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Sunday, March 28, 2010

Dartmouth Tuck Visit

Hello everyone... I know it's been a while since I've written but I've been very busy.  Todays post will simply be about my visit to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.  I will warn you now that this is going to be a very very long post.






Day 1


So I took the Dartmouth Coach up to Hanover on 3/24.  I arrived at the Yale Club by Grand Central Station at 1pm to catch the bus up there.  The bus was a luxury coach with about 20 seats total.  It had flat screen tv's, reclining chairs, refreshments in the back, a coffee machine, and of course a bathroom.  4.5 hours later we pulled up in front of the Hanover Inn, which is directly across the street from the Dartmouth campus.  I went inside the hotel to wait for the shuttle to the Courtyard Marriot that I was staying at.  About 10 minutes later, I hopped into the shuttle and was whisked off to my hotel 3 miles away.


After checking in and unpacking, I went downstairs to the lobby/bar to order dinner and study by the fire and watched bball.  I had a nice tasty bacon cheeseburger and went through my PowerScore SC Bible.  





Upon finishing I went back upstairs, ironed my clothes, and got ready for the next day.


Day 2


So I wake up in the morning, go downstairs to the hotel lobby and eat breakfast at the buffet.  I request the shuttle to take me to Tuck around 11:15.  I had set up three meetings with Tuckies.  The official visitors tour would be held on Friday, so Thursday was just the day that I had given to myself to check out the campus.  This ended up being the BEST part of my trip!


Arriving on Campus - As I sit on the hotel shuttle, on my way to Tuck, we drive through a little section of the Dartmouth campus.  The main landmark that we pass by is the Baker library.  This is the image that I've seen 1,000,000 times on the website and other Dartmouth promotional material.  About a minute after passing the library we make arrive on the Thayer School of Engineering and Tuck campuses, which border each other.  I get out of the shuttle and walk around a bit to take some pictures before entering any buildings.


I go inside of Stell hall and sit and wait to meet the first Tuckie.  Stell hall is a gorgeous study hall.  It has incredibly high ceilings, big overstuffed couches and chairs, and large tables.  I had seen pictures of it online but thought it would be a little bit bigger than it was.  Don't get me wrong it's a great size though.  Stell hall isn't at the end of a hallway, but it's in the middle of two buildings students walk through.  I say this to say that even if a student doesn't have the intentions of studying at that juncture, they may be passing through to get to their next destination.  This makes Stell hall a great meeting place.    This was a perfect example of the Tuck community.  I saw many occasions where students would be walking by, and see someone else studying and go over to them to say hi...and then when they would be walking out they'd see someone else they knew and would talk to them briefly.  Everyone definitely knows everyone and everyone was all smiles!






First meeting - So the main reason Tuck is my first choice is because of the Center for Digital Strategies. I've had reservations about removing myself from the digital industry/world for 2 years, because of it's dynamic nature.  When I found out about the Center for Digital Strategies at Tuck I happily put the school at the top of my shortlist.  I reached out an CDS MBA Fellow a couple weeks before my trip to see if I could pick his brain for a couple minutes about the Center and all that it has to offer.  The response I got was inviting me to listen to a quest speaker.  I naturally jumped at the opportunity.


I meet the MBA Fellow and he tells me that there's an MBA Fellows luncheon that we would be attending.  Initially, I thought that meant that we'd be sitting in the Pepsico dining hall at a table with the rest of the Fellows.  In actuality, it meant that we'd be sitting in a nice room with a catered lunch.  There were about 7 other 2nd year MBA students in the room and someone directly from the CDS.  The discussion topic for that meeting revolved around coming up with a theme for the CDS for the '10/'11 school year.  The plans need to be finalized for two reasons. 1. the 1st year MBA students wishing to apply to become 2nd year MBA fellows need to know what to write about in their applications.  2. potential speakers need to be reached out to.


It was absolutely amazing for me to participate in this lunch.  The reason I say participate is because I did just that.  I gave my input and could tell it was from a different perspective than some others.  I did not feel intimidated at all because the discussion was very open and everyone was very friendly.  I'll leave the exact discussion to the imagination.  Wouldn't want any 1st years to have an unfair advantage!


All in all - I could definitely see myself sitting in that room in a couple years going through the same process again!


Second Meeting - I reached out to a member of TAABA who is also a Consortium Fellow, to see if I could pick her brain for a little bit.  After going back and for through email, trying to finalize a time to meet, I had a meeting set up with another member since the first student was unavailable to meet.  What ended up happening was so typical of the Tuck community.  About an hour before my meeting with the student, I got an email from another member/consortium fellow who was curious to know if anyone had reached out to me.  I told him that I was all set but I also asked him if I would be joining us and he said sure.


I met the two 1st year students outside of the dining hall and we walked into town for some coffee.  The walk into town was about 10/15 minutes, just because we were taking our time.  I ended up getting tea and one of the students opted to pay for me which I thought was a nice gesture.


From this discussion I got a great sense of what it's like to be a 1st year student at Tuck.  We talked about everything... literally... EVERYTHING.  We even got into a discussion about the veribification of companies like Google and Xerox!  It was refreshing...


I asked about the first year living situation and they told me that I wouldn't get to see what a room looks like on the tour the next day.  One of them offered to show me his room, even though it was dirty, but it was great that he offered.  Of course I took him up on his offer and we walked back to campus.  We walked into one of the first year residence dorms.  I was so gorgeous I felt like I was in a hotel!  I'll explain more about the building later...  He took me upstairs to show me his room.  It was a good size with a HUGE desk that spanned the length of the room.  I didn't get a look at the bathroom, but just seeing the room was good enough.  Another piece of information that you wouldn't find on any website is that the beds in the rooms are actually SLEEP NUMBER beds!  I thought that was pretty cool.  The closets were big too... so much so that even I think I could fit all of my clothes in them.


Waiting for Third Meeting - In between the 2nd and 3rd meeting with students, I had about 3 hours to kill.  I didn't want to go back to the hotel because I wanted to walk around Hanover.  I walked in a couple of the Dartmouth apparel/bookstores...just checking things out.  I also went into GAP because I saw it as familiar territory..haha.   I didn't buy anything though.  I decided to spend my time in the Bookstore studying for the GMAT.  Ultimately, if I want to go to Tuck, I need to score high on the GMAT.  I was in the bookstore studying for two hours then decided to go back to Tuck to meet my third Tuckie.


Third Meeting - The third meeting that I had set up was with a member of the Gay/Straight Alliance or GSA.  I was to meet him outside of the Pepsico dining hall, so I grabbed a magazine and just sat and waited for him.  Now let me explain this area outside of the dining hall.  You can enter this common space 1 of 5 ways.  You can be coming from Stell Hall, coming from the entrance of the dining hall, coming from the exit of the dining hall, from upstairs, and from downstairs.  Needless to say this area has a lot of traffic.  With this traffic comes a lot of student interaction.  Imagine a scene where there are people coming from every which way, running into each other, saying hi... chatting for a bit... then going their separate ways.  This scene was played out over and over again...it was quite comical actually lol.  Like I've said before... everyone knows everyone.


So anyway, I met the student from GSA, and we go into the dining hall and grab a drink.  He proceeds to tell me that he had invited another GSA member to sit and talk with us too.  After the earlier events in the day, this did not surprise me and it was more than welcomed.  The main reason I wanted to meet with GSA members was to find out what it's like to be out at Dartmouth.  Again, it didn't seem to be an issue.  Essentially, if you wanted to "queen out" you could.  If you wanted to remain low key... you could.  Being gay would never be an issue.  He also said that with that being the case, dating becomes tough/non-existent... there are less than 15 out students between 1st and 2nd years combined.  From three that I had interaction with (two at the lunch and one prior) 2 of the 3 had partners.  I guess this tells me that I need to get a partner prior to attending Tuck, if I get in and go haha.


