Never Quit
My GMAT/GRE Story
(for GMAT/GRE Club Motivation)
TL/DR: I graduated a public high school with a 2.6 G.P.A. (remedial classes), college with a 3.4 G.P.A. (ranked bottom 400th out of U.S. universities), and was woefully underprepared for this exam (test anxiety, plus no foundations). But with 7 years of dedication (all while working full-time), I made my dream come true by achieving my target score and gaining acceptance into Wharton Business School.

This story begins 7 years ago in Phoenix, Arizona. Every year my closest cousin and I would complete a ‘Year in Review’ session where we’d discuss the highs and lows of the previous year, as well as our goals for the following year. But this year was different. I had just completed two years as a technical sales specialist at IBM, and for many reasons, was starting to think more about my future. One thing that always lingered in the back of mind was the idea of attending a top business school program. This idea was further compounded by living in Washington, D.C. at the time, where nearly everyone I interacted with either had a master’s degree (usually an MBA) or was in pursuit of one. And so, after making it to my dream company (at the time), I decided that I was going to pursue another dream: attending a top 10 business school program.
Within the first week of this pursuit, I learned that to attend a top program, I’d have to take either the GMAT or the GRE. Having an incredibly weak Quant background at the time, I decided that the optimal challenge would be to take the GMAT (wrong decision off the bat). And so, I suited up for my first practice exam. While I don’t recall the first score precisely, I would say that 417 wasn’t far from it. In other words, I knew I was absolutely screwed. Even worse, I had severe test anxiety (practice exams would keep me up all night), and given my academic background at the time, I had absolutely no confidence that I was going to be able to achieve the ‘ideal’ 700 score. I had no choice but to start from scratch.
Over the next 3 years, I completed more than 300 Khan Academy math courses, starting with elementary math (I had no idea what the term ‘polygon’ meant) and ending with college statistics. For 2 more years, I completed 2 GMAT courses (didn’t really help), even before starting to take practice exams. Basically, I wasn’t getting this exam – and I had no excuses (read above). I was a shitty student my whole life, so why would I expect anything differently? I went through 3 separate relationships all while preparing/taking this exam.... it was agonizing.

The irony is that I had never been more successful at work. I switched over from IBM to Microsoft, and because I was studying all the time (despite not making huge results), I felt I had a leg up on everyone... and here’s the thing... these skills, the vocabulary, the critical thinking, the mathematical approaches REALLY DO COME IN HANDY (it’s objectively not a waste of time). All while girlfriends, close friends, and even family members told me to quit (... just wait until you accomplish the goal you set out on and then everyone all of a sudden ‘knew you can do it’)... but I didn’t. Maybe it’s because I’m stubborn, maybe it’s because I was envious of others who I thought I was just as smart/successful as, or maybe it’s because as someone in their late 20’s, I wanted to ‘right the wrong’ of my previous academic experience. And honestly, it’s probably a combination of all three. But no matter how tough it got (break-ups, missed events, missed life moments), I REFUSED to quit... and yes, many people thought I had gone truly mad.
And then I finally, after scoring well on the GMAT practice exams after 5 years, I signed up for the official GMAT exam. And guess what? I **** bombed! While I killed it in the vocabulary section, on paper, I had made minimal progress on the math section... AFTER 5 **** YEARS OF PRACTICE, COURSES, ETC. So, what did I do? I suited up and took it again. NO SUCCESS. Marginally better, but not good enough to attend a top 10 program (and if I’m being honest... after 5 years, I wasn’t looking at any program ranked below 10... because **** IT... I’ve put in this much work, I’m going to get a reward).
And so, after failing to accomplish my GMAT goal one final time (I wasn’t going to suit up for the GMAT Focus – even though I did my best, and prepped to the highest extent possible), I broke up with my girlfriend... well, she broke up with me... it was mutual....either way, it **** sucked.
So, there I am... Feb. 1st 2024. My gf and I split, I just bombed the official GMAT for a second time (see 5 years of preparation above), and I’m getting ready to turn 30 years old... I AM ****. On paper, I’m killing it, but mentally, I am wrecked.
And you know what? I got off my ass, blasted David Goggins motivational speeches and saddled up to take the GRE with vengeance (i.e. I was so good at losing to the GMAT, I knew how to win at the GRE).

And so, Feb. 1st, 2024, I started my GRE endeavor (year **** 6 of this odyssey). And you know what? Something clicked. I can’t explain it. Maybe it was the fact that I wasn’t dating someone who wasn’t supportive of this goal. Maybe it was that after 6 years, I had finally mastered studying and built up enough mental toughness to persevere when things got hard, or maybe it was the fact that I achieved clarity and peace (as crazy as it sounds... that’s exactly what I wanted to be doing with my time), or maybe it was the Manhattan Prep program and my lovely tutor Jerry. Probably all the above. But guys... it **** clicked, and I started to build momentum like I never had before, and alongside of it, results like I never had before. For 6 months, I was a machine (think prize fighter training for their championship bout), and I refused to back down. I found someone who was supportive of me (major help if you’re lucky enough), and I started to believe that it was possible. And on Nov. 11th, 2024, I finally achieved my target Quant Score on the GRE (160) (verbal was fine). A score that was ‘good enough’ to justify my application to the top business schools.

Fast forward 3 more months, I shipped out 6 applications to the top 6 programs, and on April 1st, 2024, I was notified of my acceptance into Wharton Business School. I don’t have a kid yet, so I can’t say for sure, but it’s hard to imagine that I will ever feel more proud/happy than when I received my acceptance email. I literally fell to the ground and cried (if you ever saw me, you’d not expect me to be that guy). So, was it worth it? Were all of those long hours, those outings sacrificed, those dinners where I’d try to sneak in a few problems on my phone, those arguments with ex-girlfriends that what I was doing wasn’t a waste of time (thanks again for the congratulatory note ), those nights where I’d stare at the ceiling wondering if I was wasting my life, ‘my precious 20’s’, worth it? AB-SO-****-LUTELY!
For every moment sacrificed, there was a 2-1 happiness response upon receiving that acceptance. I wake up almost every day in Philadelphia feeling as though I’m in a dream. I attend classes at Wharton with some of the smartest, most capable people in the world, and think to myself, how did I end up here? And all I need to do is look at my hours spent on Khan Academy, GMAT Club/GRE Club, and Manhattan Prep to know that I deserve to be here. When people say, “it’s a dream come true”, this is what they mean. I could die right now, not even graduate (achieving my target score became more important than the university), and die happily.
I’m posting this near Feb. 1st, 2026. Two years after bombing the GMAT, getting broken up with, and wondering to myself, “WTF AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?”. And now, I’m living my dream. I got my target score, I go to the #1 Business School in the country (latest rankings), I have amazing new friends, a vibrant social life, and NO REGRETS, and perhaps, most importantly, I live with the girl who supported me through that last 6-months/year – and plan on living with her the rest of my life. It couldn’t be more perfect.
And so, in closing, I challenge you, ‘why can’t you do the same’? Because if someone who was in remedial classes in high school, attended a bottom 400th ranked U.S. university, suffered from extreme test anxiety, and crushed it at his job while working for a top 5 Fortune 500 company can achieve his academic dream, WHY THE **** CAN’T YOU? 🫵.
Never quit – your future-self will thank you (I promise).