Hi,
I would like to tell my story. My key takeaways from this story are two: although is a hard process, the MBA application tests basically grit! and... the GMAT is only one piece of the application (really!).
My profile
I started this journey almost four years ago when I decided that I needed an MBA to get to better job positions and in the long term, to become a CEO of a large corporation on my region (Latin America). I'm from Chile, studied in one in the best universities of my country (PUC). I studied Business and Economics and then I did a Master in Economics (Ph.D. in Econ was my path at that time). Almost 5 years of working experience in Corporate Development and a part-time university professor (Economics 101).
GMAT
I did it four times! The first time was in 2012, but I did it without studying, just to see what this is about, hoping (this was very dumb) that I would be able to have a good score without studying it. "I was good at math and I read a lot of books in English, so I would be OK". Obviously, I got a bad score: 610.
Then, in 2013 I was decided to get my MBA. I studied for my GMAT (for real this time!) and I got a surprising result: 670 with V38(84%) and Q44(61%). Never in my life, I had had those scores in V. But my math was very weak. So, the second time (for real)! Let's study math. Result? The opposite. 660 with V33(68%) and Q49(80%). Damn it. Not good. Last time... If I don't have a good score (good enough) I'm not pursuing an MBA and I will wait another year. My prep? Just a couple of extra practice tests every weekend and some work on my weaknesses (SC and DS). Final score: 700(89%)
with V36(80%) and Q49(81%). Both strong enough to be near the Top10%. Good!
TOEFL
That was one shot and it was OK. 106. Not good enough for Harvard (not on my shortlist anyway) but good enough.
Applications
I applied to 5 schools on R1 and 1 for R2 (because I didn't have too much time to dedicate to R2)
My shortlist: Stanford, Kellogg, Haas, Fuqua, Anderson. Between Wharton and Booth for R1, I chose to apply to Wharton.
PostMBA career goal? PE in Latin America.
Results? Stanford dinged; Kellogg, 1R interview (of course... they interview everyone), dinged; Haas, 1R interview, waitlist; Fuqua; 1R interview, waitlist; Anderson: 1R interview, waitlist. Not good either.
For R2 I did a better job researching the schools (Booth vs. Wharton) and talking with alumni. Networking. Then.. I decided to go for Wharton. It was the best school and I had a very goof fit with those two. Let's try to reach the top... and it worked! They sent me the acceptance letter after the TBD and everything was perfect! After a lot of suffering, I was able to get that letter from one of the H/S/W.
MBA
Best two years of my life. The put me constantly out of my comfort zone. Familiarly and professionally. I met great friends, great people.
PostMBA
I'm going to be working on my Top1 choice (Apple) on my Top1 job position (Operations, Analytics). I'm living in California, planning to stay as long as I can. Although the financial conditions are not optimal (huge student debt... worst feature of Wharton), I know that I can deal with that.