I sat and talked to these two students for about an hour...and one had to leave to attend a meeting.  It was about 7pm and the 2nd student (that had been invited by the other one) said that he had to go meet his friends for dinner, but that they were going to the movies later and I was more than welcome to join.  I was slightly taken back by this invitation but told him that I would take him up on his offer.


I then called for my hotel shuttle, and went back to the hotel to change into some comfortable clothes.  I called for the shuttle shortly thereafter and took it back into Hanover.  We saw The Hurt Locker.  The movie was good, but it was a little long in my opinion.  After the movie, the student asked me how I was getting home, and I said I was going to call a cab since it was 11pm and my hotel shuttle wasn't running that late.  He said there was no need for me to call a cab and that he could drive me back.  Again, the hospitality of Tuck students is amazing.  I think any other student would have offered to drive me as well.


I got back to my hotel... watched some TV... and ironed my clothes for the next day.  The next day would be my official Tuck visit, but I was so thankful that I had gone up there a day early.


Day 3

I woke up in the morning...got dressed... didn't eat breakfast because I knew that at 12 I would be eating lunch.  I called for the hotel shuttle to Dartmouth, and headed to campus.  The day was jam packed with events, so I'll describe them here:

Waiting for Class Visit - So upon arrival, I went in to the admissions office waiting room where there was another prospective student sitting down reading.  She was from Washington state and came out east to visit Tuck, Cornell, and UPenn.  We talked for a while and then another prospective showed up. He was dressed in a suit because he was applying for R4, so he had his interview.  He was from Boston.  I told him that I had never been to Boston but would be up there on April 12th at Harvard for the LGBT Open House.  He was like "OH ME TOO!  I'LL SEE YOU THERE".... after about 10 minutes, two 1st year students come in and inform us that we'll be going with them to class.  

Class Visit - We sat in on Managerial Economic Accounting (I think that was the name of the class) or Managerial Accounting.  Something of that nature.  In order to get to the classroom, we go through Stell Hall, through the common area outside of the dining hall, walk downstairs, go through some hallways and go into the classroom.  

Our student guide said that she was going to introduce us to the professor first before class.  Richard Sansing was the professor.  He asked for our name and what we currently do.  I introduced myself and said that I do Search Engine Marketing for Bloomingdales.com.  He looked to the side, and I could tell he was thinking about something.  Then he said "______ Glassmeyer...she works in Marketing for Bloomingdale's.  Do you know her?"  I said that I thought the name sounded familiar but maybe she works in the marketing department for the store side, instead of .com.  He said "She used to sit right there... and her father is one of the people whom the Center for Digital Strategies is named after."  It's official name is the Glassmeyer/McNamee Center for Digital Strategies!  I immediately wrote down her name so I could research it later and reach out to her.  It goes to show how close knit the community is.  Not only could the professor recall the students name, but also WHERE SHE SAT.  And she had graduated in 2005 so it wasn't even like it was last year.  

After this interaction we went to the top row in the classroom and listened to the class discussion.  There were about 60 students in the classroom.  The professor introduced all of the visiting students and everyone in the class cheered and clapped as a welcoming.  It was very very tiered, and EVERYONE had their laptops out with the spreadsheet that they were analyzing.  Everyone was involved in the class discussion and it wasn't that the professor stood up there teaching.  It was very very interactive.  At one point in the day I made eye contact with the CDS MBA Fellow that I had met the day before.  He waved and I felt like I had a friend haha, as cheesy as that sounds.  

Lunch w/ Student - After our class visit we rushed to the dining hall to grab a table.  I think the 12pm hour is the busiest for the dining hall.  It was very crowded.  I got a cheeseburger and made myself a salad.  Unlike my Yale SOM visit, we did have free lunch vouchers, so we didn't have to pay for anything.  While I was waiting in line I was talking with a student and she said her name.  I realized that she was the initial consortium member that I had emailed, but hadn't met because she was unavailable.  I told her my name and she was all smiles and asked me how my visit was going.  She told me that if I had any questions for her, not to hesitate to email her.  I thought that was a great gesture but yet again... not surprising.

