Is my admission form stored from 1st round to 2nd round?

Question

Hi all,

I want to apply to a few universities' MBA program to begin in fall 2016, and am currently preparing the GMAT. I am fully aware that I am short on time, since most people prepare their GMATs for a couple of months, and the essays for some time as well, whereas I only have about 30 days left in order to take the test and have the results back in time. My questions are:

1. If I start an application process for a certain university, but do not submit the application before the end of round 1, is this application form stored for, say, the second round? Most importantly, do the recommendation letters get stored for until the application is finished? Or do I have to do the complete process again for each round?

2. If I take the GMAT test on the same day that the application process is closed, and then the GMAC sends the results later on, is my application valid? Or do I need the official result BEFORE the dead line?

Any/all comments are highly appreciated!

BONUS-TRACK: just did my first prep exam (from the GMATPrep) and got an estimated of 650. By studying in between 3 to 6 hours daily, do you think it might be realistic to reach 720-740?

Best regards,

PersonalMBACoach · Answer

petocities  -

1. Yes. Your application is stored from R1 to R2 if you do not finish it by the R1 deadline. The LORs are stored as well.

2. Yes, although you ideally want to take it a bit before for the AWA. Schools only look at what is self reported for the most part, so you can get your score and submit it yourself. Don't worry about officially sending your full score report.

In terms of what you need to improve your score...this is a very individual question and without knowing your study history, habits and overall ability, it is hard to say how much you can improve it. Were you testing higher on your practice tests?

petocities · Answer

Thank you very much for your response  PersonalMBACoach , it is really helpful. Just as a quick follow-up, are submissions stored for all universities? (I mean, is it common practice and I can work under the assumption that, in case I do not manage to get a well rounded application, they will still be there for all/most universities when round 2 approaches). You mention that, ideally, I would like to take the GMAT some time before (how much time before deadlines?) because of the AWA. You mean that the AWA takes longer to score and could improve my overall score?

Also, about recommendation letters: I currently work at a university of some prestige, quite close to the dean. Since I want to apply to an MBA I was wondering if it would be a good idea to ask for a recommendation letter from a world-renown academic, instead of a (regular) professional holding an MBA.

Once again, thanks a lot for your time and help.

Best,

CriticalSquare · Answer

Hey there,

Thought we'd chime in to answer your follow up questions:

1) Yes, all schools store your forms - safe assumption indeed
2) The AWA takes anywhere from 2 - 4 weeks to score (they quote 20 days) - it doesn't change your NUMBER score but it is a data point schools will consider
3) Recommendations are strongest coming from those who know you best - not those who hold certain degrees. If the Dean knows you well and works closely with you, then s/he could be a great option. We'd have to know more to give a definitive answer but having an unconventional recommender is totally ok!

Cheers,

petocities · Answer

Thanks @CriticalSquad for the input!

I agree that in order to gove proper advice is always best to have more information, which makes both your advices and suggestions valuable information!
1) This is very good news, since it gives me the chance to aim to complete several applications in one go (and not having to come back to people over and over for first and second round applications)
2) Some schools say that as long as you take the GMAT before the deadline, and add these schools in the list of recipients of official scores, you should be fine. Does this mean that they will consider my AWA scores once they get them? Or that they will just ignore them?
3) I've heard from friends & close ones that, for an MBA program, a more suitable recomendation would come from someone in a managerial position instead of an academic, therefore it would be best to approach people related to the business world, instead of the academic world. Is this true?

4) Would leave my application pending hurt in any way? (i.e.: "This person did not complete his application for the 1st round even though he started before the deadline, we shold be wary!").

Then again, thanks for all the help!

PersonalMBACoach · Answer

2) They will consider your score and get the AWA once it's computed

3) Yes, you would be better off getting a letter from a professional reference than an academic. Academic references tend to not work as well

4) No this won't hurt you at all!

Good luck

CriticalSquare · Answer

You're very welcome! Wholeheartedly agree with Scott's responses to #2 - 4!

Is my admission form stored from 1st round to 2nd round?

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