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Journey to my MBA

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

Tidbits

So, I was able to reschedule my GMAT to So Cal. It cost $50 and it was all done via the web. Technology.. I like it. I actually decided to push my GMAT test date by a week because of everything going on and the amount of things, I would need to do before taking off and leaving my wife alone for 3 months.

Another thing I wanted to mention was something I remembered last week about GMAT scores that ManhattanGMAT test prep mentioned when I went to one of their "check-us-out" seminars under the guise of "GMAT Prep Bootcamp". It was that since they are based out of New York where the core of Ivy league and top schools are that those schools actually contract out their services to help their students do better on the GMAT. Maybe you guys/gals knew this, but this came as a shock to me.

Basically, they let people in and then pay ManhattanGMAT to bootcamp some of their students to retake the GMAT to up their schools overall average GMAT scores. So basically, this tells me that when schools report GMAT scores of their students, they are not reporting acceptance GMAT scores, but what the students average once they are already there. They named schools like, Harvard, NYU, Columbia, Wharton and a few others. I don't think they would lie about this. I don't see a reason why they would.

So, I was up till 3am doing my schedule and it's still not where I like it, mainly because 5 schools I'm considering have not published their apps or application deadlines yet. So I'm ballparking off of their dates from last year to help create some coherent schedule for myself. You know, I realized that I had to create 2 schedules. One that showed day by day in monthly flow and another that summarized everything overall.. sort of like a gantt chart. Ok, so my project management background is showing. I needed the Gantt chart to show me progress and the day-by-day to think through all the details of the larger bullet points.

One Adcon web site recommended the following overall schedule. I liked it and incorporated it for the most part into mine

March-request applications from schools (yeah right!-if all the schools were that up to speed)

April-Prepare for GMAT (Consider 1-6 months for prep depending on starting results)

May-June: Define goals and objectives for doing an MBA; Brainstorm on your essays and determine your achievements, strengths and weaknesses. (I like this idea, only I'm going to do this from mid-July on)

July: Seek recommender's. Discuss your applications and remind them of your achievements, provide them with a draft of your application as a guide for consistency, establish clear and reasonable deadlines for completion, and give them a call after 3-4 weeks to find out how the letters are progressing. I'm doing this, but relying more heavily on my summary sheet to them that includes, strengths, weaknesses, what I did with them at work that showed my leadership, areas that show tenacity, pride in work, leadership and business savvy.

August: Request transcripts. Allow at least 2 months.

September: Take GMAT and have scores sent to schools. Uh, I'm planning on late July for this, late Aug and Lat Sept if a 3rd is required.

October-Nov: Complete essays. Have friends and colleagues whose opinions you value re-read or an honest evaluation. You can also consider working with a professional admission counselor to sharpen the focus of your work.

Nov-Jan: Mail all completed apps. Keep copies for your records.

Well, I'm off to study for the rest of the day. Oh man, I'm looking forward to the laptop. We're planning on getting the HP ZD7000 series laptop. 17" screen, numeric keypad on the keyboard. I'm an x-football player and don't have a problem about the weight you see.

1 Comments:

Blogger Dave for MBA said...

High GPA and blow me over essays and resume will highly compensate for GMAT, but then I think what we are talking about here is bringing a 650 score up to a 690 or 700 or a 630 up to a 680.

10:52 PM  

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