Planning for Business School - Seeking advice.

That is very long term...my advice focus on excelling at work. Moving up the ladder quickly will do far more than all the preps you will do. Also get involved in extra curricular activities.

Agree with River, but if you are set on studying and getting the GMAT out of the way, I would recommend a target of 3 months, not a year. Focus and study hard for 3 months, and then take it and evaluate your performance. I would set the test date after about a month into your prep, so you have a concrete goal to work towards.

Just curious, why are you waiting till 2011?

~Sam

I think getting the gmat out of the way early is a great idea. It will help you see what school choices are realistic. I have to say the "average ranking" of schools I plaaned to apply to moved up by about 20 places after I took my gmat.
Of course fit with the school is important, but there are usually a couple that would work well for differnt types of people. KNowing if you should aim at the top-10, top 25 , or top 50 should be very helpful.
I almost took my gmat too late and as such would have aimed too low!

Another advantage to writing the GMAT early is the opportunity to retake it if you want to be competitive for scholarships. If your first score is 700 (average for applying to top schools) but you're confident you can bump it up to 750 by studying more for a second attempt, it is much easier to manage before you get into the heat of working on your essays and recommendation letters.

I think schools offer funding awards to the top 25% of their class (my perception from what I've read... anyone who has better information should enlighten me if I'm wrong!) and having a higher GMAT score will boost your chances by a lot.

I am graduating this week, and start a full-time job next month, so I am not sure how quickly I can move up the ladder. I do plan on putting in my best effort and hitting that learning curve hard to get a good kick off start. Someone told me that the initial impact can set your career growth pace. Not sure if I fully comprehended what he had meant, but that is how I translated it. Can you expand on some points that would help someone to 'move up the ladder' in an industry?



I am a fresh graduate. My work experience is roughly 3 months as a engineer, and years of experience in the restaurant business, since it is family owned. I planned on working for 2 to 3 years, before applying to business school; however, 2 years seemed a little rushed so I extended it to 3 years. This might change depending on whether I feel I have accomplished enough in 2 years to make a good enough application to have a shot at the schools I want to attend.
Although, I would like to start business school as early as possible, I really want to go to a specific school, which is why I thought the 3 year planning was necessary. Do you think that I should apply earlier or any advice on the timeline?



I was thinking the same thing, which is why I planned to take it early. I am shooting for a 760+ score , but all in all I wanted to take the GMAT early to get a gauge on realistic target schools. How did you find your 'fit' with a school? I am thinking of visiting the five schools that I would like to apply and wouldn't mind to attend. I thought that i would engage with students and professors during the visits to find my 'fit' or 'unfit' with the school. This sounds pricey.



I became unsure about how much a higher GMAT would boost applicants chances looking at the no admit thread. Also, I am unsure how multiple GMAT scores are looked upon by adcoms. If someone could expand on these two points that would be great.

Thank you for everyones post.