Why does it take so long? Because iteration is a critical part of making your applications, especially your essays, as good as they can possibly be. When we work with clients, we\u2019ll often begin by brainstorming potential material and then iterating a few times on a high-level outline. This \u2018prewriting\u2019 process can easily span a week or two, which takes us to the beginning of July. If you plan to write a minimum of ten drafts (which you should) and are also juggling a full-time job, it\u2019s easy to see how the timeline can close in on you. Especially if you are applying to a handful of schools!<\/p>\n
Why 10-20 MBA Essay Drafts Are Necessary<\/h4>\n
Clients are often skeptical that they will write 10-20 drafts of an essay, so here\u2019s a general example of how that might play out.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Draft one is where you take a shot at one of the themes you had in mind.
\u2022 Draft two is about taking that story or theme up a level so that you are focusing on one clear idea.
\u2022 Draft three is refining that content so that it generally fits within the word limit.
\u2022 Draft four is about shuffling the flow of the essay so that the reader can \u201cskim\u201d and still understand the power of what you\u2019re trying to say.
\u2022 Draft five incorporates more of your feelings and the \u201cwhy\u201d behind the stories in the essay.
\u2022 Draft six incorporates comments that your colleagues gave you about how you\u2019re coming across.
\u2022 Draft seven is where you refine the way that you explained your key stories to make them more \u201cto the point\u201d.
\u2022 Draft eight is where you add a powerful ending. And so on, and so on.<\/p>\n
This process varies by person, but in general, plan on the essay writing phase taking 25+ hours per school. Don\u2019t rush this \u2013 it\u2019s critical.<\/p>\n
So, What Does an Ideal MBA Application Timeline Look Like?<\/h4>\n
Back to our main point: if you know that heavy lifting is coming, plan for it. Start now and trust us, you\u2019ll be glad you did. You\u2019ll feel more prepared and confident when you finally hit the submit button in the fall.<\/p>\n
Below is the timeline that we generally recommend for a Round 1 applicant.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/vantagepointmba.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Timeline.png\")
<\/p>\n
And as always, reach out to us with any questions! You can request a free initial consultation with one of our MBA admissions consultants by completing the form located here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ready to get started? Here are a few more articles that may help:<\/p>\n Five Things You Can Be Doing Right Now – Vantage Point MBA<\/a><\/p>\n Networking For Your MBA Applications – Vantage Point MBA<\/a><\/p>\n MBA Career Goals \u2013 Part I: Crafting a Compelling Short-Term Vision (vantagepointmba.com)<\/a><\/p>\n MBA Career Goals \u2013 Part II: Crafting a Compelling Long-Term Vision – Vantage Point MBA<\/a><\/p>\n The post \u2018When Do MBA Applications Open?\u2019 and Other MBA Application Timeline Questions<\/a> appeared first on Vantage Point MBA<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While \u2018when do MBA applications open?\u2019 is a very relevant question (keep reading for the answer), it shouldn\u2019t define when you begin working on your MBA application materials. Yes, we…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":167,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1955,775,243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-vantage-point-mba","category-admission-consultants","category-blog","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/167"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54475\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}