Round 3

FINALLY a school acknowledges reality. Thank you HBS!

May 16, 2018 by EssaySnark - Discusses Harvard Leave a Comment

Well this is a welcome change! We’ve been harping on the uselessness of Round 3 here on the blahg basically since its inception and now Harvard Business School has acknowledged the reality that Round 3 is not really helping. It’s definitely one of the most applicant-unfriendly things around — heck, we even took the former admissions team at Harvard to task for their very mixed messages about it in the past.

The only one who benefits from Round 3 is the admissions teams who can report to their deans that their app volumes were higher because they encouraged hapless BSers to apply late in the season even when the adcom knows there’s no room.

Because let’s think about it:

If a school has ANY applicant on its waitlist, why on earth would they be encouraging MORE applicants to apply??

It’s like if you’re engaged to someone who you’ve decided is A-OK in your book…. and yet you’re still active on Tinder.

Just doesn’t seem right.

Some schools like Duke don’t even want international applicants to try in Round 3 due to stress and possible delay from the visa process.

And on-campus housing is often quite scarce. And some schools have far less scholarship money there at the end of the season. So even if you got in, there were challenges and major disadvantages (though that wasn’t the case with HBS who always has spare money available for granting scholarships when they want).

Not to mention the fact that someone who tries in Round 3 sets themselves up at a significant disadvantage when they’re rejected — which most Round 3 candidates are — and then they have to pull everything together into a brand-new but not-new reapp in just a few months.

So this is a good thing. As we said yesterday:

Finally! A top #bschool ditches Round 3. Thank you @HarvardHBS! Hardly anyone ever got in during that last round and it just raised applicants' hopes unnecessarily. Let's see if other schools will be brave enough to follow. https://t.co/fxzznxKx3B

— Essay Snark (@EssaySnark) May 15, 2018

Will other schools turn this into a trend?

We’re betting that most of them won’t, for that reason we just stated above. Heck, MIT Sloan only recently added a Round 3 when they hadn’t originally had one. They’d been a two-round program for ages, and then switched like two seasons ago.

Admissions directors are rewarded for having more apps come in every year. Harvard and Stanford and maybe Wharton are the only schools that have the abundance of app riches, that would allow them to entertain something this drastic (and we really don’t see Wharton ditching their last round). For other schools, dunno. There’s quite a bit riding on things like applicant volumes.

Harvard has long been a trend-setter among bschools. They can afford to be.

Some other schools in the past have taken risks with their applications (notably UCLA many seasons ago, when they asked for an audio essay) and have seen app volumes decrease. Who knows if it was a direct cause-and-effect relationship but common wisdom in the admissions office that year was that it was. Making big changes can be dangerous to a school that’s not comfortably ensconced in the lead.

The only known outcome of ditching their Round 3 is that guaranteed, the school’s numbers will go down.

Harvard of course is still maintaining its Round 3 but only for a special category of applicants, those who are currently in college and want to try for their 2+2 program. So it’s not like they’re getting rid of it entirely.

But this is one of the applicant-friendliest moves that we’ve seen come out of a top school in awhile.

Also recently, Tuck’s new-ish admissions director made a big deal about how they’re standardizing their rounds which is also helpful in terms of reducing some confusion, but unfortunately they also decided to take away a mid-season round that many applicants valued, so unfortunately that change didn’t really tilt in all of your favor. Would much prefer to see three rounds, one in September, one in November, one in January!!!! And preferably not the very first week of January! But alas, does anyone listen to the ‘Snark???

We had predicted that HBS would be making more substantive changes to its essay question this year which has not happened, but turns out they are in fact making a very significant change overall.

Now, if only Chad Losee could find a way to do something about THIS! The major problem with the way Harvard handles its MBA admissions

“If they have a waitlist why are they still accepting more apps?”

March 29, 2018 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

It truly sucks to be stuck on the waitlist, especially if you were placed there in Round 1. Why does it suck? Well obviously because it’s a total limbo state, where you have no idea if it’s going to work out and you should be planning a move to a new city / country, or if it’s just going to wither on the vine and die and you’ll be left with nothing in another few weeks or a month.

