You may be in the in-between phase, all apps done, interviews already completed, hopes of additional invites starting to fade, and you’re wondering what you should be doing with your time.

The other important task to tackle?

Take a serious look at your finances.

If you’re successful with these apps — and we certainly hope that you are!!! — then very soon, you’re going to be faced with the prospect of paying for it.

If you already got in during Round 1, you’re already thinking about this.

When they extend an offer to you, the school will give you some time to think about it, but then they’ll need you to commit. That takes the form of a deposit to hold your spot in the class. These can range from around $1,000 at some schools to closer to $5,000 at others (the amount and the timing of when it comes due usually depends on how competitive the school and which round you applied in).

You’ll need to have a credit card that can accept a big charge, or in some cases, you actually need cash available, and will have to plan for a bank transfer or maybe you can send in a paper check if you’re U.S. based. Duke is one school that does not take credit cards for their deposits and others may also be restrictive on how it is submitted.

And then, soon after, you’ll be hit with additional deposits, and the reality of relocating to whatever city or in some cases new country your school is in will begin to hit.

Start looking at these logistics NOW. At least the financial ones.

You don’t want to count your chickens before they’re hatched; you have a whole process to go through, with interviews and everything, before you’ll know you’re admitted, but you still don’t want to be caught flat-footed. This is information that you should’ve explored previously but many people do not. We’ve heard of a few BSers over the years who turned down an offer at a very good school because they realized only after they’d been admitted that they could not afford it.

Bschool is expensive! Start planning ahead.