Should I quit work for gmat prep?

NO, do not quit your job for the GMAT. Do you have vacation time stored up, or are you allowed to take unpaid leave but still have your job waiting for you?

It's not the amount of time you spend, it's how you spend it. If you're still not getting anywhere after 6-7 months of trying to prep 3 hours a day, then you need to do something different. Take a prep course or hire a tutor just for verbal. I would recommend PR because they're very strong for verbal.

btw if you study 10 hours a day you'll burn out completely and not be able to even absorb what you're trying to learn. The brain needs a break.

hmm.. yes work has been hectic.. i have been travelling quite a bit.. so the time i get to study is on the planes.. and the hotel rooms.. not a great place.. i spend last christmas doing just gmat.. and my practice score did improve from 530 (the pr diagnostic test) to 660 when i took the pr test 1.. its just the sc... maybe i need to practice more.. now i am thinking of applying all the manhattan sc skills into the 1000 sc problem set.. for that i thought maybe i need a month?

I am going to look into PR tutor here in town..

"Some are destined to succeed, some are determined to succeed!"

So never Quit!

Willget, according to most of the full-time employed 700+ scorers that I have spoken with, the best time to study is one hour and fifteen minutes first thing in the morning before going to work. Of course, this takes a tremendous amount of self discipline and sacrafice, not to mention a shift in sleeping habits, but apparently the mind can be conditioned to best memorize GMAT patterns when it is "fresh." I am also in the process of making this transition because nothing seems to stick at midnight after a hard days work... It really is just matter of how determined you are to get that high score. Waking up at 6am for a few months might really change the way you look at the test, b-school, your career, life, etc..

At all costs, I would NOT reccommend quitting your job. More importantly than a high score, adcoms want to see a consistent career progression path that demonstrates leadership potential. Explaining that you had to quit a former job to take the GMAT might put you at a serious disadvantage, and not just financially speaking.

gmatt73,

thanks a lot for your idea.. i need to better plan my gmat workout.. currently it has been random.. some days i come home and work for 6 hours.. really draining me at work too.. i find myself not efficient at work or at home doing gmat.. really bothering me now.. i will try out this mroning study plan..

I quit my job in Feb to do exactly this.

That having been said, I didn't have much of a choice. I was getting up at 5.30, getting to work at 7.30 and not getting home until 9 or 10pm. 5 days a week. There was simply no way to study. I had started studying before I had taken this job, but the 70+ hour weeks quickly made it impossible, and I was far too tired on weekends to do anything of consequence.

It went on like this for six months. Round that time, two of my close friends finished their GMAT and got into Kellogg. Then a third person I know also got in. I had been studying with her 8 months before, and I realized that in the last several months I had gotten no where nearer to my goal of getting an MBA. In the mean time both of my friends, married, got in. This other girl did her GMAT, applied, got in.

I realized that I was months, if not a good year away from going and told myself I'd give it till Feb. If by Feb, I couldnt find the time to study, I'd try to figure something out.

By Feb my day had improved, but only to about 7 or 8 pm. By the time I got home and ate, I was exhausted. So, I decided that maybe, if I just signed up for a class, I'd get one night a week off to go to the class. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than doing nothing.

So I asked my manager if I could attend a course, one night a week, at 7pm. She said "probably not".

I quit the next day.

The last month and a half has been tough - its hard to study every day, and with all the studying I've been doing, I should be doing better. I scored a 640 on the real exam, and just took the second powerprep test today and got a 720. If I can replicate that in the real world, I'll be on cloud nine. I'm happy with the 640 - people tend to focus on the average as being the must get score but the reality of it is - its an acceptable score for any university. That being said, if I can pull a 700 on the real deal, I'll jump for joy.

I have no doubt in my mind that I could not have scored a 640 on the real exam without having left my job - and theres no way I could be looking at a 700 (like I am now). I think I did the right thing, and I found a job last week which starts either next week or the following week. My second try at the GMAT is April 19th, so the timing is pretty solid.

That being said, I also had a fair amount of money saved up, and two or three months off work was manageable. I think the questions you need to ask yourself are:

1) Do you like your job? Are you going to miss it, or are you looking to leave anyway?
2) Do you have six months salary in the bank, or can you cut out enough stuff to make it work for up to six months?
3) Do you have the discpline to study after a long days work or do you find yourself simply too tired?
4) Can you tell a consistent story if you quit?

I'd say, overall, 2 and 4 are critical. I was able to do it because I knew that I could easily explain the move because I'm going back to the industry I was in - something along the lines of "I realized that the banking industry was where I enjoyed myself the most and decided to go back" is sufficient.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but this is such a bad idea. In so many ways. Career progression is more important in the long term than your GMAT score. You can overcome a poorer GMAT score with great experience more easily than overcoming bad recommendations and inconsistencies in experience.

I'd generally agree, but it depends if there is a logical story to tell.

As long as your recommendations are SOLID, you have a good story, there's nothing wrong with changing jobs.