Military to MBA - Advice from MIT Sloan

Moving from military to the MBA? It's nearly a natural fit.

That's what Assistant Director of Admissions at the MIT Sloan School of Management -- Barry Reckley -- says of military personnel who go for their MBA. "With the qualifications and with the inbred basic leadership capabilities that folks have when they're coming out of the military, it's almost a natural fit."

Reckley says it's not an issue if an applicant doesn't have a financial or business background. "In many ways, it's more beneficial, because they bring a different tool set into the mix. (Although) that applicant may have to go back and maybe take a course in accounting or microeconomics, or something to that effect."

If you're military, applying to MIT Sloan, he advises you to stay clear of using what he calls alphabet soup. You might want to run your application past a military alum to be sure you're communicating clearly for non-military.

Sloan has a veterans association. Sloan waives the application fee. And, he says Sloan works with the VA, so there are financial advantages available. All the details are in our upcoming show on MBA Podcaster, with a dozen more experts speaking out. We'll let you know when it's posted.