Warning: You are about to be nagged.
If you are planning to apply to business school in Round 1 in the fall but are not yet able to define in specific terms why you want an MBA and have not taken the GMAT/GRE (if you need to do so), researched schools, or evaluated your qualifications, please, please, please keep reading.
And then get started!
Starting now will boost your chances of getting accepted to your target business school.
I would like to help you avoid the stress, harried hassle, and diminished quality that accompany rushed applications. To be clear, rushed applications are ones that candidates start working on just a few weeks before the deadlines, because they cogitated, procrastinated, or suddenly decided to apply late in the cycle. These applicants think (or hope) that magic might happen if they throw an application together at the last minute. We encourage you to instead follow the example of the many well-prepared applicants who start working on their applications months before their deadlines and work steadily to complete them on time.
These wise people are getting started now, 9-12 months before they actually need to submit their applications.
- They tend to get into more and “better” schools.
- They are more likely to get scholarships.
- They are better prepared for b-school when they arrive on campus.
- They are better equipped for the job/internship search, which frequently begins before students even set foot on campus.
These candidates simply do better in the entire MBA application process than those who wait until the 11th hour (or even the 10th).
These well-prepared applicants are your real competition! And the best way to compete is to start the race now – not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, or in the summer.
What if you are not sure whether you are ready to apply to b-school this season? Take our MBA Admissions Calculator Quiz for a free assessment of your MBA admission chances.
MBA Application Timeline for 2024 Applicants
[Click here for your copy of the MBA Application Timeline.]
January-February
The most important thing you can do during this time frame is get organized for the journey ahead. At this early planning stage, you should take care of the following:
- Schedule informational interviews to help you clarify your goals. Talk to people in the roles you would like to have post-MBA or who are hiring for the roles you would like to have post-MBA.
- Sign up and begin studying for the GRE or GMAT, if necessary and you haven’t already done so. [More on that here.]
- If warranted, based on your undergrad academic record, sign up for and take courses that fill in any gaps and/or address weaknesses (online is fine, and some programs are rolling). This process can continue through succeeding months, but it’s ideal to start now if it’s needed.
- Start paying attention to specialty rankings for your field of interest.
- If you happen to live or travel near schools of potential interest, pay them informal, “look around” visits – this can be very motivating for the work ahead! And you might glean insights that you can discuss down the road in essays and/or interviews.
- If you haven’t been active in the extracurricular realm, start engaging now in a meaningful activity or two. Adcoms like to see this dimension in your application, but they do not appreciate it as much when you don’t start engaging until a month before you apply – in which case, it looks like cynical application padding rather than sincere involvement.
March-April
Now is the time to take all the information you gathered over the previous few months and begin working. Here’s what you should focus on:
- Schedule informational interviews, if you still need to do so.
- Draft your succinct post-MBA goal in terms of function and industry. An ideal approach is to write out a 300-word statement for your own use that you can later adapt for your application essays and interview prep. Of course, this can and should be revised as you learn more and refine your goals.
- Take the GMAT/GRE/Executive Assessment, if necessary. If you’re satisfied with your score, you’re done. If not, prepare again and retake.
- If the test reveals soft spots that your transcript doesn’t adequately cover, sign up for classes (again, online is fine) that enable you to address the issue. Also, you could work with test prep specialists at this point to target your specific issues.
- Scour MBA program websites and focus on the programs’ curricula, cocurricular activities, and career services.
- Attend online events and/or visit schools you are most interested in, ideally while class is in session. Read What Should You Do If You Can’t Visit B-Schools in Person?
- Jot down what you like and dislike about programs, ideas for essays, accomplishments and challenges you have overcome in your work and nonprofessional commitments, refinements of your goals, and so on.
- Update your resume.
May-August
- Attend MBA fairs and school receptions, either in person or virtually.
- Get started on your applications! Thoughtfully fill out those boxes, making sure that they add to the admissions reader’s knowledge of you. Focus on achievements and contributions, not just responsibilities, when describing your work and activities. (Some applications are fairly complex and substantive, and in those cases, you’ll be really glad you started this part early!)
- Draft, write, revise, edit, and proof your essays, one school at a time.
- Obtain your letters of recommendation. Choose and approach your recommenders (June); give them any necessary info and alert them to your deadlines (July); and then remind them regularly about these deadlines, as needed.
All Year Long
Here are some things you should always be thinking about and working toward during the pre-application and application process:
- Network and research.
- At work and outside of work, try to take on more leadership roles.
- Strive for professional and nonprofessional international experience.
- If necessary, take additional classes to make up for low grades or to beef up your quant skills.
- Make time for community service and extracurricular activities! MBA programs don’t want nerds or people who are consumed by their work.
Your MBA Application Timeline
The key to success here is keeping track of all of your to-do items to make sure you complete them on time. The best way to accomplish this is by creating an organized timeline that will help you stay focused.
