Regarding Deadlines....

Question

I'm planning on applying to Business school in February of 2013 (I'm taking the GMAT mid- January), but I don't want to apply to any school where I would be considered a 3rd round applicant, as I hear they have a much lower acceptance rate than do 1st & 2nd round applicants.

SO, my questions are as follows:
1. Is my assumption correct? 
(Assumption: For good b-schools, 3rd round applicants have a much lower acceptance rate than do 1st & 2nd round applicants.)

2.Are there many B- schools that would not consider a February applicant as a 3rd round applicant, but rather consider me as a 1st or 2nd round applicant? 
What percent of total b-schools would consider a February applicant as a 1st or 2nd round applicant?

3. Do many/any Business schools schools use "rolling admissions", which would preclude me from being considered 1st, 2nd or 3rd round applicant?

Thanks!,
TessCarre

kingfalcon · Answer

1. Your assumption is correct.
2. Not really, no. Columbia has rolling admissions, but almost all of their seats will be gone by February.
3. See above.

Why not wait and apply next fall?

aerien · Answer

Research what schools you want to apply to and see what their deadlines are. A lot of schools outside the top 20 have spots available for people who apply in February and later. Base your decision to apply to a school on how well you fit their program and vice versa, not when.their deadline is. If it's better for you to wait a year to apply, do that. 
   Posted from my mobile device

Ward2012 · Answer

1) Yes 2) this post that lists deadlines for many schools may help: all-mba-deadlines-massive-list-of-2012-2013-deadlines-134763.html 3) I'm sure some do that, and this is also fairly common for EMBAs. But I think the top 10 programs, if that is what you are targeting, mostly do rounds (except Columbia as noted above.)

Admissionado · Answer

1. Yes
2. Mostly these would be European schools, if you are interested. But as mentioned above, refer to the deadline list.
3. even with rolling admissions, the earlier the better.

(sooooo all in all, perhaps wait until next year??)

jko · Answer

An MBA is a big investment, you should pick schools based on their credentials rather than their application deadlines.

I think you'll find that you're better off waiting a year and applying to schools that really interest you.

Similarly, if you're dead set on applying this year, I think it'd still be more worthwhile to apply R3 for schools that you're interested in, as opposed to R2 for schools you're not that interested in.

Regarding Deadlines....

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