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Help! From a complete GMAT/MBA Newbie

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xchakax
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Help! From a complete GMAT/MBA Newbie [#permalink] New post   18 Dec 2012, 13:42
Hi All,

I'd like to say, thank you for every single one of your efforts. I was first introduced to this forum through a Google query. I signed up after reading post after post about MBA, GMAT, and Business Schools.

I have a huge favor to ask of the knowledgeable people of this forum. I'm not lazy, nor have I not spent enough time researching. I am doing this simply because I feel as though this will help me the most at the current moment.

I am going to post information about myself and the reason why I am going to pursue and MBA.

About Me:

I was recently laid off about 2 months ago as Sales & Marketing Manager for a healthcare services company and decided to pursue and MBA due to the fact that my goal is to be an executive of marketing in a big company.
I'm 27 years old with 11 years of work experience. 3 of those years are in Marketing and Business Development within two different industries: Healthcare and Telecommunications. The rest are a mix of 1 year of project management at a software development firm (which no longer exists), editing at an internet marketing company after college (3 years), and 4 years as a legal assistant throughout high school and college.
Undergrad major and GPA: English, 3.3 from California State University, Northridge
Extra activities: Working with a partner on our own very small start-up and internship at an Independent Film Production Company for PR.
References will be from CEO of my previous company, the former COO of another company I used to work for, and finally, a close family friend lawyer whom I worked for during my early years.
I'm going to study for 4-5 months and take the GMAT. I will probably take it up to 3 times in order to get a score of 700-800 which I believe I can with enough practice.
I had some scholarships coming out of high school for scoring high on the Math portion of some national and state exams.
I'm currently applying to jobs so that I can work and study. If I can live off unemployment, then I may just study full-time.

I'd like some advice on:

- Which business schools I should consider as "safe", "a challenge", and "a long shot". I am aware of the top 30 schools but I'd like to what people on this forum will think based on my information.

- Based on my current schedule, what year should I be applying for? Fall or Spring (If available) of 2013?

- How long does the application process generally take after I receive a GMAT score I am happy with? (Working/Not working)

- How much has the GMAT changed after this year's announcement? Will studying the Manhattan Prep Books 5th edition on my own be enough if I cannot afford to take any classes?

Thank you all for your time and effort. I greatly appreciate everyone's answers and time!

Best,

Sean
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jontron
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Re: Help! From a complete GMAT/MBA Newbie [#permalink] New post   18 Dec 2012, 15:01
xchakax wrote:
Hi All,

I'd like to say, thank you for every single one of your efforts. I was first introduced to this forum through a Google query. I signed up after reading post after post about MBA, GMAT, and Business Schools.

I have a huge favor to ask of the knowledgeable people of this forum. I'm not lazy, nor have I not spent enough time researching. I am doing this simply because I feel as though this will help me the most at the current moment.

I am going to post information about myself and the reason why I am going to pursue and MBA.

About Me:

I was recently laid off about 2 months ago as Sales & Marketing Manager for a healthcare services company and decided to pursue and MBA due to the fact that my goal is to be an executive of marketing in a big company.
I'm 27 years old with 11 years of work experience. 3 of those years are in Marketing and Business Development within two different industries: Healthcare and Telecommunications. The rest are a mix of 1 year of project management at a software development firm (which no longer exists), editing at an internet marketing company after college (3 years), and 4 years as a legal assistant throughout high school and college.
Undergrad major and GPA: English, 3.3 from California State University, Northridge
Extra activities: Working with a partner on our own very small start-up and internship at an Independent Film Production Company for PR.
References will be from CEO of my previous company, the former COO of another company I used to work for, and finally, a close family friend lawyer whom I worked for during my early years.
I'm going to study for 4-5 months and take the GMAT. I will probably take it up to 3 times in order to get a score of 700-800 which I believe I can with enough practice.
I had some scholarships coming out of high school for scoring high on the Math portion of some national and state exams.
I'm currently applying to jobs so that I can work and study. If I can live off unemployment, then I may just study full-time.

I'd like some advice on:

- Which business schools I should consider as "safe", "a challenge", and "a long shot". I am aware of the top 30 schools but I'd like to what people on this forum will think based on my information.

- Based on my current schedule, what year should I be applying for? Fall or Spring (If available) of 2013?

- How long does the application process generally take after I receive a GMAT score I am happy with? (Working/Not working)

- How much has the GMAT changed after this year's announcement? Will studying the Manhattan Prep Books 5th edition on my own be enough if I cannot afford to take any classes?

Thank you all for your time and effort. I greatly appreciate everyone's answers and time!

Best,

Sean


Lots of information here. Considering the nature of questions you are asking, I don't think you are ready to matriculate in the Fall of 2013 and almost certainly not for Spring 2013. You need to take your GMAT first before you can even start to narrow down your list of top 30 schools. Most people probably dedicate 4-5 months to this. The time you spent for applications will be more than you imagine. The first one takes the longest and naturally, will be your weakest one. Applications done after this learning curve will take less time as you familiarize yourself with the process.

Also, work from high school and college is usually not counted towards your total work experience. You can mention the college ones in your apps but I would omit anything earlier.

Best of luck on this new journey!
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kingfalcon
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Re: Help! From a complete GMAT/MBA Newbie [#permalink] New post   18 Dec 2012, 16:38
Agreed. Also, if you did end up applying next year, you wouldn't start business school until Fall 2014. In other words, definitely focus on getting a job right now! If you're able to do very well on the GMAT and can back it up with leadership stories, I think you could definitely find a spot in the top 15.
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Re: Help! From a complete GMAT/MBA Newbie [#permalink] New post   18 Dec 2012, 19:23
1
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Couple of comments:

1) Schools tend to only count the amont of full-time experience you have, so I'm not sure if when you say you worked 11 years if you are including part-time work while in undergrad. If you worked full-time in undergrad, that would definitely be impressive.

