R2 or Next Year

[abhinav swarup]

Hi,

My profile is:

GMAT 740 (49Q/42V)
Undergrad/Grad : IIT and IIM
2.5 yrs in Corporate Finance & Investment Banking team of PwC, India.
Extra Curr: Excellent
Target Schools: Wharton, Stanford, Yale, Chicago, Kellogg and Tuck.

I gave my GMAT a bit late on 30 August and had little time to prepare the applications thoroughly.

Although I have already submitted applications to Wharton, Stanford and Yale in R1, I am facing a dilemma of applying to the remaining schools in R2 (as I am certainly not going to meet their R1 deadlines (13 oct and 14 oct)) or to postpone my application to next year.

I have heard that Indian students are at a disadvantage in R2 as most of the schools admit enough Indians in R1 to satisfy their diversity criteria.

I believe my application is competitive enough and I have fairly well developed essays.

Please advice on what should be the best way forward. If chances for Indian students decline substantially in R2, I will consider applying next year. However, I dont want to waste one more year before going for my MBA.

Thanks

[Stacey Oyler]

Hi,

Thanks for your post. The round 1 vs. round 2 dilemma is a common one for all applicants. I do think it's important to point out that round 1 is ideally the best round to apply regardless of applicant pool. Round 1 is generally smaller than round 2 and applicants have a strategic advantage because all the seats on the class are open - so less applicants for more seats. Round 2 becomes more competitive because there are less seats and more applicants. Also, as part of applying in round 2 one is compared to all those in that round as well as those admitted in round 1 and potentially those on the waitlist. So by applying in round 2 one has much more competition. That being said, bschools tend to admit the bulk of their class from round 2, so it's still a good time to apply. If you feel you can put together solid applications by the January deadlines, then I would suggest you apply this year and not put it off.

Best,

Stacey