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Just took the GMAT... questioning my B-School aspirations.

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Just took the GMAT... questioning my B-School aspirations.

by ricecake » Sat Nov 22, 2008 1:56 pm
Took the GMAT today for the first time. I did fine on the Verbal - 83%, but bombed the Quantitative - 15%. I thought about walking away, but knew I did well on the essays and verbal. I figured I would beef up my quant. and retake in the spring.

My undergrad is equally unimpressive with respect to GPA in stats, acct., calculus (C avg.). I'd love to retake the test with more prep, but I'm not sure if an MBA program (with its finance/acct./stats) is right for me.

Other profile details: sales manager and RVP at two start-ups which were grown and acquired, extensive international experience, 10+ years in emerging markets, etc... 2.7GPA... multi-racial/national background

So, is an MBA the right path, or should I focus on a specific area like communication that would require fewer numbers???

Thanks in advance for your advice.
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Strategy to Improve Quant Scores

by Eliot » Sat Nov 22, 2008 7:27 pm
Ricecake,

Thanks for your note. I am sorry to hear about your GMAT score. A 15% on the Quant, combined with Cs in your college quant classes (stats, etc) will raise serious concerns with the adcom about your ability to handle the quantitative aspects of a business school program.

If you are still interested in pursuing an MBA, I strongly suggest that you take steps to bolster your quant skills. First, I encourage you to build an alternate transcript by taking a class in statistics, financial accounting and economics. By getting As in these courses, you will address the quant grades from college. To address your GMAT, I encourage you to study hard so that you can get your math score up closer to 70% (ideally 80%). To help you do this, I suggest that you seek out a GMAT math tutor to guide you in this process.

In order for me to know whether an MBA is the right path for you, I would need to understand your career goals and why you are seeking an MBA.

Sincerely,

Eliot Ingram
Clear Admit LLC
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by ricecake » Sat Nov 22, 2008 9:22 pm
I appreciate your comments!

Yeah, today was a bummer... but not the end of the world. Thankfully, I have a great wife, two terrific kids, and an enviable job in pretty tough economy.

I'm fairly certain I can turn my quantitative score around and get it into the ~70% range. That said, I'm wondering if b-school is the right fit considering the effort it would take to redo undergrad classes and then potentially struggle through my quantitative classes in an MBA program (or heaven forbid, struggle through the redo of my undergrad classes).

As for my career path... jury is still out. I'll probably do some soul searching over the holidays. I've always been fascinated with Urban Planning :wink:
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by Eliot » Mon Nov 24, 2008 7:22 am
Ricecake,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I agree that you would have some work to do in order to retake 3 classes and retake the GMAT. Thus, you should first decide if an MBA is right for you - so soul searching over the holidays is a good idea. For example, if you want to do urban planning, then I don't think that an MBA program is right for you. (Instead, you should investigate a public policy or urban planning degree).

Of course, brushing up on your math would help you prepare for a range of graduate programs - it might even help you at your current job. Thus, you might want to take a class in statistics no matter what you decide to do.

Sincerely,

Eliot
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by ricecake » Mon Nov 24, 2008 7:55 am
Definitely. The Urban Planning bit was a career-change path I almost went down two years ago. I decided to join another start-up and though about continuing down the path of IT sales/mktg/mgt, but am now thinking about revisiting a graduate degree in planning or GIS.

I think the clearest indication that this may not be the degree from me was what I read in the survey at the end of the test. It asked what I would use my degree for and listed acct. finance consulting, et al. Nothing appealed to me as much as some of the jobs in planning, albeit a completely new field and a career restart. 10 yrs working towards something to now consider taking a new direction. We'll see.

Of course, you only live once.

That said, I'll strongly consider retaking a few C's from undergrad and try to bolster my GPA and quant. skills. Retake the GMAT in the fall and see what happens.

Thanks for your advice.
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by Eliot » Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:49 am
Ricecake,

You are welcome. I wish you the best of luck as you figure out your next step.

Sincerely,

Eliot Ingram
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