<p>Hello. I am currently attending Purdue University and majoring in aerospace engineering with a GPA of ~3.6. For the past year or so, I have been thinking that I would rather go into a high-paying business or financial career rather than an engineering career, such as being an investment banker. Finance has always appealed to me and, although I really like aerospace engineering, I know I don't want to work in this field for a long time, and it won't give me the salary that I want. I know many people say not to do a job for the salary, and I've thought about that, but this is what I want.
Anyways, I'll finally get to my question. Since I want to go into business, I've decided that I should get an MBA. I have a 4 year military officer commitment from the ROTC, so by the time I'm done with that, I'll be 26 or 27. My question is can I get into a top-tier MBA program (I'm talking Harvard or Stanford) with the grades I have now and the military leadership experience I will have in the future? I will do anything I can to get into one of these programs, I'm just worried that they won't want someone who majored in engineering rather than something business-related and someone coming from Purdue rather than a top Ivy league school.
Thanks for the help.</p>
<p>In fact you still have to take the GMAT: doing well on the GMAT will help you a lot once your ROTC commitment is over. I’m talking about 730+… then Harvard, Stanford, UPenn, and, at a somehwat lower level, NYU Stern, Cornell Johnson, Yale.</p>
<p>Yes, you do have to take the GMAT which will be the best indicator of where you can get accepted.</p>
<p>To answer your main question… an engineering degree is excellent preparation for an MBA program. The kind of rigor you got from your aerospace program is exceptionally valuable. Plus, the mathematical discipline is a major part of any good MBA program. The only downside to engineering is that your verbal and writing skills might not be as well developed. So, you might want to work on that (I do not know you, so this is only conjecture). </p>
<p>If Harvard or Stanford turn out to be unobtainable, remember that Indiana University has a top notch MBA program (ranked #15 by BusinessWeek) at their Kelley School of Business. You might even consider obtaining it online while you are still in the military. See this website: <a href=“Online MBA Program | Kelley Direct MBA | Indiana Kelley”>Online MBA Program | Kelley Direct MBA | Indiana Kelley;
<p>P.S… Are you on a Naval ROTC scholarship, or Air Force?</p>
<p>Also do a search on this topic in this forum. This topic has been discussed numerous times.</p>