Hello to everyone.
I just got back from the Pearson testing center with a decent score in my hands. I am still quite nervous but I will try to share my experience of the last few months with you as, although I haven't been an active member of this amazing forum, I feel I know you.
Firstly, I am not a typical MBA candidate. I come from Greece and I am turning 31 next month. I have a degree in English Language and Literature from the Uni of Athens and an MSc in Translation Studies from UMIST, UK. I am currently working as a Tech Proposal Writer in an international Lottery Services company and have accumulated some experience in the financial software sector also.
I got the idea of getting an MBA last summer as I noticed a lack of professional managers in the languages sector, a growing market in my opinion. Furthermore, I am not satisfied with my job and I definitely need a career boost or even shift (since my MSc I am very interested in multicultural marketing and advertisement localisation). I decided that if I was to invest in an MBA I would do it properly, so I targeted some of the top European schools that I could afford. To do this I needed a decent GMAT score, so I started practicing.
I set off with Kaplan and the Princeton Math Review, as Quant was obviously my weak spot. As I progressed with my prep, I came across Gmat club and realised I would do nothing without the
OG, both resources proved invaluable. I was getting the grasp of the test and was planning to sit for itsome time before the Holiday season in order to apply for the first applications round. At the beginning of October though I had the opportunity to switch jobs to a better company. The money was good and the switch would look good for my resume.
Like that, I let go of the test for the first time and focused on the new job, that proved to be very demanding, the working hours especially were exhaustive. At the beggining of the new year I decided to compensate by following a Prep course. My instructor was very cool and I had the opportunity to catch up with some basic math. Nevertheless, when I started was doing well, life got in my way. During the last period of the course and at the point my performance was taking off, my father got very sick and had to be hospitalised.
This changed my routine completely as everyday after work I was at the hospital, staying long hours now and then. As the news about my father's health were getting worse, my psychology was weakening, but I was determined to go on. I had arranged to sit for the test at the end of February and I would do it. At that point, one week before the test, Pearson gave another blow: all test dates in Greece got cancelled as the greek government refused to allow fingeprinting. No dates before the 1st of May could be booked; my university of choice (SDA Bocconi) had a deadline for the 28th of April...
I decided not to give up. I booked a date for the 28th of March in Istanbul and resumed studying. At a point during March all dates become available again and I managed to reschedule for Athens, the 17th of April. This gave me the strength to reach last week when I got Friday off to study and Monday to sit for the test. Life had again other plans for me and at Tuesday the most unbelievable scenario unfolded.
My brother called me at 8:00 to tell me that his wife was giving birth. I went to the hospital, saw the newborn at 12:00 and got some strength as finally a happy incident occurred. I went back at the hospital next to my father to give him the news and stay with him so that my mother would go and see the baby. At 15:30 my father passed away...
The weekend is a blur as we had to deal with both facts, the funeral and the birth. I tried to sit through PP2 on Saturday morning but never made it thorugh, I stopped after the Quant. The last act was played today: the GMAT, satisfaction, my niece arrived at home happiness. I miss my father immensely, but life will go on...
I apologise for the rambling but I just had to let you know of all the factor that has helped me get through this, apart from my girlfriend that practically endured even more as she had to cope with me too, has been you guys s, no matter what, during the last six months I would everyday spend a good 1-2 hours here for inspiration and morale boost. There is a video clip of the 90's called "No Rain", the band is Blind Mellon, the old timers here might remember it
In this video there is a little girl dressed as a bee and everybody is making fun of her because of this. Sad, she wanders the street when finally she arrives at a meadow where the members of the band are also dressed like bees and everybody dances together. This, my friends, for me defines happiness. This is what takes place in this forum, people with common goals, recognising a little bit about themselves and the ordeal they are going through in the other members and everybody, no matter who they are, standing by each other.
I have visited other fora regarding the Gmat and MBA studies and I saw people getting obsessed with trivial things such as getting a 750 while aiming for a 770 or the likes. In Gmat club, on the other hand, I found people really heling, really standing next to each other. No matter what happens with your Gmat or the Business School itself, if you carry this attitude throughout your careers, will be succesful. Period.
I still don't know what will happen with my applications as my score is not phenomenal and it is not balanced as the breakdown makes obvious the fact that i ahve played my strengths. Furthermore, my GPAs are not excellent themselves. But I will let you know. And I have one last thing to tell you as I break the record for the longest post here:
Never, ever give up.
G.
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17 Apr 2006, 07:24
As to quants, I am trying my best and as you mentioned in your post, I needed the few months preperation for the basics before starting the practice.
