the Wire Taps Podcast if possible. Thank you for your time and help!

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Show Comments (7) Last: August 26, 2019

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1572 A lot will depend on your experiences in the military. While most candidates from the military are coming from the military, post UG, I do remember we admitted a candidate to Wharton who was enlisted (many years ago, now). So it's possible, but it's the quality of your experiences that will count. Supply chain consulting makes sense, what are your long term goals? You'll also need to take the GMAT or GRE, make sure you're able to prep well, target 700+, if you can. (0)

anon85435 Likes Earned: 9 Long term I'd like to transition into a decision making position within supply chain at a large international company. I spent 6 out of my 7 years in the Air Force living overseas and I found that I really enjoyed travelling and spending time abroad. Further, I am originally South American and fully bilingual in Spanish. I am hoping that will help me in the future as I seek out opportunities within consulting and beyond. (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1572 Were you able to lead teams, create impact, in your supply chain role? That will be important to articulate. (0)

anon85435 Likes Earned: 9 I was able to consistently earn leadership roles in large projects, often above my ranks typical responsibilities and at times even leading teammates of higher rank. While leading those projects we were able to beat our deadlines by large margins thanks to constantly looking for ways to save time and increase the accuracy of our processes. Most importantly, I found that the key to my teams success was putting each team member in a role they were best suited for and allowing them to own that process. Having ownership over their work gave each team member a drive to succeed that resulted in an unparalleled work ethic. I was also often hand-picked for high priority missions to forward locations in which I had to coordinate my own supply chain processes between various organizational levels to maintain the necessary supplies needed for the mission to go uninterrupted. I was also given the opportunity to join a brand new business unit within our organization that worked towards achieving the fastest supply chain processes and therefore achieving the lowest "aircraft down due to supply" times compared to equivalent fleets throughout the entire Air Force. We were able to achieve those goals through the hard work and innovations of the entire team and some new processes I was able to introduce. This was a particularly proud moment for the team since the other fleets we were competing against were in the continental US and we were overseas, inherently giving us a disadvantage since almost all of our manufacturing is based in the US. I hope to articulate this and more as I put together my applications. I thought it would be most appropriate for my military supervisors write my recommendation letters since they can echo my work experiences. Further, they were the ones that mentored me, gave me the chance grow as a leader and always believed in me. (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1572 Those are the sorts of anecdotes that will work well in admissions, especially if they're backed up by your supervisors. (0)

anon85435 Likes Earned: 9 Thank you for taking the time to respond and provide the valuable insight! (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1572 More detailed feedback on this candidate in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2019/08/episode-49-wire-taps-brand-marketing-low-gpa-enlisted-military-candidate-and-more/ (0)