After a relatively sleepy February, March will soon be upon us with its extensive list of application deadlines and decision notification dates. Let’s take a look at part of the long list of Round 3 (or 4 or 5) deadlines spread over the next two months:
March 1: LBS R3, Michigan/Ross R3
March 5: Tepper R3, Wharton R3
March 8: Duke R3
March 14: Cornell R4
March 15: Marshall R3, NYU R3
March 21: INSEAD R3 (Sept. intake)
April 2: Tuck R3
April 4: Darden R3, Chicago R3, Stanford R3
April 5: Kellogg R3
April 10: HBS R3
April 11: CBS RD
April 12: Yale R3
April 18: LBS R4, UCLA R3
April 23: Tepper R4
While it’s always best to apply as early as possible, the difference between applying in Round 1 and applying in Round 2 is, for most applicants, a marginal one. However, the later rounds are a very different game. Because most of the seats in the incoming class will have been given away by the time Round 2 decisions are released, the acceptance rate in the third round is dramatically lower than that for the first two deadlines of the season.
To maximize your chances of a later round acceptance, demonstrating your interest in the school and submitting thoughtful and error-free written materials will be crucial. Applying in Round 1 is generally taken as a sign of interest in a given program, and by the same token, applicants submitting their materials in a later round need to work extra hard to convince the adcom that they are genuinely interested in the school and are not simply applying as an afterthought because interview invitations didn’t come through in Round 2. Demonstrating that you would make a valuable contribution to the community and providing evidence that you have taken steps to engage current students and alumni will work to your advantage.
As always, we’d like to recommend the in-depth Clear Admit School Guides to those applicants who are targeting the later deadlines and just beginning to investigate certain programs, and we encourage those who’ve visited the campus and interviewed to share their experiences in the Clear Admit Wiki. Potential R3 or R4 applicants are also welcome to contact Clear Admit directly to discuss the strength of their later round candidacies and learn more about our one-on-one counseling services.
Though many business school applicants know exactly what they want to do – and how much they hope to make – after they graduate from an MBA program, a surprising number apply to school without thinking about how they’ll pay for this expensive degree. While some students do foot the entire bill themselves or receive scholarship support from the school or an outside institution, the vast majority of MBA students borrow funds to cover their tuition and living expenses. With this in mind, we wanted to cover some very basic information on loans for the benefit of both recent admits entering school this fall and early birds just beginning to think about their applications for Fall ’12.
The primary source of funding for U.S.-based applicants will be federal loans or alternative education loans. The main federal loans, available to U.S. citizens or permanent residents, are the Federal Stafford Loan (subsidized or unsubsidized), the Federal Perkins Loan and the GradPLUS Loan. Full-time students, usually those enrolled in two or more courses per semester, can borrow as much as $20,500/year through the Federal Stafford loan program. Perkins Loans are low-interest (a rate of 5 percent) loans with a maximum annual loan amount of $8,000/year for graduate students. The Grad PLUS Loan can be used to pay for the total cost of education less aid you’ve already been awarded. Those interested in applying for federal student aid should check out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). When federal loans are not enough, private loans can help bridge the gap in education costs. Students might contact their local bank or look into lender programs, such as SallieMae or Access Group, for details on borrowing eligibility.
International students are not eligible for federal loans but may consider private loans as a financing option. The International Student Loan Program (ISLP), for instance, offers a credit-based loan to international students who are looking to finance their education in the U.S. However, as with most private loans, this loan requires a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to co-sign. International students can also visit International Education Financial Aid (IEFA) to search for funds (as can U.S. citizens planning on studying overseas). Finally, most of the leading MBA programs offer private loans to their students in partnership with a particular financial institution – some of which do not require a co-signer – so this might become an option after one is admitted.
Many need-based loans are classified as subsidized, meaning that interest does not accrue while the borrower is enrolled in a degree program (whereas interest begins to accrue immediately on unsubsidized loans). Typical timelines of loan repayment can extend from 5 to 30 years, depending on the lender’s conditions of deferral and the amount of funds borrowed. After graduation, students usually have a six-month grace period before monthly repayment begins. While schools’ admittance packages usually include detailed information about financing the MBA, incoming students and applicants should not hesitate contact the school’s financial aid office for further information on available need- or credit-based loans.
In addition to actively evaluating the applications of Round Two applicants at this time of year, many top programs revisit their Round One waitlists and consider the strength of those individuals with respect to the new information about the pool. While schools vary in their receptivity to correspondence from applicants, those programs that do welcome additional materials offer a great chance for waitlisted candidates to reaffirm their interest in the school and keep themselves fresh in the mind of the adcom.
With the second-round notification dates for a number schools coming up in a matter of weeks, we wanted to offer some tips to students who have been waitlisted at such programs while there’s still some time to tip the balance in their favor. » Continue reading
Over the last months, we’ve focused on helping applicants prepare to answer the various questions they’ll be posed during their interviews, but there is one in particular to which we have not paid much attention. Today, we wanted to offer a few tips in navigating the nearly inevitable interview finisher: “Do you have any questions for me?”
This seems like a harmless inquiry, and indeed poses a great opportunity, but there’s actually a fine line to walk here. You certainly want to take advantage of this opportunity to show the interviewer that you appreciate his or her time, perspective and knowledge. » Continue reading
What should an applicant do when placed on the waitlist at his or her dream school? While most applicants regard the waitlist in a negative light (we’ve even heard it described as “a sort of purgatory prior to getting dinged”), the best approach is to view the glass as being half-full (especially for R1 waitlisters). In all cases, getting waitlisted is much better than getting denied.
