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17 Jan 2017, 21:01
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| FROM Vantage Point MBA Admissions Blog: The Truth about Round 3 |
|
If you’re wondering where the last 5 months went, how they flew by in a blur, you’re not alone! If the first two, and in some cases three, applications deadlines for the top MBA programs somehow got away from you, you’re also not alone! And now you’re probably questioning if it’s worth applying in round 3 or waiting until next year. While we can’t make the decision for you, we can tell you the truth about round 3 from our experience so you’re as informed as you can be as you decide what’s right for you. -Chances go down, way down*. Unfortunately, by the time round 3 comes around, most of the class at any of the top programs has been filled with prior round applicants. In many cases, the adcom is also re-evaluating waitlist candidates alongside round 3 applicants so competition is fierce for a finite number of seats. Although the schools don’t publish acceptance rates broken out by rounds, our friends atPoets & Quantshave done some digging and have estimated the admissions % per round based on self-reported data from GMAT Club. This is by no means a perfect sample, so please take it with a grain of salt – but it can be used directionally. *On average. You’ll see a greater drop-off among the very top programs with less so across many lower ranked programs and European programs. -Adcom is refining, not building the class. At this point in the application cycle, the adcom has been reviewing applications for 5 months, if not more. This means that the chances that they’ve admitted other applicants that are similar to you are quite high. It also means that the bar is set that much higher for you to distinguish yourself and stand out as a candidate vs. your predecessors. Perhaps most importantly, however, we’ve consistently heard from adcoms at the top programs that they look to round 3 applicants to refine and fill any gaps in the final composition of the class. While that’s much more art than science, it does present a challenging case for many traditionally over-represented applicant profiles (i.e. consultants, IB/PE, engineers from India, etc.) This is not to pick on these folks, but the reality is that the chances that a top program has a lack of consultants, for example, among its pool of admitted students is simply lower. Have consultants ever been admitted in round 3? Of course! But that just means they had something else highly unique and differentiated about their profile that added to the diversity of the class. -Scholarship money is typically less available. Some schools consider all applicants – no matter the application round – for merit-based and need-based scholarships/fellowships. Others, such as Columbia Business School, have a January (or early spring) deadline in order to be eligible for scholarships and fellowships. Since the timing and process around financial aid varies from program to program, we suggest confirming that for your specific list of schools. However, even if your school(s) awards financial aid on a rolling basis, the funds left over for round 3 applicants are simply lower as earlier applicants will have received priority. -Additional considerations for international applicants. Lastly, if you’re an international applicant, most schools recommend that you apply in round 1 or round 2 in order to give yourself plenty of time for visa processing, housing arrangements, etc. It’s not impossible to make the timing work for round 3 but it will most likely be stressful. Also, as noted on HBS’s admissions page, applying in the last round will also give you less time to work on your English proficiency, if that’s something you need to improve on in preparation for the academic rigor of the MBA. Although round 3 does come with its risks, it’s not all downside. Every year, dozens of fantastic candidates are admitted in round 3. If they weren’t, the schools would just do away with the late round(s), right? In our experience, round 3 could be right for you if: 1.You have a tight and differentiated application. The adcom expects round 3 applicants to be that much more buttoned up. (After all, you’ve had more time to work on your applications than prior applicants.) If you’ve done the hard work of putting together a compelling story, thoughtful and well-written essays (this takes multiple edits and drafts), and a great GMAT score, then it could be the right time for you to apply. AND / OR 2.A compelling reason for your round 3 timing. The adcom will often expect you to have a compelling reason for why you waited until round 3 to apply to their program. Sometimes circumstances such as an illness or military service push you into round 3. Sometimes it’s the timing of wrapping up an important project at work, travel, or a promotion. No matter what it is for you, be sure to explain your reasoning and don’t leave it to assumption. Not too certain after all if round 3 is right for you? Well, it may be worth waiting until round 1 of next year if: 1.You’re a younger applicant. If you have <3 years of work experience, which is below average for the top MBA programs, it may serve you well to get 6+ more months on the job before applying. During that time, you could strengthen your leadership experience, manage summer interns, take on a new innovative project, etc. which could all serve to improve your profile. 2.Generally, your app isn’t the best it could be (GMAT, ECs, leadership experience, etc.)If you’re aiming for the top programs and there are any aspects of your application that you could still impact for the better, it may be worth focusing on getting those right before you apply. No matter what the timing, we always advise our clients to submit their applications when they’re in the best place possible. 