Monocle wrote:
Good morning all!
I’m currently planning on enrolment in an MBA as soon as possible – ideally in 2015 at a European school (preference for a 1yr MBA). This is largely due to my age (27) and stage in life (no firm commitments here – gf, mortgage (yet!) etc) which make the next two years an ideal fit.
I haven’t sat the GMAT yet. I do however have the Manhattan guides and
OG and am looking to start studying now for 2-3 months, for testing I’m estimating in June.
-and as always aiming for 700+ and factoring in the likelihood of having to re-sit and study further.
I also need to make further efforts with extra-curricular activities and broaden my volunteer experience to bulk up my application. (We'll leave that to the side for now)
So - given the timing of round deadlines, would you suggest putting my head down hard and pushing my application for the early admissions (October), or waiting untill further down the line?
Am I being unrealistic?? I feel with an MBA such a huge consideration id ideally prefer to put a few years of work into my application however would like to be at B-school, well yesterday!
My current workload is quite stressful – working 8am-7pm, triathlon training 11hrs/week (to be reduced) + GMAT prep and the usual other engagements in life.
The help of all of your wise minds is really appreciated!!
Thank you.
Interesting question, Monocle!
3 months is a good time frame to prepare for the GMAT - assuming you just started, you should be ready to take the test by the end of June. Let's say you screw up the first attempt (for argument's sake!) - you have time to retake it in July. This time, you hit the jackpot. You have that 700+ score.
Now you have 3 months - from August to October - to work on your application. Since you seem to have been thinking about an MBA for a while, you may have some of the answers already. (Why MBA, Why the particular B-school, and so on) This might make things simpler. Even assuming that you're forced to retake the test for the third time - let's say in August - and miss the Round 1 deadlines, go for Round 2 a month or two later.
Yes, you can (and should) plan ahead, but working on your application for a few "years" seems to be a bit of an overkill! So, if the question is "Do I have enough time to put in a good application this year?" - I would say yes.
It's interesting that you have given us a clear picture of where you are in life currently - but not where you are w.r.t. work.
You need to think about why you want an MBA, before you decide when to do it. If you are at a good place in your career and you can afford to wait for another year, do that. But if you have already figured out where you want to be professionally - let's say 2 years from now - and that you need an MBA to get there, then should you wait another year?
Hope that helps!
Gowri N Kishore
Admissions Coach
CrackVerbal