The Application Process

I will be applying to Carnegie Mellon and Michigan (both of which are members of the Consortium) for Fall 2010 entry and I found out at one of the MBA fair about Consortium.

Does applying thru the Consortium weaken my application? I am asking because it seems like there are less essays to write for both CMU and Michigan. I also was positioning my recommenders for different aspects between CMU and Michigan. But now going thru Consortium, I have to use the same 2 recommenders (I was using 4 different recommenders for the 2 schools)

If I get rejected by the Consortium, do I get rejected by Michigan and CMU?