Round 1 vs Round 2

Question

I've always heard round 3 will put you at a disadvantage, but generally speaking is there any significant difference between applying in round 1 or 2 for your chance of admission? I'm currently deployed overseas in the army and won't be getting back to the US until around the end of the round 1 application cycle. I would prefer to apply in round 2 if it has no serious consequences. I am mainly concerned with London Business School, NYU, MIT and UChicago. Also Columbia, but it has rolling admission beginning in the summer and ending in april.

Narenn · Answer

Hey  wjl , Check out the article "Round 1 vs Round 2: The Great Debate" from  GMAT Club Application Guide.  Quality of your application is the most significant factor that affects your admission chances, so if you are not ready to submit best application, there is no point in rushing to apply in R1. Hope that helps!

Admissionado · Answer

If you can, apply R1. Chances are similar in R1 and R2, but R2 is a lot more "full", so there is also more competition. But basically to summarize - if you can make a great application, ALWAYS apply to the earlier round. Not only is it good for chances, but it is good for adjusting your strategy thereafter.

CriticalSquare · Answer

Great question. If your circumstances allow you to be fully prepared for R1, then you should do your best to apply then - earlier is always better in this game. However, if you think your application quality will suffer by rushing through, then R2 is going to be your best bet. Check out our "When to Apply – R1 vs. R2" video towards the bottom of our Common Questions, Awesome Answers page to learn more. Also, we love chatting with Active Duty Military and Veterans - we offer 10% off our services as a huge "Thank You!". If you'd like to take advantage of our free consultation to get some more insights into your particular situation, we'd be happy to chat! Just sign up below.

Best of luck!

Best of luck!

PersonalMBACoach · Answer

Adding to the above comments, while round one is a little better than round two, it is common for circumstances to make it difficult for an applicant to submit by round one. Plenty of applicants get in round two, so you don't need to be too concerned if it looks like round two will make more sense for you. Round one tends to have fewer applicants, but they are more qualified. Round two has more applicants, but you have more of a mix. The most important thing is to apply when you are 100% ready. You are better off applying in round two at 100% than round one at 90%. I work with a lot of military applicants and for better or worse, many of those are in round two. If you would like to talk about my boutique approach to admissions consulting, send me an email and we can set up a time to discuss: [email protected]

Good luck!

Best,
Scott

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

It really is about when your application package is most ready but R1 the entire class empty so technically there are more spots available. Also, in case you get waitlisted you may actually get a decision faster given you have a potential extra round of evaluation. But materially not a huge different in terms of evaluation as many students certainly get in both rounds, R3 is the only round you should generally avoid if possible

Round 1 vs Round 2

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