Admissions 101: Three Reasons to Wait Until Round 2

Continuing our "Admissions 101" series, today we explore the question of whether you should apply to business school in Round 1 or Round 2, and whether this decision really matters at all. Every year we get a lot of questions from applicants in late September and early October along the lines of, "Here's where my application stands today. Does it make sense to apply now, or [insert some way of improving one's application here] and apply in Round 2 instead?"

Our advice here is similar to what it was in our recent "3 Reasons to Retake the GMAT While You Can" piece: As long as there are some things in your application that can be significantly improved between October and January (and we'll explore ways to improve your application in a moment), it's almost a no-brainer to wait.

Here are three reasons why applying to top MBA programs in Round 2 is probably a smarter bet than applying in Round 1:

The "Numbers" Advantage is Slight, If It Exists at All
"Wait," you ask. "I read that more people apply in Round 2, and that applying in Round 1 means that you will have less competition in the early going, so it make sense to apply as early as possible." While it's true that more applicants tend to apply in Round 2 (in a traditional three-round admissions schedule), admissions officers know this as well, and they plan accordingly. Do you really think that, for Harvard's class of about 910 students, the admissions committee will gorge on Round 1 applicants, leaving no room for Round 2 and 3 applicants? Of course they know that more people will apply in Round 2, and they have been doing this long enough that they can plan accordingly.

Further, as we wrote in a previous Admissions 101 installment, the number of applicants in a given time period really affects your chances less than you might intuitively expect. We'll let you read that post for more details, but suffice it to say that what you submit matters FAR more whether 3,000 or 3,500 other applicants apply when you do.

You Still Have Time to Erase or Overcome Weaknesses
Yes, fall is upon us (although we wouldn't know it here at Veritas Prep HQ, in this record Southern California heat this week), and the MBA admissions season is officially upon us, but that doesn't mean that you can't still significantly improve your application in some way. As we've written before, if your GMAT score takes any sort of explaining, why not devote yourself to a few weeks of serious preparation and try again? (Schools really only care about your highest score, so you have nothing to lose, other than the $250 GMAC test fee.)

If your work stories are underwhelming, you still have three months (that's a lot of time!) to take on a new project and make a significant impact on your organization. The same goes for your extracurricular activities -- while you want to avoid the appearance of expediency, that's still a lot of time to lead an event, raise some funds, or otherwise positively impact the community around you.

By this time of year it's easy to think of all of these part of your profile as being set in stone, but the fact of the matter is that, for someone who's only been working for several years, you still have a chance to make some significant moves that will shape the story of your career and your community involvement. If you can even think of some ways that you might be able to make something happen between now and January, it very well may be worth a shot.

Your Recommenders Could Probably Use the Additional Time
Admit it, you've already said to yourself at least once this month, "I wish I had gotten my recommendation writers started earlier." Or, just as likely, "I'm sort of sorry that I chose Bob to write one of my recommendations for Stanford. I wish it weren't to late to choose again." Well, this is your chance to give them more time, or to get a second chance.

There are many ways a business school letter of recommendation can go wrong, and they normally boil down to the recommendation writer not knowing what to do or not being invested enough in the process. Both of these can usually be fixed by giving them better preparation. If that doesn't work, you can always pull the plug and move on to someone else.

While that may be an uncomfortable conversation to have, it's better than the empty feeling in your stomach that comes with a ding email from Stanford. Of course, switching gears and asking someone else to do it means that new person may not have enough time, unless you delay to Round 2. We've seen many applicants' chances torpedoed by lackluster letters of recommendation... It's far better to submit GREAT ones in Round 2 than so-so ones in Round 1.

Trying to decide between Round 1 and Round 2? Call us at (800) 925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Photo courtesy of austinevan, under a Creative Commons license.

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How to Improve Your Business School Candidacy in Five Weeks

The Round 2 admissions deadline for many top MBA programs is just five or six weeks away. Hopefully you're already deep into the application-writing process, and have given yourself plenty of time to perfect your essays, manage your recommendation writers, and get your transcripts in order. But, you're human, just like the rest of us, and odds are that you have more to-do's than you have remaining time. Or, maybe you're just getting started with your applications. Or, maybe you still need to take the GMAT (gasp!), or take it again. If that sounds like you, don't worry -- there's still plenty of time to maximize your chances of admissions success.

For applicants who still have lots of work remaining before their applications are done, following this template will ensure that they spend their time where it can help them the most:

1. Finish the GMAT. There's a good chance that you're already done with the GMAT, but if you still haven't taken it, or you want to take it again to try to boost your score, we recommend getting the test out of the way as soon as possible. This allows you to put the test out of your mind and focus on all of the other important parts of your application. You don't want to end up cramming for the GMAT, hounding your recommendation writers, and trying to finish your essays all at the same time. Since the GMAT is a single, concrete step in your application process, we recommend getting it out of the way and then focusing on the more fluid parts of of the process.


2. Start working with your recommendation writers ASAP. There's probably no part of the MBA admissions process that applicants underestimate (in terms of time and involvement) than letters of recommendation. As we've written here recently, letters of recommendation are inherently risky since you're putting your fate in someone else's hands. Even the best-intentioned recommendation writer will need lots of time and preparation to write a great recommendation for you. Start early, give your recommenders specific examples of your past achievements, and stay in close touch with them! (Incidentally, your undergraduate transcripts fall into the same category. While they're not as involved as your recommendations, your fate is in someone else's hands, so give that person plenty of time!)


3. Give yourself time away from your essays. One of the best things you can do with your admissions essays is to step away from them for at least a couple of days, before you get back to editing them. Why? Because when you edit a passage in the same moment that you wrote it, you will tend to read what you thought you wrote, not what you actually wrote. Step away from your essays and look at them with a fresh pair of eyes, and you will not only catch typos, but you will also spot inconsistencies, awkward transitions, or even the fact that you failed to answer the question asked! An MBA admissions expert can also provide you with a valuable second pair of eyes, but this first round of feedback on your own works best when your eyes (and your brain) get a break.


4. Focus your efforts.If you're just getting started now, odds are that you wno't be able to create half a dozen strong applications in time for most Round 2 deadlines. There is no hard limit to how many schools you should apply to, but the reality is that creating half a dozen applications from scratch in less than six weeks is normally not a recipe for success. Be smart about how thinly you spread your efforts -- applying to four or five schools is possible, but beyond that you risk creating sub-par applications. Only apply to an ultra-competitive MBA program if you're putting your best foot forward -- doing anything less is just asking for a rejection letter.

In short, there's a lot that you can do in the next five weeks, but you need to be smart about what you do, and when you do it. For more advice on your own candidacy, call the MBA admissions experts at Veritas Prep at (800) 925-7737, and we'll gladly give you an initial assessment of your candidacy!

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