MrsB wrote:
Hello Moms!
It's definitely very refreshing to see these posts. I recently became a stay-at-home Mum. I quit my job and decided to stay at home and raise my daughter after facing terrible issues with care for my 2 year old. A little bit about me, I come from a country in Africa. Before quitting my job I worked as a Product Manager in a Global top 2 Consumer Electronics Company. I joined the company right after my MSc and worked there for 6 years. I also started a fashion business 9 months ago, which I concurrently managed with full time work. ECs: I was quite an accomplished pianist and won a National talent hunt piano competition, was the accompanist of my university classical music choir, and I teach summer piano classes to neighbourhood kids. Also won gold medal for Chess in the national Inter-varsity Games.
I am currently struggling with the GMAT especially the Quant section. Math has always been an enemy. I will be applying in the third round to my dream school, INSEAD, which is not ideal as I was going to take the GMAT this week and try to submit in the 2nd round (since my essays are almost ready), but I haven't scored beyond 590 in any GMAT practice test, even after getting a tutor and spending more time studying (after I quit my job in March). My target score is 700, which I hope gives me the best chance of getting in and only European 1 year MBA Schools (INSEAD, HEC, IESE).
I am worried, what if I can't/don't score more than 650 at best. or even 600. Will I be able to get into a top ten European MBA program? Anyone with any similar experiences? tips, advice? Please share, I would be so grateful.
Hello and welcome!
It sounds like you have a very interesting story and are quite accomplished. I would definitely recommend that you reach out to the admissions department at your target schools and introduce yourself. Most schools seem to be looking for diversity in their candidates and I found that my target school sees being a mom as an asset because it shows resilience.
I'm from an arts background too so I get the quant struggle. (I'm an oil painter, turned graphic designer, turned marketer). I studied all of the
Manhattan prep books for the foundations and then did
OG problems.
I took my first GMAT at the beginning of March and got a 600. I realized that I needed to learn test taking strategies and did a kind of "math immersion". I used Empower GMAT (but you might prefer a different program) and also did all of the questions that popped up from Bunuel on this app. 3 weeks later I took the GMAT again and managed to bring my score up to my school's average. I have an interview tomorrow so I'm glad I put in the extra effort.
I'm sure that you've heard this before, but the GMAT is just one part of your application. You have some accomplishments that could really set you apart and intrigue the admissions committee if you market yourself well.
Give the GMAT a go and get the first one out of the way (I hear people usually do better on subsequent attempts), and really focus on making the rest of your application spectacular. Also, I know said it before, but I was amazed at the level of help and support I got from the admissions committee when I reached out. I feel like I've had people on my side through this whole process and it has given me a huge confidence boost.
Good luck!
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