Strategy for Dividing MBA Schools by Round

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Strategy for Dividing MBA Schools by Round

by BBest » Thu Oct 16, 2014 1:40 pm
Hello hello. My plan is to apply to: Wharton, MIT Sloan, Columbia, Booth, Kellogg, and Yale (as of now, in that order).

Wharton - Stretch
Columbia (ED?), Kellogg, MIT, and Booth - I'm competitive
Yale - Strong

I'm looking for some advice as to how to split these schools up, preferably 3 in R1 and 3 in R2.

-Do some schools give off the impression that R1 is more advantageous in their eyes?
*I realise MIT has 2 Rounds as opposed to 3, so this is the kind of info I'm looking for
-Is applying to 3 per round feasible with a FT job?

What are people's experiences with dividing up their schools between rounds? Any advice as to how you would split up mine?

Please feel free to document your experience, and how you divided up your schools. Thanks!

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by interviewbay22 » Fri Oct 17, 2014 6:46 am
Hello BBest

Are you applying this year for the 2015 class or next year for the 2016 class? I suppose you are talking about next year. R1 deadlines next year will be in September - October which means you have about a year for the R1 of next year. Applying in R1 is always the best option as there are more seats and the competition is lesser than the subsequent rounds. I understand that working on applications with a full time job is difficult but a year is enough time for you to prepare at least four to five competent application essays.

Your aim should be to complete all six applications in this one year time. If at all, you feel that you have not done justice to any one or two application or you did not get enough time to work on them, for those schools you can apply in the second round because it is also very important that you send a well drafted application and not a hushed up one.

If you start right away and work on it every day, then it is feasible to do justice to at least 4 - 5 applications.
You can go through this article to get a better idea of the impact of applying in a particular round https://www.interviewbay.com/blog/applyi ... u-the-edge

All the best
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by Michael@VeritasPrep » Sat Nov 14, 2015 8:47 pm
I think it is definitely possible to apply to three schools while working. Obviously it all depends on how much time you can devote to it and how quickly you can work. I would say plan on five to ten hours of work total for each essay. Think an hour or two brainstorming. And an hour or two for two to three drafts of each essay. Assuming you have already taken the gmat, writing essays will take up 90 per cent of the time. Good luck!