DeterminedMBA2012 wrote:
Thank you for all of the feedback.
Lest I sound completely naive, I should probably outline some of my reasoning. For me, the decision to apply to one school now came down to a number of factors. First off, I am currently working for an early stage start-up. Although it has been a decent learning experience, I have to consider the possibility that it may not work out. More importantly, however, the past four months have made me realize just how much of a gap I have between my current skillset/experience and the career opportunities I find most interesting.
I did consider applying next year, however, three things occurred to me:
1. Will my 'profile' improve significantly between now and then? The way I see it, the time cannot help matters.
2. Will my application significantly improve in that time? It may improve some, but I do not see any significant changes taking place.
3. I was interviewed last year, so there is a chance I only need slight improvement to change that ding into an admit.
That said, I would put my chances of acceptance at 20-40%. After I apply, I will visit a couple other schools (Ross, Fuqua, and Haas come to mind for Consulting). If the startup falls through and school becomes a more urgent necessity, then I apply in Round 3 or apply for Round 1 for next year.
One of the major positives, though, is that by imagining I have a shot with Chicago that I have stepped up my research. I attended an informational session, visited campus, talked to several students while on campus, e-mailed another after the visit, and spoke with another on the phone today. I am also looking through course lists and descriptions to identify any that sound interesting. In talking with students, it is easy to get very busy, very fast. My hope is that if I have a solid idea of what I'd like to get out of my experience there, I'll be able to make a solid case. Who knows, perhaps it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In a perfect world, every student would realize far in advance that business school is essential. They would each apply to 6 schools (2 stretch, 3 reasonable, 1 safety), would visit all of these schools and thoroughly research them. For those for whom this does not apply, I hope this post helps.
Thanks for the luck - I will definitely need it!
I am not quite sure I understand this response. You fluctuate between whether working for another year is more important or pursuing consulting is. I hear you saying you are going to apply to multiple schools, meaning that enrolling for the 2012 academic year is more important than going to Booth (which is the question a few of us asked). If this is true, That's good, and seems like you have an OK plan to get there.
I say "OK" because it does seem like you are selling yourself short in a couple aspects of your analysis.
1. You absolutely can significantly improve your profile in a year. You can join another startup, increase your community involvement, take additional classes to build an alternate transcript, take the GMAT again, etc. And pursuing any of those avenues is more a matter of effort than time.
2. I think this for the most part is true. Your essays could get additional fine-tuning, but your recommenders are the ones that are affected most, because additional time for them to complete their portions may in fact give you a better overall application. On the contrary, it also may not.
3. This is certainly not true. Your performance in previous application cycles are not an accurate determining factor for how you will fare in future cycles. I know of a number of people on the GC boards who applied to one of the M7 programs, was denied w/int or dinged off the WL and when they reapplied the next year were dinged without interview. I saw this multiple times with Booth, actually. Then again, some reapps go from ding without int to admit with the same app. It goes to show how much the rest of the application pool has an effect on how you fare.
Your process for tackling Booth is very sound and that research can only work in your favor. As you have probably heard, Round 3 is the "round of death", but you can mitigate this by showing schools that they weren't an afterthought. You have to show them that you know your stuff and there were external factors precluding you from applying earlier in the cycle. Schools are sensitive to not being a 'last ditch effort.'
You said that ideally everyone would be able to apply to 6 schools - but if you wait to apply until R1 next year, you easily can be part of that group of ideal students.