workonnet1 wrote:Hi,
I am planning to apply for Fall 09, and was hoping to get my apps in for round 2 (within next 10 days). The problem is I have nothing yet (no essays or such) (took my GMAT today) and I have to do it all in the next few days. I have only recently started looking at these forums and since none of my friends is planning for B schools I am sort of fighting solo (and that raises chances of ignorance, misinformation for the solo person).

So, could someone assess my chances on how strong my app is for top schools.

- Applying to Columbia, Harvard, Wharton, Dartmouth, NYU
- Undergrad from topmost engineering school in India (acceptance rate of 1 in 200).
- masters with quality thesis work from a top 20 school in US.
- (3.2, 3.4) average GPAs at both undergrad and grad work.
- 5 yrs of rich, varied and high-quality research and industry work experience
- gmat 730
- essays - i think I have some stories to tell that have made me who I am, but not sure if i will be able to communicate them. have thought about it but nothing written yet. Also, what moves you may not move the admissions committe reviewer. essays i think is complex and not sure how this will go.
- extra-curriculars - minor stuff in undergrad note.


So, it seems to me once one is done with essays and references, then that is it. I do not see what more is involved in putting together an app. However, essays and references will the hardest, right?

Anyway, can someone also tell me whether it is ok to apply in round 3 instead of 2, in case I am not able to get my references in by the deadline, which is just more than a week away? Do B schools give some leeway in receiving date for references if not reeived by the round 2 deadline and still accept an application in round 2?

workonnet1 wrote:Thanks Linda. So I finally have most of my essays ready and am shooting for R3 to top schools like Harvard, even though it may all come to nought because these are top schools.
Should one must visit a school before applying there? I understand some people do visit schools but it is not a must is it? I do not have any friends who applied to b schools so all info I have is what I have gathered from b school websites and not much more. Is a visit or phone or email conversation with someone on adcom a must?

workonnet1 wrote:ok,
So, I am now only applying to columbia this year (my essays and recs are ready). Other schools that I could not make it to R2 deadlines, and for places like harvard, did not make any sense to apply r3.


1) I am looking for someone to edit my Columbia essays for grammar issues etc. Any services that exist for that? Even though columbia deadline is Apr 15, is it already too late because it is rolling and they have admitted lots of students already.


2) dartmouth and yale R3 are still a few days away. Do you think it is worth applying to them for R3 with a decent shot of getting in. i do not want a reject label for next year.

thanks.

workonnet1 wrote:Thanks Linda. For this year since I am applying only to columbia this late I did not need help with essays. May be next year.
I however noticed that columbia application has two activities essay questions that I was so far unaware of. Are these essays even important to submit- I mean, they are not required (no asterisk). Is it important that one answers these essays?


Collegiate Activities: List up to 3 collegiate extracurricular activities in order of importance. (400 character limit) :

Post-Collegiate Activities: List up to 3 post-collegiate extracurricular activities in order of importance. (400 character limit) :