Ideal semester for applying for B-School?

Question

I just finished my Masters in comp. sci (waiting for degree to come to mail). Although I wanted to apply to schools but without getting the degree I know it wouldnt look good. Now I am starting to study for the GMAT and hope to get a ~700 score (dont we all :-D

). My question is that is the earliest possible semester I could be enrolled pretty much fall 2010? I will get the degree in august and with studying and taking GMAT i am not sure i can make the Spring 2010 deadline. Should I just take my time on the exam and then just apply for 2010? Any suggestions? Thanks!

refurb · Answer

I assume by semester you actually mean "round"?

There are typically three rounds for applications deadlines, Oct-Nov, January and April.

The first two are interchangeable. The third one is VERY competitive.

RF

billyjeans · Answer

I think most people finish gmat by July and that way will give you 3 month to compete for the 1st round deadline. Good luck!

shaselai · Answer

oh so if i miss the "first round" i gotta wait an entire year? Oct-Nov is first round - is it really "easy" to get all the materials for that round? Now is june and i probably wont be taking the exam till august-September to give a real shot at a good score... it is not too late by then?

isa · Answer

Like others said, there are three rounds for application. You can take the GMAT pretty much whenever you want as long as you can get your GMAT score report to the school by the due date of the application. I think the latest you can take the GMAT is about two weeks before the deadline.

You can start prepping your application as early/late as you like. I think if you read the threads on this forum, you'll find that some people started preparing in June/July for an Oct due date, while others started in September. Some people also chose to do GMAT then focus on apps, while others did both things at once. I think the folks in the latter category found it to be fairly time consuming and difficult to manage with full time work.

If you miss the first round in terms of preparation, you can apply in the second round. That being said, you can't "officially" start an application for one round, then complete it in the next. Usually apps have two parts, and I think most schools require payment when you complete part 1 and you also have to declare which round you're applying, in that section.

hope this helps!

refurb · Answer

No, you can apply in the Jan round.

However, if you plan on applying to 4 or 5 schools, it's not a trivial amount of work.

I wrote my GMAT in June, took a month off, then spent all of August through Dec doing applications. Probably spent 15-20 hours/week during that time.

RF

shaselai · Answer

if i start in second round in Jan, do i miss out anything from 1st round? Just a bit confused... And how many schools do people usually apply to?

ACNguy · Answer

Shaselai, I think you're confused. You don't miss out on anything, because those that apply in Round 1,2,3 all start school at the exact same time (The following Fall). Therefore, if you can get them ready by Round 1, apply. If you can get them ready by Round 2, apply. Those two rounds are basically interchangeable in terms of difficulty in getting in. Unless you have a VERY strong application, Round 3 is generally signficantly more difficult. Nonetheless, if you're admitted in any of these rounds, you then actually start school the following fall.

Therefore:

Round 1 (App due October/November) start school in August/September of 2010
Round 2 (App due January) start school in August/September of 2010
Round 3 (App due in April) start school in August/September of 2010.

Hope that helps.

Therefore:

Round 1 (App due October/November) start school in August/September of 2010
Round 2 (App due January) start school in August/September of 2010
Round 3 (App due in April) start school in August/September of 2010.

Hope that helps.

shaselai · Answer

oh ok. so do the rounds affect how many openings are left? I guess the earlier the better in terms of getting a decision quicker?

ACNguy · Answer

The single most important factor is making sure you have enough time to put together a complete, articulate and fully developed application. If you have to rush to get into Round 1, you're better off waiting until Round 2 to ensure the application is as strong as possible. Round 3 becomes significantly more difficult than the previous 2 rounds.

krispy · Answer

Totally agree. I ended up rushing a few applications. And boy, I got dinged by those schools real quickly. Adcoms are professional readers of applications, and they can instantly tell when your efforts/heart are not in it.

shaselai · Answer

I read that round 1 is the "easiest" to be accepted since the next 1/2 rounds there will be less open seats. So theoretically is it possible for all applicants to be accepted into round 1 if they qualify and rounds 2/3 wont have many/any spots left or they "reserve" spots for those rounds? And if I do apply should "reach" schools be sent as early as possible then "safe/less reach" schools?

ACNguy · Answer

They'll save plenty of spots for Round 2, trust me. Like I've said before, there are minimal differences between Round 1 and Round 2. I heard this past year, in fact, that some believed that Round 2 was easier at many schools because the ADCOMS anticipated a large increase in Applications for Round 2 and that never occurred. Like I've said, apply to the schools ONLY when your application is ready, and worry less about the round it is in. The differences between 1 and 2 is small if there is one at all.

In terms of reach schools, I would actually advise applying in Round 2. Your skills at putting together an effective application will be much sharper by Round 2 and thus you potentially put your better foot forward. This is assuming you'd put in a ton of work for Round 1 and learn from any and all mistakes. I've also read, that if you plan on applying to Northwestern, to do that application first. The essays are pretty generic in that they ask a lot of the important questions that you'll get in other applications. Thus, by having those out of the way you can tailor them to other schools applications.

isa · Answer

When to apply to your reach schools is entirely up to you. If you don't have time to spread your apps over two rounds because of work/life commitments, then just strategize how you'll spend time within each round doing apps. Many of us did our toughest applications first, then the ones for the "safety" schools, and then went back to the tough applications and re-edited prior to submission.

Hope this helps!

Hope this helps!

shaselai · Answer

whats the usual response time from B-schools? Is it right before round X+1?

ACNguy · Answer

In general, if you apply Round 1 you should find out Accept/Ding/WL anytime from right before Christmas to the beginning of January.

Round 2 I believe is generally two months as well.

For US schools, expect approximately 8-12 weeks, for European schools, expect around 4-8 weeks.

3underscore · Answer

I am immediately wondering about how much work experience you have. With a Masters in Computer Science there is a fair chance you have no work experience, and going straight into an MBA after a Masters suggests that you are maybe more an academic than the program actually targets.

I think you really need to have a convincing reason on why MBA, and why you aren't working for a few years from the CS masters. For that reason alone I think you should work for a bit, take time on the GMAT and then look to get in the class entering 2011. That is based on a lot of assumptions about unknowns though (but hell, that is what Business School folk do).

shaselai · Answer

I have about 4 years working experience. I started Master comp sci almost 2 years after college after i settled down with job and everything. I graduated Bach. in fall 2004. The reason i did the master's was because of low work experience (~1.5 at that time) so figured after i am done with Masters i can jump into MBA with decent work experience. I read usually 3-5 is good...

Ideal semester for applying for B-School?

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards