1. Don't Apply Round 3 ... Until
You Read This Post!
http://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/

2. Don't Apply Round 3 ... Until
You Read This Post!
The common myth surrounding
Round 3 of the MBA application
process is that you can't, or
shouldn't, apply late in the admission
cycle. "The class is pretty much full"
is one refrain.

3. Don't Apply Round 3 ... Until
You Read This Post!
"You have to be a truly unique
applicant" is another. "Only European
programs admit people that late" is
yet another. As with anything, there
are bits of truth in these sound
bites ... but only bits.

4. Let's work through those three
statements:

5. The class is pretty much full.
There are a few ways to look at this.
The first is to say that Round 1 and
Round 2 make up the biggest segment
of an incoming class. That is definitely
true.

6. Continuation
However, the other way to examine the
timing of all this is to note that in many
cases, Round 3 applicants "beat"
Round 2 admissions decisions.
Meaning: a new batch of applicants
comes in the door of the b-school
before decisions are sent out on the
previous batch.

7. Continuation
This is done for an obvious reason,
which is to generate enough wiggle
room in case Rd 3 applicants come in
and trump the people who are about to
be admitted. So the class is probably
just about full ... but a lot of decisions
are pending, in case some great people
flood in late. Which leads us to...

8. You have to be unique to get in.
This is not true at all. Or, to put it
another way, you only have to be as
unique as you would have had to be in
a previous round. It's not an exotic
species contest. What IS relevant is
whether you are A) qualified, and B)
what the class mix needs.

9. Continuation
There is no way to predict the second
part, of course, but you can certainly
take stock of the first bit. A flier in
Round 3 is probably not a great way to
work through a low GMAT score, but if
you have a good profile, you may be
exactly what an MBA program needs.

10. Continuation
Maybe School X is light on females, or
marketers, or Canadians. You never
know. So you don't have to be "unique"
so much as qualified and something
they might need more of in the class.

11. Only European programs admit
this late.
This one is a bit of a trick statement,
because programs in Europe DO tend
to admit quite late. But we throw in the
"only" to once again state that many
U.S. programs keep a sharp eye and/or
hold back spots for the later rounds.

12. Okay, so now that we know there is
actually a chance (and a greater one
than
Mary Swanson gives Lloyd Christmas in Dumb
), what do you need to do?
Four critical things:

13. 1. Consider the reapplication
process.
Even with our rose colored glasses, we
still admit that the odds are longer for
late rounds, which means you want to
be thinking of the reapplication process
for those schools.

14. Continuation
If it is the latter, you want to make sure
that enough "stuff" can happen over the
next seven months for you to write
about in a "what have you done since
your last application" question.

15. Continuation
If you won't have the ammo there, you
may want to hold off on that program. If
they do accept new applications
though, you can fire away for Round 3
and even strengthen your stated
interest in the program.

16. 2. Submit perfection.
If you are eyeing reapplication, you still
have to nail the essays and the entire
application this time around. Why?
Because you are creating a permanent
record and file at that school.

17. Continuation
Even if it is unlikely that your
admissions officer will pull up both
applications on the first lap around,
there is a good chance that at some
point, they will want to see how your
goals evolved, if you have learned more
about the program, are more self
aware, etc.

18. Continuation
So if you are going to seek help from an
expert, do it now, before you leave one
of this smeared hand prints in the
concrete and live to regret it.

19. 3. Explain yourself.
If you are applying late, explain why.
You should be hitting "why now for an
MBA" anyway, so really nail it here.
Tell the reader why this is coming in the
door now instead of five months ago.
Put them at ease. Don't let them think
you are firing off a panic application just
because you got dinged at six other
schools. Speaking of...

20. 4. Figure out amenable schools by
looking downstream.
You can sometimes guess which
schools are most open to Round 3
applicants by looking for "downstream"
programs. What we mean by that is a
school that might get some great late
arriving candidates who were dinged or
waitlisted at higher ranked programs.

21. Continuation
Many candidates are either short on time or
overly ambitious and so they might only apply
to a few schools in Rd 1 or Rd 2, leaving
them with no options and a last minute game
plan for Round 3. Examples include UCLA
Anderson (downstream from Stanford GSB,
Darden (downstream from Harvard and
Tuck), Texas (downstream from MIT and
Haas for tech), Duke (downstream from
Kellogg), and Cornell (downstream from a lot
of schools).

22. Continuation
These programs may be sensitive
about this, so make sure to have really
excellent reasons for applying late
(beyond, I got dinged at GSB) and
make sure to nail school fit, but you are
going to find that these programs
probably have a few more slots saved
than a place like HBS.

23. If you need help with Round 3 - either comprehensively or
just stress testing your essays to make sure they hit the
mark - email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com . The
arms race for consulting help usually starts in April for
Round 1 of the next year, but the best value is probably
right now. You can get more distance from the field in
Round 3 than at any other time and the quality of your work
will make a huge difference.

24. For an overview of Amerasia MBA Admissions Consulting services,
please visit
http://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/mba_admissions_consulting_services
To demonstrate our commitment to doing Round 3 right,
we have a very unique policy: work with us on a
comprehensive package for the late round and we will
help you reapply to the same schools free of charge in the
fall, should it come to that. View our "Round 3 Guarantee"
for complete details.