The Application Process

First, I would like to say that this site is amazing. I consistently visit this site to research grad schools. Let me just say that I tried the traditional route of taking the GMAT to get into a MBA program, end result, I did not score over a 500.

I didn't study very much because I was working 14-16 hours a day and traveling 260 days out of the year. I have never been very good at standardized testa. I entered college HAVING to go to summer school so that I could prove my worth. I survived college and ended with a 2.8 gpa and a 3.4 major gpa. I majored in Management Information Systems.

I graduated in December 2005 and had a job offer right away making $48k a year working as a software engineer. Within 4 years I was promoted 3 times to a technical lead running my own team and projects for my company. At that time my salary had doubled, $101k plus bonuses.

I later decided to move from consulting to support to become a full time manager and to develop myself and others. Within 3 years I was promoted to Director of Support making $156k a year.

Long story short, do not beat yourself up if you are not able to beat the gmat. If you interview well and your work experience shows that you 'CAN' succeed, then you have a chance at being admitted to many top 25 programs. At first, I limited myself to schools that were not ranked but was accepted into a top 25 program that I will be attending.

This is a great story. Thanks for sharing it. It's so important not to let the testing/results syndrome get to you and deflate your all-important self-confidence. Knowing who you are and what you can do - and doing it - is the ultimate test. Perseverance leads to success in the real meaning of the word i.e. doing the best you can. Kudos. You will get the most out of your studies, I know.

Thank you for sharing this inspiring story. Which school did you get into by the way?
I always disagree with the approach of "low GMAT = you're screwed". Apparently there's so much you can do with a relatively low gmat score... you should watch this video if you haven't yet: https://www.aringo.com/top_MBA_with_low_gmat.htm

Hi-

I was admitted into multiple schools, Emory WEMBA, Georgia State University EMBA and Georgia Techs EMBA program. I chose Georgia Tech's EMBA.

Good luck!

Very nice and inspiring story, although I'm not sure that we can learn something here regarding full time MBA programs, especially top programs.
But anyway, congratulations and all the best to you!