Dear Applicants,

You are roughly 2-3 months away from the round 1 applications. I
want to address a very specific part of your application in this note as
I know this will be a major bottleneck for many applicants who are
keen on applying to top Schools in R1.

Personal essays, Recommendations, and Resume will not take as
much time as finding out "Why Wharton is meant for me?" "How will
Stanford help me in accomplishing my goals?". Even if you do not
believe that you need a strong answer for this, and are ready to jump
in if given an admit, schools are definitely going to ask you "Why did
you choose us?"

Classic mistake that applicants make is: They describe their past, take
the narrative into the future, and then randomly start filling in the
gaps with various electives, and professors from the school's website.
Your goal is not to tell them - why they are good. The goal is to tell
them WHY THEY ARE MEANT FOR YOU ? And this takes time, and
learning curve, and you should prioritise this.

Some schools do not have an elaborate "WHY THIS SCHOOL?" essay
question. So, you can prioritise the research accordingly.
Plan your networking and research activities based on the Essay
topics. For example, Duke Fuqua has a very strong contribution
requirement- and that is a part of the School's DNA. Find out how you
can really contribute to the school community.

Your goal is not NOT to describe their school to them.

Start talking to people. I have never seen anyone crack a top school
without really NETWORKING very well.

Regards,
Jatin