B-School Admission Process Query

Question

All,

I am a regular visitor to this site and this is my first post. I want to thank all for sharing so much of information that surely helps!!!
I have a silly question on the MBA admission process:
 Deadlines Admission Based Process:
1. Does it make a difference if I apply before a deadline or near the deadline? e.g. If a school’s deadline is June 20, 2010 and Mr. X applies on May 1, 2010 and Mr. Y applies on June 15, 2010, will there will be a different weight age given by the admission council to both the applications?
2. I know this question may have different answers based on the schools. But can you please help me give me a rough idea of:
• What is the approx time taken by the school to respond either in positive or negative?
• If the answer is positive, then how much time is given to appear for the interview?
• And finally, even if all is well with the interview, when is the final decision communicated? Till when, the first payment needs to be made to secure the seat in the b-school?

Rolling Admission Based Process:
 I have the same set of questions for rolling as for deadline based admission process. Is there any difference?

Please communicate any further ideas/processes/conditions that I have missed. 
Thanks in advance for your time and help on this one.

Cheers,
Rohit

annae · Answer

1. Depends so much on the school. Some schools take applications into review as soon as they have the time to process them - and you've submitted all documents by internet or snail mail. Other schools wait until the deadline to distribute the applications to the adcom.

IMHO, I prefer to submit a few days before the deadline, because the last couple of days usually see an exponential rise in application numbers. At leas then if someone from adcom views my application s/he will remember it easier. Perhaps.

2. It really varies and you should look on the website of the school in question. One school admitted within a couple of weeks, whereas another school has had me waiting for 2 months now for a final decision. Also, some schools require interviews for almost all applicants, so you might not be any wiser until the final decision is released.

About interview scheduling on location, perhaps someone else can answer more precisely, but I've got the feeling that Oxbridge allows 3-4 weeks for travel arrangements?

Final decisions also depend very much per school. You should look them up on the websites. Cambridge gives them within the week, whereas for example Katz lets you wait for over a month.

From what I've heard, deposit payment is due 2-4 weeks after acceptance. In some cases it can be stretched, but it's up to you to plead for extension.

rohitgoel15 · Answer

Thanks annae .. It helps !!!

juvi999 · Answer

It really depends on school. For instance, I have applied and received an interview notice within a week to one school. After the interview, I was told that the answer will be within two weeks. So it will total 3-4 weeks from applying to receiving the final answer. On the other hand, I applied to another school back in December and received an offer for the interview only yesterday. Due to the alumnus from my country/state being away, I will have an interview only at the end of February. And who knows when they will give me the answer. In the best scenario it will take 2,5 months. Thus, the range of time taken by schools to respond can be anywhere from 4 weeks to 3+ months.

So far my impression is that bigger schools work faster.

B-School Admission Process Query

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards