MBA Application Timeline – What to Do and When If You’re Applying Round 2

If you’re applying to MBA programs in Round 2, now is the time to buckle down. Make sure you follow a realistic MBA application timeline. January may seem far away, but strong MBA applications require a lot of work. A timeline helps prevent procrastination.

Ideally, you already developed a strong application strategy and personal brand. Use these to start thinking about the essays – one of the most critical and time-intensive aspects. If you’ve done this upfront work and are hitting the ground running right now, bravo! If you’re just starting, below is a suggested timeline. It shows how to best use the next 10-11 weeks before deadlines hit.

Your 11-Week MBA Application Timeline

For the weeks below, we list what we expect our clients to complete by each week’s end, give or take. By this point, you should have a GMAT/GRE score or firm test date. This lets you focus on the actual application. If not, you can assume that test prep is concurrent to the items below.

A few key notes: we recommend at least five resume drafts. This small document proves critical to your application. We also suggest at least 10 drafts of your first essay set. For each draft, seek feedback from varied sources: alumni, co-workers, consultants, friends, or family who know the process. You won’t know the background of the person reviewing your application, so it’s best to get multiple perspectives.

For context, many clients complete 10-20 drafts per essay set. We normally edit resumes through 5-8 rounds. The number of drafts doesn’t correlate with English skills, time spent or overall intelligence. Iteration makes for a better product, so we view drafting as part of the process of getting to success. Many people think better when reacting to something on paper. Getting pen to paper spurs the creative process. Below we laid out what this might look like at a minimum, but of course it varies by person.

For the week of October 24:

• Application weaknesses (low GPA, light extracurriculars, etc.) have been identified and you are actively working to address / mitigate them
• Well-defined personal brand and/or story that at least three other people vetted for being personal, differentiating, interesting, and visionary
• Schools researched and selected; virtual presentations attended or at least signed-up for
• Resume drafts in process and being reviewed by someone other than you and your family (co-workers, friends, former classmates, consultant, etc.)
• Recommender packets prepared and meetings scheduled to explain the process and get them energized about your story and goals

October 31:

• Resume finalized
• School 1’s essay drafts complete, with someone else reviewing them for content, readability, and alignment with what adcoms seek
• Conversations scheduled with your MBA alumni friends to learn more detail about their experiences and programs, so you have more context for your essays

November 7:

• Second and third drafts completed for School 1’s essays with reviews by friends, family, co-workers and/or a consultant
• First draft of School 2’s essays completed and being reviewed

November 14:

• Continue drafting Schools 1 and 2 (as noted earlier, 10+ versions of essay set number 1 is normal; we generally see fewer iterations for subsequent schools)
• First draft of School 3’s essays completed and being reviewed

November 21:

• Check-in with recommenders to make sure they have a plan of attack
• Second and third drafts of School 3’s essays completed and being reviewed
• Continue drafting Schools 1 and 2

November 28:

• First draft of School 4’s essays completed and being reviewed
• Finalize School 1’s essays

December 5:

• Start the application form for School 1 (completing the embedded ‘mini questions’, determining how to leverage all of the space to maximize the information you share etc.)
• Continue drafting on Schools 2 and 3

December 12:

• Second and third drafts of School 4’s essays completed, awaiting feedback
• Finalize School 2’s essays
• Continue drafting on School 3

December 19:

• Send your completed School 1 application to someone to review in entirety and provide feedback (optimally someone who knows about the process like an MBA alum, etc.)
• Finalize School 3’s essays
• Continue drafting School 4
• Complete the remaining application forms for Schools 2-4

December 26:

• Finalize School 4’s essays
• Send your completed applications to alums or other reviewers for final checks and integrate feedback accordingly
• Check-in with recommenders

January 2:

• First Week of Deadlines!

I know what we’ve laid out seems intense…because it is. But don’t cut corners in this process. Your competition won’t cut corners. Standing out requires hard work.

We are still accepting clients for Round 2 and are happy to talk about how we can help. Please request a consultation here.