NPhelan's Road to 700+

Question

So I'm pretty new to this whole blog, I've used it well though. I've gained a lot of valuable knowledge that I would not have known otherwise. But here's the bottom line. I'm writing my first GMAT in December. I've opted to give myself plenty of time to really get this going and with my undergrad (Bachelor of Business Administration from Memorial University of Newfoundland) wrapping up in a little less then a month. Time is going to fly by until September 14th, the day in which my 3 month execution of the GMAT begins.

My goal, it's simple in terms of typing it, yet not so simple in terms of what it is going to mean. I want to land a 700+ on my GMAT. Quite frankly with only 5 courses left to go in my undergrad my current GPA of 2.78 will not be falling/jumping far from it's current position. So it comes down to redemption, a chance to make the last 4 years right. I started my undergrad with very little desire to do business, until my love for investments surfaced about half way through. I started in the Bachelor of Commerce (Co-op) program and even completing multiple work terms before dropping out of Commerce and into BBA. I can make as many excuses as I want to that I wanted to save a year here and there, but quite frankly it came down to the fact that the effort was never there.

Well here's my chance, this thread is going to be that recap of my whole experience, that I'll be able to look back on 4 months from now and either say, I did things right, or I let it slip right out of my hands. Whether it comes back with any responses or reads, it's irrelevant to me, this is my own journey, my struggle. I'm looking forward to documenting my progress every couple days, and providing at least a relevant piece of literature by the end of this whole thing.

Let the games begin.

zuberahmed · Answer

This is nice, I hope you achieve what you have set out for. There will be many instances in the future whenyou will feel low and demoralized, that time this blog would up your spirits and give you the necessary thrust to break your limits. Wishing you best of luck and welcome to the GMAT cave. :-D

nphelan · Answer

With exams just around the corner in Taxation 6120, Intermediate Macro 3000 and Intermediate Micro 3010 along with Management Strategy 7000, i've been struggling to find a balance in studyin for school and my excitement to start studying for the GMAT. I got roughly 30 pages of my tax text read and analyzed, yet I managed to get through 106 pages of my Kaplan guide

I think it's time that I just sit down, suck it up, and study for these courses as much as I can. On the GMAT study front as I mentioned i'm 106 pages in an just unbelievably motivated at this time, I know that might change here and there so when the future me reads this thread, "Keep Going bud". Basically I've only gotten through the Critical Reasoning section and just started all the practice Sentence Correction questions at the end of the chapter. Very pleased and happy mainly because going into this, when I learned that the GMAT made up two sections Verbal and Quant. I was excited about quant, and dreaded verbal. I've always been a student in school that hated english class. It seemed to me that it didn't matter how much I worked at it, the most i'd ever accomplish was a 70, and it didn't matter how little I worked on it I still got that 70. You might be able to tell by my grammar that this is an issue, but who knows, maybe as I keep going through these next 4 months, my grammar will look much different in this thread. Also on another personal life note, I just handed in a resume for a position at CIBC Wood Gundy. It is a contract 12 month position (perfect right? :lol:

) as a Sales Assistant. The job requires someone with a degree, it was fairly well hidden, and is in the field of finance. The reason this job seems to fit me perfectly is 1. The contract brings me right up until about 2 weeks before matriculation, which is perfect in case I need to pack up and drive halfway across the country to get to school . 2. A Sales Assistant is actually the entry position available at Wood Gundy (for those of you outside of Canada who are not familiar with their work, Wood Gundy is in the top five firms in Canada with regards to investing, financial planning, financial analysts), this would get my foot in the door as a great experience and open up a lot of windows down the line after my MBA whether with Wood Gundy or TD Waterhouse or Scotia Mcleod. 3. They require that whoever fills in the position takes the CSC (Canadian Securities Course). This is a course I've been eyeing anyway for two reasons: it looks good on my application when applying to Grad schools, and it is a required program if I want to work in investments. So all in all on this Sunday morning, there's a lot of promise and excitement with regards to my future, hopefully that can carry over, I can get through my exams coming up in a couple weeks, and then I can move on and get that coveted 700+ on my GMAT. So that's all for now I suppose, thanks for listening to this verbal vomit, I promise as I get further into, primarily past the month of August this thread is going to be much more relevant for gmatclub.com, but in the meantime if it can serve as an indicator to any prospective gmat writers about some of the obstacles you might face, well that's just gravy.

crackHSW · Answer

Good Luck Mate

nphelan · Answer

So as my focus continues to shift from the GMAT to my final exams creeping up in less than two weeks, all I can manage to ask myself is what books/methods/study plans am I going to follow in august. I'm curious to see how that GMAT score is going to come back before I start my studying . I would love something north of 500 to give me hope that I can really make a jump, but only time will tell I guess.

