The GMAT

A little over two weeks ago I took the Graduate Management Admission Test, better known as the GMAT. Taking the GMAT was one of those experiences you just gotta talk about.

Roughly five months ago I received an email inviting me to attend an informational lecture about a new program Harvard was offering called HBS 2+2. The program was created to encourage non-business major undergrad students to consider an MBA from Harvard Business School. To qualify you had to be majoring in something other than business and had to have at least one semester left following this summer. If you get accepted you still work for two years before you enter the two year program, hence the 2+2, but you know you're accepted at the beginning of your final year of undergrad. As a Political Science major with Arabic and Italian language skills I was really excited when I heard about the program because I felt it was perfect for me. The application is due by July 1, 2008 and that includes taking the GMAT. So back in January I ordered a handful of manuals and test prep guides from Amazon and went to work.

For the past four months I have spent between two to four hours a day studying Algebra, Geometry, logical reasoning, sentence structure, and everything else that makes up the GMAT. Sometime I will talk more about the different study materials and methods I used to prepare, but I'm still too burnt out to return to that topic right now. The highest possible score on the GMAT is 800, and the median at Harvard is about 700. From everything I've read and all the people I've talked to I've learned that getting into a top business school like Harvard or Stanford is much more than just your GMAT score or your GPA, but those are also a big piece of the pie. After researching the admission process at Harvard and what types of candidates are typically admitted I decided that my GPA and international experience make me a potentially competitive candidate, but that to really be competitive I needed to do well on the GMAT and the overall application, especially the essays. I decided to focus on the GMAT until May 14th when I would take the test. My goal was to get a 700 on the test, but I didn't quite reach that. I scored 680 which puts me in the 88th percentile. I wasn't jumping for joy when I saw my score, but I was relieved. It is a good score and it puts me in the ballpark of where I need to be to have a chance at getting accepted to this Harvard program. Now it's the essays that are keeping me up at night!