It's been awhile since I've posted and, as always, want to say thank you to this community. It has grown alot and has helped me grow alot. Keep up the positivity and good work. I wrote this piecemeal guide and will answer any questions to give back on what I think is a huge differentiator in my life, and could be for yours.

A quick story and some loose benefits to doing a major pivot in my career. I was an industry I did not like at all and had risen fairly high but did not enjoy it one bit and enough though I was making close to 100k with some side hustles, I knew the ceiling was coming quick. I got truly dicked over at work via a promotion and it set in motions the seemingly insurmountable task of taking the GMAT, applying to school, graduating and getting a job. I'll explain how to break it down to not make it such an insurmountable task.

That task, however, it made me infinitely happier.

-I have direction in my life, I finally left an industry and job(s) that I was not happy at.

-I love the learning process of classes. I enjoy expanding my horizon and skillset and diving deep into class. I attend 99% of classes, bust my ass for midterms/finals and finished my first year with a 3.7.

-I have met tons of great people. I expanded my social circle, my network and have more meaningful connections than I did before. It also gets you out of the circle of people that drink every weekend with no direction in their life (don't get me wrong, there are alot of networking events in B school that involve drinking, but I don't drink at more than half of them).

I'm heading into recruiting for jobs that will put me close to 200k after signing bonus and bonus. It is an industry that I am finally excited about with people that I am excited to work with. Money is not the end all be all, but we know it helps.

So some tips.

-One step at a time: start studying for the gmat. Read some resources, make a plan, sacrifice time in your life to take that test and DO WELL. Take it 5 times if you have to. The reason being is you want to get into a good school.

-Personally, I don't think going to anything below a top 25 is worth it financially. You want a name brand that companies recruit out of and looks good on your resume. Anything below just is not worth the financial risk IMO. Pro tip: there are part time programs that are essentially back doors into these programs. Same MBA, lower requirements. Biggest hack you8 could find is going to a top tier part time program and accelerating, which is what I am currently doing.

-Spread it out and apply to a bunch of different schools to maximize your chances. There are also MBA consultants that help with applications but be prepared to $$$

-Kill it in school. My favorite analogy that a Wharton mentor of mine said was "B school is like a gym membership, I'ts up to you how much you work out and use the gym". Learn everything, join clubs, network, enjoy the process. Its painful at times, but you'll have other people to comesmerate with you.

-Recruit hard. Informational internships, career center, your network, kill it.

Hope this helps you guys, happy to answer any questions.