Applying to only 2-3 schools

Question

Hi All,

I am a newbie here. My question is simple: What should be the strategy for a candidate who is planning to apply to only 2-3 schools.

Details: I will apply to 2-3 schools in only one specific country because I want to move and settle there (This is not the primary reason for pursuing MBA, but is the primary reason for pursuing in this specific country). I want to apply only for 1 year program as I am 33 years old and cannt go for a 2-year program.
Most application discussions suggest applying to a few schools before applying to the school where the candidate really wants to be. This I believe is based on the proverbial saying: Practice makes perfect. However, I dont have too many options.

Please provide some thoughts on the best strategy for me.

Regards, 
Rahul

P.S: If a thread covering my question exists please point it to me.

jb88 · Answer

Unless you are willing to sacrifice the quality of the school you might get into, you can't go with an all or nothing attitude. You can do your best but there are no guarantees. If you don't get into your top choices you can either apply again next year or apply to something less.

Jeanette · Answer

Well, when you have five or six schools, you have to pick what order you want to do them in. So people look to optimize it. Will your essays get better the more schools you do? Probably. But if you spent the same time applying to two or three schools that you'd use to apply to five or six, your essays are probably going to be as good as you can make them anyway.

So anyway, I wouldn't worry about not having more schools because of that. The real worry is that admissions is somewhat a luck based thing, and applying to five or six schools drastically reduces the chance you'll simply get unlucky. If there really just aren't other places that you CAN apply to, then there's no sense in worrying about it.

To answer your question directly: I'm not sure there's really any special strategy for doing two or three schools versus 4-6 schools. Spend lots of time and love on those applications and make them as perfect as possible, I suppose. But ideally you'd do that no matter how many schools you're applying to.

MBAEssayHelp · Answer

Hi Rahul,

I will suggest you to show your application package to someone who has gone through the process of getting into the school of your choice. It is true that the quality of applications starts improving with the passage of time. But if you get help from an experienced person, it might not take you too long to reach up-to the standard of your target schools.

Regards,

shadow · Answer

i applied to 3 schools last term; 1 in round 1, and 2 in the 2nd round. it's definitely a risky move, but luckily it worked out well for me. personally, i see no point in applying to a school if you cant see yourself attending it. the question you have to ask yourself is: "if school X, which is at the bottom of my list, were the only school to accept me, would i go?"

if youre applying to only 3 schools, then it's likely that none of them could really be considered a 'backup' in the usual sense. in this case, just start your apps early and focus on the little things that can make your app stand out (i.e. visiting campus, reaching out to students, attending info sessions, etc.). with only 3 schools, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to devote a good chunk of your time to all of them.

Applying to only 2-3 schools

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