December 7, 2009 by kpitchfo
After three months of preparing, I finally took the GMAT last week and ended up scoring a 710. The GMAT is the test you take to get into business school, similar to the LSAT for law school or the MCAT for medical school. A 710 is in the 92nd percentile and I couldn’t be happier.
Before taking the logical next steps of researching schools and starting to write essays, I’m going to take a much-needed break. I’m going to go out on a Saturday night for the first time since August, I’m going to be selfish and take a lazy sunday, and I’m going to rest.
Step 1: complete. Harvard here we come…
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October 11, 2009 by kpitchfo
I don’t think there is any way I can not talk about how my hokies are doing so far this season. I’m not going to brag, rant, rave or throw out wild exclamations like my alma mater is #1, or even #2 or #3, but I am going to quote. And as you would expect, I’m going to pull in the most favorable ones, but as you might not not expect, I’m going to throw in a not-so-complementary one as well.
Good:
Virginia Tech is the most complete team it’s been in years” – Heather Dinich, ESPN
“When Virginia Tech plays like this, they may just be unstoppable” – Some guy, ESPN
Bad:
“…the ACC is not the SEC” – Lou Holtz, ESPN
While the hype is great, and Lou’s humbling is certainly warranted, there’s no arguing that after this week, at least, we are in fact the 4th best team in college football. Instead of us “playing to our strengths,” we are finding new ones. Instead of our weaknesses being exposed, we are continuing to wait for a team who can find out what they are. I think this last quote sums it up quite nicely (published before the #4 ranking came out):
“It’s one thing to be ranked like a national championship contender. At No. 5, the Hokies are by definition in the discussion. But it’s another thing altogether to actually play like a top-5 team. That — even the most ardent Tech fan would confess — the Hokies have rarely done.” – Aaron McFarling, Roanoke Times (had to, sorry)
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October 4, 2009 by kpitchfo
This week will mark my fourth week of GMAT preparation. From the title, you have likely already assumed I’ve employed Kaplan to structure how I approach this all-important test, and provide the materials for me to get the best score I can possibly get.
So far, the couse has been great. My teacher appears to know what he’s talking about, and my class is small (so I don’t feel bad asking a lot of questions). One of the major takeaways of my first few weeks in the class is even though Kaplan tells you what to study and when, how much you get out (your eventual score on the GMAT) will largely depend on how much you put in (making sure you understand the course material instead of reading it once and checking the box, never to be seen again).
One of the flaws I’ve noticed in Kaplan is while they certainly provide the material to dig deeper into what may be difficult subject area for you, their strict timeline doesn’t necessarily allow for it. For anyone, at least, with a full-time job.
Other than that, stars and stripes so far.
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