Sure, I’d be happy to share.

I’ve only selected courses for semesters 1 & 2 for now. If there’s interest, I can update my list later on.

To give some context, my intention is to specialize in International Trade at the level of small to medium sized business. So while these first couple semesters are pretty standard business fundamentals, in semester 4 you’ll notice I start to choose courses based on developing specific skill sets that are applicable to my objectives.

I’ve ignored several courses which would be important for someone looking to get a complete and well rounded business education, but don’t seem critical for my goals.

Some courses I’ve skipped: Ethics (lol), Information Systems, Project Management, Calculus, Econometrics, Corporate Finance, Political Economics, Cyber Security, Human Resources.

Okay, on to the curriculum...


---

Academic Foundations (Optional Prep Courses)

I am about to embark on a lengthy 1-2yr education so for me it makes sense to brush up on academics skills as force multipliers for my efforts later on. This section is totally optional though and not part of any business school curriculum.

Academic Foundations - Memory & Effective Learning

Courses:

• Learning How to Learn @ UC San Diego or…
  
  
• Mindshift @ McMaster University
  
  Books:
  
  
• The Memory Book - Harry Lorayne, Jerry Lucas
  
  
• The Four Hour Chef - Tim Ferriss
  
  
• How to Read a Book - Mortimer Adler
  
  Other Resources:
  
  
• Anki (spaced repetition software)
  
  

  Academic Foundations - Productivity
  

  
  Books
  
  

• Getting Things Done - David Allen
  
  Other Resources:
  
  
• Pomodoro Technique
  
• How To Read A Book In A Single Day (short article w/ actionable speed reading tips)
  
  

  Academic Foundations - Writing
  

  Book
  
  

• Elements Of Style - Strunk & White
  
  ---
  
  

  Semester 1
  

  
  

  Business 101
  

• Business Foundations @ UBC
  
  

  Math - Algebra
  

• Kahn Academy Math Tutorials
  
• Maths Essentials for MBA Success @ Imperial College London
  
  

  Accounting
  

  
  

• Financial Accounting Made Fun @ Babson
  
• The prof has had a long and impressive career and he truly does make the subject more engaging through telling the story of a fictional business in little movies
  
  
• Alternative 1: Accounting: Principles of Financial Accounting @ IESE Business School
  
• The prof is engaging and likeable and also teaches through the story of a fictional business. I like this one too.
  
  
• Alternative 2: Introduction to Financial Accounting @ Wharton
  
• This seems to be the most comprehensive of the accounting courses but not as engaging. I figured a more comprehensive course is not going to benefit me if my enthusiasm and retention of information suffers so I skipped this one. If you are naturally smarter than me or have a longer attention span, this is probably the best introduction to accounting course for you.
  
  

  MicroEconomics
  

• [Principles of Microeconomics @ MIT] (https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/economics/14-01sc-principles-of-microeconomics-fall-2011/)
  
• This introductory microeconomics class is one of the most popular that MIT has made available, and is taught by Prof. Jonathan Gruber. He’s been teaching there for 20 years and is an extremely prominent economist who helped design Massachusetts’ groundbreaking health-care reform.
  
  ---
  
  

  Semester 2
  

  
  

  Marketing
  

• An Introduction To Marketing @ Wharton
  
• Taught by three of Wharton's top faculty in the marketing department, consistently ranked as the #1 marketing department in the world, this course covers three core topics in customer loyalty: branding, customer centricity, and practical, go-to-market strategies.
  
  

  MacroEconomics
  

• Principles of Macroeconomics @ MIT
  
  

  Finance
  

• Finance for Everyone: Smart Tools for Decision-Making @ MIT
  
• Not sure this course is going to be sufficient for business school but I really wanted to learn from Prof. Gautam Kaul and since his Introduction To Finance course seems to have been discontinued at Coursera I am going to roll the dice on this one. Look for something else if you want to make sure you’re prepared with a solid finance background for business.
  
