R1 vs. R2 for a unique applicant

Question

Yup, another R1 vs. R2 question. Sorry!

I'm a rather unique applicant. When I say that I mean that my professional background isn't IT/Consulting/Investment Banking or the like. I genuinely believe that the admissions committee will look at my resume and say, "Wow, cool. We've never had one of these before..."

As such, I'm weighing the pros and cons of going R1 vs. R2. I know that R1 is usually recommended for people who tend to fit a more common applicant profile thus preventing their application from becoming just another XYZ in a huge pool. Makes sense.

As a unique applicant, my concern is that R1 may hurt more than help as the adcomm will see fewer applications and mine won't contrast nearly as much. Maybe I'm not giving the adcomm enough credit for being able to separate the wheat from the chaff (what I am remains to be seen!).

Your thoughts are most welcome.

EDIT: FWIW, I'm also trying to overcome a low uGPA (I graduated in 1999) but my work experience, recommendations, GMAT, etc. are all good.

riverripper · Answer

Either round should work for you...the people reviewing your app have probably been doing this for more than that year (except for students) and will have a knowledge of the different types of applicants they get. Don't place your hopes on being the only person you are still going to have to write good essays and get good recs. So the real question to ask your self as the R1 deadline approaches is my application as good as it can be, if it is then send it in, if you can strengthen it applying R2 would be a better bet. These schools get NFL players, broadway actors, olympians, and all sorts of crazy profiles...so though it helps to not compete against a bunch of indian IT people with 750+ or IBs from ivy league schools, being unique isn't going to get you in if everything else doesn't meet their standards.

rhyme · Answer

Either or... you can't time it. In any case, if its truly that unique, by definition, it wouldn't matter when you applied.

kryzak · Answer

to piggy back on this discussion, what does it mean by: "Can I strengthen my application any more?" If I have all my work experience, resume, essays, recs and application all done, reviewed many times by friends and peers, spent a couple months drafting one essay after another, and made sure all the sentences are grammatically correct, no spelling errors, and no switch in school names (

), how can I determine if the application is "strong enough" to submit? I understand that if I started my essay writing in October and the app is due end of October, it's probably not strong enough to submit. But if I'm going to write my first outline and draft in the next couple weekends in August, and have at least 2-3 people do a comprehensive review of it (including my own mini-reviews), plus incorporate things from school visits, talking to alums and students (which I'm getting quite a bit of contacts from Berkeley and Stanford). Will that be "strong enough" by the end of October (R1) to submit? Thanks!

aaudetat · Answer

It sounds like you've done everything you wanted to do. What are you missing?

Seriously, you'll know when they're done....you've got it how you want it, further futzing won't have any real change, etc. Or you'll just be so damned tired of working on it, you'll just want to send it off.

kryzak · Answer

I'm more worried about the "... damned tired of working on it and want to send it off" part. That's why I wanted to see if there was some "formula" on determining if the application needs any strengthening. 

I just hope I can leave spaces in my essay to insert experiences of the class visits, since some of them are in the October time frame and the R1's are due at the end of October.

aaudetat · Answer

Sorry, I don't think it's that easy - no formula applies. Check out the essay writing guide that Rhyme wrote, but it really does sound like you're on the ball.

kryzak · Answer

Ok, I have rhyme's document saved, printed, and read. =) I will re-read all the stuff I've been downloading and reading again throughout my essay process.

I *really* want to get into a good MBA school for Fall 2008, so I'm very motivated. It's good to hear that I'm on the ball, as I always feel like I'm behind. :shock:

lepium · Answer

Or you will run out of time and submit anyway... as most of us have... :lol:

Funny how that worked out fine for most of us.

mNeo · Answer

We've completely hijacked this thread. But continuing kryzak's question, how much time did the 2007ers spend on each application? 

I know that the amount of time spent doesn't necessarily mean that your application is ready .. but such guidelines may help us 2008ers plan our application work some more and stay well within deadlines and still produce good quality applications. 

I was initially planning to spend a month on each application. But I don't think I have that much time for each application now. Is one month too much / too less?

EDIT: Assuming working for 2 hrs each day (I will spend more time during the weekends, but then I will not work on the essays at all some days)

aaudetat · Answer

Yikes! I did NOT spend that much time on them. We've talked about this in other places, but I turned all of mine out pretty quickly.

So, probably an average of 2 or maybe 3 hours for the data entry portions - demographic info, activities, whatever is on the app. Your first one takes longer, as you have to remember the name of that club you were in in college and how many hours you spent each week on it. After you get that info down, it's much quicker.

As for essays, it really depends on how long they are and how many there are. Yale's application was super-short; UNC's was pretty long. The schools vary a lot. But I would say somewhere between 10 and 25 hours, maybe even less if there are only 2 fairly short essays and you've already got your shtick down.

kryzak · Answer

Here's my plan: https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... 715#350715

R1 vs. R2 for a unique applicant

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