I'm currently 24 years old and have 21 months experience (18 full-time, 3 internship) in public accounting. I haven't started preparing for the GMAT yet, and applications for fall 2012 are coming due in the next 2-3 months. Needless to say, I could POSSIBLY study hardcore after work for 4-6 weeks, take the GMAT, throw together my essays, make my final school selections and go ahead and apply for fall 2012. However, i'm SURE that my GMAT would be lower than my potential and I'm also sure that my work experience will be far more impressive over the next year than it has been thus far. The only reason I would try to get in Fall 2012 is 1) i'm impatient and 2) my wife doesn't want me to wait the extra 12 months to apply for fall 2013.
Could I get some support for one decision or the other? I feel like in reality, it's best that I wait another year, prepare extensively for the GMAT, get another year of good experience, and apply at the age of 25 with 30 months of experience to my selected schools. I'm shooting for Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, and possibly UNC if my GMAT is superb. Is 18 months full-time experience just simply too little for these schools, assuming I don't have an astoundingly high GMAT score? I guess it's just hard to believe that so many schools require applications so early! I'll be applying in 12 months, but won't be starting school for 24 months. That's SO much lag time!
Could I get some support for one decision or the other? I feel like in reality, it's best that I wait another year, prepare extensively for the GMAT, get another year of good experience, and apply at the age of 25 with 30 months of experience to my selected schools. I'm shooting for Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, and possibly UNC if my GMAT is superb. Is 18 months full-time experience just simply too little for these schools, assuming I don't have an astoundingly high GMAT score? I guess it's just hard to believe that so many schools require applications so early! I'll be applying in 12 months, but won't be starting school for 24 months. That's SO much lag time!
