The Application Process

I'm at the very beginning of my MBA admissions process. I'm hoping to apply for Fall 2012, but I'm not sure whether I realistically have enough time or not.

I bought the latest Kaplan book just to get me started on GMAT prep and have also begun researching potential MBA programs that would be a good fit for me. I'm planning on starting GMAT prep now, studying for 3 months, and then taking my first GMAT test in early October and again in November if I'm unhappy with my score. Somewhere in there I would also need to visit schools, and then I would apply to my top picks by the end of December, which would put me in Round 2 or 3 of most schools.

I do have a lot of time to study each day, since I'm unfortunately (or I guess fortunately depending on how you look at it) unemployed at the moment, so that won't be an issue. Some of the top schools on my list are UCLA, UTexas, and Berkeley right now, so I would need a competitive GMAT score.

Will I have enough time to complete the whole process for Fall 2012, or should I shoot for Fall 2013? I know it's kind of a generalized question, and everyone's different, but any help would be appreciated.

I won't sugarcoat it and it will be a lot of work! But I do know people who have done it successfully. If you can bang out the GMAT in 1 shot and visit your target schools you should be fine. But don't skimp on any part of the application. You say that you're unemployed. Would you have letters of recommendations?

We are in July, and if you put consistent time behind this, it is not at all crazy to think you could apply this year. For some folks the GMAT clicks the first time after some intense studying, and there's no reason why you can't work in parallel--don't just study for the GMAT alone, but begin to research/visit schools and get your essays going once your practice gmats have you in a range for your school choices.

I have seen a number of clients each year start the process now. Of course, knowing more about your profile would help fully address the question of whether or not now is truly your time.

Feel free to email me your resume at [email protected] if you would like to discuss this further.

Good Luck!

money9111 wrote:I won't sugarcoat it and it will be a lot of work! But I do know people who have done it successfully. If you can bang out the GMAT in 1 shot and visit your target schools you should be fine. But don't skimp on any part of the application. You say that you're unemployed. Would you have letters of recommendations?

Getting recommendations won't be a problem at all - I have good relationships with my past employers and educators. So sounds like I can still get it done, just gonna be a lot of work in not a lot of time.

yup... it's doable! best of luck

I went through the same semi-freak-out a few weeks ago when I realized that there was JUST ENOUGH time for me to reasonably apply to the programs I was interested in. However, after some thought (and a bunch of posts on message boards) I decided that it would be best for me to take ample time in GMAT prep, continue working and get some extracurriculars under my belt. You may be in a different situation, but I'm still EXTREMELY unfamiliar with a lot of the math that's on the GMAT. It's simply been too long since I did that stuff. I felt that I needed more time. I probably didn't need an entire year, but hey, I'll be all that much more prepared.

Like I said, I'm not telling you not to do it...but make sure you won't be putting out sub-par applications and scoring significantly lower on the GMAT than you could if you studied for a few more months.