I took the GMAT and scored a 530. It was my first time and I only had 12 days to prepare. Just a little background. I have been an Officer in the Army for the past five years. My have my undergrad in Chemistry with a 3.2 GPA. I'm currently looking at smaller schools such as Shippensburg. I want to work as a budget or financial analyst with the federal government. Should I plan on retaking the GMAT? Will a school like Shippensburg suit my career goals?

Shippensburg is a solid regional school. Its AACSB accreditation means that you can be sure that you're getting a good education, but it will lack the wide career resources that are available to bigger and better-ranked schools.

My sense is that if you are focusing on this level of school, your GMAT score will not be all that important. You might want to try to study a bit and get your score up to 600 or so to be safe.

For your career goals, though, you might also consider schools that are strong in finance and potentially have better connections with government agencies. The DC schools, Georgetown and GW, along with maybe Maryland - Smith, come to mind.

Thanks for the feedback. I know I'm not the typical person that posts on this site. I just want to have a solid career after the Army. I took the GMAT with almost zero prep because the Army offered it for free and I thought why not. I know I could score higher given the opportunity to actually study and prepare.

I actually hadn't thought of a school closer to DC. I will do some research on the schools mentioned.

Just one last question. Would it better to pursue an MBA or a MS in finance? I'm very torn between the two and which will provide a solid career.

Thanks!

Sam1679,

I did my MBA from College of William & Mary. We have a Major General James Wright (MGJW) program where every year 15-20 people US Armed forces join W&M and get their MBA in 15 months.

MGJW fellows spend their first year taking classes with regular full time MBA students. After completion of first year, full time students go for summer internship, while MGJW students stay back at school. One of my best friend was a MGJW fellow, he successfully used the program and the connections he made to move out of army into Healthcare. He is currently in Newport News. Several of MGJW went back to Army after completion of the program.

Few students from our class (full time MBA) had left army/navy to join as full time student, they were sought after by Consulting companies (Deloitte) working on government contracts requiring TSCI/SCI clearance.

As Laurie said consider all schools at Washington DC - Georgetown University, George Washington University, UMD-Smith

Consider College of William and Mary also, Deloitte has a tie-up with W&M and they come to campus for their Federal practice. W&M also have an Executive Partner program where retired CEO/CFO/Presidents of companies act as a mentor to students.

My mentor was a retired 4 star army general. Search about W&M MBA and W&M MGJW program, if you are interested, I can get you in touch with the admissions team, army graduates from MGJW and MBA program, and also to 4 star general.

PM me for more if you are interested.

Hope it helps.
Ayon De
W&M MBA 2015