not sure yet, not even a clear favorite, fortunately they give you a lot of time to decide.

Cool, well def. go to their admit weekend events to help decide

Anyone else with good news to share?

applied to Yale SOM and Kellogg in R2. ding at SOM/accepted at Kellogg.

the entire process is definitely a grind. at the same time, there are some positives (organize yourself, polish resume, crystallize career goals, meet new people etc.)

i may have put bschool on a pedestal and was somewhat obsessed with going, which probably wasn't healthy, especially during the test-taking phase.

quick brain dump - looking back i wish i would have done the following differently:

* did not go into exile studying for gmat/gre. un-balanced life probably had something to do with me studying inefficiently/choking early on. i have a lot to say about each test (optimal strats, best materials etc.). there is a lot of misinformation about each exam (kind of like poker) and i certainly didn't have the right approach in the beginning.

* researched schools better. originally i simply looked at rankings/class stats. i did that for a while. i literary had an excel s/s where i piled all the stats, app requirements, essay questions and ultimately came up with schools that i think i "could" get in, not where i want to go or where i would fit. in other words, originally the goal was to get in and it didn't matter where as long as it was a solid school. sounds painfully obvious, but speaking with alums/current students/visiting schools is the best way to figure out whether this is the right place. both applying and going to bschool is massive investment and this legwork pays off.

* applied to more schools (harvard/stanford....le sigh)

* started writing essays and preparing my recommenders earlier. i notified my recommenders roughly 1 month before the deadline and half of that time fell on year-end/xmas/new years. they were swamped and i decided to prepare tons of supporting information to ease the process for them. as far as essays go, i haven't been home in 5.5 years and this winter was the first time i flew back. naturally i took all of my essays there, spent half of my time writing them and did not spend enough time with family, which is obviously ****ty and i owe my family a proper visit. then i traveled around asia with friends and polished essays in asia whenever i could, which was again pretty dumb.

* had more people read the essays. i didn't want to involve my friends in the process mostly because i just didn't want to bore everyone with this stuff. that's not the right attitude and i should have definitely asked for help, but thats my personal demons...i am working on that

* remain positive


==========

best of luck to everyone who is waiting for decisions. it will work out. gl guys....

i have a lot to say and have also recently gotten some more feedback on my profile in general so going to work to incorporate that into my own thinking before i offer any "advice" to anyone in here. i applied to 6 schools, i got outright dinged at 5, and am currently on the waitlist at one. i am optimistic, but there is no real good way to know any kind of %age so we will see what happens. i will likely reapply in the 1st round in the fall if i do not get in (as much as it pains me to do so).

one quick thing i will add though is to second higher_energy wrt to testing. regardless of what you hear, it is paramount to do well on the test and i would make that your sole focus before doing anything else (can certainly read about diff schools and so on but don't be trying to work on essays or do anything like that). i got jammed up studying for it the 2nd time way too late and i think it cost me the difference between a good score and a GREAT score which i think might be necessary as a starting point to overcome my own deficiencies (gpa, teh pokerz).

totally agree with jsnipes that people underplay GMAT. my biggest regret through MBA applications was not taking the GMAT a second time.

bump

I just finished reading this thread and it's been very informative.

im a potential candidate for top 10 business schools in the next couple of years and just started studying the GMAT as I have some free time right now. Was wondering what would be the best way to approach this exam- I just picked up a Kaplan book and been going through that for now.

Any tips/experiences regarding the GMAT and the entire application process would be appreciated. Oh and updates on Loz, Jsnipes, higher energy and others would be cool too.

Thanks

+1 i think that this is the right approach as far as timing goes. get the test out of the way and make sure you use your time efficiently when you study.

take a look at this P&Q article. Low GMAT score trumps everything else as the main app-killer.

http://poetsandquants.com/2012/03/27...eed-to-get-in/

full disclosure: i applied with GRE instead of GMAT

just bumping this thread. i ended up at johnson (cornell) and am really enjoying things so far. happy to answer any questions about the gmat, application process, or what i have experienced in the first ~2 months.

Grats jsnipes, I'm on the last stages of an ED Columbia application, had my interview last week and waiting on results now. Seconded if anyone has any questions (although I haven't gotten in yet, the experience was much different than I thought it would be)

I've been thinking a lot lately about pursuing an MBA.

Quick background:

-3.15 GPA in undergrad at UGA in Finance
-graduated in 2009, have played poker ever since*, have done a few other things within the online poker industry (coaching, staking, consulting backing groups) that are currently included on my resume.
-turn 27 in january

*I played through school (and made more money overall during that time than the 3 years after) so really have been a "pro" since 2006

I've recently been thinking about possible exit strategies from being a professional poker player. I'm not in a HUGE rush (in fact I still have some obligations in the poker industry which I'd need to fulfill before taking on another career fulltime), but I can't see myself playing poker for a living for much longer than a year (if even that) given the current market conditions for a US player. Obviously things could change, but I figure I can always go back to poker if I want to.

Part of my problem is that I really don't know what I want to do, just that I want to transition out of poker in the future. I have some friends in the finance industry in Atlanta (where I live) and they've definitely advised me that I'd have a real hard time getting a job with my current resume and the current market conditions.

