My 30 Day GMAT Story

(& why I wrote this book) by Brandon Wu

I had a hard time deciding on a major in university. I have always been fascinated by video games, so I started university majoring in computer science, until I realized I was much more interested in people, culture, and social interactions. After much exploration, I switched subjects in my junior year and graduated with an economics degree.

After university, I became a financial consultant. It was a complete disaster - the company lost two-thirds of my client's money within a month. I soon left after learning more about their shady practices, and decided to give working with video games a try. I joined Electronic Arts (EA) as a tester and got paid just a little more than minimum wage. I was soon promoted to lead a small team of testers and had the pleasure of working on The Sims series.

Although I really enjoyed my time at EA, the low salary was putting pressure on me and the stress of the job coupled with a 1.5 hour commute each way was not great for my health. I decided it was time to accelerate my career and increase my opportunities by pursuing a graduate degree. I wanted to stay in the game industry so I applied for a master's program in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. I was accepted into the program In December 2004.

I took a vacation the following month in January 2005 to visit family and old friends back in Taiwan where I had grown up*. Many of my friends asked me what I planned to do next, and I told them that I would be starting a master's program in computer science when I returned to the US.

If you've never been to Taiwan but love food, you need to schedule your next vacation pronto. The night markets are a foodie's paradise!

After answering that question repeatedly, I began to question myself. Hadn't I switched my major in university away from computer science? Was this really what I wanted to do or was I following someone else's path? I ended up spending the majority of my vacation reconsidering my future.

One day, as I was walking through the financial district in Taipei, I realized that there were infinite possibilities in the world of business. This triggered an excitement in me that I had been missing for a long time, and this is when I first decided that I wanted to try to get into business school.

It was the beginning of February when I made that decision, and the deadline for the last round of applications for that same year was early March. I didn't want to wait another year before I applied, so I had exactly one month to prepare the application, get recommendation letters, finish all of the essays, and of course, take the GMAT. The earliest deadline for the schools to which I was applying was March 5th, so I registered to take the GMAT exactly one day before the deadline, on March 4th.

Early morning on test day, I headed to the test center. I arrived 30 minutes early, and sat in front of the building to review the notebook I had filled with all the notes I'd written during my studies. It was a beautiful sunny day in San Francisco - there were businessmen walking down the street, vendors selling pretzels and hot dogs, and tourists trying to find their way to Union Square. "What a fine day", I thought, "And I have to sit inside and take this dumb test!"

The computers in the test centers were old, and the monitors flickered during throughout the test. The room was sterile white and I sat in a tiny cubicle surrounded by other test-takers huffing and puffing away. It felt like taking my driving theory test all over again, except with a lot more pressure!

When I finally finished the test, I nervously glanced at the score on the screen. I thought something was wrong... I literally couldn't believe my eyes. 780?! I was hoping for a 700, but I never expected to get a 780!

I want to tell you now that I'm no genius. I consider myself to be quite smart, but I'm definitely no Einstein! So I analyzed what helped me get such a good score so that I could pass this advice on to friends who were also taking the test.

When it came down to it, one of the biggest advantages I had was the limited time I had to prepare for the test. It felt like a huge disadvantage at the time, but I truly think that it helped my score rather than hindered it.

With limited days to study, I couldn't just study hard; I had to make sure I studied smart. I had to ensure that I used my time efficiently and studied in a structured manner. The short preparation time I had became a motivator rather than an obstacle. The fact that the test date was set before I even started studying put a solid deadline in front of me. As such I was able to craft my plan of attack accordingly instead of aimlessly reading the sea of GMAT information available both online and off.

I decided to write this book to share my unique experience in the hope that it might help a fellow GMAT taker such as yourself who doesn't have the luxury of endless time to study. (And seriously, these days who does?)

A couple of months after the test, I was admitted into the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business with a tuition grant. My work experience was much shorter than the average, but my high GMAT score helped my application. The hard work that I had put in during the month that I had prepared for the GMAT had paid off. I'm not saying it was rainbows and butterflies that month; it was an intense time! But it was absolutely, 100% worth it and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Where Am I Now?

Fast-forward to the present day and I'm doing what I love, everyday.

Getting my MBA was one of the best investments I ever made in myself. It opened doors for me and got me much closer to the kind of life I had always wanted. During the MBA program I secured a job at the Sony headquarters in Tokyo in the strategy division which I enjoyed immensely for three years. The knowledge and skills I gained in business school certainly got me there, and the six-figure salary was a welcome change from what I'd made prior to business school. It was during these years in Japan when I first started writing this manuscript - spending most of my week nights in a coffee shop in Tokyo typing away. It took two years to finish the first draft, and the first edition was finally published in 2010.

After I met my wife in Tokyo (yet another door that was opened for me) we decided to move back to the US. By then I had saved enough money to follow my passion...

You guessed it. I'm back to making video games! I started my own studio (Studio Pepwuper, check us out if you're a gamer!), set my own hours, work with an amazing team, and I can work anywhere in the world without having to worry about a crazy commute each day.

I believe that acing the GMAT and getting into a great MBA program will bring your dream job or life closer too, and that should be at the forefront of your mind during this month. If I can do it, you can too!