If you are aiming to submit your applications in Round 1, you can download this PDF, print it, and tape it to your mirror, wall, or fridge – wherever you’ll regularly see it. Then, using the timeline as a guide, add the tasks we just outlined to your calendar. And do them.
If you follow this MBA timeline, the pursuit of your MBA dreams will not be a mad, breathless sprint to the finish line but a long, steady jog that allows you to successfully complete the MBA application marathon.
Now for a deep dive into the steps you can take right now
Start your GMAT or GRE prep.
Once you determine that your career goal requires you to get an MBA, start preparing to take the GMAT or GRE exam. Unless you want to limit yourself to – and believe you qualify for – a waiver, don’t wait until the summer or “later.” Your test score is a critical element of your application. Choosing schools without knowing your score leads to all kinds of aggravation, stress, and unpleasant surprises.
Every year I get calls, emails, and comments from applicants who bombed the GRE or the GMAT and don’t have time to retake it. They are torn between applying to the programs they really want to attend but where their test score (and perhaps other elements of their candidacy) is less than competitive, and applying to programs where it is competitive but where they aren’t dying to go.
You can avoid this dilemma by allowing yourself the necessary time to take and – if needed – retake the test.
Lower-than-expected scores can throw a major monkey wrench in your plans when you take the test within two months of your target deadlines. However, if you bomb the exam in the spring, you will still have months to prepare again and retake it before the deadlines – even the Round 1 deadlines.
I fully realize that applying to programs that do not require an exam can be very appealing. Think of all the time and money on prep you will save – not to mention the exam fees! For some applicants, those waivers are fantastic.
However, if your profile lacks evidence of your quantitative ability, or if your undergraduate performance will not give an application reader confidence that you can perform in a demanding graduate program, acing the GMAT or GRE can really enhance your chances of acceptance.
Furthermore, even if you have evidence of quantitative and academic excellence, a high test score could increase the likelihood of your receiving a scholarship.
So think very carefully about foregoing the exam and limiting yourself to programs where the exam is optional.
Decide where to apply: dartboard versus intent.
Some applicants don’t understand the importance of “fit” in the application process. They might or might not have a specific goal or reason for pursuing an MBA, and they really could just as easily be throwing darts at a list of schools to determine where to invest their time and money.
Or maybe they just started doing the necessary research and reflection too late.
In any case, this superficial approach could lead to rejection, a very expensive mistake, or a less-than-optimal MBA experience.
Apply purposefully to specific programs that support your goals and at which you are competitive. Don’t apply to a school because of where it stands in the rankings. You won’t be attending rankings. You’ll be attending a graduate business school.
Stay on top of deadlines with our MBA Admissions Calendar! [Click here to add the calendar to your Google calendar.]
Writing requires rewriting, and both require plenty of time.
Some of you know why you want to earn your MBA and have good reasons for selecting the schools you will apply to. You will either achieve the GMAT or GRE score that you want the first time you take the exam or waive out of the test altogether. You might be feeling a little smug. Okay, so you got the first part of the application process done. Fantastic!
However, if you slack off and wait till the last minute to complete your applications, you will end up rushing the writing process for your essays, short answer questions, and resume, or the practice/filming process for video options on your application. Either way, you will find yourself scrambling.
Bad idea. And bad ideas lead to bad results.
Writing – whether long essays, short essays, scripts, activity descriptions, or resumes – benefits from time. Temporal distance between revisions improves critical analysis and editing. In contrast, rushing to slap something together leads to sloppy thinking and writing.
Getting the GMAT or GRE out of the way, thinking profoundly about fit, and starting your essays early are all important steps, but you can’t just assume that ticking items off your checklist will get you into b-school. You need something more comprehensive than that. You need…
A holistic, purposeful approach to the MBA application process
How is this for a New Year’s resolution? Proceed purposefully, methodically, and thoughtfully so that you submit a superior MBA application to the most appropriate schools at the most desirable deadline for you.
We’ve all made resolutions this year and in years past, but do yourself a favor, and make this resolution the 2024 resolution that you stick to.
I want to help you keep this resolution by laying out the process holistically from January through September so that you can present a superior application. It’s not just your test score or GPA or years of work experience or solid extracurriculars. It’s all of these.
Not sure if Round 1 is right for you?
Here is the two-minute answer to the big question, “When should I apply to b-school?”
Apply with an admissions expert on your side
What better way to reach your MBA goal than by working with a personal coach? At Accepted, you’ll get matched with an expert admissions advisor who will guide you through the business school application process step by step, checking off each to-do item along the way. Learn more when you explore our Business School Admissions Consulting and Advising Services.
After a successful career in business publishing, Cindy Tokumitsu has worked for more than 20 years with Accepted. Every year, Cindy’s clients have been accepted to top MBA, law, and med programs. She is a pioneer in the niche of EMBA application consulting. Want an admissions expert to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!
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