3.You don’t want to risk being a reapplicant. Reapplicants to most top programs bear the burden of showing what changed and improved since their prior application. In many cases, it’s tougher to show a meaningful improvement in your application – one that would cause the adcom to turn a ding into an acceptance – in 3 or 4 short months between your round 3 decision and when you would start on round 1 apps for the following year. If you have your heart set on going to a certain school and you decide to apply round 3, that’s a risk you run. We wish you the best of luck with your applications, whether you decide to gun it for round 3 or start fresh in round 1 next year! If you’d like a professional perspective on your specific situation or advice on how to approach your applications, our team is ready to help! Reach out for afree consultationtoday! |
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-BB
23 Jan 2017, 13:02
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| FROM Vantage Point MBA Admissions Blog: What You Can Do Now to Prepare for R1: Best Practices from Last Year's Success Stories |
|
It may be “only January” now, but for most busy MBA applicants, the deadlines sneak-up faster than you think. As such, we compiled a list of best practices from our clients this past year that can help guide you over the next few months. Schedule Your Class Visits Now “I visited all of my target schools the year before. I’m so glad I did because my list shuffled quite a bit - my “dream school” changed twice.” - Kellogg Admit If you plan to apply round 1 (which you should if you’re this early in the process, in most cases), there’s a very small window of opportunity in the fall to squeeze in a class visit before the actual deadlines. So, we recommend that you visit over the next few months. Visiting helps you to assess which schools may be the best fit for you, and it also gives you insight into valuable essay and interview ammunition such as the specifics of clubs, classes and the school’s culture that are challenging to conceptualize from merely reading the website. Those who visit almost always write better essays than those who don’t, from our experience. Take the GMAT ASAP “I wish I’d taken the GMAT earlier. Originally I was targeting a whole different set of schools, then when I got my score I had to re-evaluate at the last minute.” - HBS admit Knowing your GMAT score in advance can help you a) better focus your school research; b) help determine if you need to take extra classes in advance of applying (eg. to offset a weaker score); c) ensure ample time to retake the test if you desire; and d) take that burden off your plate, enabling you to focus on the higher-level, strategic aspects of the application such as defining your story and goals. Activate Your Network “I arranged to have coffee with several of my MBA co-workers a full year in advance. It was invaluable because they flagged issues for me that I would never have considered on my own. They also helped me start to think about why an MBA might be the right or wrong decision for me.” - Wharton admit An MBA is more than an academic degree. It’s a full program with many aspects and attributes that are often hard to understand without having been there yourself. Seek-out those in your network who can talk to you about their MBA experiences. Having these conversations early will help you not only collect information to accelerate your process (eg. information on school cultures, different career paths etc); but it could also lead to stronger advocacy for you by these individuals as they write your recommendations later on. Everyone likes to see someone being proactive! Flag Your Weaknesses So You Have Time to Do Something About Them “I took two online accounting courses before I applied since my college grades were less than impressive. They took forever. I never could have completed them alongside the essays.” - Haas Admit It’s not too hard to find information on what the schools are looking for. In fact, we havetwo webinarson our website that walk through exactly that. Think through where your areas of weakness are and create an action plan to address those issues over the coming months. Typical areas of weakness include low undergrad grades / GPA, low GMAT score, limited extracurricular involvement, limited leadership experience, etc. Though you can’t change the past, you can always mitigate the potential negative impact of anything that’s less than perfect on your profile. Start Thinking About Your Goals As Soon As Possible “Fortunately I wasn’t going to go to business school unless I knew what my specific goals would be coming out. So I forced myself to do a lot of research and determine a few paths that I’d realistically want to go down. This turned out to be a lot of work and I’m glad I did this well in advance.” - Fuqua admit Being able to articulate why the MBA is the right degree for you and what you plan to do with it is extremely important. There are limited spaces available in each top MBA program, so they want people who they know will leverage the MBA to do great things. For 75% of the people we work with, defining their goals is one of the hardest parts. It takes time, conversations, research and a little soul searching. We encourage you to start this process early. As a tip, we have most of our clients start by looking at the job placement reports for their target schools and looking at the LinkedIn profiles of people whose careers may interest them (co-workers, family friends, etc). Then we get much more methodical, but this preliminary research helps you to get a sense for the lay of the land. As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions! www.vantagepointadmissions.com |
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it.
