Hi all!
First off, let me say your community here is outstanding and truly a godsend to people such as myself. My name is Tim, I'm 27, and my goal is to attain my MBA in order to make the most out of my life and be able to provide for myself, my fiance, and our future family in the best way possible.
Background aside, I'm posting this evening because I have just begun my GMAT studies as of about two weeks ago. Quant is by far my weakest area, whereas I have a natural proficiency with Verbal; therefore I spent the first two weeks studying
MGMAT Foundations of GMAT Math to refresh my math skills.
Yesterday I decided it was time to take my first GMATPrep practice test to gauge my current ability level and identify any deficiencies. I was apprehensive, as I was afraid what I would learn may cause me to become discouraged. Quant gave me some fits, as expected, but I flew through Verbal, mostly in an attempt to accurately gauge my true "raw" ability in that area. In the end I scored a 650; 40 in Quant and 40 in Verbal, 55th and 89th percentiles respectively. I finished Quant with 6 minutes to spare while finishing Verbal with 22 minutes to spare. Encouraged by my performance, I began tweaking my expectations regarding potential scores when I sit for the exam this summer and probable schools to which I may gain admission.
So here's my questions for all you experienced, knowledgeable people
1) Originally I was shooting for, at best, a 700 when I sit this summer. Now I'm thinking, with proper studying, 700+ may not necessarily be out of the question. I'm confident of two things; one being that I could probably reproduce my Verbal score 9 times out of 10 without additional studying, and two being that I am WEEEAAAKKK at math and feel with targeted studying over the next 5 months I have a strong chance of 45-48 in Quant. Do you think this is feasible? If had to "objectively" assess my performance, I really would say it's representative of my abilities. I reviewed every single question, and the ones I got right I legitimately understood and knew how to solve, and those I missed I legitimately had little to NO idea how to approach.
2) Potential schools to shoot for. My main issue here is work experience, and possibly undergrad school choice. I graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Business Management and a 3.7 GPA. Dean's List 7 out of 8 semesters, my grades were mainly A's and a few B's all the way through. So undergrad isn't spectacular, but not necessarily weak. What I am worried about is work experience...in a nutshell, I spent a year managing a local McDonald's (not store manager, more of a shift manager), then sold cars for 3 years, and have just in the past year found myself in my first real professional job, as a Compliance Manager for a local bank. My job choices were a function of both limited openings (I live in a small area in central PA and stuck around after undergrad so my fiance could finish up at Penn State) and some ambivalence on my part, I won't lie. I became somewhat downtrodden after only being able to secure work at a McDonald's (of all places) after graduation, and that "woe is me attitude" festered for a few years until I kicked my own ass into gear. I take full responsibility for my career choices up to this point, which is an integral reason for my choosing to pursue an MBA. I've always been a go-getter and ambitious, and feel I lost sight of myself over these past few years. Well I'm done with that, and want to take control of my life and make the most out of it I can!
Ok so that was long-winded but I feel I needed to fill you in a bit so you could give a more targeted answer when I ask: what schools do you realistically think I could shoot for if I manage to hit 700+? I'm involved with Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Toastmasters, a local young professionals group, and SCORE, which offers free consultation sessions to local small businesses. Also, I can write a mean essay if I do say so myself haha. So I feel that the only things that may negatively impact my app would be my undergrad alma mater and relatively weak work experience. I don't have dreams of HBS or Wharton (well of course I do, but I'm also realistic haha) but would love to be admitted to a top 20 school like Fuqua.
Again, thanks to everyone here for the amazing resource you have created and the wonderful community surrounding it! Even though I've primarily been a lurker since joining, I get the feeling that everyone here truly cares about each other; it seems there's this underlying desire for everyone to see everyone else succeed and I really vibe on that. I'm excited to become part of the community and hopefully have my own success story to share!!
Tim
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11 Feb 2013, 19:26
