Thursday, March 27, 2014

GMAT Study, Sick Toddler, New Position and Columbia MBA Research


As I sit here listening to Sevyn Streeter, while I take a break from GMAT studies, all I can think about is whether or not I can hit my GMAT goal by the end of summer. For the most part I can stick to my study schedule, but if one thing goes out of whack...there goes my schedule for the day. For example, my Toddler woke me up at 2am this morning to let me know that he is sick (adorable) and that his nose was running. As a mother your first priority is your children. Unbeknownst to him, I was planning on waking up at 2am to make up for lost GMAT study time yesterday. As I picked him up, I realized that he had a fever, so I gave him a dose of Advil, placed a cool rag on his forehead and rocked him back to bed. As he fell asleep, I started to do more research on Columbia's MBA program. Having attended an HBCU, I want my next degree to come from an Ivy League Institution. HBCU's are still responsible for educating a majority of African American leaders, but depending upon the one you attend, your degree can be scrutinized severely, even if you graduated at the top of your class and bust your butt to keep your grades up, all while taking Honors courses.


A few of my undergrad professors, who served as mentors to me attended Columbia University. What is there not to love about Columbia’s Global Business School? It’s located in the heart of Manhattan and is very close to Wall Street. I plan on pursuing a career on Wall Street, and with that; I need to attend a highly ranked program, that is a target for recruiters of major financial institutions. My GMAT goal is to hit a 700. I know that I have amazing attributes to my candidacy, which also includes the fact that I am a woman and a member of an underrepresented minority group. Getting back to Columbia, I am very interested in learning more about their Finance track, and their Global Immersion Program. I will try to reach out to the Admissions Department sometime today or tomorrow.


Next week will be a big week, because I will be starting a new position, with another firm. I am excited about that, but at the same time I do not want my GMAT studies to suffer. SO I will be implementing a new plan, to study for an hour in the morning and to study for an hour and a half at night. Pray for me....because I will need it :-) LOL. I will be fine, what is for me is for me and let no man take that away. MY GOD is good and through him I can do all things. Currently I am completing the 3 month study schedule for Empower GMAT and I must say that this course is amazing. ***Disclaimer, I do not work for Empower GMAT, nor am I a stakeholder in the company, I am an actual customer of the company's program**** with the help of Rich and Max, my goal of achieving a 700 is becoming more realistic. It’s time for me to get back to studying. I will update you guys on how I perform on my first cat (For this program).

 

 

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Ready...Set....GO!!!


Brief Intro: As you can see from the title of this blog, I am a single mother to the sweetest toddler you could ever meet. I became a single mother, shortly after graduating from undergrad with honors. Like most young people, I didn't think getting pregnant would have happened to me....especially not at a time when I was joining my sorority, and preparing for a career on Wall Sreet. I attended an HBCU,  was a 4.0 student, an active campus leader and I secured internships in Investment Banking with one of the worlds' largest banks, and with the Federal Government’s Energy Information Administration's Budget Office as a Financial Management Trainee.

 
After undergrad I started my career as a Business Credit Analyst/Underwriter for a major financial institution, moved on and entered a finance rotational development program with a large manufacturing company. Currently, I am preparing for the GMAT and hope to be done with this process by the end of the summer. I started this blog to record my journey as I pursue admission into a Top 20 MBA program. While searching the web, I found no representation of single parenthood and tackling the MBA admission cycle, so I decided to be the first, and I hope that this blog will provide guidance to other successful single mothers in pursuit of a highly ranked MBA program.


I'm looking forward to this new phase in my life and hopefully in December I will recieve some of the best news of my life.