  

  Math - Statistics
  

• Analytics For Decision Making @ Babson
  
• I chose Statistics instead of Calculus after watching this TED talk and reading this article
  
  ---
  
  

  Semester 3
  

  
  

  Operations Management
  

  
  

  Supply Chain Management
  

  
  

  International Business
  

  
  

  Game Theory
  

• Game Theory @ Yale
  
  

  Strategic Thinking/Decision Making
  

• Effective Problem-Solving and Decision-Making @ UC Irvine
  
  ---
  
  

  Semester 4
  

  E-commerce
  

  
  

  Product Design
  

  
  

  Opportunities in Developing Economies
  

  
  

  Management/Leadership
  

  
  ---
  
  

  Semester 5
  

  Negotiations
  

  
  

  Entrepreneurship
  

  
  

  Global Supply Chain Management
  

  
  

  Pricing
  

  
  

  International Business Law
  

  
  

Regarding the GMAT - I studied for four months IIRC. Took a blind test at the beginning, a Kaplan practice CAT, and scored a 670. I used the Manhattan GMAT study guides (that comes with CATs), MGMAT Advanced Quant, the three Official Guides, the GMAC practice question bank and all the GMAC practice CAT's. I was able to get my score up to 750 on my first try.

Regarding what I think you should do - First, talk this through with your wife. This is a family decision, not just about you (as you're probably aware). There is greater risk to going for a full time program, but the benefits are arguably better, and to do what you want post-MBA you'll have to move around anyways. However, risk aside, there is also greater disruption to your family life, and you need to talk through with your wife to see what she would be okay with. What you need to balance are the needs of your family and the opportunities provided by going all in at a full time program.

Regarding your chances - If you're studying now then you aren't applying until next Fall, meaning that you have at least a year to work on your profile, and two years until matriculation. You need to decide on where you want to apply and why, and then look at specifically what those schools look for. All schools have some requirements in common, but all schools have a specific identity and fit, and so you need to figure out where you want to go and why. I would recommend doing a few things to improve your profile over the next year:

1. If your GMAT score is <730, take multiple courses through a community college or local university (and get straight A's) to build an alternative transcript. If it's =>730, then maybe just take one course for good measure.
   
   
2. You mention nothing of volunteer work. Get involved in a nonprofit that you're interested in, preferably on the board. Something you're passionate about, so your passion will come through in your desire to build the organization and move it forward. Volunteer work says a lot about you, and will also provide you with a solid leadership story.
   
   
3. Keep cracking at work. Remember that leadership isn't about your official job title or the number of people reporting to you. I would recommend reading Collective Genius by Linda Hill. Dr. Hill is the chair of Harvard Business School's Leadership Initiative and this is an amazing book on what makes great, innovative leaders. Try to lead in the style of this book, at work and in your volunteer work.
   
   
4. Identify your recommenders and start working on them now. This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to inform them of your decision to go to school now, but identify who you want them to be and start building a reputation with them. Start working on and recording examples of what they could write about as specifics.
   
   
5. Write down a detailed list of your current/past accomplishments at all your jobs and volunteer work. Keep this list meticulously updated. It will give you a wealth of information when filling out your applications.
   
   
6. Probably most importantly, get a better idea of what you want to do after your MBA, and why you need an MBA to do it. From what you've wrote here it's clear that you're not as far along that path as you should be.
   
   
   Hope this helps. I was where you are a year ago. I'm going through applications currently and so you're just starting down the same path I'm finishing. Feel free to respond with questions.

First off, congrats on the amazing score and profile!

1. What to focus on next: If you're not too familiar with the application process (what schools are looking for, what goes into an effective profile/"story"), I'd recommend researching the overall process. The /r/MBA wiki is a decent starting point. During my admissions cycle last year, I read through some of the bookmarked threads on gmatclub (lotta info) and also read Paul Bodine's book. In hindsight, doing both was information overload; one is enough. It should take a couple days to a week but it'll help you have a very clear understanding of how to proceed and formulate a road map that works for you.
   
   
2. Supervisors: Perfect. Start trying to find the questions for the recommenders online. Most of the top schools have similar/same questions but some are notably different. If you can aggregate these for your recommenders including the deadlines, they'll greatly appreciate it. Regardless, you're gonna have to go into each application portal and send them a unique link for each school to fill out. Schedule time to sit down with your recommenders 1-on-1 to discuss your candidacy. If you've done the research suggested above, you'll have a good idea on how to approach this.
   
