MEMO: To All Those Applying To Begin Fall 08

let me make yet another tweak to this statement:

Apply to your top choices in R1, save the backups for R2. That way won't have to pay unnecessary deposits to the backups while waiting for your top choice!

Sure, it might feel good to have an early admit in the bag, but is it worth $1500 - $2500?

Another tweak

Apply to your top choices in R1, but no more than 5 schools, because you'll burn out, save the backups for R2. That way won't have to pay unnecessary deposits to the backups while waiting for your top choice!

And one more piece of advice: Read through this forum and soak it all in before you do anything. Read the GMAT Strategy Forum and the "B-School Application" boards until your eyes are bleeding and your head is about to explode. Any question that could possibly come up as you go through the process has likely been asked dozens of times before and there is so much great info on this site.

Definitely agree, I wish I had found this site earlier.

This site has helped a lot so far..has enabled me to improve my Gmat score from 590 to 710 and am sure that it will help me during the 2008 admission season as well.

Hoping that a majority of 2007 admits stay on this forum to guide through the treacherous times ahead!!

Cheers
Yogesh

I totally agree - this is a very valuable piece of advice. The waiting game starts getting really tough when you know that there is no time to participate in later rounds if you are dinged all around.

Also, there are rumors circulating that because of the somewhat unexpected increase in application volume, R2 turned out to be tougher than usual. Hard to say if this is true at this point, but several schools seem to have filled up greater portions of their class during R1 than usual.

I remember Kaplan saying that the best time to apply is R2 because R1 is where all top-applicants and those who are perfectly ready with their applications apply. R3 is too narrow and thus R2 is the perfect time to apply. That's not me, that's Kaplan.

Your sentence had some typos. I fixed it.

I remember Kraplan saying that the best time to apply is R2 because R1 is where all top-applicants and those who are perfectly ready with their applications apply. R3 is too narrow and thus R2 is the perfect time to apply. That's not me, that's Kraplan.


You can't "time" the market.... fyi. The reason people are saying ot apply R1 is because the wait is even more brutal.

I think there are different philosophies on which round is the best one to apply to. I saw an interview transcript w/ Rod Garcia, the MIT director of admissions, and he said people have a better chance in Round 1 because they fill more spots with Round 1 people.

Some people say that non-traditional applicants have a better shot in Rouns 2 because at this point schools have gone for their staples (good stats). But I don't think any of this is really definitive. I don't think there's a HUGE difference in odds of admission. It's such a crapshoot to start out with.

So the reason I say go with Round 1 has nothing to do with your odds of getting in, it has to do with the fact that you'll be able to apply in Round 2 if things don't go well in Round 1. And if things go well in Round 1, then you have a lot more time to relax before school starts. Whereas if you apply Round 2 you may not find out until the summer if you're accepted off a waitlist etc....

So go Round 1!!

The idea is the following (for Ultra-elites at least):

Small class programs: MIT, Stanford. Apply round 1!!!
The rest: apply round 1 or round 2.

Cheers. L.

Hahaha .. so you replaced Kaplan with Kraplan ..

Sometimes I can see why it's KRAPlan. The course I took from them wasn't very helpful. Not nearly half as much as this forum. I trashed $ 1,400 in vain. Since I'm going to be an international applicant, I can only apply in R1 and R2, I guess for the visa issues.

he he! Nice to have you back!

Another caveat I would add is don't do your top choice school first. I learned a lot after my first set of essays and my recommendations got better later on as well. It helps to have a warm up app. My 3rd-5th apps were golden.

I totally agree. My 1st and 2nd apps turned out to be dings without interview. My 3rd - 5th apps turned out to be all admits. And the schools in my 3rd - 5th apps. were mostly on a par with those in the first rounds, not just backups.

L.

Nice Tip guys
Thanks a lot

Yogesh

I submitted all my apps during the same period (R2 or R3 depending on the school), but the ones that I completed later in the process were of higher quality. Still, I think it's best to apply as early as possible. If I recall, you still have time to submit R2 apps if you are dinged in R1 - that's especially true for schools like Wharton & Chicago that release some dings prior to the deadline.

If you put all your eggs into a single basket (same round), your choices are a lot more limited if you are not successful. Plus, as mentioned earlier in this thread, the later in the season it gets, the more brutal the wait seems to be.

That's all in addition to the fact that while it may or may not get measurably more difficult in later rounds, it definitely doesn't get any easier.

True. I'm convinced that if I'd done Harvard toward the end, I would have at least made it to the interview.

By the same token - be careful though - doing your backups first can also backfire...