But what sucks the worst of all is being on the waitlist and watching the school advertise its Round 3 deadline so loudly.

Because c’mon, if you were good enough to have them want to keep you hanging around, why can’t they just accept you? Why do they have to keep encouraging new whippersnappers to apply?

It’s discouraging for sure. It’s like they’re saying, “Yeah, we like you, but what if someone else comes along who we like better?”

This is one reason why the Round 3 thing just feels so unfriendly for applicants. We get it, the schools want to offer one more chance, especially since there’s a really big difference between who you are in November or December, and who you are in March or April.

Reflect back on that: Now that it’s Spring, do you feel like the same person you were when you were putting your app together in the Winter?

For many people, applying to bschool is something they’ve worked on for well over a year. That’s almost definitely true for those who try in Round 1, including those who got waitlisted then. But for many last-round applicants who are putting an app in right now, they may have only recently decided to apply, and crammed for the GMAT a few weeks ago. Some people decide to go for an MBA as part of a New Year’s re-examination and goal-setting process. They’re reasonably fresh to all of this stress and chaos that MBA apps present.

If you applied in Round 1 last Fall, or Round 2 in January, you’ve been stressing and chaosing for quite some time now — especially if you’re still on the waitlist.

It hardly seems fair for the top schools to essentially be placing preference on those who’ve stressed and chaosed for far less time than you.

It’s like you’re in a relationship for awhile, long enough to be talking about whether maybe the two of you should get married, and you’re even starting to shop for the ring. And then all of a sudden, this significant other in your life who you thought you might be ready to commit to asks if it’s OK to see other people. You’re like, “Huh?? I thought I was good enough! I thought you thought we had a thing!”

OK that analogy doesn’t fully hold, but still.

It feels like a kinder thing to do would be for the schools to clear the waitlist before they accept any apps in Round 3.

Or maybe not, if that means that someone is rejected when, who knows, maybe they would’ve gotten in if they stuck around longer.

It’s hard to say what’s best in these cases. We do know it feels mighty unfair to watch the schools be so encouraging to everyone to “Yes you should totally apply in Round 3!!” when we know there are very strong well-qualified candidates hanging out in their limbo state still.

($) “Will applying in Round 3 weaken my application next year?”

March 21, 2018 by EssaySnark

If you have signed up for any of the business schools’ contact lists and have not yet submitted this season, or if you’re following them on Facebook or attending any admissions events, you likely have been inundated with enthusiastic messages encouraging you to pull the trigger on a Round 3 application. There are a number…

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($) Round 3: Who should really probably unfortunately not be thinking about applying right now sorry [sadface]

February 5, 2018 by EssaySnark

We don’t offer this advice lightly, because we know it’s discouraging and not what many people want to hear. And, it’s very possible that we’re wrong, or your situation truly is different! You don’t have to listen to some old ‘Snark out there on the internet. You just need to make sure you’re going into…

($) What MBA programs are still viable for Round 3?

February 2, 2018 by EssaySnark

Happy Groundhog Day, Brave Supplicant! To continue with our Round 3 Reality Check series, today we’ll talk about programs that might be in range for an admit even at this stage of the season. In case you missed them: What about Round 3? To Round 3 or not to Round 3 Who / what situations…

($) Who / what situations are greenlit for an MBA app in Round 3?

February 1, 2018 by EssaySnark

Continuing our Round 3 MBA Strategy series today, we’ll follow up yesterday’s “no no don’t do it” post with a flip to the positive. There’s a few categories of Brave Supplicant for whom we’re more inclined to see a potentially positive outlook for a Round 3 app to a top school. The easy one to…

($) To Round 3 or not to Round 3?

January 31, 2018 by EssaySnark

As we introduced yesterday, it’s Round 3 Debate Time! How do you make a decision on whether to try for an MBA in Round 3? Are there standing rules for who should, or should not, try at this time of the season? Are there schools that you should never try at for Round 3, or…

($) What about Round 3?

