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I am planning on applying to 7 schools this fall/winter. I will be submitting some of the apps in R1, but realistically will not be able to complete all of them in that round. As of now, I'm targeting 4 in R1 and the rest in R2. Any suggestions as to how to decide which ones to apply to in which round? I'm already working on Haas for R1, but am otherwise open. My list of schools is below, if you have suggestions for specific programs. Thanks!

Haas
Stanford
Sloan
Booth
Kellogg
Ross
Anderson

Check out the response dates and commitment dates and allocate your applications accordingly. You do not want to get into your third choice school in January and have to commit in February knowing that you won't hear from your first choice until May. I have had several applicants caught in that dilemma - a good school needs a deposit (sometimes as much as $10,000) before getting a response from a great school. The process gets even more complicated (end expensive) if financial aid is involved.


So, I would apply in round one to those schools that I know I will accept whether or not I get into my round two schools. Remember, the best round to apply in is the one for which your applications are the best you can possibly make them. The acceptance rates between rounds do not vary dramatically. There are advocates for both first and second rounds. Your best bet might be to apply to your very top one or two schools in round one and then be ready for the rest in round two, hoping you won't need to even apply. School due dates, acceptance dates and commitment dates vary significantly so be sure you understand those before applying.

Over and above the excellent points made by Tani I want to add that ensure you put your best foot forward and not apply without giving it a 100%. Not only will it ensure a ding this year, it will make it difficult to apply next year as a reapplicant. Top schools typically want you to demonstrate what has changed in the last 1 year, and at times that is a bigger deal than applying fresh.

Arun

Thanks for both of your replies. Tani, the point about commitment dates is great - I had looked at notification dates in R1 vs. application deadlines for R2 (there is overlap in many cases, unfortunately), but hadn't fully looked into the commitment date piece yet. I'm done with the GMAT and I've made progress on essays, so I'm feeling good about submitting 4 applications in October.