How do people find time to study for the GMAT and work full-time? Now my job is going to require only about 50-60 hours a week so that's doable but still difficult, but I can't imagine how someone in IBD pulling 80-100 hours a week could possibly have time to study. Unless of course they study and take the test before starting their jobs?
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find a conference room or quiet place and use lunch hour, and commute time. Make it a priority and work it into your schedule. Spend less time on non-productive email or fb. I am not saying "don't socialize". It is important for work success. Just manage your time and study in smaller blocks of time.
I almost exclusively studied at work (except for weekends). Any down time I had I studied and did practice questions. Those who are serious will make time regardless.
You have to want it badly enough. When I studied for the GMAT, I would go to the gym at 5:30am, go to work at 8am and study on the subway to work. I'd finish work at 6pm or 7pm and study for 2 hours afterwards Monday through Thursday. I'd typically take Friday night off to go out and see friends/my girlfriend then study hard on Saturday/Sunday (4 hours per day). This lasted for 5 and a half months and I got a 760. It was terribly painful, but worth it in the end with two MBA business schools ">M7 MBA program acceptances.
It's doable. Skipping going out on a Friday or Saturday night, for example, would give you 5-6 hours alone
Every lunch hour I sat at McDonald's and studied. After work I went to a coffee shop and studied. Weekends I went to a coffee shop and studied. I didn't do much except work, study and see my girlfriend. It's not rocket science, you just need to prioritize it. I got a 750.
how do ibankers find time to prepare for their GMAT and their B-school applications? (Originally Posted: 02/11/2007)
how do ibankers find time to prepare for their GMAT and their B-school applications? To me, this could seriously cut their daily sleep hours, affect their mental judgement, and create suicidal mentality!
Just curious if going to b school is still a must for bankers? someone told me nowadays you only need work experience in ib? thanks!
an mba is like a hooker on bay street: she's there, why not pick one up? plus everyone else's gettin one. its not always crucial, but if you have the option, well worth the investment.
Most bankers don't go straight to b school after analyst years.
Exit ops are better post-bb ibd than mba.
Save the MBA as a free option on a career change.
MBA is a pretty big opportunity cost. In this economy with lots of exit opps, it doesn't really make sense to give up 2 years of $150,000 salary+bonus and pay $40,000 a year for school.
Are you going to make that up somewhere down the road because you have an MBA? Doing what that you couldn't do beforehand?
Many ibanking firms don't retain their analysts after 2-3 years of services. And I heard many ibankers go attend B school after working 2-3 years. I know the opportunity cost that's involved. Still for the ones who go directly to B school 2-3 years in ibanking industry, how do they do it? Can anyone share your thought?
Ask your MD to give you your Saturday afternoons off to go to a Kaplan or whatever class.
If this works for you, come back and write about it because it might inspire others.
If your MD laughs his/her ass off...write about that too.
I've heard about firms allowing some time for their analysts for prepare for GMAT.
GMATS are good for 5 years... People take it their Senior Year of undergrad when they aren't doing shit. A lot of my friends are taking those Kaplan courses now.
When do you have time to study for the GMAT? (Originally Posted: 02/28/2009)
With working a lot, when do you find the time to study? I would like to begin soon, but I don't see when I would have the time.
spring semester of sr year. if you don't do it at this time, you're out of the "study mode" and you're pretty much screwed.
GMAT: How do you find time to prep? (Originally Posted: 07/16/2012)
How you you all find time to study and do well on the GMAT? Working IBD is intense in the first place.. how do you find time to also study for the GMAT?
I studied a bit this summer and am scoring in the 600s on practice exams, but when I get home from work I find it hard to be able to sit and learn math (or verbal).
Do you guys have any advice? I would like to get a 700+ before the end of August. My last MGMAT CAT was 630 Q40 V34.
I have the MGMAT guides. My main goal is to improve my Math to at least 46+ and then work on verbal
Do you go extremely hard (studying) on the weekends? Do you do a little every night? How many hours/months did it take to achieve your target score? Any advice?
Thanks!
I did it in the consulting lifestyle, which is probably easier than it is in IBD, but some of the things you have to do will definitely be applicable to both.
1) Study in the morning. Wake up an hour earlier than usual (yes, shitty) and knock out an hour in the morning. Studying after a 12+ (or whatever you guys work in IBD) is really hard, and your brain is pretty fried. You certainly can't get on more than 1-2 solid hours.
2) Try to squeeze some time in during the day. Many I know in IBD tend to have downtime here and there in a normal workday, so see if you can find time to squeeze in a 10 problem set of Quant here or there. Then when you get a little more downtime later in the day, use it to review your answers (thoroughly). I used the Kaplan Quiz Bank to do this while at work so I wouldn't have to pull out the OG. The problems are pretty good, not quite as good as the OG but they're similar and have good explanations. I think it costs like $150.
3) Use weekends well. That means if you can, two separate 3-4 hour blocks each day. In between, work out, run, do something active and do what you have to do to get your brain back together so you can use another session well. Also, once you've made some solid progress. practice tests should be done on weekends (obviously).
4) Plan effectively. This should probably be number one, but when you have limited time, set deadlines for yourself, and schedule out exactly what you want to do each night studying wise. Don't try to bite off more than you can chew either. If you know you'll only have the energy to study for an hour after work, then maybe your goal is to read through one chapter of the MGMAT guide, do the small problems at th eback of the book, and then do the associated OG problems. That doesn't sound like a lot, but in a wee, that means you've checked off basically a whole MGMAT guide and done 30+ OG problems. If you're knocking out other problems in the mornings or during the day, you'll be making great progress.
It's definitely doable, and tons of people that work horrible hours do it, but it will suck, and it will change your lifestyle for a few months (I studied for about 3 months total, 2 months really hard). Good luck
Did it as a consultant. Took 3-4 weeks off, hung out at parents home and went to University library. Probably not feasible for everyone.
GMAT prep you can do while at work? (during downtime) (Originally Posted: 02/20/2014)
Aside from whipping out a Manhattan GMAT Review book, any helpful online sites out there for review?
GMATClub.
GMAT Club Forum under the Quant and Verbal forum sections.
Example: http://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-data-sufficiency-ds-141/
Just go one thread at a time and practice questions. Difficulty is stated under the thread titles.
Also, I'd suggest downloading (iOS) the Manhattan GMAT app, called Pocket GMAT. It's good for toilet-studying.
I've heard the Vertias app is good too, but I wouldn't personally know.
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