Reviewing my GMAT experience (Part 1): Preparation

As I mentioned in an earlier post I am done with the GMAT already. I had a few months free at the end of last year before my CFA studying started and I decided to try to get the GMAT out of the way...

I used the following materials to study:

• Official Guides 11th Edition: Quant (green), Verbal (purple), and the big combined book (orange). These are, in my opinion, 100% necessary and the single best preparation tool. It's unfortunate that there are still number of glaring errors in a book that is now a few years old. I believe I ended doing at least 90% of the questions and all of the "advanced" ones at least twice. See below for comment on how I found which were the "advanced" questions. I think the 12th edition is out or will be soon.

• ManhattanGMAT classroom sessions: I knew the only way I was going to be able to keep on track with no real deadline was with a classroom package. My instructor was incredible and there is no doubt she single handedly raised my score. I was lucky in that a good portion of my class was aiming for a 650+ score so we were able to move through material quickly and focus on the more difficult problems. One thing I did that was different from what was recommended: I studied a week ahead and covered the next week's topics ahead of time instead of simply doing toe pre-class introduction materials. I was essentially taught the material twice - once on my own and once in class and I think it was a huge help.

• Manhattan individual subject books (part of the classroom package): I found these really useful. The verbal section of the GMAT is basically a bunch of patterns - each question can be categorized and sub-categorized. Once you figure out the tricks to each and can identify which question type you're facing, actually solving becomes pretty easy. Since my background had a lot of match I probably glossed over math prep more than I should have. One of the best things about the Manhattan subject books is that each book lists which questions in the 3 Official Guides correspond to specific topics. Additionally they list which questions in the Official Guides are "normal" and which are "advanced". This let me tackle every tough question in all the Official Guides and let me skip (when I wanted to) the ones that would be a waste of time.

• Analytical Writing: I pretty much winged it on the writing section. Just make sure you spend a few minutes understanding the two question types you'll encounter and focus on staying within their parameters. Intro with thesis, 3 body paragraphs, conclusion. Freshman year of high school I had to write a 5 paragraph paper every week and I had a free period right before they were due… I suppose that counts as practice :). Sorry Mrs. Hancock.

• Laminated yellow paper + erasable marker: You don't get scrap paper and a pen/pencil when taking the actual test in the test center. You get 6 double sided pieces of laminated, yellow, legal sized paper and an erasable marker. They come spiral bound. The test center guy seemed a little pissed when I ripped them off the spiral to make them loose, oh well. I highly recommend you get something similar and use it through your entire preparation process. ManhattanGMAT provided this to me with their classroom & book package. I assume the other prep providers to the same. I've heard horror stories of people who weren't prepared for this - especially if you're someone that writes small or like to do a lot of erasing on the math section (it can get messy).

What I didn't use:

• Kaplan or Princeton Review: no idea if they're good or not. They're the 800lb gorillas of test-prep so they must be at least okay

• MBA.com practice tests: I think you can take 2 of them at mba.com? They might even be free, I'm not sure.

• Manhattan online resources and question banks (available to me for free via classroom instruction purchase but I think you can guy them stand-alone): I did take one practice test as a diagnostic before the classroom session started and scored pretty well. I started a few other tests but could never make myself sit there and finish them. A better use of time for me was to focus on a few specific question types I wanted to strengthen my ability with. I think there was also a large question bank you could use that was separate from that used in the practice tests. Data for all problems you solved online is stored and you could slice & dice it any way you want. I didn't use this but some of my classmates found it great.

• Timing practice / practice tests: Aside from an initial diagnostic I didn't take any practice tests or timed problem sets. This works for me because I've never run out of time on a test, but I know that's not normal. Everyone else I speak to has found practice exams, timed problem sets, and simulating test conditions to be highly helpful.

How did it end up? I hit my target score (and beat my older brother...always a target for the younger sibling!) but unfortunately not 99th percentile. I feel like I spent the right amount of time & effort on preparation - the score will "check the box" in the mind of the Adcom who sees it. Raising my score to the "next level" and getting a 790 or 800 would have taken a considerable more amount of work and I'm not all that sure it would really add much to my application. If I don't get in this year, and my academics are part of the issue it's probably something I will consider working on, but even then there are probably other ways to better spend the time improving myself & my application.

