Strategy for Dividing MBA Schools by Round

Question

Hello hello. My plan is to apply to: Wharton, MIT Sloan, Columbia, Booth, Kellogg, and Yale (as of now, in that order).

Wharton - Stretch
Columbia (ED?), Kellogg, MIT, and Booth - I'm competitive
Yale - Strong

I'm looking for some advice as to how to split these schools up, preferably 3 in R1 and 3 in R2.

-Do some schools give off the impression that R1 is more advantageous in their eyes?
*I realise MIT has 2 Rounds as opposed to 3, so this is the kind of info I'm looking for
-Is applying to 3 per round feasible with a FT job?

What are people's experiences with dividing up their schools between rounds? Any advice as to how you would split up mine?

Please feel free to document your experience, and how you divided up your schools. Thanks!

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

I think some of your decisions will be made for you already given that you have already missed deadlines for schools like Kellogg and Wharton so keep that in mind as you think through how you divvy up apps. At this stage you should really prioritize which schools you really want to get out for round 2. You are looking at 6 applications in about 3 months which is a lot if you don't get started soon. It sometimes makes it easier to bundle similar feeling schools so you're telling a similar story within your apps. Another thing to consider is your reccs, a lot of people forget an app is not complete until this is submitted so think about what works best for your recommenders as well.

Hope this helps!

Hope this helps!

JayBB · Answer

Hey, thanks for the reply. I am actually planning on applying next year. Sorry, I should have clarified that. With this in mind, would you have any thoughts on my previously posted questions?

Admissionado · Answer

Hey there,
Well actually, I find that most people can make 4, if not 5 schools per round, provided you start early enough...

There are a lot of considerations that go into figuring out the order of applications.

Some of the main things we think about are:
- Deadlines. Not just when they are, but how far spaced apart there are... so for example NYU traditionally has a very late deadline, which means that it is almost always possible to make an NYU deadline and STILL make R1. We take such things into consideration when figuring out the strategy.
- How big and hard the application is.
- How similar the application is to other applications you will submit (which obviously reduces the amount of work to do)
- How important it is for you to get an answer earlier.

Each of these things should be thought out on a personal basis, and then that should help you think out where to apply exactly when...

Hope this helps!
Best,
Jon

Strategy for Dividing MBA Schools by Round

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