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My coworker and I both plan on applying to business school the same year and are targeting some of the same schools. We both work on a high profile international project for the company and would likely both write about that in our essays. Although I believe I have a fairly competitive profile I think his is a little stronger than mine (His safety schools are more my target schools). I am worried that while I might be able to get into a given program on my own...if we apply the same year from the same company with the same "special" project experience and he has a better profile I would be rejected solely for being the lesser of the two similar candidates?

Is there any truth to this concern?
Does the ad-com make comparative judgments like that?
If so, is there a way to work around it or would it be just better to wait a year?

Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks

I think if you are applying from a larger company with a larger class of MBA-aged employees, then this is less of an issue versus applying from a smaller company. However, this can be an issue as yes, comparisons are inevitable. Do you share the same boss? In what specific ways would his application be stronger?

The suggestion of applying to some schools he is not targeting is a good one.

To best answer whether or not you should wait is hard to answer in isolation from your gpa, gmat, college attended.....

Perhaps you are both stars and will get in. Certainly MBA programs have taken multiple folks from the same company in the same year.

Thanks for the quick reply. To give a little more information...
"¢ We come from a huge company
"¢ He went to a better university
"¢ We have the same GPA
"¢ I have not taken the GMAT yet
"¢ We work in different consulting areas. I am in Strategy. He is in Supply Chain so we have different bosses. This project is under strategy.

The follow up question I have is whether or not it is possible to actually both hurt each others chances. While neither of us would lie is it possible that through our essays and recommendations we would have different perspectives. Could a different version of events hurt both of us?

Also, if I do apply and get rejected because of the comparison does that hurt my chances at the same schools next year?


Thanks for your help.

I must admit this is one of the more interesting scenarios/posts I have seen:)

It's good that you are in different areas and have different bosses/recommenders. You have the same GPA and you might even do better than him on the GMAT.

I don't think you could hurt each other unless your treatments of the same project are so off in terms of data/dollars/impact that veracity becomes an issue. This is highly unlikely.

In terms of reapplication, one generally has to show material growth in some areas and this can be challenging in one year, less so in two. Your age is also important here. If you are 25 or 26 you can wait a year if you are really concerned about this, and you could take the extra year to buttress your extra curriculars.

My overall advice is you are perhaps too concerned about this given it is a large company that probably feeds multiple top B schools every year with multiple candidates. If you are close with him, maybe you can compare notes on this project for the essays so it's less of an issue.

And yes, apply to a few schools that he is perhaps not targeting.