So anyways, after doing some research I've decided to go ahead and take the GMAT and then go from there (this thread seems to confirm that is the best place to start). I have basically as much time during the day as I need to to study, but realistically probably wouldn't be motivated to put in more than ~10-15 hours a week. How much studying should I be doing in total before I first take the test? I'd say my biggest strength throughout my academic career was test taking (basically got me through college as I didn't attend class that often, got a 1450 on SATs w/o any prep, etc).

After the test I'd see what I got and then re-evaluate. Right now I'd say the main motivation for going to get an MBA would to get started/transition to a career path in Finance (in some capacity, I don't have any specific aspirations RIGHT NOW) and build a professional network. I feel like for me, personally, I'd get more value out of an MBA (from a dollars perspective, especially including opportunity cost) than someone with a current non-poker job, b/c I'm at an extreme disadvantage currently in even getting any decent entry level job.

Because of the above, I feel like going through a 20-35th ranked program would produce a very substantial ROI (is this crazy?). I don't know how realistic it would be to even get into such a program would be (thoughts?). I'd love to stay in Atlanta b/c I'm pretty well rooted here currently and two schools in that range are in Atlanta (Emory and GT). I'd of course be willing to relocate for an amazing opportunity, but I don't think I have any chance in getting into a school that would make sense for me to relocate (presumably a top 10 school).

Would love any advice on the process for someone starting out in my situation and what you think the realistic chances are for me to get into a 20-35th ranked school (and if that is even a good idea).

you don't need crazy amounts of studying to do well on the GMAT, and the Pareto principle definitely applies to the gains from studying.

Studying:

Manhattan GMAT is the best. Buy their practice tests/question banks.

Get the Official Guide (should be able to order on Amazon)

Daily Quant and Verbal questions on beatthegmat.com (generally a good forum for gmat studying) I found to be very helpful.

gmatclub.com is also good (I think probably better to get feedback on schools to target, essay reviews and advice et cetera).

As far as how much to study, it really depends but I would study as much as you can to try and get the test out of the way. The way the application schedule for top schools is laid out you have to apply in R1 or R2 (only superstars w/ odd circumstances get in R3) which means apps are due late December, or end of January at the latest for Fall 2013 intake. And if you apply to like 4 schools you will need a solid 6 weeks to get your essays in shape. It was way more work than I ever envisioned, and is more difficult for people like us that kind of have to thread the needle.

As far as your chances, I agree top 10 will probably be a tough sell based on sort of a middling GPA, school, and poker. I would take the GMAT first though and if you crush it can always apply to a reach school or two. First thing has to be the GMAT and I feel pretty confident saying you will need >=700 to be competitive at Emory et cetera.

I don't know anything about GT's program. If you crush the GMAT Duke would make a lot of sense as a reasonable reach school. I'd also look at UNC Kenan Flagler and probably Owen (Vandy). And FWIW, Johnson now has a 2nd year who is a poker player as well as me so could be worthwhile to apply here too.

edit: to give a more concrete study/test taking strategy i think there are basically two routes that kind of depend on how you operate. 1) study a lot, when you are hitting the desired scores on practice tests, go ahead and register the gmat for like the next week. 2) if you don't self-motivate to study that well then just schedule the test for like end of october, make sure you are ready, and can always push back a week or two (some fees with rescheduling i think).

I know the GMAT isn't the end all be all, but let's just say you achieve a score that is higher than the GMAT range posted on the school's website (20-25th ranked program) of the current students. Would that give you an extremely high chance of getting in even if your overall profile was lacking a bit (primarily in work experience)?

Just wondering how much pull the GMAT score has if you outperform everyone currently in the program.

My guess is that once you get outside the top 10 or so, having an appreciably better GMAT score is a big draw for the MBA program in admissions.

Is a 700 possible for anyone that just studies enough for it? Or could I be ''not smart enough''?

I have never taken it nor am I studying for it but plan to for the future.

Definitely not possible for some people no matter how much they study.

there's definitely some general IQ factor to the GMAT...probably about comparable to the SAT

I took the test 2 times and only got mid 600s. In the practice Manhattan Gmat and Gmatprep I got 690-710.

FWIW i graduated from UC Berkeley with a 3.6 GPA in Economics but was never a good prep tester, got low 1200 in the old SATs.

For some people, GMAT is easy especially the Verbal section, which affects your score more than Math b/c all the foreign Chinese/Indian students crush Math but are not as native in Verbal

I found this to be definitely true. I just took the test basically cold (studied for maybe 2 hours total) and did okay just because of the comparability to something like the SAT. I'm not even sure how much my score would improve by putting in a bunch of time studying.

I agree about the Verbal. If you are naturally strong at Verbal stuff I think you can study up on the Math stuff hard and do extremely well.

If you aren't naturally strong at Verbal but very good at Math it will be tough to get THAT much better with tons of study IMO.

Earlier in this thread some of you guys that got accepted to very good schools mentioned you'd post your profile and some thoughts on the process. I'm very interested in this if you guys are still around and want to share.

What would you like to know?

Always happy to share background and thoughts. Either e-mail me or I'll answer here.

Ezra

Will be attending Columbia's J-term this upcoming January (graduating class of 2014). I'd be happy to try and answer any questions as well.

i actually think there is a really high ROI on studying for the verbal. if you have like 44q, if you can move verbal from say 39-->42 (which is v reasonable imo) you go over 700.

i think i already mentioned this to you tdomeski, but i agree w la pulga that as u get farther down the list crushing the gmat prob holds more weight. + you might have an outside shot at some scholarship dollars.

i'll PM higher_energy to give his thoughts as well.