The Application Process

Hi guys,

I submitted to the following schools (full-time) during round II:

UCLA (Anderson)
UVA (Darden)
UNC (Kenan-Flagler)
Emory (Goizueta)
UW (Foster)
Babson

I should hear back from these soon, but I'd like to apply to a few others before the final deadline to give myself more options if I'm not fortunate with those above. Here's a shorthand list of those I'm also considering, but know less about:

CMU (Tepper)
Yale
Georgetown (McDonough)
USC (Marshall)
AZU (Carey)
U Maryland (Smith)
GTech
Texas Austin

ANY OTHERS I SHOULD CONSIDER? Am I blatantly overlooking anything?

My preferences (not requirements) in an MBA program:
1. Top 35 national ranking
2. Competitively affordable (state schools)
3. Warm weather, coastal region, within range of major city

My profile:
Age: 27
Undergrad School: U Rochester
Undergrad GPA: 3.8
GMAT: 630 (taken once)
Work Exp: 6 years total. 2 in Film, 4 in Tech PR/Marketing

My lack of experience using any quantitative skills, average GMAT and the crumbling economy (generating more applicants) have kept me from applying to top 15 schools. Am I selling myself short?

Thanks in advance for your insight - I appreciate it!

Sticking with all safety schools means you may significantly reduce your lifetime earnings potential since the best schools usually result in the highest average salaries and subsequent pay will be based directly (or indirectly) on the first salary you come away with after b-school. Why would you give up the possibility of additional hundreds of thousands of dollars over your lifetime so willingly?

I focused on a spectrum of schools starting from dream schools to safety schools. LBS/Columbia being the dream schools, Haas being a reach, and UCLA/USC being safety schools. If you only go for safeties then you're selling yourself short and in the best case you'll be accepted to several safety schools. I'd reevaluate the list you've applied to, determine how many are safeties and if apply to at least one or two reach/dream schools.

<moved to more appropriate forum>

"Sticking with all safety schools means you may significantly reduce your lifetime earnings potential since the best schools usually result in the highest average salaries and subsequent pay will be based directly (or indirectly) on the first salary you come away with after b-school. Why would you give up the possibility of additional hundreds of thousands of dollars over your lifetime so willingly?

I focused on a spectrum of schools starting from dream schools to safety schools. LBS/Columbia being the dream schools, Haas being a reach, and UCLA/USC being safety schools. If you only go for safeties then you're selling yourself short and in the best case you'll be accepted to several safety schools. I'd reevaluate the list you've applied to, determine how many are safeties and if apply to at least one or two reach/dream schools."

Hi Lee,

Thanks for your response.

Of the schools I applied to, here is how I have defined them for me:

UCLA: dream
UVA, UNC: reach
UW, Emory, Babson: safety

As this is my first experience applying, I don't have any indication how competitive my profile is, if my dream/reach/safety classifications are accurate, and thus if I should be aiming higher. How do you advise I handle the programs I know less about:

CMU
USC
Georgetown
ASU
UMD


Best,

D

I don't know some of those schools you listed, but you can look at their numbers that are available various source (BW, MBA rankings, MBA data books). You can compare your hard numbers against theirs to get a sense of where you fall stats-wise, but that doesn't mean you can't apply to dream schools.

In addition to that, you should learn more about the different programs and get a sense of what they are looking for in a business leader - that can help you determine whether you "FIT" at a particular school. You can have terrible numbers, but with a good background, story and the right fit you can still get in.

D -

As you evaluate your schools, check out Veritas Prep's School Selector Tool. Its a fun way to get a sense of what schools you might be competitive for.


https://www.veritasprep.com/selector/


Regards,

N

VP_MBA_Guru wrote:D -

As you evaluate your schools, check out Veritas Prep's School Selector Tool. Its a fun way to get a sense of what schools you might be competitive for.


https://www.veritasprep.com/selector/


Regards,

N

LOL, this made me laugh out loud, the result I mean. ))) No disrespect, it's just that I make a more realistic estimation of myself and my chances, I guess. I got the following results:
Optimal Schools
School
Stanford University (CA)
Harvard University (MA)
University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)

))))) The only 'unreal' thing i entered is GMAT, which 700 score. I am beating around 620 for now. But I CAN'T be that good! ) :roll: