Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

When is the best time to apply for school? As the second round deadlines are less than a month, I'm trying to figure out what I need to be doing right now with the application.

My original thought was to apply for Fall 09 or Fall 10. I wanted to see how I do on my GMAT and decide when I was going to apply for grad school. Now I wished that I took the GMAT earlier to apply in the first round, but what's past is past, I look forward to the future.

I earned Industrial Engineering Technology degree with 3.49 GPA and now have close to 3 years of experience (in Feb). I started off as product engineer and now as Logistic and Inventory Project leader/manager (since August/08).

I just took the GMAT exam and scored 680 with 5.5 AWA.

I want to attend Georgetown, BU, BC (although I question that choice bc I just read one of thread about being almost part time during second year), Emory, Georgia Tech, USC.

Is it better to apply early for the first round? I do not want to settle for something less and I am also debating if I should take GMAT the second time to raise my score. I feel that I can gain more experience here at work and add credentials by extra year before I attend business school.

Is it bad to apply back to back? If I were to apply for UNC and not get in this year, would it look bad to apply the following year?

I am hoping to know..
1. Is it recommended to apply early? should I wait till fall to apply for 2010 enrollment?
2. Is 680 too low?
3. Is 3 years experience too low?
4. Is it bad to apply back to back?

Thanks always for the great forum and your time to read/reply to the thread.

Dear hwiya320,

Thanks for your post!

You raise some great questions - and I've responded to them below:

1. Is it recommended to apply early? should I wait till fall to apply for 2010 enrollment?

>>Given your target schools, and that fact that you still have some time before the R2 deadlines at most of them, I think you should at least consider applying to a select group of target programs this year.

2. Is 680 too low?

>>While a 680 is 'average to below-average' at the very top schools (top 15), it's actually fairly competitive for the schools on your list. As such, in light of your strong marks in undergraduate, and what appears to be three years of decent work experience (with promotions, etc), I think your GMAT score may be good enough to apply now.

3. Is 3 years experience too low?

>>No. In fact, many of the schools are trending a bit younger these days, and given that you will have 3.5 years by matriculation - not to mention that you've been promoted into more of a leadership role - you should be fine in terms of experience.

4. Is it bad to apply back to back?

>>The beauty of the MBA admissions process is that there are no penalties for being a reapplicant. In fact, the acceptance rate for reapplicants typically trends higher than for first timers - with some programs actually providing feedback to those candidates they reject. This isn't like college or law school, where reapplicants may be frowned upon.

In conclusion, my suggestion is that you buckle down and prepare applications for 3-4 programs this year (perhaps more if you can find the time, get the recommendations together, etc). Aim high - perhaps focusing on Georgetown, Emory, USC and UNC. If you don't get in this time around, you can always reapply in R1 next year.

Of course, in order to provide you with better, more detailed advice, I'd need to know more about your background (like where you went to ugrad, what the breakdown of your GMAT is, where you work, what your career goals might be, etc). Feel free to send your resume to [email protected] to set up a free initial chat about your chances with one of our counselors.

Best of luck,

Graham

Thank you very much for taking your valuable time to read my thread and respond with great advice. I will be working on my essays over the weekend and I will be in touch.

I am hoping to hear more professional responses from other great advisors.

Thank you agian,