If you do your best work under pressure, you’re not alone. And if you’re applying to business school in Round 2, MBA application deadlines are approaching and now is your moment to kick it into overdrive.
When are Round 2 MBA applications due? If you’re planning on fall entry, most top MBA program deadlines arrive in early January. Six months ago, you had time and opportunity to shape your profile to bolster your candidacy. Now, with the clock down to just weeks, it’s all about packaging and polishing your case.
My Fortuna Admissions colleagues and I have rounded up some tips for focusing your efforts in these remaining busy weeks. Prioritize these actions to fine-tune and submit an application that’s as brilliant and memorable as you are.
Round 2 MBA Application Tips for Focusing Your Efforts:
Show Schools the Love
Programs like Dartmouth Tuck, NYU Stern, Yale SOM, UVA Darden, UCLA Anderson and Duke Fuqua witness a spike in Round 2 applications from candidates who were dinged elsewhere in Round 1. Given this reality, it’s vital to be clear and convincing about why you want to attend any given school.
What’s essential in crafting each application is making each program believe that they’re your first choice. Of course, schools know that you’re applying to MBA programs elsewhere — they expect that, and it’s a sensible thing to do. But to win their acceptance, show them the love.
By now, hopefully you have done your research to understand the distinctive differentiators of your R2 schools. Your application should reflect how this school is the place for you to advance your career goals. If you can’t make that case clearly, now is the time to go the extra mile to prove you understand a school’s unique culture and values:
- Make or reinforce meaningful connections at each of your target schools and build relationships.
- Mention specific conversations, insights, or events where you learned about the school.
- Explain how you plan to contribute to the MBA class and your community.
Your goal is to sincerely and convincingly convey that you are well informed, motivated, and eager to attend.
Audit for Coherency and Consistency
Taken together, every element of the MBA application process, from essays to interviews, should draw a unified, compelling, and authentic picture of you — where you’ve been, where you’re going, and how the MBA is vital for helping you realize your potential as a business leader.
It’s also essential to avoid unnecessary repetition or duplication. Use your limited real estate wisely to compile a crisp and complete narrative. As you review your application component, ask yourself the following questions:
- What are the key messages I’m trying to convey, and are they coming through across the application?
- Are there any gaps or inconsistencies that might undermine my narrative — for example, between the essays and letters of recommendation?
- Is there any unnecessary repetition between sections?
- What’s missing in terms of building a memorable and coherent picture?
MBA Application Review: Final Steps to Polish and Perfect
After reviewing your application for its overarching narrative and key messages, find someone who can proofread it with fresh eyes. Choose someone who is careful and detail-oriented and give them some context for the assignment. For example, if you think it’s 90% to 95% complete, be sure to communicate this to your reviewer.
This context can help avoid a last-minute rework of an entire essay. By January 1, it should be a matter of polishing — you don’t want to draft new material with mere days to go.
Details matter, so cross-check all MBA admissions requirements and self-reported data on the application form against your transcript and resume. As former admissions gatekeepers, we can attest that it’s always heartbreaking to see a terrific application undermined by a sloppy mistake, such as a copy-paste of a section of an essay from another application or leaving in the wrong school name. (Alas, this happens with alarming regularity.)
At Fortuna Admissions, we offer an MBA Admissions Director Evaluation for those who are nearly ready to submit and want laser-focused feedback on how to maximize their chances of admission success.
Plan for the Holiday Season in your MBA Application Timeline
Don’t underestimate the tight schedules and inevitable disruptions of the imminent holiday season. Essential collaborators like your recommenders may disappear, leaving you with just their out-of-office replies.
In my former role as head of MBA admissions at INSEAD, I received countless panicked calls from Round 2 candidates this time of year who just learned that a recommender had left on vacation and was unlikely to submit the letter in time. If you haven’t already, circle back to your recommenders, gently remind them of the deadline, and confirm their end-of-year availability in this overbooked time. Deploy your ability to manage up: anticipate what your recommenders need and ensure the optimal conditions for them to submit a substantive and glowing letter of support.
And, working ahead to get everything else on your application in shape is a holiday gift to yourself. It lets you relax and enjoy the season.
Look Ahead to the Next Stage
It’s easy to get hyper-focused on submitting a stellar application. While it’s a major milestone to finally hit submit, it’s only the first hurdle. Keep the big picture in mind.
Look past the deadline to anticipate a successful next stage. You’ll want to be a well-prepared interview candidate, and that’s not an overnight process, either. When you’re invited to meet an admissions interviewer, you’ll want your knowledge of the program to be current.
It’s key to your MBA application strategy to continue to learn about your target programs. Stay connected through admissions blogs, social media, newsletters, and (virtual) events, and be sure to maintain any relevant connections you’ve nurtured with alumni, current students, and/or faculty. Admissions committee members are known to occasionally inquire with connections mentioned in your essays or application, and you’ll want to be front-of-mind if they do.
Fortuna’s seasoned MBA admissions experts can help you whip your Round 2 application into shape. Contact us to book a free consultation and learn more.
Caroline Diarte Edwards is a Fortuna Co-Founder and Director at Fortuna. She served as Director of Admissions, Marketing and Financial Aid for the INSEAD MBA program, where she admitted more than 7,000 students.