-BB
24 Jan 2017, 12:02
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| FROM Vantage Point MBA Admissions Blog: What You Can Do Now to Prepare for Round 1: Best Practices from Last Year's Success Stories |
|
It may be “only January” now, but for most busy MBA applicants, the deadlines sneak-up faster than you think. As such, we compiled a list of best practices from our clients this past year that can help guide you over the next few months. Schedule Your Class Visits Now “I visited all of my target schools the year before. I’m so glad I did because my list shuffled quite a bit - my “dream school” changed twice.” - Kellogg Admit If you plan to apply round 1 (which you should if you’re this early in the process, in most cases), there’s a very small window of opportunity in the fall to squeeze in a class visit before the actual deadlines. So, we recommend that you visit over the next few months. Visiting helps you to assess which schools may be the best fit for you, and it also gives you insight into valuable essay and interview ammunition such as the specifics of clubs, classes and the school’s culture that are challenging to conceptualize from merely reading the website. Those who visit almost always write better essays than those who don’t, from our experience. Take the GMAT ASAP “I wish I’d taken the GMAT earlier. Originally I was targeting a whole different set of schools, then when I got my score I had to re-evaluate at the last minute.” - HBS admit Knowing your GMAT score in advance can help you a) better focus your school research; b) help determine if you need to take extra classes in advance of applying (eg. to offset a weaker score); c) ensure ample time to retake the test if you desire; and d) take that burden off your plate, enabling you to focus on the higher-level, strategic aspects of the application such as defining your story and goals. Activate Your Network “I arranged to have coffee with several of my MBA co-workers a full year in advance. It was invaluable because they flagged issues for me that I would never have considered on my own. They also helped me start to think about why an MBA might be the right or wrong decision for me.” - Wharton admit An MBA is more than an academic degree. It’s a full program with many aspects and attributes that are often hard to understand without having been there yourself. Seek-out those in your network who can talk to you about their MBA experiences. Having these conversations early will help you not only collect information to accelerate your process (eg. information on school cultures, different career paths etc); but it could also lead to stronger advocacy for you by these individuals as they write your recommendations later on. Everyone likes to see someone being proactive! Flag Your Weaknesses So You Have Time to Do Something About Them “I took two online accounting courses before I applied since my college grades were less than impressive. They took forever. I never could have completed them alongside the essays.” - Haas Admit It’s not too hard to find information on what the schools are looking for. In fact, we have two webinars on our website that walk through exactly that. Think through where your areas of weakness are and create an action plan to address those issues over the coming months. Typical areas of weakness include low undergrad grades / GPA, low GMAT score, limited extracurricular involvement, limited leadership experience, etc. Though you can’t change the past, you can always mitigate the potential negative impact of anything that’s less than perfect on your profile. Start Thinking About Your Goals As Soon As Possible "Fortunately I wasn’t going to go to business school unless I knew what my specific goals would be coming out. So I forced myself to do a lot of research and determine a few paths that I’d realistically want to go down. This turned out to be a lot of work and I’m glad I did this well in advance.” - Fuqua admit Being able to articulate why the MBA is the right degree for you and what you plan to do with it is extremely important. There are limited spaces available in each top MBA program, so they want people who they know will leverage the MBA to do great things. For 75% of the people we work with, defining their goals is one of the hardest parts. It takes time, conversations, research and a little soul searching. We encourage you to start this process early. As a tip, we have most of our clients start by looking at the job placement reports for their target schools and looking at the LinkedIn profiles of people whose careers may interest them (co-workers, family friends, etc). Then we get much more methodical, but this preliminary research helps you to get a sense for the lay of the land. --------------------------------------------------- So how does all of this apply to your specific situation? Great question! We’d love to chat with you about your profile and help answer any questions you have about your MBA application journey. That’s why we offer our free 30-minute consultation.Sign up to speak with one of our MBA admissions experts today! |
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it.
-BB