2) Shoot for above a 700 the first time, so you don't have to take it so many times! Basically, if you're planning on throwing that kind of money down (it's $250/test) I would say that money is better spent on materials and tutoring to get the score you want!

3) Apply with a job. That means don't apply this spring, look for work now, and get ready to apply in a year.

4) I agree that you have a competitive profile, but focus on a new job and the GMAT first!
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xchakax
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Re: Help! From a complete GMAT/MBA Newbie [#permalink] New post   18 Dec 2012, 20:50
Thank you guys for the replies!

So a friend of mine gave me an old Kaplan GMAT Prep CD with some CATs on it. I took one today and scored 510...I'm pretty sure this is a horrible score to start with, since I've read most only increase their score by a 150 or so. In my defense, I haven't touched a math book in 7 years since Calc 2 in College, so all the math questions seemed easy but I couldn't remember any rules. As for the Verbal section, I thought I did well...needless to say I did horrible.

So here is my plan:

I will utilize the MGMAT 5th edition books and do every single one to brush up on all the rules and principles of quant and verbal. I will then take another CAT. Based on my score then, I will attack my weaknesses by doing the work in the OG 12 and 13th books.

As for getting a job...I will be applying every day to different marketing jobs until I land one. I will only focus on working and studying for the GMAT. The GF will need to understand...hopefully lol

I'm just a little freaked that I got a 510 on the Kaplan test. Is it even possible for me to break 700+?

machichi wrote:
Couple of comments:

1) Schools tend to only count the amont of full-time experience you have, so I'm not sure if when you say you worked 11 years if you are including part-time work while in undergrad. If you worked full-time in undergrad, that would definitely be impressive.

2) Shoot for above a 700 the first time, so you don't have to take it so many times! Basically, if you're planning on throwing that kind of money down (it's $250/test) I would say that money is better spent on materials and tutoring to get the score you want!

3) Apply with a job. That means don't apply this spring, look for work now, and get ready to apply in a year.

4) I agree that you have a competitive profile, but focus on a new job and the GMAT first!


Machichi! Congrats on getting admitted to both Kellogg and Yale! That's awesome :-D What did you score on your first diag GMAT test? how many hours did you study total?
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kingfalcon
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Re: Help! From a complete GMAT/MBA Newbie [#permalink] New post   18 Dec 2012, 20:55
xchakax wrote:
Thank you guys for the replies!

So a friend of mine gave me an old Kaplan GMAT Prep CD with some CATs on it. I took one today and scored 510...I'm pretty sure this is a horrible score to start with, since I've read most only increase their score by a 150 or so. In my defense, I haven't touched a math book in 7 years since Calc 2 in College, so all the math questions seemed easy but I couldn't remember any rules. As for the Verbal section, I thought I did well...needless to say I did horrible.

So here is my plan:

I will utilize the MGMAT 5th edition books and do every single one to brush up on all the rules and principles of quant and verbal. I will then take another CAT. Based on my score then, I will attack my weaknesses by doing the work in the OG 12 and 13th books.

As for getting a job...I will be applying every day to different marketing jobs until I land one. I will only focus on working and studying for the GMAT. The GF will need to understand...hopefully lol

I'm just a little freaked that I got a 510 on the Kaplan test. Is it even possible for me to break 700+?

machichi wrote:
Couple of comments:

1) Schools tend to only count the amont of full-time experience you have, so I'm not sure if when you say you worked 11 years if you are including part-time work while in undergrad. If you worked full-time in undergrad, that would definitely be impressive.

2) Shoot for above a 700 the first time, so you don't have to take it so many times! Basically, if you're planning on throwing that kind of money down (it's $250/test) I would say that money is better spent on materials and tutoring to get the score you want!

3) Apply with a job. That means don't apply this spring, look for work now, and get ready to apply in a year.

4) I agree that you have a competitive profile, but focus on a new job and the GMAT first!


Machichi! Congrats on getting admitted to both Kellogg and Yale! That's awesome :-D What did you score on your first diag GMAT test? how many hours did you study total?

I wouldn't worry about how well you did on your first diagnostic test. The GMAT is very learnable - where there is a will, there is a way. Just practice your butt off and tell yourself you won't accept any less than X (I'd suggest 720 if you're targeting top 15 programs).
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machichi
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Joined: 02 May 2012
Status:Yale! (whipped and bound)
Posts: 403
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Location: United States (CA)
Concentration: Nonprofit
Schools: Yale '15 (M) Haas '15 (WL) Stanford '15 (D) Kellogg '15 (A)
GMAT 1: 730 Q48 V42
GPA: 3.41
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Re: Help! From a complete GMAT/MBA Newbie [#permalink] New post   18 Dec 2012, 22:24
The Kaplan diagnostic for me was atrocious, so considering I got a 730 on my first try, I'm guessing it's not that useful. The only reliable predictor of GMAT performance is the actual GMAT prep software. It's been awhile since you've taken a test like this I imagine, so just focus on doing well not on whether it's possible. You can do it!
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Re: Help! From a complete GMAT/MBA Newbie [#permalink] New post   18 Dec 2012, 23:25
Also look into doing some marketing on a volunteer basis for a cause you are passionate about..ideally something that fits somewhat with the industry you want to exit into. It's going to be a great way for you to signal genuine interest in that career goal to future adcoms. You shift the conversation from "I want to pursue a career in XYZ" to "I want to pursue a career in XYZ due to involving myself in A, increasing B by C%." Experiences like this will be crucial in 12 months when you start working on your bschool resume and essays.
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Re: Help! From a complete GMAT/MBA Newbie [#permalink]
18 Dec 2012, 23:25

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