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Roman Rybakov
is our April 2007 Student of the Month

 

Roman Rybakov:

UPDATE: Roman is currently attending INSEAD.

Here are a few words from Roman about himself, and some of his personal advice on the GMAT and TOEFL...

"In spite of the fact that I majored in Organic chemistry, my career skyrocketed in the sales departments of several multinational FMCG companies. During my employment I was able to progress from simple sales duties to strategy development in a CIS headquarters with responsibility for a $500 million product category. I was thinking about the possibilities of an international management career from the beginning of the 2000s, but was so occupied with my career that I passed up some possibilities of gaining a deeper understanding of other aspects of business (such as finance and marketing)."

"By the end of 2006 I clearly understood that it was time to make a conscious decision whether to stay on my previous track or to change for something new. I've chosen the second option. Now I am thinking about pushing my career to strategy consulting. In order to make the transition smooth I am going to apply to several top business schools with major in strategy and receive an MBA from one of them."

"Recently I passed GMAT and TOEFL exams and received 710 and 107 accordingly. I want to use this opportunity to share some thoughts about the exams and preparation."

"GMAT. Pericles provided a very structured approach to preparation and covered almost all necessary issues to succeed during the exam. As I finished the course I had a very clear picture of  my strengths and weaknesses and the only thing that I needed was to practice on real GMAT questions. So, equipped with Pericles guidelines and using the book "The Official Guide for GMAT Review" I very soon found that I know how to comply with GMAT problems of any type. Finally, a very useful thing was to practice through the Power Prep software that was on the course disk (it is also possible to download it from the web at no charge). It helped a lot because it fully simulated the real exam interface (I can tell this now)."

"TOEFL. This test however did not go that smooth for me at the beginning. When I received my TOEFL score, it was 104, while the minimum score that was required for one of my preferred Business Schools was 105. I felt very strange because I was sure that I did well during the test. That is why I decided to rescore the speaking part of the test (it is possible to rescore speaking and writing sections, the sections that are rated by people) and in one week received a new one - 107 - a great relief and a chance not to take the exam again in the nearest future. So, my advice is that if you feel that you did better than you are rated you can opt to rescore it."

Thanks for your words of advice, Roman. We at Pericles wish you all the best in your upcoming B-School adventure!