can't you just apply again in 6 months if it does not work out? seems like it cannot hurt to try.

MBA admission on its own can be a crapshoot for top programs (of which Haas and Anderson are included) but when you go beyond the second round it gets significantly harder to gain admission. At this point in the cycle most schools are attempting to round their classes out in a composition-style manner meaning that they are picking up some interesting profiles to fill non-traditional roles and it becomes a lot less about your profile as a whole and how strong it is and more about whether you satisfy a need that that class currently lacks.

If you can afford to wait until the fall of 2011 to apply I highly suggest doing so so that you don't have to apply as a reapplicant if you don't gain admission. Not many reapplicants get into top programs on their subsequent attempts and while this likely has more to do with their profiles it could also be a pattern that effects even someone with a profile thats quite strong such as your own.

Applying in the first two rounds this coming fall will give you a SIGNIFICANTLY better chance to attain acceptances from the schools you've targeted, and it only delays your start-date by one year which is nothing in the long-term

Thanks Ttronn and Sawdle, for the replies. Ttronn, that's exactly what I'm afraid of. I don't have much in the way of extracurriculars so I'm sure that doesn't help.

I'm still thinking (wishfully) that I can hopefully get into Anderson...I know that it probably would pay off to wait for next year for most of the top schools but I would like to be done and over with my current job ASAP. I was thinking of applying third round and worst comes to worst, reapply to the schools next year. But Ttronn, you're saying that reapplicants don't have a good shot! I hope that that's because their profiles aren't very steong...

Oops, just realized I posted in the wrong forum, I was reading multiple posts at once. Carry on!

doraxkishi wrote:Thanks Ttronn and Sawdle, for the replies. Ttronn, that's exactly what I'm afraid of. I don't have much in the way of extracurriculars so I'm sure that doesn't help.

I'm still thinking (wishfully) that I can hopefully get into Anderson...I know that it probably would pay off to wait for next year for most of the top schools but I would like to be done and over with my current job ASAP. I was thinking of applying third round and worst comes to worst, reapply to the schools next year. But Ttronn, you're saying that reapplicants don't have a good shot! I hope that that's because their profiles aren't very steong...

I would not recommend applying R3. Most of the slots are filled by R2, sometimes, there isn't even any more admission slots left for R3. If you apply R3, and don't get in, it will be very difficult to explain what you've done to improve yourself during the next application around, which is only in 6-7 months. If you really want to go to MBA this year, I think a better route to go is to apply to a rolling admissions school. A comparable school (to Anderson) with rolling admissions is UT-Austin (McCombs).

Good Luck!