Struggling with shortlist

Question

Am struggling with shortlisting my schools. After going through a lot of websites and the great reviews on this forum..i have still pretty much narrowed it down only to the 7 Ultra Elite List + Haas Unlike most people who seem to have decided they want to do management consultancy, or IB..I am really unsure..and want to do an MBA in a university that gives me maximum opportunity to explore my options. This means I will be putting in 7-8 apps..

This has probably been explored before, but how open should you be to one business school about your apps for the other ? Do MBA schools frown on 7-8 applications ?

I live outside the US..and am keen to visit campuses on a grand 2 week trip.. ..but I realize the earliest I can do it now is this fall. Which means all my apps are going to be in Round 2. Is this a bad strategy ? Is it wiser to attempt HSW in the R1 (where i figure my chances are lower anyway) and then Sloan/Columbia/Chicago/Kellog/Haas/Ross in R2 after the school visit?

When is the earliest I can visit campuses in Fall ? (none of the schools have their fall schedules out yet on the websites..)

appreciate your advice guys

kryzak · Answer

hi ashaker, without knowing your background or career goals (I know you don't know them either

), it's really hard to give you any substantial advice. While I'm very happy to see Haas on your short list (I'm biased, I'll say that outright :wink:

), I don't think applying to the top 8 schools is a good idea, since the focus of each school varies DRAMATICALLY. The only schools that will probably get you into almost every field possible with maximum chance is Harvard and Stanford. Even Harvard is less so if you want to do hi-tech stuff. From Wharton down to Haas (ranking wise), each school has their focus, and each school will give you a good chance at getting into things that aren't the school's focus, just based on the alumni base alone. With that said, you REALLY need to narrow down your career goals first before you can narrow down your school list. From what I see, you really didn't narrow anything down other than apply "randomly" to the top 8 schools. Not knowing your "Why MBA" with conviction will definitely get you dinged at these top schools. Sorry I couldn't help more, but that's the best I can do at this point...

sam77sam7 · Answer

I agree with Kry, you really need to be able to show in your apps why school X meets your specific goals (and they should be more in depth than, "I want to go into banking because it is interesting... etc").

Your concern over schools frowning upon applying to multiple schools shouldn't be an issue. Unless I am way off base, I don't believe they will have any way of knowing which other schools you applied to, unless you tell them!

My suggestion would be to start working on the Big 3 questions - Why MBA? Why Now? Why School X? This will help you focus your goals to a certain extent, and then you can start to trim your list some. The schools on your list vary to a wide degree when it comes to focus, opportunities, and culture.

~Sam

ashaker · Answer

Thanks guys, Looks like I need to do a lot more soul searching and reading to try and whittle down the list further...I have read the great post by R. on MC..

Any similar resources on IB ?

Steel · Answer

I think Kry is right in that you need to narrow down your career goals as a first step, but before you start arguing IB vs. MC, I think you should step back a little and ask the question "What do I want to get out of my career". I think that often the focus for many of us remains on clarifying in the application process the specific first job that you want out of your MBA - I think this is a mistake.

MBA programs know that you are probably not going to end up in the job that you now know for certain is exactly what you want to do immediately after your MBA. Sure - some people end up there, but at any top 10 school (including H/S/W) many people (if not most) end up doing nothing that resembles anything they ever wrote about in their essays (atleast for their first job).

Thus, I think its much more important to understand the big threads that you want through your career rather than the first job. What are your big career goals? What do you want to get out of your job? What are the things that make you tick and will give you passion throughout your career? These are the things that are going to differentiate you from fellow applicants. 50-60% of every class is going to end up in Banking and Consulting at any MBA program - having that as your primary career goals is not going to differentiate you, nor is it going to be helpful to you in feeling out the "Why" question for your own benefit.

Soul search around these concepts, and you'll find the small stuff (like what you might want to do immediately after b-school) will start to fall into place.

kryzak · Answer

well said, sam and steel, Kudos.

ashaker · Answer

thanks guys, what is the maximum number of schools that people on this forum have applied to.

Also, when is the earliest I can visit schools in US now ? Should I rush to do a trip in end May or is there enough time to wait until fall ?

riverripper · Answer

You can visit now but until you know what you are going to do and which schools are best for you its probably a waste of time and money. Seriously though, a lot of the top schools are very different from each other. Some are similar but others couldnt be more different. Not only are some stronger in some areas than others but the "fit" is different at other schools.

