My GMAT Students Are "Totally Obsessed Weirdoes With Unbelievable Work Ethics"

And you know what? He keeps showing up for GMAT tutoring, he keeps studying until the wee hours of the morning, and he’ll do the same problem set four times in a row if he thinks it will help him get a better score. The poor man has done my evil number properties set more times than we can count. And he still screws up pieces of it. And then he does the problem set again, hoping that the breakthroughs will finally come. Sure, sometimes they do come… but usually only after an inhuman amount of effort.

But trust me on this: Money 9111 will finally give the GMAT a good, hard kick to the nuts before he’s done. He scored a 36 on quant back in May, and he’s consistently in the low-to-mid 40s on his practice tests now… and I don’t think that he’s really hit his peak yet. He’s done a ridiculous quantity of RC and CR questions, and I see signs that he’s finally starting to break through—the mind-numbing “literalness” of the GMAT verbal is actually making sense to him now. That dream of a 40+ verbal score isn’t far out of reach anymore.

As Money 9111 grinds his way to GMAT glory, his life will continue to be thoroughly unglamorous. Part of his homework is a daily regimen that includes a huge number of CR and RC questions, a smaller dose of SC questions, and a big fat wad of math problems. His CR and RC seems to suffer when he’s sleep-deprived, so I’ll keep making him turn in a “sleep log” every week—if he doesn’t get at least 50 hours of sleep every week, I’ll throw a tantrum. And if I’m feeling really mean, I’ll steal his cigarettes as punishment.

Money 9111’s next test day is coming soon, and I’m not going to even try to predict his next GMAT score. But I’m convinced that he’ll get into a badass b-school somehow, even if he doesn’t beat the tar out of the GMAT on his next attempt. One of the top MBA programs will figure out that Money 9111 is one of those “grinders” who will—some way or another—manage to get some serious shit done in the business world, even if he has to pull a lifetime of all-nighters to get it all done.

If nothing else, you have to give the man huge props for his work ethic. By the time he’s finished, Money 9111 might spend more than a thousand hours working on the GMAT and his applications. And he’ll probably never even complain about all of that work…

This report is adapted from Richard Battle-Baxter’s blog posts at “Ellipsing My Way…To Business School.”

Previous posts by Richard at Poets&Quants:

Should You Hire an MBA Consultant?

Study for the GMAT or Polish Off an Essay?

Am I Really Cut Out For This?

My First Round Applications Are Looking Elusive

A Frustrating Day and Night on GMAT Prep

Having Trouble Hitting the Submit Button

It’s Nearly Midnight. Where Are All My Friends?

“Why An Admissions Consultant Objected To My Essay on Coming Out”

“Brain Racing at 4 a.m. Thinking About Business School”

“After Scoring a 620 on My GMAT, I Want To Die”