Welcome to the thread,
mmanikins, noobexpert and akankshacee! So glad to have you here.
mmanikins:
Nice to meet you, too!
I totally get what you mean about self-studying for the GMAT..."grueling" is truly the word. Still, I agree with noobexpert that it is possible to get a 700+ score on your own - I got a 700 that way, although I'm considering retaking the test. Having said that, there must be other prep courses out there that will cater better to your needs than the one you described. Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to recommend any. If anyone reading this has any helpful suggestions for mmanikins (whether self-study strategies, more reasonably paced prep courses, online resources, etc.), please share that info with her here, so she and we all can benefit. Perhaps noobexpert has some ideas?
Your finance-related post-MBA plans sound very interesting. I think they're also very feasible, as I know some grads who have used their MBA for that. I'm leaning more towards consulting myself.
noobexpert:
That's a very impressive profile! Thanks for sharing your experiences.
As for the work experience issue, yes, to be honest, I agree you're being ambitious, but at least knowing what you're up against puts you ahead of the game. You can prepare your rebuttals. Like you, I'm strongly considering hiring an admissions consultant. They're expensive, but the ROI could be huge if I get into my dream schools. I'll let you know what I end up doing.
Yes, more power to women!
akankshacee:
I think a few of us here are targeting Top 10 programs. I like that you're also considering others that are a good fit for you. It's easy to get carried away with rankings.
Nice to see another potential consulting colleague (post MBA)!
Have a great week, ladies!
mmanikins wrote:
Thank you for the warm welcome!
Regarding GMAT prep, I've signed up for a more self-pace prep course on quant. It has been helpful so far but I need to dedicate time to learn the content (It does not help that work has been hectic lately). For verbal, the CR bible has been tremendously helpful and I've been using free
magoosh guides/apps for sentence correction. I plan to leave the RC, AWA and IR last to study.
I've scheduled my exam for late June (so that if I need to retake, I could still do it before Round 1/2 applications). I am fully prepared to sacrifice a lot of social time for studying/practicing (except community service/exercising, it's a stress reliever!). Ideally, I would like to break 700 to override my lower GPA in undergrad (freshman year was not my friend).
HOWEVER, I would love to hear any advice/tips from you all! Especially tips to stay focused!
Career wise, I would like to break into the retail/luxury/CPG industry. I'm also interested in finance/data related functions so if I could have both function and career in tact post-MBA, it would be fantastic!
School choice wise, I'm aiming towards the lower half of the top 25 US schools and would like to try out living somewhere warmer for a couple of years. Then off to where my post MBA goals will take me (I'm from the Northeast and have never been too fond of the cold...)!
Have any of you gals visit campuses yet? I plan to visit Duke and UNC next week with a friend and Georgetown/UMD in the following month. I know classes are not in session but summer/fall is practically the only times during the year I could attempt to do campus visits and have a feel to see if it is a good fit for me.
Have a great week everyone!
You're so welcome,
mmanikins!
It sounds like you have a good action plan in place for the GMAT. Thanks for sharing the resources you found helpful. Yes, a strong GMAT should help with the GPA issue, I'd think. As for freshman year, whose friend was it? LOL.
Retail/luxury/CPG sound exciting post-MBA, too. I'd like schools somewhere warmer, too, but not sure that's in the cards for me, given the ones I'm shooting for.
No campus visits for me yet. If you have time, please tell us how you feel about Duke, UNC & Georgetown/UMD after visiting.
~Esther (aka msMBA1)