Consortium or Individual Applications

Question

Hi all!

I am a first generation Cuban-American. My parents came from Cuba in 1959 and I've done nothing else in life but try to build my way out of a low income household and honor the efforts of parents who fled political persecution so as to give me a chance at a living free.

I like the Consortium and I feel qualified to answer the mission statement thoroughly but I am concerned about the actual process itself. I have read it over five thousand times but for some reason the application process does not seem very intuitive. Has anyone applied via the Consortium yet? How was the experience? Would I be better off with a 760 GMAT applying via individual applications?

Thank you!

JackSparr0w · Answer

Well it looks like 4 of the schools you're applying to are Consortium schools, so I'd definitely apply via them. Reduced app fees, fewer essay requirements, and added benefits if you're accepted.

Also, the process is pretty straight forward. Log into the CGSM site, set up a password, fill out the information and hit submit. I haven't had an issue at all, and it saved me a good amount of time and money.

angelfire213 · Answer

congrats for starting to think about this so early!
 don't see why you wouldn't do consortium for the schools you can. Only exception I would give is UCLA - coz if you apply R1 to that via consortium, you're going to wait a LONG time to get a decision (with R2 ppl) which will screw you over if you applied to other schools non consortium.

It lets your recommenders write fewer letters so i think that's an obvious benefit too

antohneo · Answer

Some of the cons of applying through the consortium are 1) a limited space for recommenders compared to applying directly, 2) if you are only applying to 1 or 2 schools, you may end up writing more essays (ie UCLA only has 1 required essay when you apply directly), 3) you need to rank schools and schools can see where you rank them, the only school that seems to care about this is Yale SOM. Others may care as well, but they aren't as upfront. 4) You lose the advantage of applying EA to schools. This may come into play at Tuck in your case. 5) Along the same lines, and what Angelfire mentioned, you won't hear about the majority of consortium fellowships until late March/April. If you apply EA or Round 1 at non-consortium schools, which you definitely should, your deposit at those schools may be due before the fellowship decision is released.

That said, the pros mentioned above are huge. Especially if you are relying on the same 2 recommendors for all your applications.

The CGSM application system is very similar to the application system used by other schools. It isn't great, but that same statement applies to all the schools using a similar system.

DrShelle · Answer

From Dr. Shel (Shelly Watts), https://www.mbaadmit.com, email: [email protected]

In general, if you are applying to a school that is within the Consortium and you are qualified to apply through the Consortium, it is a good move as it will maximize your odds of getting a full scholarship from one of your top-choice Consortium schools.

Yes, the Early Decision calculation could affect things if you are applying to a school that has Early Decision. But, if you have to give approx. $4000 to a school like Columbia to secure your admission under Early Decision but then you find out months later that you got a full scholarship to a Top-12 Consortium school like Tuck, I think you won't be crying too many tears if you decide to give up the $4000 and accept the full scholarship. That strategy could make sense for many candidates. So, in many cases it makes sense to do both - apply ED if there are some schools that have ED you are interested in, and apply through the Consortium to other schools.

Tuck, of course, is a school that is complicated because it has ED and is also in the Consortium, but in most cases it would make sense to apply through the Consortium as admissions committees tend to be more understanding of any flaws in your profile through the Consortium path, and the school should award you at least the same size scholarship they would have through a direct path (or even a larger scholarship!)...

Hope that helps!

Dr. Shel

mba2018pls · Answer

Thank you for this. Does Round 1 of the Consortium not equal to EA for the schools? I assumed it did. So even if I during the Consortium's round 1, it's not considered EA for the schools?

bb · Answer

Consortium or Individual Applications

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