What’s good, fam. The email below is from a techie who is planning to apply to the GSB and would like some advice on the timing of his application. Emails like these are always difficult for me to address because they’re asking for admissions office insights that I don’t have. I’ve tried to give some decent general advice here, but the response might not be as detailed as he was looking for.
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PK wrote:
“Hi Marquis,
Hope all’s with you. I’ve started reading your blog recently and must say, I enjoy every bit of it.
I’m planning on applying to Stanford GSB for fall’08. I could do a very rushed app for R2 but then that wouldn’t be my best effort. I would love to app for R3 as long as the chances of getting in are not abysmal.
Here are my questions:
1. Based on your interaction with your classmates at GSB, did you find a good proportion who were R3 admits ? Were most of the R3 admits the non-traditional MBA applicants ? Given my background, is it advisable to apply for R3 ?
2. If I get a reject for my R3 app and decide to reapply in R1 for fall’09 then does the fact that I got R3 reject the previous year show me in negative light ?
I’m attaching a 1-page resume to provide a brief about my educational and work background. I’ve included a couple of key extra-curricular activities that I was engaged in during school in the education section.
Appreciate your time on this.
Thanks,
PK”
————–
My response:
PK,
Thanks for checking out my blog. I enjoy answering questions for folks who email me, but you’ve asked me some things that are very difficult to address because I’ve never worked in the GSB Admissions Office (or that of any other business school). As I’ve said on my blog before, anything I can give you in a response would be a guess, so PLEASE DO NOT TAKE MY WORDS AS THE GOSPEL TRUTH on the issues you raised. I’m just taking a step back and trying to think through your questions in the best way I can.
OK…so let’s take a look at your questions:
–
1. “Based on your interaction with your classmates at GSB, did you find a good proportion who were R3 admits ? Were most of the R3 admits the non-traditional MBA applicants ? Given my background, is it advisable to apply for R3 ?” – This is a very hard question for me to answer because I didn’t have “which admission round were you in” conversations with my classmates. The only folks I can answer that question for were the ones I saw with me at the Round 1 Admit Weekend and, past that, I don’t have a clue. I didn’t really worry about it while I was in school because all that mattered was that they’d gotten in and were a part of my class. In fact, I only know of two classmates for sure who applied in Round 3, with one being a “traditional” applicant and the other being “non-traditional”. One thing I know for sure is that it is pretty daggone difficult to get in as a R3′er, so those who did it must have submitted some ridiculously tight applications.
For the last part of your question…is it advisable to apply for R3?…well, the advisable thing would be to get an early enough start to submit your best possible application package prior to R3, but that stance isn’t really helpful at this point, is it? So, here’s my read on it…if you believe that you can put together a STELLAR application for Round 3, then you might as well roll the dice and submit it. As you know, it will be more difficult to get the good word with a R3 app, so you’d be risking the $200 application fee and the time spent completing the application. But, imagine what the payoff could be if you actually get in…you’d be getting “The Impossible Dream”, as I called it when they let me ina few years back. That sort of prize would definitely be worth the risk (especially considering the relatively low investment of time and money required), right? Now, you’ve got to ask yourself whether you can put together a KICK-ASS application package in time for the R3 deadline. If you think it’s worth it to try, then you want to get started on it immediately to increase your chances.
Honestly, if you really want to know whether to apply in R3, I’d recommend contacting the GSB Admissions Office and talking to one of the Adcoms about it. They would have the most informed response for you and wouldn’t have to work with imperfect info like I’m doing now. Plus, they’d be able to give you a fact based perspective based on what they’ve seen in previous years.
–
2. “If I get a reject for my R3 app and decide to reapply in R1 for fall’09 then does the fact that I got R3 reject the previous year show me in negative light ?” – Again, this is a question that you’d be much better served asking an Admissions Office representative about. What I can say is that a couple of my classmates were re-applicants and they were able to secure admit letters the second time around, so it must be possible. But, with that said, I have no idea how many re-applicants were rejected after their second run at the GSB, so, while I can’t see why a R3 reject this year would affect your chances next year, I can’t really say if it would show you in a negative light the next time around.
If you do get rejected and decide to reapply, you should take stock of your original application and figure out what the weaknesses in it could have been. Once you’ve developed that list, do what you can to address those shortcomings in the months before the next year’s application season. Then, make sure you get an earlier start on the application so you aren’t faced with either rushing through the app or having to submit in Round 3. When I was in your shoes, I thought my chances of accepted would be better if I submitted earlier because I’d be a part of the first group of admits with the class being wide open. That philosophy worked for me, so, if you do have to reapply, I’d advise you to think about that too.
–
Before closing this out, I’d recommend thinking differently about the timing of your application. The GSB is one of the most difficult graduate programs to get into, so it’s going to be an uphill battle regardless of when you submit that app. Instead of deciding not to apply in R3 if your chances of getting in are “abysmal”, you might want to focus on completing the best application you can, independent of when you’d actually be applying. If that “best application effort” happens late in the 2007-08 cycle, then so be it. This way of thinking might not work for you, but that’s how I’d approach it. Worrying about your chances in a given round won’t do anything except throw you off your game and that’s the last thing you need when making a run at the GSB. Anyways, good luck with your application, whenever you decide to apply. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. Take care.
