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Application Order

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Application Order

by smp5000 » Tue Aug 13, 2013 4:58 pm
Hi all,

I have a question about what order you should do your application, essays, and recommendations in. I understand that you shouldn't do your dream school first, but do you do it last?!?

Say you are applying to the following six schools (chosen arbitrarily to cover various ranges):

1. Wharton
2. Booth
3. Tuck
4. Fuqua
5. UT Austin
6. Georgetown

Now say that Wharton is your dream school, and Booth/Tuck/Fuqua are all target schools that you would LOVE to go to as well. UT and G-town are schools that you are fine with going too, but wold prefer the others.

Stats and backgrounds aside, talking strictly order of preparing essays and such, what do you say?

Do you do Wharton Last? Or do you do it towards the middle?

Do you focus on schools that make your write the most first?

Looking for some guidance! Starting my essay journey and needing some help.
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by CriticalSquareMBA » Fri Aug 16, 2013 5:48 am
Hi there,

That's a great question and, as you can imagine, there's no one right answer. However, there is truth in the adage that you shouldn't do your dream school first. But you definitely shouldn't do it last.

If we assume you're applying to the 6 schools below, then you're going to want to split that into two rounds. If that's the case, then you'll still need to apply to your "dream school" in R1. That's the best case. Keep in mind, if you're not ready in R1, then you shouldn't apply in R1 but I'm assuming you would be.

Now, keep in mind, a lot of your work is round agnostic. You still need to prep your recommenders, develop your strategies, etc.

But from a purely application and essay stand point, work on a couple of tier 2 schools first. Get the creative juices flowing and then switch tracks to your top choice. That way you still get the benefit of having written and thought through things before you start with, in this case, Wharton, but you don't sacrifice the R1 advantage.

Hope that helps!

Bhavik
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by money9111 » Fri Aug 16, 2013 7:22 pm
I would suggest that you do not write them in silos... Make sure you know all of the essay questions (have them written down somewhere) because you will be inspired to write something a different times throughout the day/week/month for different essays. If you only write 1 school first.. and then another school after that you'll be missing a big opportunity when writing essays. ESPECIALLY this "early" in the game. i say early because it is still mid-august and applicants still have a bit of time before the frenzy begins.

When I wrote my essays (6 schools) I would write one for one school... and then maybe switch to another school the next day... then go back to the other one... it just went by how my mood was that day. I did this for all of the essays (I guess it was like 15 essays total) until it got down to the deadline. The whole, "don't do your 1st choice school 1st" thing I never really understood. I mean I do guess I see the logic in it, but your school of thought (and how I advise applicants I work with) is to put 100% into ALL of your essays.

Now some people may say, "well of course I'm going to do that" but if that's the case then there's no need to delay writing one over another. Yes, there is a certain level of introspection that one goes through when writing essays which may result in a "better" essay portfolio for the latter schools worked on. In instances like that the essays worked on in the beginning should then be re-worked.

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by money9111 » Fri Aug 16, 2013 7:24 pm
I would suggest that you do not write them in silos... Make sure you know all of the essay questions (have them written down somewhere) because you will be inspired to write something a different times throughout the day/week/month for different essays. If you only write 1 school first.. and then another school after that you'll be missing a big opportunity when writing essays. ESPECIALLY this "early" in the game. i say early because it is still mid-august and applicants still have a bit of time before the frenzy begins.

When I wrote my essays (6 schools) I would write one for one school... and then maybe switch to another school the next day... then go back to the other one... it just went by how my mood was that day. I did this for all of the essays (I guess it was like 15 essays total) until it got down to the deadline. The whole, "don't do your 1st choice school 1st" thing I never really understood. I mean I do guess I see the logic in it, but your school of thought (and how I advise applicants I work with) is to put 100% into ALL of your essays.

Now some people may say, "well of course I'm going to do that" but if that's the case then there's no need to delay writing one over another. Yes, there is a certain level of introspection that one goes through when writing essays which may result in a "better" essay portfolio for the latter schools worked on. In instances like that the essays worked on in the beginning should then be re-worked.

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by bermanal9 » Tue Aug 20, 2013 6:02 am
I would agree with the moneyman above - get all the essay questions straight in your mind and write drafts for those. If you have an outline for several essays it will help you to put together a single-essay format where requested. The essays are a real process in that you will find yourself changing them (editing) a lot. I had done most of my rough drafts when, one day well in to the process, I realized just what I wanted to say i.e. got my 'worldview' on why I wanted an MBA. Then I went about fitting that in to what I already had and felt that I was presenting a more unified persona. I don't think there is an advantage to thinking sequentially as some essays will come easier than others. If you are going to wait for a Round Two application date then you will have more time to edit but you should make a good start immediately. They tend to run in to each other anyway, and will not vary greatly from one school to the next except for the statement of why you want that particular school. Get started on them all and the process will become clear.
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by Kaneisha Grayson » Wed Aug 21, 2013 6:18 am
Hi SMP500,

You've received some great advice already, but I'm going to advise you to take a slightly different approach than what's already been said.

This is the order of tasks I work on with my clients:

1) Choose your core 2-4 schools and, if necessary, have a short list of 2-3 more schools you would consider applying to.

2) Polish your resume. All schools require a resume, and many applicants underestimate how much you can make your resume work for you in telling the story of your professional history, saving you lots of room in your essays to discuss more qualitative aspects of your application--like your leadership style, strengths, developmental areas, what motivates you, and your plan to achieve your career vision.

3) Work on the essay that feels like the easiest to start. This is just to get you started writing so that you don't keep procrastinating and saving all the work until a few weeks before the deadline. Once you have it in a decent state (2-3 drafts of revision, relatively close to the word limit), move on to Step 4.

4) At least 6 weeks before the deadline for your first school, put together a recommendation packet (more info here: https://www.beatthegmat.com/letter-of-re ... 62013.html) for all the schools you need letters for from that person and include your polished resume and essay in the packet for reference.

5) Bang out first drafts of as many of your essays as you can as quickly as you can. They may be kinda crappy, but the focus at this point is on PROGRESS not perfection.

6) Once you have first drafts of most of your essays, feel free to take 1-2 days off and begin filling out the data part of the application for your schools. This part is tedious and can take HOURS. Lots of people leave this until the last minute and run into snags--like every year, when people can't figure out the right way to copy and paste into certain parts of the application and freak out just minutes before the deadline. When you need a break from essay writing but still need to be making progress, work on filling in data.

7) Now, we're back to essay revising. You've had 2-3 days break from your essays and should now be able to read them with somewhat "fresh eyes." When revising your essay, ask: 1) Have I answered the question? Every part of the question? 2) Have I been detailed enough? When telling a story, do I give the beginning, middle, and end? Have I included what I thought, felt, said, and did? 3) How can I make my message even more clear? These are the same kinds of questions you can ask friends and consultants who review your essays.

At this point, the name of the game is revise, revise, REVISE. My process of helping clients put together stellar applications includes a highly iterative essay revision process. Sometimes it takes 4 drafts. Sometimes it takes 12.

This is why it is SO IMPORTANT to start writing as soon as you know what schools you're applying to and what the prompts are. Give your story plenty of time to get on paper and get polished to greatness.

I hope this was helpful!

Kaneisha
Harvard Business School MBA 2010, Harvard Kennedy School MPA 2010
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