How many schools should I apply?

Normally people select 4 schools for R1 that they really want to get into because their chances are higher. When I apply for MBA school I am looking for 4 schools in R1 and 3 in R2 (depending on how R1 goes) etc. Good luck on applications!

I am in the same boat as you.. i selected 2 "better chance" schools for R1 if i get in i will apply to my dream school in R2 to try my luck and if dont get in will apply one safety school.

Yeah, I ended up submitting to five schools for round 1:

Ross, Kellogg, Darden, Yale SOM, and Wharton. I'm a younger candidate with less work experience and I just wasn't sure what was going to bite. Since Stern and Columbia have later Round 1 deadlines, I may apply to both of them as well.

Depending on how round 1 goes, I may or may not send out applications to: Chicago, Anderson, Hass, and Harvard for Round 2.

If you get selected to your number 1 choice in R1 then you can try a school like Harvard for R2. If you don't get accepted, it wont be a big deal since your safe already by being admitted to your number 1 choice in R1.

I'm doing 4 schools.

3 schools in R1 (dream schools, tough schools).

Then I'll wait and see and apply in R2 to a safety school, perhaps 2 schools if I don't get into those R1 schools.

I'm applying to five schools in R1 and work fairly grueling hours...it's been a tough process for me, basically have had very little social life for the past month or so and had to push another two applications to R2.

Due to my odd profile, I'm applying to many schools. I've realized that this a "must" year for me, so I'm giving it my best effort. For me this means, I've had a v. limited social life since August - only way to balance work + apps. That being said, please note that my number of schools is fairly abnormal so don't use that as any measure of how many schools to apply to!!

I think the ideal number really depends on each person - do you have to get in this year? do you have a certain locations you like/dislike? certain concentrations you want to pursue? how much time do you have to spend on apps?
All of these can impact your final number...

I went thru your profile in the Admit/Ding thread and found that u are applying to a lot schools.

I must confess, I've never really understood the whole "seeing who bites in R1, then try my luck for a better school R2" strategy. If you wanna get into HBS, apply there R1 - when you have the best possible shot of getting in. If you think you even have an outside chance, you should go ahead and apply R1. Waiting for R2 just seems to hurt your chances even more. It's not like HBS is waiting around to see if the other cool kids on the block (Stanford, Wharton, Sloan) like you before checking you out.

I applied to six schools R1, including three that I have a very marginal chance of getting into. But that's what most of the students currently going there thought too...

I completed my GMAT only in the last wk of Aug.So thought of concentrating my best efforts at the school where I'm competitive.

I'm applying to as many R1 top schools as I can handle, 7 right now. These are all schools I would love to attend. I don't want to risk applying later as I am on the upper end of the 80% age bracket. If I miss getting in this year, I only get older. The only regret I could see is if I get into most or all of them, then it might seem to have been a waste of time. What a luxurious regret that would be.

Another reason for R1 is that I will need all the merit grants I can get, and with a high GMAT apparently I would be in the running for them. These grants are usually allocated early in the application round.

I am reserving R2 for pure safety schools. These are the places where I should get in easily and with a massive scholarship. They rank about 25-40, schools like Notre Dame, Boston U, etc. I would only attend them with a ton of financial grants. I will probably apply to 2 of these schools, provided I am getting all rejections up to the point of the R2 deadline. I should know a final decision from 2-3 of my R1 schools by that time. If I get into any R1 by the R2 deadline, I'm not doing any R2s at all, no matter how much cheaper these second or third-tier schools might be.

Currently, I've made the decision that it's not worth it to go outside the top 35 or so schools.

It's an efficient way to allocate scarce application resources, e.g. time, energy, recommendations, and at the same time minimize the risk of zero admission while retaining the upside of your dream schools. In the absence of constraints on those resources, by all means, apply to all your dream schools in R1. However, many schools state that there is no difference b/w R1 and R2 so I don't see much risk of shuffling b/w those two rounds.

You can apply as many as you want but for example, can you ask your recommender to complete more than 4 or 5 different rec letters for you?

Believe it or not, getting rec letters on time is more difficult than one might think. They always say they will get it done, but you have to constantly ask week after another.......and then you get stressed out over it...then comes ulcer because deadline is approaching and you have everything else done.....

Thats indeed correct. My recommenders were not inclined to put recommendations for more than 3 schools. So I applied to Duke in EA (it helped that I live at Durham) and Darden in R1. I got in Duke and shall interview at Darden. Now I am wondering whether I should have taken a shot at one of the top 5 schools in R1.

I would say that up to 4 schools per round is perfectly doable.

I applied to 6 schools in R1. I really didn't want to mess with R2 for two reasons: slightly better chances in R1 and so I can have more time to plan and prepare after acceptance.

I applied to:
2 reaches - HBS/Wharton
3 Target Schools - Kellogg, Ross, Duke
1 Safety - Indiana

It was too difficult but it probably helped that I started working on essays in June/July. It also helped that Indiana wasn't due until November 15th. I did spend almost every evening and 4-5 hours on the weekened working on essays, but it was definitely worth it.

I applied to 2 reaches (Wharton and Harvard), and 3 "sweet spot" schools (UCLA, Michigan, and Kellogg). If I don't hear back by middle of december from any school I will probably submit to UWash as a safety, and MIT as another reach.

I wish you would hear back from Rd 1 schools by middle december, but it appears most schools have their Rd 1 notification deadline by early january, which is right when Round 2 is due. So it appears I might have to start Rd 2 essays even if I get into a Rd 1 school.

This whole application process kinda of sucks...its hard to gauge schools you'd be competitive at b/c the academic profile of the top 10 - 15 schools is practically the same. Hard to gauge competitiveness of essays and work experience.