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($) “Which order should I do my remaining apps in?”

December 12, 2019 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

So, Round 2. Let’s get busy, shall we?

We already offered some guidelines for how many apps might be appropriate to try for Round 2, given the time remaining.

And of course you need to know which schools are on this list that you are targeting, and hopefully you have vetted these to be realistic for the purpose of actually getting in for your profile and future post-MBA interests. (Not vetted them yet? The Comprehensive Profile Review offers exactly that, and more!)

So then you’d think you should just start writing some essays, right?

Not so fast.

There are better ways, and not-so-better ways, to get from here (middle of December with no apps submitted) to there (middle of January with some really good and hopefully even admissible apps submitted).

The first warning which we warn about all the time and will warn about forevermore: Please do not do Harvard Business School as your first application.

Or Stanford.

Their essay questions are just too difficult. You will be tackling the hardest task of them all without having the skillset you need to attack it. Don’t do that.

Instead, you want to optimize.

That optimization should happen along a number of axes:

1. Learn on the easier school: Do the school on your list with the “easiest” essay questions as your first project — and obviously “easiest” is in quotes, because none of them are easy! However, schools in this category might be ones with more straightforward career goals questions, like perhaps Columbia, or LBS, and maybe even Wharton, or possibly Chicago Booth, among a few others.

2. Difficulty and/or selectivity: Do those schools with the hardest questions (like Harvard and Stanford) and also do those schools that are the hardest to get into (Harvard and Stanford and Wharton and maybe a few others like MIT or Kellogg too) as your second and third projects

3. Your highest preference: Do the school that you are most in love with as your second or third project

4. “Just tossing my hat in the ring” schools and “This school should be a walk in the park” schools: Deprioritize these. Tackle them later. Some people end up tackling them never.

Note that this attempt at optimization cannot be perfectly optimized in many cases because of the competing priorities.

Most important to optimize around is this: Your probable burnout factor.

If you’re like most people, that will start to hit hard after your third or fourth project! You will become seriously demotivated and it will be a complete slog. You will begin to cut corners. You will get sloppy. You won’t bother to pull in the details on “why this school” that are so crucial for many adcoms to see in order to be convinced of your fit there.

Another tactic to maximize on: If you got some apps in during Round 1 and those apps are actually popping for you, and you’re feeling buoyed by the confidence and optimism of a win: Do the more selective and competitive schools now. Obviously you must’ve done something right in the essays on your first round of apps in order to be sitting pretty now. Use that good energy to push into this next pile of work.

As you can see, tactics are malleable and should shift and adjust based on circumstances.

The one that we’re a true stickler for: Don’t set yourself up for an even greater challenge than necessary by trying to write essays for questions that are exceptionally challenging when you don’t yet have the skill of writing good essays under your belt.

Most people’s best application is project #3, if they’re not too rushed and not too burned out by then. If Project #3 happens on January 3rd, then we’re less confident it’s going to be your best work. If you finish it on December 23, it very well might be.

And yes, you could get to your third set of essays in 10 days’ time (we’ve helped folks do it before!).

Most important is to dive in right now. Stop procrastinating. This is your time!

Filed Under: planning your strategy

« Previous: Oh no! The waitlist! (Round 1 2019 edition)
Next: ($) Resume dead weight, aka, easy things you can cut »

So who the heck is EssaySnark, anyway?!

We're the snarky experts in MBA admissions!

Sometimes amused and often appalled by what candidates write in their MBA applications to top bschools, EssaySnark created this little blahg to share common mistakes. Learn from them and avoid making admissions directors laugh (or want to hurl) when they read your essays. If you are hoping to have your essay reviewed anonymously on the blahg for free, submit it for consideration.

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Good luck on your apps, Brave Supplicant!

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UPCOMING MBA APP DEADLINES

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From a BSer January 2020:
"love the guide books!"


CLASS OF 2023 MBA APPLICATION STRATEGY GUIDES

     
    The 2020 Berkeley-Haas MBA Application Guide - updated for the Class of 2023 application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Berkeley Haas - refreshed and updated, with brainstorming exercises and structured maps to help you focus your stories!
   
    The 2020-2021 NYU Stern MBA Application Guide that covers the main essay, the EQ Endorsement and Pick Six!
SnarkStrategies Guide for NYU - discusses your requirements for the Class of 2023 essays!
   
    The 2020-2021 Columbia MBA Application Guide
SnarkStrategies Guide for Columbia Business School for 2020-2021 applications
   
    The 2020 Harvard MBA Application Guide - completely overhauled and updated for the coronavirus era!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Harvard Business School!
   
    The 2020-2021 Duke Essay Guide - covers the 25 Random Things essay and all the rest too!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Duke Fuqua - up to date for the current season!
   
    The 2020-2021 MIT Essay Guide covers the org chart, the contacts for two references, and additional tips for the cover letter and 'introduce yourself' video -- and everything else you need to know!
SnarkStrategies Guide for MIT Sloan MBA - totally revised for the Class of 2023!
   
    The 2020-2021 Tuck Essay Guide has been refreshed with latest insights and advice for your essays about "investing generously" and "why Tuck"!
SnarkStrategies Guide for the Dartmouth Tuck MBA - completely overhauled for 2020, to help you demonstrate how you are nice, aware, etc stuff!
   
    The Yale SOM MBA Application Guide for Class of 2023 candidates!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Yale SOM - updated for 2020-2021
   
    The 2020-2021 Chicago Booth MBA Application Guide - ready to go to support your Class of 2023 essay strategy!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Chicago Booth for this year's MBA app!
   
    The 2020 Wharton MBA Application Guide - even more advice on how to get to a win with those essays!
SnarkStrategies Guide for The Wharton School - with new tips for 2020!
   
    The 2020 Kellogg Essay Guide - with a full methodology to identify your 'lasting impact' and your 'values' -- plus tips on 2020 world events and applicability to your essays!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Kellogg MBA - updated and revised for the new realities of 2020!    
      The 2020 Stanford MBA Application Guide - for "what matters most" in your MBA application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Stanford GSB for the Class of 2023
   
    The 2020-2021 UCLA Anderson MBA Application Guide - updated for Class of 2023 on "impact"!
SnarkStrategies Guide for 
UCLA
   
   

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What were we snarking about at this time in past years?

  • 2020: "What should I do with my summer?"
  • 2019: ($) Got a glitch with your grades? TAKE ACTION NOW!
  • 2018: Should you care who the dean is?
  • 2018: Does it matter who the dean is? 2018 edition
  • 2017: If you really want to go to Harvard...
  • 2016: Another little quiz
  • 2016: ($) When your safety school is actually a stretch school.
  • 2015: ($) Deciding on a school: Does location matter?
  • 2013: Success Story! "It's complicated..."
  • 2012: "School X, or School Y with $$$?" (Part who knows)
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