lb2015 wrote:
Personally, I'm a little skeptical of GMAT courses and here's why: no matter what, you need to put in the legwork to make sure you know the material. And the material isn't rocket science. It's a tough, tough test to be sure, but there isn't some kind of secret strategy that the GMAT course will give you. It's really just a matter of practice, practice, practice. I thought about doing a course, too, but realized I would probably just have to devote even more time to studying because I'd still need to sit down and practice out of class.
Hope that makes sense. There's probably a million people (plus a whole test prep industry) who would disagree with me, but I think it's a waste of money.
Now, one pro I do see to a course is if it helps you to create the time in your schedule to study. In that case, it
might be worth it. So obviously you need to decide what's right for you.
But with regards to your profile, I agree with everything stated above. At least at Yale and Tuck, lots of people I met worked for smaller, more regional firms and many--probably most (myself included)--did not go to an Ivy for undergrad. You're definitely being too hard on yourself. With the right application execution, I imagine you could get into one of those schools.
So GMAT course or not, start hitting the GMAT books. And I actually have PDF copies of all the
MGMAT books, so feel free to PM if those would be helpful. Good luck!
Thanks for your advice; I wasn't trying to be overly negative or anything, but I made this post after reading that "Handicapping
MBA Admit" series on Poets & Quants and after a rough bit at work so I was definitely not evaluating myself positively or even objectively. From your comments and others in this thread it sounds like my chances are better than I probably realize.
Funny, I am actually coming around to your exact suggestion. As part of my evaluation of this option, I reached out to a friend who worked at
MGMAT to tell her I wanted to speak to her and her advice (without knowing the details of my situation other than that I am a pretty good self-studier) was exactly identical to yours; basically, that the live courses are great for people that need the extra motivation/time management/discipline, but don't provide any real advantage over self study. She recommended the same thing as you, just work through the self-study program. I'm going to follow-up in more detail of course, but I'm not strongly leaning towards this option.
Also, I didn't mention this, but I already have the 2012
MGMAT full series; I will need to add IR and maybe some other supplemental books, but apparently the curriculum doesn't change much YOY. I did fall off their 12 month online CAT thing so I will either need to re-purchase the books or try to negotiate some kind of reduced fee for just the online access (apparently they are open to stuff like this).
Again, thank you very much for your advice.