Just graduated... want to take the GMAT. Advice?

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Hi All,

I've just graduated with a B.S. in Industrial and Systems engineering (finished in 2 years) and want to do my MBA. I had a mediocre GPA of 3.3/4.0 and want to do my MBA from a good business school. Per my research, I found that many universities require at least 3 years of work experience. Hence, I'm thinking that I should work for 2-3 years and then begin applying to MBA schools. Is this the right approach? Is this GPA too low for the top MBA schools?

I have begun to study for the GMAT's now (is this too early?) and while I haven't taken a diagnostic exam, I have been doing problems from the official GMAT review (12th edition). In regards to their practice problems, I am scoring around 79% overall on the Math section and around 68% on the Reading Comprehension section (I am yet to do the practice problems for the Sentence correction and Critical Reasoning sections).

I am thinking that I should continue doing these practice problems until I have a good foundation of the material. Once I am done with these practice problems, I plan to begin doing full exams (free ones found from Princeton Review, Manhattan GMAT, official GMAT, etc). Basically, I do not want to do any full exams right now because I fear I may not have enough to practice with in the end.

Am I on the right path? Can you provide any advice on what I should do other than this?
I am currently 21 years old and plan to obtain 2-3 years of work experience, which means I will begin my applications around the age of 25 (If possible, I want to trying finish the MBA by age 27). Is this the right time for me to study for and take the GMAT or should I wait a year or so? Any advice?
Also, I own a Mac and do not wish to install Windows on it. Will the prep software used by many companies work on a Mac?

Thanks for the help!
Source: — GMAT Strategy |

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by isabellaggomez » Thu Jan 12, 2012 3:05 pm
Hi!

Is never too early to start preparing for an exam. If you have the time and the resources to start preparing and take the GMAT, do it now, while most concepts and your test taking practice are still trained. Two years without studying or taking a test, may make it harder. The GMAT scores are good for five years, this falls in your plans.

Regarding to your GPA, most top business schools weigh the GMAT, the GPA, and work experience. If you get a great GMAT score and obtain work experience a 3.3 GPA should be okay. Consider consulting recognized test tutors, they will give you professional advice

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by FutureWorks » Fri Jan 13, 2012 3:11 am
Hi Pembs,

If you wish to apply to top business schools then one of the prerequisites is having significant
work experience. Generally candidates have around 4-5 years of full time experience in spite of
several term time projects or jobs; so you may be competing with other candidates who have 4-5
years of full time experience and have started significant initiatives at college.

Hence, we would advise you to gain some full time work experience before you decide to apply for
an MBA. If you don't wish to do so them, you could look at the HBS 2+2 program or the Yale Silver
Scholars program. You are in the right track so don't worry. You can use this time well to prepare
for gmat an build your profile.

Although it is not just the work experience that counts but also what you did there like-what were
your achievements, what initiative you took, what changes you drove in your workplace etc. So if
you can show that in 2-3 years you have demonstrated the skills business schools are looking for
you can put in a strong set of essays.Make sure you follow the 'show rather than tell' principle so
that the admissions committee could really understand your strengths and differentiating factors.