   
3. Resume: Depending on how yours look, B-school resume might be a little bit different. They're gonna look for evidence of teamwork, leadership, and career advancement. So if your resume doesn't already emphasize these points, it might need slight reworking.
   
   
4. Time: Your first applications will take longer and your final ones will be quicker. My longest application took over a month (it's hard to know when to stop rewriting). My last ones with overlapping questions took about a week.
   
5. 10 schools: Definitely do not 10 in one round. If you attempt 10 in one round, the questions will be so different that you end up compromising on quality. I'd either do your top choices in round 1 and safeties in round 2, or a mix of reaches and safeties in each round. 3-5/round is ideal. Start researching the schools and seeing which ones you really like. This should help you trim down the list from 10. Having your list ranked by personal preference will help you identify where your priorities are.
   
   
6. Additional to-do's: Get onto the school's mailing list so you know when they are doing admission events in your area or nearby. Try to make it to these events so you know the schools better and can answer the "why school x" questions. If time/money permits, try to attend campus events (probably won't start backup till the fall near Round 1 deadlines).
   
   Best of luck!
   
   

You've got a lot of options, so I'm going to throw out a few I recommend, no particular order:

• Easy course on financial modeling that has a pretty good overview of basic excel functions. Great quick overview and an added bonus of learning some basic financial modeling concepts: https://www.udemy.com/financial-modeling-for-startups-small-businesses/learn/v4/t/lecture/6759908?start=0
  
• Book that I used in my summer before starting my post-undergrad consulting gig. Really good but a little deep/dense: https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Excel-Analysis-Business-Modeling/dp/1509304215/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526764344&sr=8-1&keywords=excel+for+business+analysis
  
• Great website that starts from the basics, and you can skip forward to learn more:https://www.excel-easy.com/
  
• Surprisingly, some really great financial modeling videos put together by Martin Shkreli. As much of a dick that he is, he has some pretty good Excel skills and walks people through his methodology of building out models. He doesn't teach functions but you can look up what he does while you watch:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARrNYyJEnFI
  
• My personal favorite for analysts that would reach out to me before starting asking for help. Great YT channel with lots of tips:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkndrGoNpUDV-uia6a9jwVg
  
  Disclaimer: I have not gone to B-School yet, but my experience with analysts that come from technical backgrounds is that Excel is a fairly easy tool to pickup. I wouldn't stress too much about learning before you get in.
  
  Hope it helps.

Hey all,

First time post and wanted to share my story.

School | Status
---|---
Stanford GSB | Rejected w/o interview
MIT Sloan | Rejected w/interview
HBS | Rejected w/o interview
Berkeley Haas | Rejected w/interview
Wharton | Accepted

Background:

• 25 year old Canadian male.
  
• GMAT: 740
  
• GPA: 3.86 in Information Science at an Ivy League
  
• WE: 1 year as a software developer at an SF start-up. Previously spent 3 years at a large NY financial firm.
  
• Extracurriculars: guitarist in a band, soccer player, volunteer tutor for low-income high-school students
  
• Recommendations: Had four separate people write my recommendations, including a few who let me give some input into the content of it.
  
  Application strategy:
  
  I knew I wanted to start my own company so I tailored my essays to discuss how I felt business school would help me become an entrepreneur. I used no consultants and pretty much followed Your MBA Game Plan to a T. I talked to at least one alumnus from each school (and in some cases three or more) to understand what they got out of it, and visited every single school (and attended a class) to get a feel for the culture.
  
  If people would like I can share my notes that I took at each university I applied to.
  
  Tips for R2:
  
  General tips:
  
  
• Answer the essay prompts as directly as possible. I feel like I got dinged at HBS and GSB because I either answered it not in the way they wanted (in the case of HBS) or because my answer wasn't obvious or clear (in the case of GSB).
  
• The best strategy is to put your most honest self forward in your application, shoot for your top schools, and accept that by doing so you are opening yourself up to rejection based on who you are. That's OK: this vulnerability is uncomfortable but part of the process, and by doing so you are most likely to get the best option possible.
  
