Wharton Yellow Ribbon Benefits (Processing Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefits Part 2)

  By admin | July 23, 2012 - 1:38 am | Financial Aid
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I know that I promised this post would focus on my efforts to better understand the financial world by reading business-centric periodicals, but something urgent has come up.

Just a heads up… this post will be Wharton veteran specific.  Nevertheless, aspects may be useful and important to readers headed to other schools.

IF YOU ARE A VETERAN ABOUT TO MATRICULATE AT WHARTON, ARE EXPECTING YELLOW RIBBON BENEFITS, BUT HAVE NOT YET SUBMITTED YOUR CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY (COE) AND HAVE NOT YET RECEIVED POSITIVE CONFIRMATION THAT YOU ARE 1 OF THE 30 TO RECEIVE WHARTON YELLOW RIBBON… PLEASE READ ALL THE WAY THROUGH AND TAKE THE REQUESTED ACTION.

Bear with me while I tell the whole story…

On May 28, 2012 I became 100% Post-9/11 GI Bill eligible (and thus entitled to Yellow Ribbon benefits subject to the rules of my school – Wharton).

Wharton policy is to provide very generous Yellow Ribbon benefits ($10K per year, which is matched by Veterans Affairs, for an annual total of $20K) to 30 eligible veteran on a first-come, first-served basis.  First-come, first-served status is based on when Wharton receives your COE.  The COE is just the letter you receive from Veterans Affairs (VA) stating your level (percentage) of Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement.

This being the case I immediately worked towards receiving a COE stating my 100% status from the VA.  I was able to obtain a draft of my DD 214 from my separation clerk, which I immediately faxed to a number provided by the VA (716-857-3296).  I included a cover letter stating my situation, requesting a new COE, and provided certain required information (Attention line: Education, my full name, and full social security number).

Though receipt of my fax was never confirmed, last Saturday (July 14, 2012) I received my new COE.  I immediately drove into the Pentagon, scanned my COE, and emailed it to Wharton Student Financial Services (SFS).  That Monday, I received an email from SFS informing me that they had forwarded my information to Wanda Roth Miller (the woman who processes such paperwork).

When I spoke with Wanda on the phone, I got some devastating news.  Apparently Wharton is out of Yellow Ribbon spots.  She has put me on a waitlist of sorts.  What number am I on the waitlist?  Number 1.  That’s luck so good, it’ll make you want to vomit.  I, however, refrained as such an exhibition is frowned upon in a military setting.

I informed the Wharton Veterans Club co-presidents (Jamie Peace and Ben Revello) of the situation.  Jamie was kind enough to make the administration aware of the problem and he tells me that the powers-that-be are considering alternatives.  He, however, does not want to get my (or your) hopes up.  He feels that turning good intention into “money in the bank” may take some time.

If you think that you are going to find yourself in my position with respect to Yellow Ribbon, I recommend that you send me the following information:

Full Name, Email Address, Phone Number, Date You Became 100% Post-9/11 GI Bill Eligible, Date Listed On Your COE (if received)

I will compile this information in a database and keep Jamie and Ben informed regarding those negatively affected.  Please send me this information to my personal email account or via a Facebook message.

Here’s to hoping for a lucrative resolution.

Veterans on Wall Street Conference 2012

  By admin | June 26, 2012 - 12:33 pm | Networking Opportunities
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This past Thursday (June 21, 2012), I attended the second annual Veterans on Wall Street (VOWS) conference in New York City.  I wanted to recount the experience for those who did not attend.

The conference was hosted by VOWS,  a newly formalized network of veterans working in the financial services, and was held at 55 Wall Street, which is right across the street from Deutsche Bank (60 Wall Street).

I was immediately impressed by the opportunity to connect with other veterans.  Prior to the start of the conference, I was able to catch up with one of my Naval Academy classmates, who is looking for job opportunities after finishing his MBA at Georgetown, and a fellow DC-based naval officer,  who will be matriculating at Columbia Business School this fall.  Eventually, our entire table filled up with navy and marine corps officers, all of whom knew at least someone else at the table.

The first event of the conference was a communications workshop.  While I often don’t find such presentations particularly useful, the workshop exercises enabled a Citigroup diversity recruiter to encourage me to apply for a diversity fellowship.

Now I know what some of you are thinking…  Like Jeff, I’m a white, male.  Don’t diversity recruiters hold me at bay with cloves of garlic while trying to drive a wooden stake through my heart?

Well, no.  Military veterans are now considered a minority group for the purposes of employment; and appropriately so considering something like only 1% of the U.S. population  has served.

The Citi diversity recruiter was very helpful and very enthusiastic about having me apply for the fellowship, which provides selected candidates a $25K stipend and a summer internship.  (Unfortunately, the deadline for applying is now past.)

