Round 3 Admission rate

Question

Hello All!,

I am new to the Forum and have a question for you all.

I have recently started studying for the GMAT and don't have a reasonable amount of time to get everything together for the January application deadlines. So I planned on taking it end of Jan early Feb to give myself more study time. There is a Round 3 deadline in April for most of the Schools I would like to apply to (CBS, NYU, Wharton, Booth, Kellogg, Haas, Anderson).

I know you need to stand out in the last round so I'm obviously not going to apply unless I score 700+ on the GMAT (easier said than done) and I feel my resume is pretty strong. I have been working in Corporate Finance for 5 years (mostly FP&A but also Stress Testing & 2 promotions) in 2 large S&P 500 companies in NYC, Tokyo, & San Diego.

So my question is....is it worth it to apply in Round 3? I know it probably has a lower acceptance rate in Round 3 but is it impossible? Does anyone know the acceptance rate for Round 3 deadlines?

I know I could always wait another year and apply Round 1 next year but in my current situation starting school in Fall of 2019 would be more than ideal.

bb · Answer

Hi. This is a common question and you can search for it. Even our simliar topics BOT found a few similar discussions. In general R3 is a weird round. By that time 80-90% of the programs are probably filled and this is just an opportunity for some late bloomers or those who somehow missed the first few rounds. For the top programs, it is barely anything. At the same time, they will take unique and strong candidates. It is definitely POSSIBLE but ODDS are against R3 applicants.

You can go to the decision tracker and open a school you are interested in - e.g. Ross and see it in 2017 (Class of 2020).
R1 - 69 Admitted
R2 - 62 Admitted
R3 - 1 Admitted
https://gmatclub.com/forum/ross-196/dec ... acker.html

For McCombs:
R1: 55
R2: 38
R3: 0

https://gmatclub.com/forum/mccombs-203/ ... acker.html

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

Hi,  u4gotboutdray01  I would strongly advise against it - at that point, they are just looking to round out the class with highly diverse candidates or sometimes, candidates with very, very high GMAT scores to bump up their average (bc ranking.)

JatinBhandari1 · Answer

Laws of probability say that you will very likely not make it

R1 next year- focus only on GMAT right now.

theoryguy · Answer

I asked about applying Round 3 and most of the current students suggested applying Round 1 or 2 the following year over Round 3. Though you may want to check Round 3 stats for your prospective school - NYU, for example, admits a decent number of candidates R3.

ARINGO · Answer

Round 1 is the best but round 3 has a couple of benefits too - especially this year!
Schools might have spaces (due to covid or other reasons). Several top programs will still be looking for top candidates, especially if many r1 or r2 candidates rejected or deferred their acceptance offers. So, the chances of getting into a school in Round 3 this year will be higher than any other year.
Even if your r3 application isn’t perfect, it can get you ready to apply next year. The work you do this season will actually help you develop stronger applications next season if reapplication is necessary.
For more reasons and tips for applying in round 3, please visit: https://www.aringo.com/top-mba-last-rou ... od-chance/

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

I strongly urge that you not apply in Round 3 with the mentality that you can "just reapply in Round 1." This is a failed strategy and I have very concrete evidence for my assertions; for example, 2 equally qualified candidates who are now both at HBS but the one who applied to GSB and MIT got dinged and the other was WL at Stanford and accepted with scholarship at MIT. Admission committees feel that you need more time to "grow" before they give your application another objective look. There are select reasons to apply to R3 but do not pick the same schools that dinged you in Round 3 for Round 1.

Round 3 Admission rate

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