  In hindsight here's what I would tell myself for each school:
  
  
• Stanford GSB: Make the connection between your start-up dreams and Stanford more explicit.
  
• MIT Sloan: Show more of your natural enthusiasm for MIT.
  
• HBS: Write the essay as if it were a conversation, not a speech.
  
• Berkeley Haas: Again, make it clear why business school is a good fit for your start-up dreams.
  
  And a question for everyone here:
  
  Should I take the Wharton offer or turn it down and re-apply next year? Here are some pros/cons to accepting the offer:
  
  Pros to declining and re-applying | Pros to accepting
  ---|---
  Very happy at current role | Wharton still holds its own in entrepreneurship and is getting better every day
  Can produce a much more solid application | My odds of getting into my higher choices won't increase (and in Wharton's case, will decrease if I re-apply)
  Confident in showing career growth by next year | Dude, it's Wharton. A top 5 school by consensus.
  Entrepreneurial scene is much weaker than at the other schools I applied to | A large class = a lot of like-minded people that I could find.
  I found aspects of Wharton's culture deeply concerning. | No better time than now to go.

I don’t come from a liberal arts background but I majored in a STEM field that wasn’t CS or econ. I’ve been working in business environments since undergrad despite not having any sort of formal finance / econ / business education (though I admit having a STEM major is a convenient signal to employers that I can do math). Many entry-level jobs don’t require you to be a subject matter expert straight out of undergrad. I spent a lot of my first year in consulting taking notes, tracking items on spreadsheets, and scheduling meetings. Can’t speak for banks but there are certainly corporate jobs out there that don’t require a ton of specialized knowledge. (The big secret is those 17 years of formal education don’t always directly translate into what real jobs are - even my engineer friends only use 5% of what they learned in school while on the job, by their estimation)

You may have to do some work to spin your experiences (and you’ll have to hustle to network bc many companies will only recruit college seniors since it’s easier / cheaper to grab a bunch at once) but it’s possible.

If your local library has this book, I’d recommend checking it out. I skimmed it once and it seemed like it had good advice for how to communicate your skills in a way that will resonate with companies

I'm starting my MBA this fall, but I've been using The 2-Hour Job Search to find people to contact about internships. It's worked way better than I could've imagined.

I've had 9 info interviews with people this month in the industry I'm interested in, and have had good email exchanges with several more. It's nice because it gives you exact steps to follow for networking, which is something I've never been very good at.

I'm also planning on attending the career fairs at school, talking to recruiters that come to school, and going to career fairs where companies I'm interested in will have recruiters.

On top of that, my LinkedIn profile and resume are both pretty polished so I can send one or the other to people on short notice.

PowerPrep Software from GMAC for Practice Tests. These are older official tests that are the best representation of taking an actual test. The software comes with two tests for free, and you can purchase up to four more tests in their shop.

The Official Guide for practice questions. You can also purchase the Official Verbal Guide and Official Quant Guide for more questions later if you need it.

chineseburned's guide to the AWA on GMAT Club. If you follow this format and practice 2-3 essays you will score a perfect 6 on the AWA. If you make an account on GMAT Club, you can also use the built in timer function to test yourself on Official Guide questions (using tags to filter them) which gives you a huge database of additional questions for Problem Solving, Data Sufficiency, Critical Reasoning, and Sentence Correction. I linked the forums already filtered for only official questions if you click any of the categories in the previous sentence.

Manhattan Prep for Quant study and the PowerScore Bible Trilogy for Verbal study. You will need the Official Guide to make proper use of the Manhattan Prep books. The Manhattan books also give you access codes to their online resources which include questions sets for the Official Guides and unofficial practice tests which are useful for practicing the testing environment. The caveat is that their tests are probably only accurate to within plus/minus 60 points. Also, the Manhattan Prep Sentence Correction book has a much better list of idioms than PowerScore, but I preferred PowerScore more overall.

I studied using those materials over the course of about 4 months and scored a 750 (48Q, 45V, 8IR, 6 AWA) on the first sttempt. Start by taking a practice test (preferably unofficial) to get a benchmark, and then begin with the Manhattan prep books and follow the strategy that is laid out by them. As a reference, I studied (roughly) 1-2 hours each weekday and 3-5 hours each Saturday and Sunday. Best of luck to you.

