Our GMAT Team is forever fielding questions and concerns from students worried about or ignorant of what application rounds mean. Most people who want to attend a reputable business school on a full-time basis target the first round of the admissions cycle as their business school application deadline. For various reasons, this initial target often gets pushed and when it does, Round 2 becomes the new deadline.
Since Round 1 deadlines already passed or passing very soon, what does it mean for those aspirant graduate students who now have to recalculate and aim for Round 2? What if Round 2 doesn’t work out? Is it even worth applying in Round 3? Great questions and here are some answers:
First, avoid Round 3. While it is true that some seats are often still available, one would be hard pressed to find an admissions officer at any school in the world who would recommend submitting an application for the third round of the admissions cycle. At that point, most if not all of the seats are taken and certainly all the available scholarship money and graduate assistantships have been handed out. I personally know people who got into their b-school of choice in Round 3, but this is not common and very stressful. If at all humanly possible, encourage any prospective applicant to submit to Rounds 1 or 2.
Next, it is a generally accepted principle that submitting an application for Round 1 admissions is ideal mainly because available spots are a little less competitive. Why? Schools receive most of their applications during Round 2. For example, at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, roughly one third of the applications the institution receives in a year will be during Round 1, fifty-five percent are received for consideration for Round 2, and the remainder in Round 3. The numbers might be slightly different at other schools, but the concept is the same.
The following is taken directly from Stanford University’s website:
“Over the past few years, we’ve noticed more applicants applying in Round 2 and, as a result, this round has become bigger and a bit more competitive.”
If an applicant ends up in the position of submitting to Round 2—perhaps the b-school application package was unable to be completed and/or every aspect polished—the hopeful contender should not worry. It is of critical importance to put present the “best self” to an admissions committee.
Although a Round 1 submission is preferred, that submission should never come at the expense of a weaker application package. If an applicant needs more time to study for the GMAT, gather letters of recommendation, write application essays, etc. then taking that time is exactly what the aspirant ought to do.
Seats, money, and assistantships are definitely still available for Round 2-ers. Sure, spots will be more competitive, but the overall strength of a well-composed application with all the quantitative and qualitative measures maxed out, a candidate will be best positioned to gain entrance to the school of choice.