January 30, 2018 by EssaySnark

There’s two categories of MBA candidates considering a Round 3 application to business school: The ones who didn’t make it in Round 2 The ones who just rolled out from under a rock and decided to get an MBA The biggest risk with both of these types of applicant (besides the fact that a Round…

If you’re just joining us: Why applying to Columbia now is a bad idea.

January 25, 2018 by EssaySnark - Discusses Columbia

Columbia Business School is as you know a great school, but they do their entire admissions process differently. And this could trip an unsuspecting Brave Supplicant up. So every year around this time, we take it upon ourselves to educate you BSers about when is the right time to apply to Columbia. The biggest warning…

What do you do if you missed Round 2 AND YOU STILL WANT TO APPLY SOMEWHERE NOW?

January 10, 2018 by EssaySnark - Discusses INSEAD, Vanderbilt, USC Marshall Leave a Comment

Hey BSers! We’re reblahgging this from 2015 because dang, that was three years ago, and this info is timely for where some of you are at today!!!

Recently we gave a whole assortment of ideas for what to do if you didn’t apply to bschool yet this season. [2015 post]

And yes, we realize that those answers were unsatisfying to many of you.

“You’re telling me to WAIT, EssaySnark?? Why in heck would I want to WAIT? I procrastinated my way to this point where I missed out on my prime opportunity to apply – but now I realize that that was a mistake! Now I know that I **NEED** to go to bschool. Now I’m ready to do this thing! Why on earth would I WAIT??”

There are in fact a few other options to consider at this time of year. Here are ones for you to consider.

1. A lower-ranked program often still has openings in Round 3.
You don’t even need to go too far down the rankings to find a program that could still be open to an app from you. While we don’t encourage it, we have seen people make it into Cornell, Ross and Darden with a last-round application. If you’re even more flexible (and you have a halfway-decent profile) then a school like Georgetown or USC or Vanderbilt should be in range. It depends on your priorities, and of course on the school. We talked about some bschools where Round 3 is viable before.

2. INSEAD has multiple intakes and rolling admissions.
This means that they sometimes have openings during parts of the season when other schools are full. The more competitive candidate pools will not have the best shot in any INSEAD Round 3 but depending, again, on your profile, there could be an opportunity for you to try for INSEAD right now.

3. LBS also has four rounds – so Round 3 is possible for them.
You’re good to go with a Round 3 on any school that has four rounds. LBS is the main hold-out among top schools that still does this (besides INSEAD but they have a year-round apps, rather than the standard September/October to March/April season). NYU also now has four rounds but their schedule is more like Tuck and Duke, where they all have three deadlines in the timeframe where their peers have two. Anyway: Yes to LBS. It is definitely more competitive than their Round 2 but it’s doable, and you have some time remaining before that date hits, too.

4. Part-time programs are often not yet at capacity. Same with Executive MBAs.
These programs are often still accepting candidates through the summer, and Round 3 is nearly always still feasible. We discussed possible programs where a Round 3 app might work previously.

5. If your profile is ah-maz-ing, you could still make it into a top school.
The problem with this advice is that few people understand what “ah-maz-ing” really means. You can check out our posts here on the blahg about “the Harvard type” as a hint – you need to have a profile that’s near that caliber even if you’re trying for a school like lowly old Tuck in the last round. If you want some guidance on whether you’re all that (or not) – or just get a sense of what you should really be focusing on right now – you can go for our Late Season Strategy Review to get some help on evaluating your chances. And of course, our little booklet-thing called Everything You Need to Know about a Round 3 Application lays all of this out for you in greater detail.

The most important consideration when you’re thinking about applying now: Will it mess up your chances next season if you end up as a reapplicant? That’s a real risk (we go into all of it in the Round 3 booklet). You need to be looking at your cross-season strategy right now. It may seem like you’ve got nothing to lose to submit a bunch of apps at the tail end of the admissions season but that’s not actually how reality works. You need to consider your options carefully.

But yes, every year we see BSers squeak in under the wire in Round 3. We don’t recommend it but if you play your cards right, it can happen. Mostly we see people NOT get in, so don’t get your hopes up too terribly much – but we’re around to help if you want to do the Hail Mary!!!