We’re still a week out before decisions will start to come for the top schools, but we know that Round 1 didn’t turn out as hoped for with many BSers’ strategies. We’ve seen enough from this vantage point to give some advice and suggestions for those of you who really don’t want to experience a repeat of all those rejections that you got in Round 1.
The obvious disclaimer of course: YOU NEED TO HAVE A SOLID APPLICATION.
When there’s all this nonsense news about how app volumes are slipping, then it can give the impression that it’s going to be easy to get in. It’s not. Not at any of the schools that you folks are interested in.
We gave warnings at the beginning of September about how competitive we thought things may turn out to be, and sure enough, so far at least we have been reading the tea leaves correctly. Unfortunately.
There are pockets of candidates who are doing just fine, thank you, and are expecting to see at least one admit coming in the next few weeks (though please don’t start celebrating too early — until and unless you have an admit in hand, you REALLY need to be preparing for Round 2!!!)
The biggest blow that many of you may experience is that you end up on the waitlist instead of getting in with your Round 1 application.
We are CERTAIN that many schools will be (over)using the waitlist again this year.
Being waitlisted can actually be a harder hit to the emotions than being rejected might be, and it’s very, very stressful to be suddenly looking at the need for Round 2 apps in only a few weeks, when you had expected to be admitted outright in Round 1, based on how things have gone for you in the past few months.
Today’s post is one of those you may want to “favorite” this (see “Add to Favorites” button at very bottom, visible to logged-in blahg members) so you can come back to it later. Hopefully you totally won’t need to. But, you know, just in case. 😕
Based on how Round 1 has gone so far, here are some schools we can tell you are going to be super competitive for Round 2:
Obviously H/S/W because, well, yeah.
MIT Sloan. SUPER selective already in Round 1. This is unlikely to change for Round 2.
Kellogg. We don’t have results yet but we’re just saying. Kellogg is majorly on the upswing. There will be some broken hearts coming soon.
So which schools might you want to give an extra look to for Round 2?
(These may surprise you.)
- Chicago Booth.
- Maybe Columbia, depending on your profile, and how you go about your app strategy.
- Darden, which has long been an “easier” school to break into, but it’s now one that we think is worth looking at carefully for more candidates. Darden is seriously impressing us lately. This is not an also-ran school. Great things are happening at Darden.
- Another “maybe” on Yale. This one will be very much profile-specific.
- Tuck. There’s going to be room for the motivated BSer at Tuck in the January round.
These are offered only as suggestions. These are by no means “safety schools” (the opposite will be true for some folks). Most of those schools are hyperfocused on school fit, so slapping together an app to any of these is not going to get you in the door. But if you’ve got your act together, and you’re motivated — and some of you may be more motivated than ever now — then yeah, these schools could be in range. Or, another option to explore would be the not-full-time-two-year MBA options at any schools you like. For example, EMBA programs have seen more softening than the “regular” MBA. Same with some of the other Master’s programs. If you’re not totally sold on the two-year full-time residential experience, then the world may open surprising options in terms of what schools you could land.
Want to know with greater clarity, based on a careful examination of your actual profile? Well, we can help! The Comprehensive Profile Review will walk through what you are presenting with the facts of you background, and what your goals are, and how that might all might be received by the schools that you have decided to target.
We hate to be all doom-and-gloom but we really want you to be prepared for possible outcomes.
We offer this ‘snarchived post as suggested reading for all Round 1 hopefuls!
You don’t want to be caught off guard based on how things may play out.
Hopefully you have much happiness to report to us very soon!!! Please drop us a note or update us in SnarkCenter with how things turn out!
And if you end up in limbo… We’ll be here for cheerleading and egg nog (and ESSAYS) to help you get through to Round 2!!!!!
Tell us what you think.