Status:
Admitted: HBS
Dinged w/o Interview : Stanford, MIT, Berkeley

Background: Hispanic Male, 3.7 GPA (Top 25 public univ), 166V/165Q, PhD drop out in engineering
2.5 yrs at graduate program, 1.5 yrs in industry at the leading company in my field.

Multiple NSF Fellowships, first author research papers, awards at current company, president of outreach org.

Strategy: Only applied to schools I would be more than excited to go to. Figured I either had a terrible shot or a great shot given my background. Sold myself as an expert in science and tech that wanted to branch out into leading my own start up or VC depending on the timing.

During my reflection, when I started realizing I was going to be dinged at most schools, I realized that the essays didn't really let me get my message across. I knew going in to stick to my message and just mold it to the schools prompts, but really answering the question for MIT was impossible to convey my message outside of my resume. Overall applying to MIT sucks I do not recommend their school if the admissions office is a reflection of the career support they give students. Also, Stanford is just a crap shoot. Berkeley is doable but honestly I didn't put enough effort forward to fit my message into a measly 500 words.

The Harvard essay was the only one that let me properly sell myself, and I believe that is why I was successful there. ~800 words just introducing who I am and how I can provide value. It's the only essay I think works to sell myself. That is what the application process is about, how can you add value to the class in a unique way.

The fact that schools are slashing essays and word counts so heavily really tells me they are just playing a numbers game and looking for bullet points on your resume / how much you will donate based on your career path. It's all random once you meet the cut offs, so quantity is king. Sell sell sell your value add to the class.

I didn't use a consultant, this is really the only book you need:
http://www.amazon.com/MBA-Admissions-Strategy-Profile-Building/dp/0335241174

Feel free to ask me any other questions.

re: courses, I don't think any school course would be especially useful here. The retail prep courses are mostly fine--Manhattan GMAT's is highly regarded. In my opinion, the big-name ones can be a little too gimmicky, relying on situational tricks instead of just explaining the concepts.

If you're already comfortable with math, I recommend Sackman's 'Total GMAT Math'. I did pretty well on the GMAT, and I found his explanations to be the most straightforward & gimmick free (at least, as of 5 years ago, when I was studying).

As far as trying to figure out what different parts of an MBA program do, you might be interested in The Ten Day MBA, by Steven Silbiger. It breaks down the skills that you learn in classes on, say, marketing each day and provides a pretty good overview of how those skills are applied. If you're looking for help making a decision on your concentration, this might be helpful for you.

Assuming your GPA and GMAT are in line with the schools you're targeting, the problem is probably your essays. Your essays need to assert some good qualities about yourself, use stories to prove that those assertions are true, and tieback how those qualities will help you perform at [school] and do your part to make it better.

I highly recommend this book to get inside the heads of the admissions committees. You have to put yourself in their shoes and show how you'll help the school, not the other way around.

Currently going through the Manhattan series which I can't recommend enough which also comes with six practice CAT exams. Plan 3-5 practice exams including the two free ones from MBA.com before the actual exam.



IMO the OG guide isn't enough if you need to re-learn/practice subject matter. The Manhattan guide is also SUPER helpful when it comes to test taking strategy.

I posted this same thread not too long ago, might want to check the comments there.

So far I did absolutely nothing recommended, haha. This is what I did instead:

• Coursera's "Learning how to learn" - I definitely recommend this. Covers how your brain absorbs information and some tips on how to be an efficient learner.
  
• MITx "Intro to Computer Programming using Python" - I'm doing this just for fun. About 60% done.
  
• Kaplan's MBA fundamentals - Haven't started yet. But I bought the Accounting book since I know that I'm weak at accounting (Got a C back when I was in college).
  
  I plan on studying some case studies when I'm done with those three, and hopefully maybe read one or two recommended books.

Cracking the PM Interview here: https://www.amazon.com/Cracking-PM-Interview-Product-Technology/dp/0984782818/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535773043&sr=8-1&keywords=cracking+the+pm+interview would be a good place to start :)