You noticed the quotes, right?
Because no “good schools” are also “easy” to get into.
However, compared to some stratospherically-difficult schools, there are most certainly a collection of business schools for whom admission doesn’t require superhero features in an app.
We talked about this when we launched our Top 19 list earlier this season.
Today’s post is to help you identify some schools that you should keep in your back pocket as potential backup plans – or that you should consider targeting first, if you’ve got glitches and gaps in your profile that you’re unable or unwilling to fill before sending in those applications.
First on our ignoble list of “easy” schools is CORNELL.
Next is MICHIGAN ROSS.
Before you get ahead of yourselves… these are also some of our favoritist schools.
We know some GREAT people who are or recently have been students at all of these schools. They have culture and community and they offer incredible experiences. Some are VERY forward-thinking. We think many of these schools are hungry. They’re willing to work harder for you, to earn your trust and to help you understand why you should try them. They’re not sitting on the metaphorical laurels, or riding on their long-established brand names. They’re hustling for your MBA interest.
Being on this list is by no means a diss. In fact, we’re publishing this list in an effort to help some of you more narrow-minded -focused BSers to expand your horizons.
Not every great school is based in a big city on a coast. There are some excellent programs waiting for you to explore.
And while we’re on this subject, we’ll also dispel a little myth:
DUKE tends to NOT BE “easy” to get into.
Duke has some great essay questions and you may even discover that it’s almost “fun” to write them (“fun” is in quotes for the same reason that “easy” is; we don’t know anyone who writes MBA admissions essays for “fun”). If you’re thinking of making Duke your “safety school” then you’ve got another thing coming, in our opinion. Duke is often remarkably selective in terms of who they take and who they pass on by.
Do your own research, of course, to make sure that School X or School Y is one that you’re even interested in. And start planning your full-round strategy, to figure out which schools you need to apply to during Round 1, and which you might safely push out till later.
Round 1 is ALWAYS an advantage, at any of these schools.
Whether your profile is one that needs every advantage available or not is up to you to evaluate.
The Wise Brave Supplicant will approach this process with humility and a conservative strategy – not pummeling the country with applications, and not assuming that they’ll make it in anywhere they try. Spend some time sorting these things out and take a big-picture approach to it all (and of course, leverage the resources available if you want some specific input into your situation – yes, we definitely address questions of which school/which round).
As we’ve been saying, it’s not too early to get started! Dive in, Brave Supplicant, the water is great!
Tell us what you think.