Personally, I think having a solid idea of what you want to do is a huge advantage completing the applications and its also going to be to your benefit when you show up on campus. You should focus now more on your goals and learning more about the schools than their US News rankings. You should dig deep before you spend big bucks traveling to the US to look at a lot of schools.

kryzak · Answer

What river said. The max number of schools I've seen on this forum (and being successful) is nervousgmat with 8 schools. She did 4 in R1 and 4 in R2, but she's pretty amazing and got into all of them (she withdrew from Darden after getting invited for an interview), and I wouldn't model my process to hers unless I'm a superstar.

Again, you NEED to figure out at least 1-2 fields you want to go into. The schools will fall in place once you do. The other thing is, do you want to live in a big city or rural area? Your career goals will also determine which region of the US you should go to to maximize your experience. There are a lot of things you still need to think through before picking schools. Once you do, all of us will be here to help you out.

ashaker · Answer

Just read Richard Montauks book , where he says 6-10 apps is quite common...Is this too much to attempt ?

Would really like some information on school schedules in Fall..When is the earliest I can usually visit ?

MGOBLUE2 · Answer

You can visit at any time. But I think you mean the earliest you can visit and sit in on the class with all the students around. In the case, the earliest you can visit depends on the school. But generally, sometime in September or October after orientation/pre-term ends.

The problem is some schools do not allow you to visit with much time before the R1 deadline. I think last year, you could not visit a class at HBS until AFTER the R1 deadline.

And yes, I think 6-10 are way too many to attempt. Unless you work for M/B/B or some ultrae elite firm, it is highly unlikely you will get into the Top 7 + Haas. It is just too hard and requires luck. Like the others suggested, do some more research because the schools are VERY different. If you apply to all the top 7, you risk burnout.

Do not sacrifice quality over quantity (of apps).

Good luck!

shmegs · Answer

I agree with mgoblue's point, 6-10 applications is a lot. I suppose if you start early, data-mine effectively, it is possible to put out 4-5 quality apps for Round 1. Kry is right, unless you are amazing...or have a lot of time to devote putting out a lot of apps is going to be tough. I put out 4 apps in round 1 and I can honestly say only two of them were quality, the others were fairly generic. The one app I spent the most amount of time on and put the most effort in was my only successful application, so I'd caution against the shotgun approach.

kryzak · Answer

There are a few things from Montauk's book that I wouldn't follow, and the 6-10 school is one of them. 4-6 is probably a good number. Throw in 2-3 M7+Haas schools, and 1 or 2 "backup" schools depending on your profile. You'll do MUCH better at those applications and maximize your chance of getting in.

ashaker · Answer

Thanks guys,

let me mull over it..been doing a lot of research on schools.and some introspection.. will hopefully narrow it down further soon !

I am just worried now that I wont have enough time to visit any schools before Round 1..Is there much value in doing a visit without sitting in on a class ?

dosa_don · Answer

Also- what is the purpose of your school visit? If it is to understand the school better, then look for some alumni in your city, they should be able to help you out as well. If it is to show the school that you have visited the school, it probably wont matter if you are international and I would actually recommend applying in R1 over visiting school and applying in R2. The incremental value of visiting schools is probably not much. again- if you truly wanto understand the culture, fit etc, then it is a different story but still, an alum should suffice.

ashaker

Thanks guys,

let me mull over it..been doing a lot of research on schools.and some introspection.. will hopefully narrow it down further soon !

I am just worried now that I wont have enough time to visit any schools before Round 1..Is there much value in doing a visit without sitting in on a class ?

kryzak · Answer

i agree with dosa, if you're international, then a lot of interaction with the alums in your area and maybe email/phone calls with students will be good enough. they don't expect you to visit their schools before you get accepted if you're international.

ashaker · Answer

Many thanks to everyone for their inputs.. Have finally narrowed down to 5 schools for this year..(after a lot of soul searching and arguements with my wife, sister and friends on what i really want in life) .. Also took the Career Leader test. which said I should be a journalist (??), but anyway, I have decided I am really keen only on General Management in large scale organizations..

harvard - the world changing leadership emphasis appeals to me. 
Stanford - the emphasis on collaborative community and of course leadership.. 
Wharton - seems to be one the ideal schools for general management with diverse strengths.

- gotta app to these 3 even if it is a long shot.. Am trying to locate some alumni to speak to now.. Probably wont be able to visit before R1 anyways..

MIT Sloan - Found an alumni within my company.. Was quite impressed with the courses offered here. the whole open course ware thing is brilliant..

NYU Stern - It is the media focus of this school that really appeals to me. (not so much the finance) Would love to move into management in media. Also seemed like a strong "community" school. Should be able to visit this school before the r1 app..

So basically it is a 2 school strategy..will think about r2 schools after r1 apps are done with.

Struggling with shortlist

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