from May 13, 2009

First, brace yourselves, it costs a whopping $250 to take the GMAT.   The test fee includes releasing your scores to up to five business schools (it costs $25/school for every additional school) so plan ahead and start saving…

General consensus is that the test comes down to study study study and taking plenty of practice exams.  It’s a computer adaptive test, so it takes getting used to and it’s important to understand the format of the exam.

Kaplan, Princeton, and all the others have CD-ROM practice tests, and there is Free GMAT prep software on MBA.com.

Author of the blog How I Got a 770 on the GMAT has created a detailed study schedule for two months, for those of you who need a little structure or a kick in the a%#.  For more information about the test, check out the official website or an unofficial guide at GMATing.com.

Okay, now, go on, click on the link and  SET A DATE.  For those of us applying in Round 1 deadlines (early October) the absolute last time to take the test is in early September, as it takes around 20 days to get official scores.  So, if you haven’t already, register for THE TEST.

from May 11, 2009

I read an article on QS MBA a few weeks back detailing the experiences of a couple MBA graduates and their pursuit of meaning AND money.  Often times MBA students and graduates (ahem, and applicants) are forced to choose between of traditional money-making business roles and not-so-money-making-but-fulfilling life goals.  And so I pose the following question:  How can we reconcile the business savvy and an MBA degree with really helping people and contributing to “the greater good”?

In thearticle, one MBA grad states “I am willing to accept a lower salary …  A lighter wallet is worth the satisfaction of helping others.”  At first glance it seems that the two are mutually exclusive: we either make money, or we forgo monetary success to help people.

The next rational argument is that, well, we can make money and volunteer in our spare time or donate to charities with all the money we make.  True.  Necessary.  For example, the investment management company where I work: we have a separate department devoted to our charitable donations, and company-sponsored volunteer days.  Even at a firm as balanced and as socially-conscious as this one, the two activities (making money and helping people) remain completely separate.  We do one, then the other.  The separation is so complete, it is symbolized by a changing of clothes: the business suit to make money and the jeans and t-shirt to ‘get our hands dirty’ and help people.

What if it is possible to synthesize the two and create profitable businesses with social or environmental  missions?  Like Grameen Bank or Ashoka Fellows, is social entrepreneurship the answer to this dilemma?   I believe it is, and that it will be creative business leaders that pioneer the solutions to world social and environmental crises.  Perhaps then it is the challenge of MBA programs to create leadership that is able to balance the two, without having to forgo one or the other.

soni

from May 6, 2009

And so it begins, I am on my way to applying to Business school (I guess stating it publicly makes it official).  I have been studying feverishly for the GMATs, talking to everyone I know who has an MBA, reading articles, researching schools, and trying to articulate my answer to the ultimate question: WHY do I want an MBA?

As I ramp up this process, knowing I will submit my first application in about six months, I have found reading the blogs of former MBA applicants to be very motivating and information.

Check out my favorites (no particular order):

chocheaven

alex

mbaveggie

missionmba

trystwithmba

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