Here are a few tips to help you navigate this often difficult and mysterious process:
1) Know your file. Before you can develop a waitlist strategy, you need to understand where you may have fallen short in the application process. Read over your file with a critical eye and try to identify any weaknesses. » Continue reading
Posted by Clear Admit on January 23, 2012, at 3:00 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips
With the majority of schools having released their Round One decisions, many successful applicants will soon be facing the enviable – but often agonizing – decision of choosing between programs. Though we know that those of you in this position will already be juggling an overwhelming amount of information about the schools on your short lists, we wanted to offer a few pointers to consider as you identify and evaluate the most important facts and factors in making this decision.
1) Immerse yourself. If you have not yet visited campus, go to the school and see what you think of the environment. Be sure to attend classes, talk with students, tour the facilities, and so on. » Continue reading
Posted by Clear Admit on January 16, 2012, at 3:00 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips
With a slew of schools releasing the last of their R1 notifications in the coming weeks, we know that many of our readers will be asking about the background checks conducted by leading programs. Here are some quick facts to help explain the process:
1) What are background checks? Background checks involve the verification of information that a candidate has provided in his or her MBA applications. Although the process varies from school to school, it usually includes checking that an applicant attended the undergraduate (or graduate) school(s) that he or she claims to have attended, received the grades indicated and earned the GMAT score reported. » Continue reading
While the past few weeks have seen a number of admits and rejections handed down to Round One MBA applicants, the fate of many remains uncertain. There is no reason for waitlisted candidates to lose hope, as the top programs admit a fair number of individuals from the waitlist in Round Two and thereafter, but we know that cautious optimism does not make the wait for an answer any easier. To help those in this situation make sure that they’re doing all they can, we wanted to share a few waitlist tips:
1. Know – and follow – the rules. Schools vary in their stances when it comes to interaction with those on the waitlist; some shun communication from applicants and even go so far as to discourage on-the-record campus visits, whereas others welcome correspondence and assign waitlisted candidates to an admissions office liaison. » Continue reading
Posted by Clear Admit on January 2, 2012, at 3:00 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips
We often stress that, to present oneself effectively in application essays, it’s critical to think carefully about what a given question is asking and what this might indicate about a specific school’s admissions priorities. Of course, it’s also imperative to communicate clearly and appropriately regardless of the target program or particular inquiry.
As many applicants are feverishly putting the finishing touches on their essays for programs with deadlines this week and next, we wanted to offer a few general guidelines to keep in mind during that final revision. Time is tight, we know, but a few small changes can make a considerable difference, so today we’re going back to basics and offering a few broadly applicable tips on tone and style to keep in mind when polishing the written elements of your applications.
1. Be Professional. While a number of schools ask fun questions and most urge applicants to be themselves rather than submitting “overly polished” materials, it’s important to remember that this is a graduate school application and you should approach your essays with a degree of formality. » Continue reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 30, 2011, at 2:49 pm
Posted in: Admissions Tips , MBA News
To close out 2011, the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), which owns the GMAT entrance exam, shared a roundup of survey and poll results for the year, which together bode well for current and soon-to-graduate MBA students.
For starters, employment figures are rebounding after the economic crisis of the past few years. Specifically, GMAC found that 54 percent of all graduate business students seeking employment in 2011 had at least one job offer before graduation, up from 32 percent in 2010. Survey findings also underscored the importance of internships to the job search. Class of 2011 grads who completed a summer internship were 26 percent more likely to receive a job offer prior to graduation than those who didn’t. And according to GMAC’s Year-End Employer Poll, almost four times as many companies (22 percent) are planning to increase the number of MBAs they hire in 2012. » Continue reading
As we prepare to bid goodbye to 2011 and greet the deadline-packed first month of 2012, we would like to take the opportunity to recap the upcoming Round Two deadlines and offer some advice for hardworking applicants. Some schools have even reached their third rounds by January, and those are denoted below by (R3).
First, a summary of this month’s deadlines along with the exact time each application is due:
Tuesday, January 3rd
Tepper, 5:00 p.m. EST
Wednesday, January 4th
Booth, 5:00 p.m. EST
Duke, 11:59 p.m. EST
Ross, 11:59 p.m. EST
Tuck, 5:00 p.m. EST
Wharton, 5:00 p.m. EST
In a change to its waitlist process this year, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business will feature a waitlist enrollment form allowing candidates to immediately opt in or out of the list and will permit waitlisted candidates to submit a 90-second video update regarding their candidacy, the Admissions Committee shared this week.
In a post yesterday to the Booth Insider, the school’s MBA admissions blog, Associate Director of Admissions Carrie Lydon shared these and other updates regarding the waitlist process. The applications of candidates who accept the offer to become part of the waitlist will be considered for admission again as part of Round 2 and will receive an updated decision on March 21st, the final decision date for the round. “We will try to make a final decision by that point, but there is a possibility that you could remain on the waitlist through Round 3,” Lydon wrote. » Continue reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 19, 2011, at 3:00 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips
As candidates tackle interviews and preparation for Round 2 applications, we would like to revisit an important aspect of the application: the resume. Given the many roles that the resume plays in the business school application process, drafting a resume (or CV) is an excellent starting point for someone embarking on the next round of MBA applications. Here are several reasons why now is the time to focus on polishing your resume:
1) Crafting a resume can serve as the creative starting point for candidates trying to develop their positioning strategy and career goals for the MBA admissions process. Distilling all relevant educational, professional and extracurricular experiences into a coherent one-page document can be an eye-opening exercise. » Continue reading
If you’re applying to the MBA program at Columbia University, don’t miss our video lecture on tackling the school’s essay topics. As a part of Beat The GMAT’s ‘Write Like an Expert’ series, Clear Admit team member, Graham Richmond, breaks down each application essay for Columbia hopefuls in the video below. This is a great opportunity to learn how a former admissions officer would strategically approach each essay question.