After that encounter I sat down at the table with our student guide and the other people visiting.  I'll be honest, I was just listening at this point because I basically had all of my other questions answered the previous day by the other students.  I basically just let the other visiting students, ask their questions.  I just listened and ate my nice cheeseburger and salad haha.  

Campus Tour - after lunch we went back into the admissions office waiting area to wait for our tour to begin.  Again we walk through Stell Hall...walk by the dining hall...go downstairs again past a couple classrooms... walk by a set of lockers which are for students living off campus...  we ended up going inside one of the newer classrooms. It was a very nice classroom...nicer than the one I had been in earlier.  From there we proceeded to go into the residence hall.  One thing to note is that all of the buildings are connected by tunnels so there is no need for a student to go outside.  The tour was about 25 minutes long since Tuck isn't that big of a school.





Admissions q&a - After the campus tour we went back to the admissions office waiting room and waited for the admission q&a to start.  There were 6 prospective students including myself.  One of the admissions committee members came in and closed the door.  She sat down on the couch and answered every single question that we had for her.  We asked her questions for about an hour.  She was not in a rush to get out of there, and I think she would have stayed there for another hour if we hadn't run out of questions.  I had two specific questions for her.  

- One question pertained to the Consortium application and whether or not students had a hard time trying to convey "Why Tuck?" since we only have the option of doing 1 school specific essay.  The answer she gave me made my whole trip worth it.  (If you want to know the answer let me know... I just don't want to post it here).

- The second major question I had for her was regarding my low GPA.  I told her that I was taking some marketing classes but was concerned that it wouldn't prove my quant competancy.  I didn't want to vocalize my GPA because the rest of the students were in the room, but she told me that I could speak to her 1 on 1, when we were done.  So after we were done, I told her my GPA and basically got her thoughts on me taking some additional quant classes.  She told me the exact classes that I should focus on taking and doing well in to prove that I can handle the workload.  I had heard before from other people that building an additional transcript isn't necessary, and that one should just look to do the best they can on the GMAT.  Well doing the best you can is a given, but in my case I feel that I need to take those additional classes so I'll be doing just that.  I also feel that her advice trumps all other advice since she is on the admissions committee!  

After the admissions q&a I traded b-cards with the other students on the tour with me.  I went outside, and ran into my student guide.  I lit a cigarette and she asked if I could have one we talked more about school itself and she insisted that I keep in touch with her.  

Day 4

Rest of Trip -.... packed... ate...  hopped back on the shuttle back on Saturday

All in all my visit went better than expected.  I feel that I have a couple people on my side now - should I score high enough on the GMAT.  I am in love with the school... the campus... and most importantly the students!  Their love for the school is contagious.  Some did say that had they gotten into HBS they would have attended there, but I think people would say that about most schools.  I'm sure I'm forgetting some other things but that's the gist of my visit!  

Monday, March 15, 2010

Getting the hang of studying!

So I think I'm finally getting the hang of this studying thing... I know took my long enough right?  My last MGMAT class is next week!  ahaha... but maybe after my venting session during my last post, just maybe THAT'S the reason why I'm getting the hang of it now.

I am no longer intimidated by different types of questions.  Now every time I finish a topic in one of the study guides.  I redo the couple of questions that I got wrong on whichever topics I covered that night.  It's a big confidence booster being able to immediately answer the questions correctly.  Now yes of course there isn't a time constraint, and I've seen the problem already (not that I remember them) but it's good to know that the questions I saw previously... no longer trick me.

What is concerning though is the fact that I haven't tackled any of the "advanced" chapters in any of the study guides.  But you know what?!?  I'll get there... I'm optimistic.

My 30 day game- plan starts soon.  I think G-Day (GMAT Day) will be May 1st.  If I give myself a deadline I'll be able to work towards it.

That's it for tonight... short and sweet... I have a long day tomorrow...gotta get some sleep.  BTW I KILLED the geometry study guide!  Just need to go through coordinate geometry again, but other than that... yeah I got it...

l8er

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Finally...Geometry! *See Disclaimer

Well it's been a while!

Geometry
So today I finally looked at the syllabus for my MGMAT class and saw... GEOMETRY!  This is probably my favorite topic in all of the Quant topics.  Unfortunately, I don't anticipate seeing many geometry problems on the exam.  For some reason these just aren't tested as much as number properties and the like.  Damn GMAT makers... can't make my life easy can they?

So I only did 2 chapters in the Geometry study guide tonight.  The two chapters were Polygons and Triangles.  Out of the 30 or so MGMAT problems, I got 2 wrong.  Now I know these are easy topics but I didn't even struggle or have to go back and look in the chapter to see formulas or anything.  Now I will say that last summer I bought a geometry book and went through half of it so that definitely has something to do with it.  But I don't know... geometry is fun to me.  Which is where the disclaimer comes in and might be my achilles heel.  (sidenote - I've used that achilles heel analogy twice today along with "work me over" - don't ask)

*If by some chance I encounter a Geometry problem that is uber difficult, I may want to spend too much time on it, thinking I can solve it.  After my MGMAT class it won't make too much sense for me to spend TOO much time going over geometry problems because there are more important topics that I will DEFINITELY see.


Studying


After talking to my GMAT junkie friend Brandon - you guys know him as Osirus, I've developed a plan for my post MGMAT studying.  I need/want to take a practice CAT Exam every weekend up until I take my test.  I'm going to start this regimen the Sunday after my visit to Dartmouth Tuck (2 weeks baby!)

I've realized that the way the MGMAT class is taught is the opposite of the way that I would learn the material the best.  For example:

MGMAT way to teach Quant topics is for us to:
Go through the Study Guide material... Go to class and learn the study guide...go home and do Official Guide problems

My ideal way to learn Quant topics is to:
Go to class and learn the study guide material ...go home and go through the study guide... do Official Guide problems

MGMAT way to teach Verbal topics is for us to:
Go to class and learn the study guide material...go home and go through the study guide...do Official Guide problems

My ideal way to learn Verbal topics is to:
Go through the study guide material...go to class and learn the study guide material...go home and do Official Guide problems.

Combinatorics


So for those of you who don't know - which is probably everyone - I play in our corporate volleyball league.  We were undefeated for a while until we had an addition to our team as some other people stopped showing up.  I quickly learned that there are specifically two people on the team who cannot be near each other in the rotation because...well...  "You are the weakest link... Good Bye."  I was sitting at my computer at work the other day and I thought of a combinatorics questions...how nerdy right?  So here's the question:


There are 8 players on a volleyball game.  6 players are allowed on the court at one time.  2 players cannot be by each other in the rotation.  How many different ways are there to start off the game?


Now I will say that we had another game tonight, and low and behold, no one listened to their Co-Captain = Yours Truly, and they allowed the two weakest links to be near each other... and we lost 2 of the three matches.  I will admit that I started overstepping my "coverage area" in the last match because I can't stand losing and when it comes down to it I'm going to get the ball over the net more often than some others.  Just look at the stats.

My friends are still waiting on HBS and Stanford.... BUT i found out that one of my friends was accepted to Michigan Ross.  Phenomenal!

That's all Folks!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Hi Front Desk...Can I Have a Wake Up Call?

So I took my second CAT exam on Saturday and got a worse score than the first time. I'm definitely disappointed in myself but upon further analysis it isn't as bad as it seems. Here is the reason:

QUANT - Spent 8 MINUTES on one question because I KNEW i could get it... really 8 minutes? I should definitely take my own advice. I also spent 4 minutes on another question... stupidest moves ever right?!? yes I know... I did well on the topics that we've covered in my prep class up until this point. Only missed 2 of those topics - it was all of the topics that we haven't covered yet that gave me trouble. But during the exam there were simple things that I knew I would be able to answer because they were not hard at all. Also if I wasn't rushing through the last half of the exam I would have done much better. Even still I increased my Quant score which was hella (for you west coast folks) surprising!

Verbal - Not sure what went wrong here to be honest. I thought I was doing well, but upon looking at the topics that I got wrong, again they were topics not covered before. So I got questions wrong in succession which hurts your score more. I will also admit that I ran out of steam towards the end.

So with that being said.. I did better in Quant and worse in Verbal... this was definitely the wake up call that I needed... I will be rededicating myself to this exam!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Bad News Bears...

Greetings Fellow whoever reads this...

So the other day I said that I would have a good post for (yesterday).  I forgot why I said that.  I wonder if I had some epiphany to update you guys on.  Maybe it will come back to me as I write tonight.

So first the Good News Bears... then the Bad News Bears...

Good News:  I'm putting the pieces together for my trip up to visit Dartmouth Tuck (which may not even be a reality anyway...will get to this later).  So initially I was planning on taking the bus up to Hanover on Thursday 3/25.  I would get up to campus around 8pm... check into my hotel... study in the hotel and get ready for the next day.  The next day I planned on attending a class, having lunch with Tuckies, touring the campus, and attending an Admissions q&a.  I would then hopefully talk with some students who weren't busy and then head back to my hotel, to be up early the next morning to catch the bus back to the city at 6:30am.

I wanted to reach out to some current students first to meet them for coffee while I was up there and pick their brains.  I emailed a member of the Gay/Straight alliance and a Fellow at the Center for Digital Strategies.  Both responded within 24 hours, which is more than I can say for other schools.  I spoke with the member of GSA last night and although she won't be around when I'm visiting, she said she would definitely make sure that I met some members and got to speak with them.  So that right in and of itself is amazing!

Like I said, I also reached out to a Fellow at the Center for Digital Strategies... he told me that on the 25th there is going to be a speaker.  He said that if I was sure to reach out to him again that it would be great if I could sit in on the event..  So of course at this point I'm jumping up and down inside.  There was one problem though... I wouldn't get up to Hanover until the 25th @ 8pm.  So what do I do?  well... easy...  extended my stay an extra day.  So now I will get up to Hanover on the 24th at 8pm... study in the hotel... go to the event on the 25th.. hopefully set up a line of meet and greets and coffee drinking.  I don't even like coffee anymore...so maybe I'll drink tea.  Then on the 26th I'll do all of the visitor(y) things and end my weekend the same as planned.

So that's the Good News Bears... the reason why all this may not even matter is below:

Today I studied modifiers... definitely not a fan.  A lot of them I can get but then they throw in Which and That and I say "Oh crap" and can't remember the rules for using them.  I think that is used when the modifier is necessary and which is used when it's non-essential.  I could just pick up my book and figure it out, but it's on the floor and I'm in my bed.

My list of things to review is growing longer than the list of things that I know.  This is very concerning and disheartening to be honest.  I'm hitting a wall and I'm not a fan.  I won't say that I thought this would be an easy process, but I thought I would be able to retain more information than I have.  I'm on information overload and none of it is straightening out in my head.  Frustrating = YES!

You see I'm the type of person that needs to do problems over and over again.  Sure I'll get frustrated when I don't get the answer right the first or second time, but I'm pretty solid at recalling processes after that.  The way the information is provided in my MGMAT class may not be the most conducive way for me to retain information.  I'm also beginning to think that the class isn't meant for material to be retained immediately.  I believe it's to present the information you will need to know to do well on the exam, and then when you do your month of self study post-class you'll know all of the tricks.  I've recently come to terms with this set up but it's beginning to frighten me.

I'm starting to doubt myself.  Will I be able to score a 710+ on this exam?  If so... what will it take?  If someone can tell me this information I'll be eternally grateful!  I think what I need is for this class to be over asap... and then I need to be able to make my one month calendar/study plan and stick to that.  It's going to have to be a realistic study plan WITH breaks dispersed throughout.

I will be taking my second MGMAT CAT exam on Saturday.  As much trouble as I've been having lately, I think I need this test to validate my studying, with an increased score.  You know how sometimes you've been in a bubble that you need a dose of reality to show you have you've been doing? Well yeah... that's where I am now...

My goal for this next CAT is 630.  That will be a 40 point increase since the first exam.  Tomorrow I need to skim through everything I've done up until this point and go through my notecards again.  Just to refresh my memory.

I don't have any more updates from my friends... but once I hear something I will let you all know!  ::sigh::  this is taking the energy out of me like it's nobody's business!  I need to get break 700 or I think my chances will be very very slim for any of these top schools.

sidnote - it looks like HBS is creeping up on Tuck in my poll!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

What sound does a 680 make?!

So R2 decisions are trickling in... fortunately I am not in the group of those who are finding out.  I have two friends with great profiles who scored 680's on their GMATs and have been Dinged.  All together my two friends have been dinged from Columbia, Dartmouth (that one even hurt me), UVa, and Michigan.  One is still waiting on NYU, Wharton, and HBS.  The other is waiting on I believe HBS, Yale, and NYU.  He has an interview with Stanford and Wharton coming up...so we shall see...

I'm beginning to think that the sound that 680 makes is Ding Ding... it's disheartening to live vicariously through your friends anticipating their joy in saying that they've been accepted to only have them tell you they've been dinged.  Sidenote: why do they call it being Dinged?  I mean it does sound better than "i was rejected." but I'm not sure where it came from.

Maybe I'm underestimating the importance of the GMAT score or maybe some friends have set their sights very high. I think it's natural to want to aim high, but at what cost, when you've narrowed down your list so far that there's nothing left?

So tonight I'm beginning to think... is this even possible?  My friend being rejected from Tuck was a wake up call for me because I was sure he would get in.  He went there for undergrad...worked for a great company in the midwest... had an average GPA... and applied through the Consortium.  I spoke to him and he reiterated that there is a science to it all.  He also reminded me to not underestimate the factor of COMPETITION.  I tend to think I'm the only one with my profile out there and that just is not the case.  AT ALL... maybe after I get in somewhere I'll tell you guys all my stats haha... or how about after I submit all of my applications?  Yeah, I'll do that...

On another note:  I had my 6th MGMAT class today and I have advice for you guys out there debating on whether or not to take the in-person class.  I can only speak about MGMAT but I find that there are people in the class who may be taking A prep class for the 2nd time.  I'm all for people answering questions and being outspoken and what not during class, because lord knows I participate.  BUT - if I were to take the class a second time... I would not answer every question the instructor asks the class.  I find this simply rude... ok great you took the class before... if you knew the answers the first time you wouldn't have had to take it again.. maintain grasshopper maintain (what movie is that quote from?)

If you can answer the question in the same exact language the instructor would have then shut your trap because you're irritating.  How are the rest of us supposed to deduce the answer if you've already vocalized it?  So I say this to everyone... DON'T BE THAT PERSON!  We've all paid a lot of money to learn and sometimes we need to struggle with something in our heads first before learning the correct way to do something.  at the very least... sit tight and see if anyone else can come up with the correct answer - then if there's dead air - chime in!  Get it?  Got it? Good?

That being said... we did Combinatorics & Probabilities tonight... good gracious nonsensical what are you talking about?  Actually, after the instructor went through it, I got the hang of it. I came home and did some OG problems and did better than I though I would have.  It's funny (not really) because I can do the harder questions... it's the simpler ones that are tripping me up!  wtf is that about?  who knows?

I'm going to be taking my second CAT exam this Saturday.  My goal break 600.  If I get in the low 600's I'll be content for the time being, considering I feel lost with all of the math.  I hope it's a function of MGMAT teaching quant at a higher level.  It has to be right?  I mean if I got my first CAT score of 590 without having done any prior work... you would think I would be able to get 600-620 on the second one.

I know some people may say, why are you aiming so low?  Well...at the point when you sit down for the exam can you really AIM for a higher score or do you just take it and hope that your previous knowledge kicks in?  Of course I'll be happy with a 700, but honestly... the level I'm at now... if I get a 700 on the practice exam then there's something wrong with the algorithm!

Tomorrow's post will be good... I have some other things to update people on that transpired today, but I think that's all for tonight.  Tomorrow will be much better because I'll also have to transcribe my notes from my call with a Tuck student.

Ciao Bello/a
 
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