application rounds

If you’re just joining us: Why applying to Columbia now is not the best idea… But if you’re going to do it, do it NOW!

January 26, 2021 by EssaySnark - Discusses Columbia

Every year around this time, we take it upon ourselves to educate you BSers about when is ideal — and when is especially not recommended — to apply to Columbia. The biggest warning we have is, don’t get sucked in by that alluring final Regular Decision Columbia MBA deadline in April. (April 9th this year,...

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($) Just In Time MBA App Prep: What if you JUST decided to apply to bschool? Like, NOW?

January 5, 2021 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

Many of you are putting finishing touches on Round 2 apps – huzzah! With the turn of the calendar, we’re also getting many new folks who set a resolution to try for an MBA, who were maybe unaware of the admissions calendar, but showed up here looking for how to get in right away. They’re […]

($) Pro Tip: Start your Round 2 applications now

December 1, 2020 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

It’s December 1st. Many if not most of you are nervously awaiting decisions from Round 1 which are going to start happening as phone calls beginning as soon as next week (probably not this week, but we may be tracking things incorrectly and who knows?). (Side note: If you get an incoming call from an […]

($) When should a Columbia Regular Decision MBA app get submitted?

November 24, 2020 by EssaySnark - Discusses Columbia Leave a Comment

If you have Columbia Business School on your list of school targets this season, you may be wondering: When exactly do I need to submit my application in order to have the greatest chances of success? For any other school that you’re planning to try for, it’s not that complicated: Round 2 deadlines are coming […]

What if you miss the deadline by only a few minutes or an hour?

September 15, 2020 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

We touched on this a tiny bit in yesterday’s post about word limits and figured it was worth speaking of further. It would really suck if you’re still getting your application done at 11:15pm when the deadline is at midnight and you only then discover that the school has a hard cut-off on their field […]

($) “I’m out of time. I’m going to just push everything to Round 2.”

September 1, 2020 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

We end up doing a series of posts on this problem every September, so we’re mostly going to be referring you to those prior posts today — with this one specific addition that everyone should study carefully. This is Life Advice that you can use to navigate thorny decisions around whether to put in a […]

($) Test extensions: Should you submit your app before you take the GMAT or GRE? And which round?

August 12, 2020 by EssaySnark - Discusses Darden, Harvard Leave a Comment

Let’s talk about GMAT and GRE, and the still-changing policies for test taking and test acceptance for top business schools for applications for the Class of 2023. We’re also going to go into our recommendations around Round 1 versus Round 2, with considerations for whether you have a test score in hand or not now. […]

($) The main advantage to Round 1 this year

July 6, 2020 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

This past season (Class of 2022 admissions) was the first time in recorded history that it was an advantage to apply very late in the season — at least in some cases. We worked with a handful of very well-put-together candidates who did not move forward in Round 1 last Fall despite some excellent applications. […]

Schools are trying for normalcy and that is a good thing (thank you HBS!)

May 15, 2020 by EssaySnark - Discusses Harvard Leave a Comment

Harvard Business School is being remarkably consistent. Every year around this time, they release their application deadlines for Round 1 and Round 2, and they announce their essay question. And guess what? A few days ago they did exactly that. Take that, coronavirus! You ain’t gonna stop HBS from going business as usual! And, we […]

What “rolling admissions” means right now

April 21, 2020 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

Please don’t get caught up in misdirected hype around “rolling admissions” in the coronavirus era. The rolling round that many schools have implemented is totally unlike the standard deployment of “rolling admissions” from schools like Columbia operating in a normal year. (What does “normal” even mean anymore? Will we ever go back to “normal”? Is […]