Should you sprint for Round 2 or wait until Round 1 next year?
Should you apply Round 2 MBA or wait for Round 1 next year? Thousands of applicants ask this question every fall. With Round 2 deadlines just 5 weeks away in January, the decision feels urgent. Round 2 deadlines approach quickly in January (only 5 weeks away!) but if you wait for Round 1 next year, you delay matriculation until fall 2018. Which timing fits your situation? Like everything in MBA admissions, your situation determines the answer. To help you decide, we’ve listed key questions below. Answer each one honestly. If you answer NO to any, think about waiting for Round 1 next year.
- Have you taken the GMAT? If so, do you plan to apply with your current GMAT score? Planning to retake the GMAT soon? You’ll need extra study time. That time conflicts with essay writing. Naturally, this competes with the time you need to spend on your essays and other application components.
- Have you started on any other part of the application process? What about researching your target schools including attending info sessions, scheduling campus visits, connecting with alums and/or current students, etc.? Rushing these steps proves difficult. The holiday season compounds the challenge.
- Do you have enough time outside of work and your other commitments to dedicate to the application process over the next 5+ weeks?In our experience, you should plan to work on 5-6 drafts of your resume and 8-10 drafts of each essay to put together a stellar application. Depending on how many schools you plan to apply to, that might require 40+ hours.
- Do you have >3 years of work experience? Note that the class profiles of the top MBA programs have 4-5 years of work experience on average.
- Have you ever been promoted in your career or received any formal increase in responsibility? Adcoms look for career progression and leadership. A promotion demonstrates this effectively. But it’s not the only way to demonstrate growth.
You must make this personal decision, that must reflect your individual situation and circumstances. We always tell our clients to apply when they feel most prepared to submit their strongest application. If you can get it all done in the next 5 weeks and believe that now is the best time for you to apply, then that’s amazing!
(Please note that this applies to Round 2 applicants only, in recognition that you may not be able to take full advantage of the unlimited nature of the service due to the impending deadlines. Of course, your consultant will remain fully available to you within the terms of our service but the fact is that your timeline is condensed – and we fully acknowledge that.)
Have you decided that Round 1 next year is better timing for you? That’s great too! It’s never too early to get started. We’re accepting 2017-2018 applicants at this time so feel free to take advantage of our free 30-minute consultationand find out what you could be doing now to strengthen your application!
After embarking on my own MBA journey, I founded Vantage Point MBA Admissions Consulting to help aspiring business school students get accepted to the top MBA programs in the U.S. and Europe. As President, I currently lead a team of over 25 superstar consultants to give our clients an unmatched experience, with a focus on white glove, personalized collaboration and mentorship.
