Business School Applications: Which Round?

by Stacy Blackman Consulting, Dec 17, 2011

Thinking about which round you want to apply to? If you are planning your business school application, you will need to know your deadlines. MBA programs will typically announce their deadlines over the summer. While every program will be different, most have a number of deadlines, known as rounds. Deciding in which round to apply will impact your planning.

Normally the first deadline, round 1, will take place in the Fall, the second deadline, round 2, in the Winter, and the third deadline, round 3, in Spring. For each round there is a full admissions cycle and a set of dates for when candidates will be notified. There are exceptions to this, and some schools have a different number of rounds.

Most candidates we work with want to know in which round they should apply. Many candidates try to submit applications in round 1. If everyone needs to submit applications in round 1, who exactly is being accepted in the following round? The answer is that a lot of people are admitted in round 2, and if your application is not ready, you should not be afraid to slide to round 2. You should not sacrifice the quality of your application in order to submit an application to round 1.

All things being equal, it may be better to apply to round 1. At the beginning of round 1 all of the seats in the class are available. At the beginning of round 2, a portion of seats have already been taken, and you are also competing with those on the waitlist. However, there are those who say that all of the top candidates are applying in round 1and you are competing with the toughest competition.

The reality is that the admissions committees know what type of candidates they are looking for. They have become pretty good at estimating numbers, and evaluating and accepting applicants that fit the criteria they are looking for. The best strategy is not to play the game of which round, but to submit your application as soon as, but not until, it is ready.

As an example, I have a client who believes she can raise her GMAT from 650 to 700, but it will mean waiting until round 2 to submit applications. I recommended that she go for the 700 in round 2.

Applying to final rounds for a given MBA program is often a bad strategy. For many programs, this is the time they are focused on completing their class and picking very specific profiles. In addition, if you submit an application in March and are not admitted, you do not have much time to improve your candidacy before reapplying for the following season.

For many people it is difficult to submit all applications within one round. In these situations we recommend staggering roundschoose a few schools to target the first round, and a few more for a later round. Once you have decided on the rounds to apply to, you can begin to outline your timeline and schedule. If you find that you are facing a deadline and you do not have enough time to complete your application, you can always submit at a later round.

For more robust guidance on your MBA application essays, check out the Stacy Blackman Consulting Essay Guide Series school specific guides with essay tips, sample essays, information on what your target schools value and more. Visit http://www.stacyblackman.com/essay-guides/ to learn more.