Next time: my test day experience

Some background

One thing that has always seemed strange to me is how rarely anyone asks the question of "why should I trust you?" when on the internet. I'm not going to get into that discussion :) but here's a bit of background to set the stage on why it may be at least interesting, and hopefully helpful, to listen to me ramble:

• Years of experience: 5 years at time of matriculation (Fall 2010) excluding internships. Assuming the next 16 months go well this time will all have been within the same group at the same company. I've worked here since undergrad pretty much with the same 5-10 people. That's got to be rare in this day & age, and hopefully my managers can translate the process of having seen me develop over 4 years into writing some good recommendations
• Profession: financial services - sales & relationship management. Although it's a sales role a large component is analytical in nature
• Education: undergraduate at a top U.S. university with a B.A. in economics with a heavy dose of math. My GPA sucked - in terms of being an applicant it's my biggest weakness by far and doesn't reflect my (now demonstrated?) ability today to excel. Passed CFA Level I and plan to pass Level II next summer (eg. after admit/deny decisions are made)
• Extracurricular: During college - almost nothing, same as my GPA. Post-graduate very strong. I'm very involved with significant leadership experiences at my main volunteer organization. Additionally I'm on the local alumni board of my alma-mater despite not being involved much during my undergrad time. I'm also deeply involved in a pretty intense individual sport as well as the local club which adds a bit more leadership & team component. I've been a member of one of my company's diversity groups since I started work and am on the volunteer leadership team for my city.
• My chances: I honestly think my chances of getting into my top schools this year are fairly slim. I worry my one big weakness (GPA), especially in light of my targeted focus of study, may not have been sufficiently offset yet. I want an Adcom to feel confident fighting for me over someone else. That said I know I'm 100% ready and able to succeed - hopefully that will shine through in my application. If not... some things I'm planning to do in the next 12 months regardless will fix it for next year.
  

I'll do a post on each of Strengths and Weaknesses at some point in the coming weeks. I've done some thinking on both but never sat down and put thoughts on paper. Once I've had a chance to do that I'll post the results here as a way to hopefully flesh them out even further and maybe get some feedback when (if?) people start reading this blog.

A brief "Why MBA":

• Primary driver is Career Change: I want to remain in financial services but sales is not where I want to be long term. This Career Change requires a largely different skillset than I am able to develop in my current position, and I believe the best way to demonstratively develop that skillset and get hired into the position I want, is a full time MBA program
• The Brand. Maybe this speaks more to the Why "Here" question, but for the career change I want to make the Brand is an important and legitimate factor
• The Network. Being part of a top BSchool network is invaluable in my proposed line of work. Ideally it will also help contribute finding great hires of my own down the road
  

Location location location

Since I fond myself thinking about it and scribbling on some scrap pater today at work I figured I'd put up a note tonight...

As I mentioned in the first post I have already done a considerable amount of thinking over the past year but in reality things are even a bit further along than that... Where do I currently stand in the process?

• GMAT done and I scored well, 700+
• I know which schools I'm going to be applying to and it's a short & aggressive list although it's subject to change based on where the Significant Other applies/gets admitted
  
• Of my top 3 I've already visited 2 multiple times, though none as a prospective BSchool student
  
• I've got a good handle on my Strengths/Weaknesses/story. I began working to mitigate & strengthen the weak areas for almost 5 months ago as well as make some of my strengths really stand out

First!

The hardest part of this thing is writing the first post. I've tried to start a blog four times in the past (though none were intended to have MBA content) and even wrote out a few entries in Word but never posted them.

This time I'm trying a new tact: I'm giving myself a half hour to write a post and then putting it up no matter what, including typos, ramblings, or unfinished thoughts. I'll plan to hold myself to these half hour postings weekly (probably Sunday evening?) in addition to anything I write during the week.

I've been a silent reader of MBA blogs for over a year now and have been doing some serious thinking over the past few months about my own goals, career path, and ultimately whether I want to pursue an MBA.


I do.


I came to the realization after some long talks with my Significant Other as well as the first time I actually sat down and wrote out some ideas on what I want to do for the next 5-20 years. What sort of work environment/culture do I want? What is my ideal position in 5, 10, 20 years? Do I want to own my own business? Would I be satisfied "owning" my area of specialty within a larger company? Do I believe an MBA is necessary and/or a significant benefit to helping me achieve these goals? None of the answers were revelations - I've known for a few years what I "want" out of a career - but how much I really wanted those things was brought home.

And so this blog… and so here I am… locked in a windowless conference room at work with my personal laptop at 8pm on a Sunday night and promise not to exit for another 20 minutes…

I suppose I need to lay down my own expectations for this blog if only to set my list-making OCD mind at rest. I'm sure the list will evolve and the blog will deviate but here goes:

* The primary idea here is simply to track my progress and put my thoughts down on paper; help flesh out my ideas so I am better prepared for essays this fall.. I've actually done a fair amount of thinking (okay, a lot) on the subject and I plan to revisit much of it in the coming months
* It always seems like the bloggers applying to the same schools end up finding each other, exchanging ideas, and generally benefiting from the process of blogging even if it’s only moral support during Essay Season
* As mentioned above I’ve been reading a number of MBA blogs over the past year and they have been of huge help to me. Hopefully mine can do the same for others and I can give a bit back to the community.

Until next time…

Soooooo apparently the first post sat in "draft" mode for 5 days. Oops. I'll do better in the future, promise.