4 Steps To Prepare for MBA Round 2 Deadlines

by , Nov 15, 2010

Roughly two months to go until the deadlines of early January the deadlines you dont want to miss if you can help it. So what should you be doing now?

Hopefully you have already taken your GMAT, researched the schools thoroughly, and jotted down notes about possible essay topics. Now is the time to turn your attention to the essays and the rest of the application.

Now? you ask.

Yes now. Not in a month. Not in two weeks. Now you have the time to methodically and thoroughly work on 3-5 applications and submit them for those January deadlines.

Do the math. There are roughly eight weeks left until the next wave of deadlines. If you want to prepare 4 applications, spend 3 weeks (after work hours) on the first application, and 1.5 weeks on each of the other 3, thats a total of 7.5 weeks. Needless to say, December tends to be a busy month. You really need to get started.

Can you spend less time? Sure, and some who spend less time are even accepted, but many who rush come back to us when they reapply saying they rushed their essays and are now doing Take 2.

How should you proceed?

1. Create a schedule. Allow time for drafting, writing, and editing each essay. Recognize that each step takes time, lots of time. The key is to start and maintain your forward momentum.
2. Work on one application at a time. Approach each application separately; do not write all your goals essays and then all your achievement essays and then all your team work essays. That method is a recipe for rejection. You need to write Harvards application and convey your story as it relates to Harvard. Write Stanfords essays and tell your story as it relates to Stanford, and the same with Wharton, Kellogg, Columbia, and MIT respectively. In fact, apply to any and all b-school programs one application at a time.
3. Determine for each school which experiences best answer each question and complement the other essays and rest of the application. You may find that you can use the same experience to answer a failure question for one school and the achievement-you're-most-proud-of question for another school.
4. Do NOT submit #1 when you finish it; put it away. As you proceed, you may discover that certain points are clearer in Application #3 than in Application #1. Thats OK. A week before it is due, review Application #1. Is it as sharp as you want it to be? Has the writing process and the toil on subsequent applications clarified certain points that you can now hone in Application #1? Because of your timely start and steady effort, you now have the time to refine those originally fuzzy points.

Get the tools you need to write an application essay that persuades, engages, and helps you get accepted when you download Accepted.com's FREE special report, From Example to Exemplary.