Should I take gmat for mba? Incoming MBB
I'm an incoming MBB in the US starting next year.
I'm trying to figure out what to do over the next few months. I already relaxed the whole summer so I'm getting bored now trying to see what I can do to prepare for MBB but I also don't want to waste my time.
Option 1: take gmat. I'm not sure if I want to mba since it's very expensive and even in my MBB pays for it I would have to go back for 2 more years which I'm not sure I want to do at this point. So if I took the gmat I could waste months preparing for it and maybe not even end up doing mba. Ideally I would like to go from MBB to another job opportunity (no idea what), but if I'm burnt out then I would consider mba as a two year vacation, or if I don't get good jobs after MBB, then I would do mba and switch.
Option 2: work on excel, PowerPoint, coding skills, sql, vba, and more. Also try out some new hobbies.
How do I think about what option I should do and if neither of these, what should I do over the next 7 months to prepare?
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Why are you asking this in the RE forum? Is the idea to do MBB and then transfer to Real Estate? The MBA would allow you to transfer to PE, stay in Consulting, take 2 years off (which after you start working is a LOT more appealing), switch to Real estate if you strike out in the job market etc. The GMAT is good for 5ish years and you likely won't have the same amount of time to study compared to now, it'll be easier to do excel/vba stuff when you're on the bench/slow at work than study for the GMAT unless they give you dedicated time. While the industry is becoming more institutional, you don't need an MBA to succeed in Real Estate.
Thank you for the advice! Sorry, I didn’t mean to post in the RE forum, that was an accident, I’m not interested in RE as of now.
If you are interested in PE, you should study finance, accounting, and modeling. You don't need to get an MBA to pivot from MBB to PE. But you want to make sure you're ready for recruiting so you're not studying while working 60 hour weeks.
OP here, When does PE recruiting start and what exactly resource do I use to study? Also I’m not sure if I want to do PE, is that something I have to decide soon
Second this - know a guy who went from McKinsey (Dallas) to a NYC PE firm also was a non target. Don’t think you need the mba, but if you can afford it and wanna take time off… why not?
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I am in a similar boat as you - I am starting Jan 2024 after graduating this past spring. Been chilling out this summer so far, but need to start to find some purpose in my life. I am planning on studying/taking the GMAT in October/November. In my opinion, I think it is something good to have on your resume, as well as of course being useful if you do decide to go down the MBA route.
Regarding your option 2, during COVID, I self-studied Python and learned the basics. However, from what I have heard/experienced, it is quite an inefficient use of time trying to pick up these skills on your own time, as all the useful stuff will be learned on the job. I don't think coming into the job knowing the shortcuts of how to properly align images in descending order in PPT will differentiate yourself vs someone who will learn it on the job. However, I think having the GMAT done will be better use of your time, as your future self could potentially be thanking you.
Sounds good man, imma do the gmat. How much time are you allocating for studying for it? I’m thinking about 4 months but not sure how much is needed
From what I have learned, about 100 hours of studying is recommended, with some of the maximum bounds being 150 hours. Assuming you study not-so-intensely with 15/week, then you will need anywhere from 6-10 weeks to get to the 100-150 hours of studying. Therefore, I am expecting the process to take about 2 months from start to finish.
I would do the GMAT, it'll keep your brain busy and your future self will thank you. Studying for the GMAT every day after a long day of work and on weekends is not fun
I think the most important thing you can do is do some soul searching on what you want out of career. It's more important than studying something technical you'll forget.
MBB is fast paced and you get a lot of exposure to stuff, but it's really hard to have the time to reflect on what you want and what you actually enjoy.
If you can have some deliberate conversations/read things to figure out broad strokes of what you might or might not want it will help you direct your journey at MBB more (ie push you to build certain relationships, get on certain types of engagements) and give you some context if you exit in a few yrs. This includes figuring out what the exit opps are and learning about what this means and what you might enjoy. I'd say 80% of my class didn't know what they wanted and the earlier you figure it out the more you can leverage your MBB journey.
Equally as important is have some fun — go travelling somewhere you’ve always wanted to go or something of this ilk as when you’re deep in slidemaking you certainly won’t have time (and it will not be as fun)
Thank you! OP here. Do you know a place to start or a resource to use to think about what I want as I have no clue right now. And by that do you mean what industry I want to go into or specialize in later on, or what exit opp to do?
I’m not sure how to go about doing that.
In terms of figuring out what interests you... (based on my own experience thinking deeply about this towards the end of several years in consulting).
Short term: look at different practice areas / types of projects and see what seems interesting to you. You can try to bias your internal networking/staffing towards those at happy hours, etc (though be flexible).
Longer term: I recommend the book Design Your Life by Burnett and Evans.
Also recommend starting a Google doc that lists what you like and dislike in the following areas:
You may have some hypotheses on this now from your internship/school experiences. But you'll get a better sense as you're exposed to more real life experiences (and your interests may change). Also keep in mind that to some extent, you can be successful / happy doing a lot of things as long as you have a sense of mastery (see Newport's So Good They Can't Ignore You, though he overstates the case) and are feeling good and growing (see Adams's How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big).
If you have time, you might want to take the Myers Briggs or Birkman tests to get a sense of strengths and weaknesses...their validity is so-so but even noticing where you disagree with the results can be insightful.
This will let you iteratively seek out and explore types of jobs that sound like a good fit (through project staffings, reading online, and talking to folks in those roles).
Other things that would be helpful before you start, since consulting can be quite demanding:
- find an exercise routine you like -- it will give you energy and reduce stress
- try to develop a meditation practice (try Headspace or Calm or Google Natural Stress Relief meditation... It's a cheap and easy knockoff of Transcendental Meditation. Ray Dalio swears by the latter but it costs like $1000 to learn)
- kick your caffeine dependency. (Even just switching from coffee to tea made an immense impact on my stress levels and, surprisingly, energy levels.)
- optimize your sleep (minimizing light, finding earplugs that work for you, and avoiding eating and drinking alcohol within 2-3h of bed have been most helpful for me. Also playing with turning down the light the hour before bed and trying to get 10 min outdoors first thing in the morning)
- this isn't a habit you really need repeated practice to develop, but since this has turned into sort of a "how to feel good in a demanding consulting job" post... I find that ending my shower with a minute of ice cold water (fine to start with hot water if you want) wakes me up and chills me out at the same time (in addition to creating a sense of euphoria).
The more of these you do, the better you will feel and perform while in consulting. I've picked these up over the years, but I wish I'd done so before I'd started. You can do them while having fun and studying for the GMAT, which I agree are good ideas. Will be much more valuable than learning excel shortcuts or something.
OP here, Thank you so much! I've actually been working on the excersize, meditation, and sleep aspect of things over the past few months as I was diagnosed with some chronic health issues over the past couple years and am trying to improve that now that I have free time, so thanks for the suggestion.
What resources did you use to narrow down what industries you enjoy? I saw that MBB releases industry reports on each industry, so is a good place to start reading those? In addition, would you recommend that I start networking now or is overkill?
With regards to exercise, how do you find the energy to excersize before work and then go on to work from 8am - 10pm or later? Is before work pretty much the only time you can excersize, and how do you excersize when traveling?
With regards to diet, I was wondering when you travel, do you have to eat out that entire week? I currently meal prep as it really helps my chronic health issues/workout goals, and am planning on doing that when I'm in my home office, but when traveling I was considering maybe taking some meals with me on the plane (with an ice pack) and storing it in the hotel fridge, and eating out a few times as well. Is it possible to cook when traveling?
Lastly could you explain how company sponsored mba works at MBB? What year do MBB people usually do mba and what are their motivations usually for company sponsored?
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