University of Missouri: Nicolette Cooper
A member of NROTC in college, Nicolette graduated from Penn State University in 2003 with a BS in criminal justice. From there she went on active duty for seven years as a surface warfare officer in the Navy. On her first ship, the USS Iwo Jima out of Norfolk, Virginia, she was a division officer for the Operations and Intelligence Division and deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf. Later she was a fire control officer on the USS Chosin out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and then on shore duty in Hawaii as a liaison to the Air Force.
In June 2010 Nicolette decided to go into the active reserves while taking advantage of post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. “I thought, ‘Why don’t I try to get an MBA?’ It would give me a legitimate business knowledge base so I could go into the working world without having to start out at an entry-level position.” The MBA program she chose at the University of Missouri allows her to also take School of Public Affairs courses in non-profit management. When she graduates, her goal is to use her leadership and business skills at a non-profit organization that works with at-risk children and disenfranchised families in inner cities.
How will having both an MBA and military experience help when you’re trying to land a position in the non-profit world?
I think my experience combines the two things you need to succeed in the business world. You need a sound foundation in what makes a business or a non-profit organization tick—including accounting, marketing, and branding. And you need leadership experience. Coming from the Navy, I’ve had that experience in far more stressful environments than the business world offers, including when I’ve had to deal with people from every background imaginable who need to work together.
Do you think that business knowledge and leadership experience are as important to the non-profit world as they are to corporations?
Even though non-profits are organizations that want to make a difference in the world, they’re still in a competitive environment. You have to show the people who have the dollars—whether they’re in business or government or just donors—that your organization is well-run and deserving. You have to be aware of how to write grants properly and how to throw a benefit properly. You can’t just muddle through or you’re going to flounder and then fail.
Getting an MBA makes you more competitive and more able to do good works because you’re a better-run organization.
What are you hoping prospective employers will understand about your military/MBA experience?
I hope they’ll know there’s nothing they can assign me that I’m not going to be able to handle. There’s nothing I’ll be scared to do or afraid to try. After all my experience in the military, I just don’t get stressed out anymore.
If you could give one piece of advice to peers from the military who are considering a graduate business degree, what would it be?
See if the school you plan to attend has a Veterans Affairs office on campus. If so, they can help you with the new GI Bill paperwork and stuff like that. I just go in and they take care of everything, which makes my life so much easier.
Did you have any preconceptions about the GMAT, and is there anything you wish you had known before taking it?
I had a friend who got her MBA and she said, “Take the GMAT. Get your MBA.” So I just figured that if I was going to get my MBA, I had to take the GMAT.
But I didn’t know I could have taken the GMAT for free the first time. I think all the military services offer this free program. [Note: The Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) program reimburses eligible service members who take certain professional level exams, including the GMAT. To learn more, visit DANTES.
How did your military background help you with being a student again?
This time is so much easier because when I went to college—as my academic record proves—I was a terrible student. I didn’t really have any discipline. But after seven years in the Navy, you realize, “Okay, it’s time to be responsible.” Now I go to class, and I get good grades, and it’s not a big deal. The Navy definitely taught me how to be an adult.
Another thing about the Navy is that I always had to hit the ground running—it really was survival of the fittest. So now, with anything I do in school, I think, “Okay, you’re going to have a deluge of information at first, but you just push through it.” I can power through it.
What’s it like to work in groups with people who have never been in the military?
Because the Navy gave me managerial experience, in groups I immediately just kind of take over. When you have leaders who aren’t going to lose it because they’re unsure of what they’re doing, you get greater group success because nobody has to worry about dropping the ball because the leaders can’t handle the pressure. In my MBA career, I think that trait has made me a desirable group member.
But is it hard when you’re not the leader?
One of the things you learn in the military is that to be a good leader, you also have to be a good follower. So I don’t say, “Well, I have to be the leader.” For example, I don’t have a background in finance, so if somebody in my finance class has the know-how and wants to be the group leader, I’m more than willing to support any decisions that group leader would make.