After the communications workshop, I attended the Wall Street 101 breakout session.  This session consisted of a panel of veterans working on Wall Street at one of the sponsoring banks (Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and Citigroup).  After a brief overview of the financial industry, members of the panel took questions.  I asked whether starting as a investment banking associate in a branch office (i.e. Houston) rather than one of the financial power centers (i.e. New York City, London, or Hong Kong) would be detrimental to my career.  The panel members provided mixed responses.  Some thought a branch office was a fine way to go, while others expressed concern about being too far away from the “mother ship” and thus separated from the organizational decision makers.

After lunch, I attended a more substantively rigorous lecture entitled Macro Risk in the Global Capital Markets.  This presentation described the Euro Zone sovereign debt crisis in depth and related its impact on the U.S. economy.  I found it very interesting and quite useful, but only because I’ve been reading the Wall Street Journal for the last six months.  (My next blog post will focus on my approach to studying financial news in order to prepare for the transition to business school… so stayed tuned…)

On the whole, the conference was a very useful way to get the lay of the land in New York, learn more about the financial services, and make initial contact with a key veterans professional network.  Whether you intend to work in finance or not, being aware of VOWS is a good thing.

 

 

 

Money Makers: Inside the New World of Finance and Business by David Snider and Dr. Chris Howard

  By admin | May 23, 2012 - 2:12 am | Pre-Matriculation Professional Preparation
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One of my Naval Academy classmates, who is now an outgoing second-year at Wharton, once told me that he had no idea what investment banking was when he arrived at business school.  In a few months, he will start his new job as an associate at Morgan Stanley.

Clearly pre-MBA knowledge is not a prerequisite for success at business school.  In fact, many have advised me to get as much rest as possible before matriculating.  This advice is generally offered to prevent admitted students from “burning out”.

However, I was raised by a stubborn man who believed that (like lunch) “burning out” is for wimps.  (Quoting Wall Street at business school is as lame as quoting Top Gun at the Naval Academy… but, since its going to happen anyway, why fight it?).

Accordingly, over the next couple of months, I will be making a number of posts detailing my efforts to prepare for business school by becoming conversational with respect to basic business concepts.  I will categorize these posts using the “Pre-Matriculation Professional Preparation” tag.

I’d like to start by reviewing Money Makers: Inside the New World of Finance and Business by David Snider and Dr. Chris Howard.

This book is a perfect introduction to financial and consulting services for veterans and others heading to business school to affect a career transition.  In fact, one of the authors, Dr. Chris Howard, was an Air Force officer prior to pursuing his MBA.  At just over 100 pages, it is a quick and easy read and is sure to make you conversational with respect to investment banking, venture capital, private equity, management consulting, and general management.

In addition to describing these industries, this book  features interviews from some of Wall Street’s key players, including Jamie Dimon (CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.) and Suzanne Nora Johnson (former vice chairman of Goldman Sachs).  The book also profiles the most powerful firms in each industry, providing useful information for those of us preparing for the internship search.

I have used these profiles to summarize key information about featured investment banks and private equity firms.  See below for that database (please excuse spelling and grammar errors, this was originally intended for personal use only and I’ve decided a rigorous scrub isn’t the best use of time).

Professional Firm Analysis

Of all my efforts to prepare for business school, reading this book has been the most useful.  I highly recommend it.

 

 

 

Processing Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefits

  By admin | April 22, 2012 - 7:20 pm | Financial Aid
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I thought it would be useful to discuss some of the recent problems I’ve had dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

In order to properly frame the discussion, let me provide you with my background as it relates to Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility.  I graduated from the United States Naval Academy on May 28, 2004.  Thus, my service academy service obligation was complete on May 28, 2009 and I am eligible for 100% Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits as of May 28, 2012.

Understanding this to be the case, I completed the Post-9/11 GI Bill application in early 2012.  The application predictably asked for my date of separation and I indicated August 10, 2012.

In April 2012 I received a disturbing response from the VA.  The letter that I received indicated that I was only eligible for 90% of the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.  My first thought was that 10% of the annual $17,500 tuition assistance, $1,000 book allowance, and E-5 with dependents BAH provided by the Post-9/11 GI bill might not be worth the bureaucratic battle with the VA.

Then I realized why the 90% decision was so devastating.  In order to receive Yellow Ribbon benefits, a student must be 100% Post-9/11 GI Bill eligible.  At Wharton, failing to receive Yellow Ribbon would be a significant financial blow, costing me $20K per year ($10K from the school, which the VA would match).

I immediately called the VA help number provided on the letter (1-888-442-4551) in order to resolve the discrepancy.  They explained to me that the Department of Defense (DoD) processed the application and made the determination.  They also explained that the application had been processed based on the number of days I had served ending on the date that the application was processed (for me March 26) instead of my separation date (August 10) and that I would be upgraded to 100% eligible on May 28, 2012.

While this practice clearly makes no sense, it’s implementation was not a mistake.  That’s just how they do it.  I will be seeking a new letter from the DoD/VA on May 29.

I hope this story helps with any issues you may be having.  Please feel free to comment with related problems, questions, or issues.

At this point, I intend to spend some time coordinating with the Veterans Clubs at the various top MBA programs in order to generate some site traffic.  I will post a new entry mid-May and then continue to blog weekly/bi-weekly.