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sieken
- Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2011 6:50 am
- Thanked: 5 times
- Followed by:2 members
So this is a reflection on my past 8 months. It started slow, I took the GMAT in February of 2011 and got a 550. I studied for a weekend with a PR book and got a general feel of the test. I didn't start studying in earnest until June after I got back from campus visits, which added a good deal of motivation for me. I bought the MGMAT set and systematically went through the books for 2 months, practicing around 3 hours a day, with one or two day breaks per week. In August when I finished, I scored a 580 on my practice test and was disappointed. 3 months and close to 200 hours of study for a 30 point improvement???
Time to get serious. I signed up for Veritas Prep's online course. Over the next few months my practice test scores increased substantially until I was scoring an average of 710 (!!). The course ended and I pushed off the test to get more OG practice in but I saw my practice test scores slowly fall from the 700s to the mid 600s. I realized, after the fact, that I was burnt out. It was a pretty tough situation, I had been studying non-stop from June to November and my mind had enough. I took the GMAT on November 9th and scored a disappointing 640. My mind was drawing blanks, I was tired and had to drive a long distance that morning and I was simply not functioning. My applications were ready to go, and I was already getting to the end of R2, so I hit submit.
To my surprise I was invited to interview at the two schools I applied to, Cornell's Johnson and Berkeley's Haas. The next few months had me waiting in nervous anticipation, and I got the phone call from Cornell saying I'm in. Haas put me on the waitlist, so I have some time to see what happens with that, but I love the Cornell program, so I'm 90% sure I'll end up there.
How did it happen? Well, I'd like to think I had a great application despite my low GMAT. I work in economics in a senior position and I have started two companies in my spare time (not lemonade stands, but innovative, new ways of looking at a few problems). I also had a handful of great recommendations that directly speak to the impacts I've made at my firm. My long-term goal is one of entrepreneurship and my application was concisely tailored to that. Although my GMAT was in the lower percentile, it's apparent that schools do not look solely at GMAT performance. People like to split hairs on the difference between a 700 and a 710 and whether they should retake or not. It is apparent to me at least that the other pieces of the application can be far more important than a high GMAT score, though a high score certainly won't hurt. In retrospect I wish I had spent less time on the GMAT, or just started the Veritas course from the beginning and saved myself hundreds of hours of work that didn't pay off. I could have been doing far more interesting and productive things with my time. Thanks to the community and their help along the way - I'm glad the GMAT is over.
Time to get serious. I signed up for Veritas Prep's online course. Over the next few months my practice test scores increased substantially until I was scoring an average of 710 (!!). The course ended and I pushed off the test to get more OG practice in but I saw my practice test scores slowly fall from the 700s to the mid 600s. I realized, after the fact, that I was burnt out. It was a pretty tough situation, I had been studying non-stop from June to November and my mind had enough. I took the GMAT on November 9th and scored a disappointing 640. My mind was drawing blanks, I was tired and had to drive a long distance that morning and I was simply not functioning. My applications were ready to go, and I was already getting to the end of R2, so I hit submit.
To my surprise I was invited to interview at the two schools I applied to, Cornell's Johnson and Berkeley's Haas. The next few months had me waiting in nervous anticipation, and I got the phone call from Cornell saying I'm in. Haas put me on the waitlist, so I have some time to see what happens with that, but I love the Cornell program, so I'm 90% sure I'll end up there.
How did it happen? Well, I'd like to think I had a great application despite my low GMAT. I work in economics in a senior position and I have started two companies in my spare time (not lemonade stands, but innovative, new ways of looking at a few problems). I also had a handful of great recommendations that directly speak to the impacts I've made at my firm. My long-term goal is one of entrepreneurship and my application was concisely tailored to that. Although my GMAT was in the lower percentile, it's apparent that schools do not look solely at GMAT performance. People like to split hairs on the difference between a 700 and a 710 and whether they should retake or not. It is apparent to me at least that the other pieces of the application can be far more important than a high GMAT score, though a high score certainly won't hurt. In retrospect I wish I had spent less time on the GMAT, or just started the Veritas course from the beginning and saved myself hundreds of hours of work that didn't pay off. I could have been doing far more interesting and productive things with my time. Thanks to the community and their help along the way - I'm glad the GMAT is over.
