Studying for the GMAT and Training for Triathlons - Time Management Help

I'm trying to get a 710+ so I can partake in a top MBA school.

Can you guys be a little more specific regarding how you were able to juggle the various activities and have a life at the same time?

I'm a bit surprised that you guys all found the exam straightforward. It actually isn't for me. I scored low in the Verbal section of the GMAT and I'm not happy with it. I'm a data guy and I do well on the quantitative analysis components, which offsets my gmat scores incorrectly.

More guidance is appreciated.

Priorities.

What's more important, doing triathlon or doing long-course triathlon?

Doing long-course triathlon or improving at it?

Doing whichever you choose of the above vs. scoring higher on one problematic section of the GMAT?

What does the rest of your application look like? (To a professional or an academic, not to you).

Worrying about why women perceive you as intense, or getting into a great grad school and then making lots of money so it doesn't matter what women think about you?

From the outside and what little information you've provided, it looks a lot less like an issue of time management than it does of prioritization and focus. Kind of like needing to focus on making the hard workouts hard and keeping the easy workouts easy instead of how many workouts you can get in.

For a good score, I strongly recommend "Kaplan GMAT 800."  I followed their plan to a T and crushed the exam.  It's 16 chapters, and each takes about 3 hours PER CHAPTER (whoops) to do well.

I found the GMAT very straightforward - are you sure you aren't thinking of the GRE verbal?  That test sucked.

As for time management...ditto what Yanti said.  At the time I took the test, I was training for bodybuilding competitions and B-school was a backup plan, so I prioritized training, social life, then GMAT. 

That's the thing about standardized tests (IMO, for which Kaplan is an excellent study system) ... it's really about knowing the test, how it's created and evaluated, and on that basis knowing how to best take it.

Lets see, I train, I work full time, I row 4 days a week, I go to school, and I have a family and a life (well sort of). 

My advice...

Don't Sit Down!!!

I feel stupid suddenly. You're like the 4th person saying that the GMAT is straightforward.

Did you do better in the GMAT verbal or the math? My math is fairly close to the 95%, but man, my verbal is like in the 60s.

I haven't really started and I'm giving myself 4 months. Hopefully by February I can nail this down and start thinking about my applications.

You were body sculpting? Wow.

i got a perfect score on the math.  i am an engineer with a math minor, math is kind of my thing.  i'm telling you, the kaplan book is the trick.  nobody cares about the percentiles, they are going to look at your score.

If I can get into b-school, make lots of money and take my dates (i.e. my spandex, my bike, my running shoes, you, and my possible future wife) out for a wild evening, I'm sure my levels of happiness will be close to nirvana .

I find that it's just hard to do everything at once and so to your point about prioritization, I need to figure that piece out. It's hard for me to say: Study for my GMAT and suddenly drop my triathlon endurance because I enjoy the sport, but consequently, I can't do both. So frustrating...

I'm sure it's about figuring out the 'end goal' and what the long term plan is. Triathlons wont' go away, unless you can't afford the accessories to support them.

If your goal is to do OK on the GMAT and get into an OK B-school, then combine studying and training.  If you want to go to an "elite" school, triathlon still will be there when you've crushed the test. 

When I was preparing, I could in no way afford a tutor or even new prep books, so I went to the used book store and bought a TON of the most recent years' prep books I could find.  Studied them and did the work over and over again.  Did some full-length simulations so I knew how I'd feel at different points in the test, did more prep, did more simulations.  The result was I scored (in 1996) in the 98th percentile...I don't remember the numerical score off the top of my head.  The even better result was that a top-tier school that I didn't even apply to called me and asked why I didn't apply to them.  I'm not naming the school or how nicely things ended up for me, but let's just say I made out OK.

It helps that I have a fair amount of natural ability at taking standardized tests, but the incessant prepping I did helped me to land a pretty cool education and career.  Also on my side were the facts that I was single, had no dependents and had few expenses, affording me the time to practice.  Sure, I had a 10-year old car, lived in a crappy apartment with one folding chair and an air mattress and rarely went out, but it worked out for me well in the end.  Going to that b-school full-time was one of the most stimulating, eye-opening and fun things I ever did.  Changed my life in a lot of ways.

Holy Snap - a full score on the math?

Be my tutor!

I'll try the Kaplan book and try my level best. Did you end up going to HBS?

haha, i actually ended up taking a new job and doing my MBA part-time.  but i did receive a handful of those "apply here!" letters.  in hindsight, i wish i would have gone fulltime, but i wasn't willing to make the sacrifice of going back to a college lifestyle after 2 years in the workforce.  i'm making the most out of my part-time program though, already networked myself into a new job and i'm not even finished yet.