Also if anyone out there is reading this, mind telling me what is the best test to take prior to my study schedule to monitor my progress? I don't want to waste a valuable test that I will need in the 3rd month of my program, but I still want something accurate.

Aj85 · Answer

I will advice that you chose cats of one particular company to track your progress for 3 months. You can take tests from either manhattan or kaplan. Though manhattan has best reputation after gmatprep. You can take one diagnostic sort of a test and then take tests only after you have done some considerable amount of study. Manhattan provides 6 and kaplan provides 5 tests, so you can chose one of 2 to track your progress all through your journey. gmatprep is a very valuable test and use it wisely. Best of luck for your prep.

nphelan · Answer

great advice!! thank you so much, that's what i'll do, certainly makes sense to monitor my progress by using the same standard of tests. It seems like the GMATPrep is being used in most cases in the final month. Thanks again!

nphelan · Answer

So here I am, a week from my first exam of 5 to end my undergrad program. Just a quick update on what's been keeping me this week beside the exam. How about an interview with Deloitte! Had it today and hoping to hear back next week about the position, certainly very thrilled about this opportunity as Deloitte is certainly one of those dream companies. Eventually to work in consulting with Deloitte would be amazing but not going to get ahead of myself here, I'll have to wait and hear back next week. Also with the prospect of this position for the next year (and possibly beyond), an interesting thing popped up. They not only pay for a certain percentage of your schooling for grad school, they often pay for the program and books of a CFA itself. That would be unbelievable for me, and the possibility may be too good to pass up if it presents itself. So the question to anyone out there this week.

How effective would it be to write my L1 CFA in December, keeping in mind I write my GMAT as well. Many of the positions offered by PWC or Deloitte among others require a designation, undergrad and mba. What do you thing gmatclubbers?

How effective would it be to write my L1 CFA in December, keeping in mind I write my GMAT as well. Many of the positions offered by PWC or Deloitte among others require a designation, undergrad and mba. What do you thing gmatclubbers?

nphelan · Answer

Exam in two days, just quickly chiming in for what will probably be the only time for the next week. Currently looking into schools that I could apply to. I've settled two specific schools and then the other 3 or 4 i'm interested in continue to rotate and flip flop. Currently Schulich and Rotman continue to prove to be my top two choices, the only thing worse then not getting into either might be getting into both :s Other schools on the radar are Concordia, Ivey. Also keeping my options open looking into Some international schools. Not sure which ones I would be the best fit for, or which ones would be the best fit for me, but I can't help but "California Dreamin" of a few options. Also been very optimistic about a couple schools in Australia and New Zealand. I've always wanted to live in New Zealand so this could be an opportunity to get an education in the Oceanic region, while getting a chance to live for the moment. I guess we'll see. Also a quick update on the Deloitte situation, just got a call from my references this week saying they have been contacted. That's great news.... right?

That's all I got right now, back to finishing my undergrad!

That's all I got right now, back to finishing my undergrad!

nphelan · Answer

Quick Update: I got the call today. Just landed my Job with Deloitte. certainly makes for an interesting twist in the MBA picture and when to take it! Either way it looks like i'm on the right path to eventually get into Consulting!

AmrithS · Answer

Hey congrats on having nailed that job

You might want to check Whiplash's GMAT journey thread. I think it will benefit you a lot! I love the way she structured her entire prep time. The approach is systematic and effective.

nphelan · Answer

That sounds great! Thanks for the advice

kudos +1

nphelan · Answer

And after officially graduating my undergrad at Memorial University, and September 14th slowly approaching I am back in the GMAT game after a well deserved couple weeks off. I haven't posted in a little bit but I've been busy starting my new job with Deloitte, making sure I have the right materials for the studying process and set to go from there. Official date for writing the GMAT December 15th. So the three month count down will be starting on Wednesday. I plan on getting heavy into it and learning the processes and techniques to help get me above 700 on the GMAT. So here we go!

hakunamatata3 · Answer

Congratulations on your Deloitte offer (definitely a great job to have on the resume as an applicant to MBA programs), and best of luck in your preparation for the GMAT!

	Target Test Prep - Save up to $599 $400 Discount + $99 Bonus GMAT Club Tests
	e-GMAT: 60% Off on GMAT Focus Get to 735+ from any starting point
	Magoosh increases your score, guaranteed - 15% off ALL Magoosh GMAT plans with code GMATCLUB15 + Free GMAT Club Tests.
	Manhattan Prep: $99 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	Experts' Global - ~~$1720~~ $960 End-to-End GMAT Prep + App Support: 150+ Videos, 2000+ Questions, 15 FLTs +
	GMATWhiz - Save up to 44%! Plus get a $99 bonus from GMAT Club when you buy a course. Sale ends Sept 7.
	GMAT Club Tests - Free Included with every course purchase of $149+ View all deals

NPhelan's Road to 700+

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards