Yeah Hi GMAT? You're not that special!

So I've been studying hard...going hard with Quant these last couple of weeks.  I mean if you don't do well on the Quant section then there's really nothing more you can do in terms of the application and trying to optimize the "holistic" approach.  I understand what b-schools say when they mention this approach, but I only believe it to an extent.  I wonder if business schools are just as unsure about the process as applicants are.

I mean think about it...  it HAS to be holistic to an extent.  Just take a look at the average GMAT scores amongst (could have said among but I've naturally gravitated towards the English way of saying it) the top business schools.  All of the mean GMAT scores are above 700, so yes... Holistic approach - sure I'll give you that...BUT let's look at the numbers shall we?

Let's say there are 5 students in a matriculating class and the mean GMAT score is a 710 and the school admits a 650 GMAT score..  Well what do the other 4 scores need to be in order to have a school mean of 710?  So we have:

(A+B+C+D+650)/5 = 710
A+B+C+D+650 = 3550
A+B+C+D=2900
2900/4 = 725

So in order to admit that 650 student and maintain an Mean GMAT of 710 the adcom needs to admit FOUR 730 GMAT scores, since we would need to round up in order to reach that 710 minimum.  I say this all to say that yes while schools take on a holistic approach when reviewing applications... I personally need to keep in mind that it may be a reach for them to admit a lower stratosphere score even if my application is superb!  Just a little note to self  :-)

My tutor is going to have a BLAST with me tomorrow!  I've done all of the worksheets he's given me to do while he's been away for the past week, and I must admit that I feel defeated because of the last worksheet I completed.  It was very tough - even as I was going through it I said to myself "WTF!"  The good thing about it was that I knew what the questions were asking, and there is a definite pattern as to which types of questions I'm missing.  I have a plethora of questions for him tomorrow, so our session should be interesting.

@Charles ... if you're reading this... I'm not going to hold anything back tomorrow!  Just so YOU know!

@Everyone else studying for the GMAT - we can do this!  It's JUST a test, albeit a stressful one, but JUST  a BEATABLE test!  Let's keep each other going...

@People who only had to take it once - like my friend admitted to Ross - yeah... um... I envy you right now!

Tomorrow I'll be finishing up the first rough drafts of my Tuck essays!
Saturday I'll be going sailing with a friend I haven't seen in 10 years!
Sunday I'll be studying my ass off.

Until tomorrow!  Take Care!

Addressing Weakness in Essays!

Hello everyone... I have returned!  As I continue studying for the GMAT, my friend Brett Nowak has so kindly provided me with some more content for my blog.  If you don't remember Brett, he was the guest blogger on my 5000th Visitor post.  He owns Ivy App Success and has some great advice as to how one should address weakness in essays.

How to Address Weakness 

The Art of Bridging 

- Brett Nowak, www.IvyAppSuccess.com

There are two effective ways to address weaknesses in the MBA application.

1.) Don’t Include the Weakness

An often overlooked option for weaknesses is to not include them at all. This is highly recommended if the weakness was not addressed with positive actions.

For example, one of my clients had a lackluster academic performance throughout college. Although this was a weakness, she had taken little steps to improve her GPA. She had, however, excellent examples of leadership at work. Instead of explaining her poor GPA, we wrote the optional essay about additional leadership examples at work. By focusing on her strengths, she got accepted into her top choice.

2.) State the Weakness and Bridge to Strengths

If you overcame a weakness, fixed a wrong, or proved that it won’t happen again, weaknesses can actually becomes strengths. To do this effectively, you must make the reader focus on the positives. This is done by stating the weakness as an unapologetic fact then moving on to the positives.

For example, one of my clients had plagiarized a paragraph in his last college paper. He had, however, admitted to his error and learned from his mistake. Instead of writing the essay about why he plagiarized, we addressed the issue in a way that stressed his strengths. Here is an example of what he wrote:

“In the last semester of college, I plagiarized a paragraph in a paper that resulted in a one semester off punish before graduating [unapologetic statement of the weakness]. The school’s response was forgiving because I admitted to the mistake and had such a strong academic record to this point [bridged to positive]. From this experience, I have learned that the best way to overcome a problem is to be honest and forthright [transition to positives]”. (The rest of the essay included the stories of how he addressed the issue properly.)

With this bridging technique, the essay, which was supposed to be about plagiarizing, was filled with stories of honesty, integrity and growth.

Remember that the application process is about selling and marketing. It is not a confession, diary, or journal. Weaknesses should be address with the end goal in mind: to win the application game.

Ivy App Success

Kaplan: Destination Business School

Hello All,

So last night I said that I would be writing today about the Kaplan Event that's occurring this weekend here in NYC.  Thanks to Eric at BeatTheGMAT, I'm able to proudly represent BTG.  See - I even got this sweet BTG T-Shirt!

I see a BTG retailing opportunity ahead of us!  But... I will say that you can expect me to wear this T-Shirt when I take the GMAT the next time!  People are going to think I'm crazy, but that's alright because they already do!

So this weekend is the Kaplan Event.  Here is a rundown of the schedule:

Saturday August 7th

10:00 - 10:30 = Kick-Off

10:30 - 12:00 = Your B-School Blueprint - A complete overview of the admissions process

12:00 - 1:00   = Working Lunch

1:00   -  4:30  = MBA Fair

Evening -       = Happy Hour  ( must contain myself haha) 

Sunday August 8th

9:00  - 10:00 = Elevator Pitch Breakfast - Practice your pitch for your interviews, essays, and networking

10:30 - 12:00 = Mastering the GMAT: Scoring 700+ (I could probably give this presentation... do as I say not as I do, since I haven't scored 700+ YET)

12:30 - 1:30  = Lunch and Mock Business School Class

1:30 - 2:30 = Career Round Robin - Speak with MBA's in Consulting, Banking, Government, etc.

2:30 - 3:30 = Application Essay Clinic featuring mBaMission.

3:30 - 4:00 = Closing

So I'm excited for every single one of those sessions.  Of the schools that will be there, I'm interested in... well Tuck of course but you guys are tired of hearing about that one lol...  But I do need to add some more schools to the list.  I'm going to stake out UCLA Anderson, Cornell since I still have more questions, Michigan Ross, Darden, and Yale.  I have never spoken to anyone from Darden, so that will be interesting.  

Anyway I digress...  It's going to be a jam packed weekend.  Now for the good stuff.. In order to prepare for this event, an email went out to I'm assuming all attendees... We have homework folks!  

1.) We have to update our resumes and bring 10 copies.

2.) Practice our Pitch

• Practice explaining in a minute or less, where you'd like to be in your career in five years and how you will get there.
• Practice your pictch on 8-10 friends and note their reactions and questions.

3.) Make a list of target schools.

• List 5-15 target b-schools (easy enough for me...)
• Identify your top 4 factors that you value in a school. (again easy enough for me)

4.) Pack your business cards - 50 should be more than enough

And then there are two optional assignments, which I won't have time to get too before the event, but definitely after the event before I finalize my essays and have completed the GMAT... soo... September for that assignment.

So yeah... there is some preparation that needs to go into this event.  The title of the event kind of fits into  the summary of my blog... funny how things come full circle huh?  

Full circle will be great when I hopefully get into the school of my choice and it's the first night and I write my final official b-school journey blog post!  I've been imagining that day a lot lately... That will be a great story!  ::fingers crossed::  

Ok I must be going now so I can review the Quant problems that I got incorrect tonight.  Data Sufficiency is NOT fun by any means!  Well the Geometry DS problems are fun... but the number properties = death.

BATTLE-BAXTER = OUT!!

Duke Fuqua Admit! Congrats Friend :-)

Hi... so this will be an update post.  

Let me first take you back to my post titled: What Sound Does a 680 Make? , which can be found here: http://bit.ly/680Sound  In this article I talked about how I had a couple friends who were getting dinged left and right.  Since then, and I'm sure I said this somewhere in a previous post, but one of them was accepted to Darden.  He decided to pass up Darden and work for another year because he got a sweet promotion.  

My other friend who applied to a bunch of schools and was rejected from all of them WAS in deed waitlisted at Duke Fuqua.  I didn't know he was waitlisted...or I forgot, but nevertheless, he sent me a text today saying that he got into Duke!  Now what immediately went through my head was, wow that's kinda late in the year I think.  I was BAFFLED, but what transpired next... just read the conversation below:

I would have at least thought that schools would give a little bit more notice than A DAY!  But I guess, they have numbers to hit.  

Now... update from MY end...  

I haven't worked on my essays too much.  I've been doing well with my GMAT studying.  I am working with a tutor now to just fill in the holes that I have.  I only plan on taking the GMAT one more time so I gotta hit a home run this time.  Again.. I'm so tired of talking about it.  I have a lot of homework from my tutor to do this week.  It's definitely a good thing though so I'm not complaining.  I just did the first 50 problems of a problem set he gave me and I only got 2 incorrect.  One was incorrect because I didn't understand if the problem was a2 (or 2a) or a squared.  But whatever 2 out of 50 ain't bad if I do say so myself.  Tomorrow I'll go through the next problem sets.

Is anyone reading this who will be attending the Kaplan: Destination Business School this weekend?  If so... did you get the email about how we're supposed to prepare for that this event?!?!  I was shocked!  

I'm going to call it quits for tonight, but I'll post the agenda and what our "Homework" was for the event this weekend.   Which reminds me... I need to take my suit to the cleaners tomorrow...  hhmmppfff!

Battle-Baxter = OUT!  (I kinda wish I signed off all of my posts like that...)  

Inside Harvard Business School

Hello... this may be my shortest post ever but I just wanted to share this with you guys.  I've watched this CNBC Original about 10 times since it first aired on TV.  It's been on Hulu.com for a while now and I just wanted to share the link in case anyone has 45 minutes to watch.  It's pretty cool, insightful, and inspiring.

Inside Harvard Business School: http://bit.ly/InsideHBS

I'll post an update on my life tomorrow...  Enjoy!  ;-)