"Dream" schools in R1? "Safety" schools in R2? Really?

Question

A question to all the other Fall 2009'ers out there,

how have you made the decision about which schools to apply for R1 and which for R2?

Conventional wisdom on this board seems to state that the earlier the better, however there's also a school of thought that recommends holding off on applying to your "dream" school until you've churned out a couple of applications already and had the opportunity to learn from them. That way you have had time for some introspection on the weaknesses in your initial couple of applications, and you can make sure your "dream" school application does not suffer from the same weaknesses.

In addition, what do you guys think about throwing in a "safer" school along with your "hail mary" application (consider the possibility that my "hail mary" and "dream" schools are distinct) during EA/R1? The most likely scenario would be that by the time R2 rolls around, you would already have an acceptance from your "safer" school, and that way could work on your R2 apps, which would include your "dream" school, and unleash your creativity unfettered by any fear of joining the unfortunate "zero admits club."

Of course, you might have to eat a couple of thousand $ worth of deposit fees at your "safety" should you be accepted at a better school during R2, but let's say I'm OK with that.

What do you guys think?

ko · Answer

Well I think a large majority of the R2 deadlines are before the R1 decision deadlines, so that can throw a wrench in your plan in many cases (if you wanted to know your R1 decisions before doing your R2 applications). However, if I recall correctly there are a few schools that would allow you to know R1 decisions before a R2 deadline (I think Wharton is one), but I don't think there are many of these schools.

solaris1 · Answer

There's probably only a handful smkrn, you're right. Cornell is one that releases R1 decision by the first week of December.

dosa_don · Answer

Just as a FYI: schools have their deposit deadlines in April/May for R1 admits. So you dont really have to eat the deposit. You can get the R2 decisions and then put in the deposit for your R1 schools.

I dont think you can really time these things- just chalk out the schools based on how many essays/schools you can get done in R1. Some schools- especially the ones with a small class size, are easier to get in in R1- namely, MIT, Stanford etc, while Chicago, W, etc might have similar acceptance rates over the two rounds.

I think its better to apply to atleast 1/2 of your safe schools in R1- because they might not really be "safe" if you apply in R2.

dosa_don · Answer

Kellogg is rolling, a decent number of decisions are made prior to the holidays. Chicago has been advancing their decision dates by a couple of weeks for the last two years- they usually release a day before Wharton's decision deadline-around the 18th-20th of December.

solaris1

There's probably only a handful smkrn, you're right. Cornell is one that releases R1 decision by the first week of December.

solaris1 · Answer

That's smart advice, dosa. I never really thought of it that way.

perfectexamscore · Answer

thanks for providing this information

kidderek · Answer

Right. I didn't figure that out until others told me. Cornell's rd1 is basically their version of early decision b/c they want the first deposit before other schools release their decisions.

refurb · Answer

I'll be applying in R1 or R2 depending on how good my essays are. I will likely hold my dream school app until R2, but that's not guaranteed.

If you feel that your app for a particular school is strong, apply to the earliest round you can.

NN

cpgmba · Answer

I don't know if I would consider that true. From all indications I've seen, admission chances in R1 and R2 at most schools are relatively similar. If the difference between applying in R2 instead of R1 makes your safe school "not safe", then you may want to evaluate your selection of safe schools. I know with my safe schools that I can apply R1 through R3/4 and the probability of getting in is still extremely high across the board.

solaris1 · Answer

cpgmba, just out of curiosity, what schools do you consider to be safeties? feel free to PM if you wish.

thanks.

ujjib · Answer

I will definitely recommend saving some of your dream schools to R2. R1 applications would be learning experience, and you will be able to use some of the learnings for R2. The additional time will also help you polish your essays quite a bit. I personally was able to improve my essays every time I touched them..

And finally if R1 doesn't get you an admit, you may want to try a slightly different (more risky) strategy in R2...so I say, keep some top schools for R2. (except the small class size ones as dosa mentioned)

cpgmba · Answer

It completely depends upon the applicant. My for sure safety is Indiana (Kelley). Fuqua is my next highest up school but I probably wouldn't consider it as much as a "lock" compared to Kelley even though I feel I have a very good chance of getting admitted no matter what round I apply.

My Schools
Stretch - HBS, Wharton
Target - Kellogg, Ross
Semi-Safety - Fuqua
Saftey - Kelley

kidderek · Answer

Unless you have a kickass profile (no clear weakness + something exceptional), there really is no safety school within the top 16 schools.

solaris1 · Answer

Yes, no doubt. For all practical purposes I consider my "safety" to be the lowest ranked school I am willing to attend, assuming I don't get in anywhere else.

If I don't get in to ANY schools within US News' top 14, I'm sitting it out for 2 years and trying again. I simply can't justify the mediocre ROI otherwise.

kidderek · Answer

Ahhh, to be young again. I simply do not have the 2 years to wait. Dare I say, I'm considering the trans-elite level as possible backups. (no offense to those attending those schools).

icon · Answer

I am also considering a Tran-Elite school (Texas) and even a Near-Elite Frontier school (Rice) as backups. There are a lot of quality programs outside of the UE and E that will lead to great experiences for the people that end up attending. Chicago and Kellogg are my top choices for sure but I do think its wise to have solid backup plans. If only we could all get in to our dream school... 8-)

solaris1 · Answer

That's pretty smart, icon. Rice, from what I've heard, has really solid placements if you want to work in Texas. I would seriously consider it as a "safety" myself if I didn't have this extremely strong desire to remain in the New York metropolitan area after business school.

ko · Answer

Kidderek, forgive me if you've explained this before, but what schools are you applying to? Are you going for FT or PT? I ask because of your posts on the NYU Langone thread. Anyways, I am just curious.

kidderek · Answer

Sorry for the confusion. I've really been all over the place. I haven't finalized a list, but I'm looking @CBS, Stern, Chicago, Yale and maybe 1 or 2 more schools. I applied to Cornell last year and was dinged w/o interview, which was kind of a kick to the nuts, and pretty much shot down my confidence. Albeit, I didn't put my best foot forward (such as not finishing up the app until the night before the due date -- stupid, i know).

"Dream" schools in R1? "Safety" schools in R2? Really?

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