MBA on the Horizon

It's been a little while...but a big thank you to the blogging community for all of the feedback on Quant resources. The MGMAT guides got a resounding endorsement, so I have ordered one and plan to order more as I move along.

It feels different this time (if you're new to my blog, I'm taking the GMAT for the second time; the first time was March 2009). One interesting thing that I have discovered is that last time, I didn't spend enough time on the fundamentals. I had a Kaplan and PR book, as well as the OG, and I did go through the Quant review portions of those books. However, there were small things that held me up because I didn't remember every little rule from high school math.

This time, one of my resources is the PR 1,012 Practice Questions book. It's broken down into sections (Arithmetic, Algebra, Stats, Geometry) and further broken down into smaller topics (Exponents, Probability, Roots etc). Each section has a summary of the topic, as well as practice problems for that topic.

Last time, I did a LOT of practice problems, but they were random and never focused on one skill at once. I am finding that practicing a chunk on the same topic moves me along in a tangible way.

Furthermore, I have a tutor who helps me break past many of those little barriers that are tough to do on my own. Now when I don't understand a concept, he explains it to me instead of me spending countless hours reading message boards online, trying to figure it out.

I haven't taken a CAT yet, so I can't yet tell how quickly I'm progressing from a score perspective. I know that I need to work on harder and harder problems so I get my overall level of competency up, but for now I'm encouraged that I don't feel like this is going to be a repeat of last time.

Some days, I (gasp) enjoy studying. When I'm moving along, understanding things, and I feel like I'm making progress, I actually like what I'm doing. Other days, like today, are more of a struggle. Getting through this GMAT process is a lesson in itself. It's tough to balance work and studying...I'm so used to putting work first, and it's difficult to allow any of it to slip in order to study. I keep looking for a way to put my whole self into work and studying simultaneously, and I continue to be frustrated...and maybe that's because it's not possible, there aren't enough hours in a day or enough of me to go around. Throw in trying to work out, see my friends, family and boyfriend, and some days it truly seems like I'm not doing anything well.

The first solution that comes to mind is to throw my best self - time, focus and intentions - into studying, realizing that work will always be there, this is a relatively short time period, and that what is truly important is my future, dreams and goals. It kills me not to put 110% into work in order to work on something that may or may not help me accomplish my goals. One of the toughest parts of all of this is the lack of a sure thing. If I find myself staring at 5 rejections after all of this, it will be painful. I just need to remember that even staring at 5 rejections will be easier if I'm not thinking "what if"...what if I'd worked harder, studied longer, and put that first for just a little while.

Alright, pep talk over. Time to get back to studying. I feel like I've been preparing for school forever since I first took the GMAT in March of this year...although in the scheme of things, it's not that long. In a month I'll take the test, in a little over 2 months I'll apply, and in another 2-3 months after that I'll finally have an outcome! What a dream.

Posted in: GMAT on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at at 8:59 PM