-Marquis
————–
PK wrote:
“Hi Marquis,
Hope all’s with you. I’ve started reading your blog recently and must say, I enjoy every bit of it.
I’m planning on applying to Stanford GSB for fall’08. I could do a very rushed app for R2 but then that wouldn’t be my best effort. I would love to app for R3 as long as the chances of getting in are not abysmal.
Here are my questions:
1. Based on your interaction with your classmates at GSB, did you find a good proportion who were R3 admits ? Were most of the R3 admits the non-traditional MBA applicants ? Given my background, is it advisable to apply for R3 ?
2. If I get a reject for my R3 app and decide to reapply in R1 for fall’09 then does the fact that I got R3 reject the previous year show me in negative light ?
I’m attaching a 1-page resume to provide a brief about my educational and work background. I’ve included a couple of key extra-curricular activities that I was engaged in during school in the education section.
Appreciate your time on this.
Thanks,
PK”
————–
My response:
PK,
Thanks for checking out my blog. I enjoy answering questions for folks who email me, but you’ve asked me some things that are very difficult to address because I’ve never worked in the GSB Admissions Office (or that of any other business school). As I’ve said on my blog before, anything I can give you in a response would be a guess, so PLEASE DO NOT TAKE MY WORDS AS THE GOSPEL TRUTH on the issues you raised. I’m just taking a step back and trying to think through your questions in the best way I can.
OK…so let’s take a look at your questions:
–
1. “Based on your interaction with your classmates at GSB, did you find a good proportion who were R3 admits ? Were most of the R3 admits the non-traditional MBA applicants ? Given my background, is it advisable to apply for R3 ?” – This is a very hard question for me to answer because I didn’t have “which admission round were you in” conversations with my classmates. The only folks I can answer that question for were the ones I saw with me at the Round 1 Admit Weekend and, past that, I don’t have a clue. I didn’t really worry about it while I was in school because all that mattered was that they’d gotten in and were a part of my class. In fact, I only know of two classmates for sure who applied in Round 3, with one being a “traditional” applicant and the other being “non-traditional”. One thing I know for sure is that it is pretty daggone difficult to get in as a R3′er, so those who did it must have submitted some ridiculously tight applications.
For the last part of your question…is it advisable to apply for R3?…well, the advisable thing would be to get an early enough start to submit your best possible application package prior to R3, but that stance isn’t really helpful at this point, is it? So, here’s my read on it…if you believe that you can put together a STELLAR application for Round 3, then you might as well roll the dice and submit it. As you know, it will be more difficult to get the good word with a R3 app, so you’d be risking the $200 application fee and the time spent completing the application. But, imagine what the payoff could be if you actually get in…you’d be getting “The Impossible Dream”, as I called it when they let me ina few years back. That sort of prize would definitely be worth the risk (especially considering the relatively low investment of time and money required), right? Now, you’ve got to ask yourself whether you can put together a KICK-ASS application package in time for the R3 deadline. If you think it’s worth it to try, then you want to get started on it immediately to increase your chances.
Honestly, if you really want to know whether to apply in R3, I’d recommend contacting the GSB Admissions Office and talking to one of the Adcoms about it. They would have the most informed response for you and wouldn’t have to work with imperfect info like I’m doing now. Plus, they’d be able to give you a fact based perspective based on what they’ve seen in previous years.
–
2. “If I get a reject for my R3 app and decide to reapply in R1 for fall’09 then does the fact that I got R3 reject the previous year show me in negative light ?” – Again, this is a question that you’d be much better served asking an Admissions Office representative about. What I can say is that a couple of my classmates were re-applicants and they were able to secure admit letters the second time around, so it must be possible. But, with that said, I have no idea how many re-applicants were rejected after their second run at the GSB, so, while I can’t see why a R3 reject this year would affect your chances next year, I can’t really say if it would show you in a negative light the next time around.
If you do get rejected and decide to reapply, you should take stock of your original application and figure out what the weaknesses in it could have been. Once you’ve developed that list, do what you can to address those shortcomings in the months before the next year’s application season. Then, make sure you get an earlier start on the application so you aren’t faced with either rushing through the app or having to submit in Round 3. When I was in your shoes, I thought my chances of accepted would be better if I submitted earlier because I’d be a part of the first group of admits with the class being wide open. That philosophy worked for me, so, if you do have to reapply, I’d advise you to think about that too.
–
Before closing this out, I’d recommend thinking differently about the timing of your application. The GSB is one of the most difficult graduate programs to get into, so it’s going to be an uphill battle regardless of when you submit that app. Instead of deciding not to apply in R3 if your chances of getting in are “abysmal”, you might want to focus on completing the best application you can, independent of when you’d actually be applying. If that “best application effort” happens late in the 2007-08 cycle, then so be it. This way of thinking might not work for you, but that’s how I’d approach it. Worrying about your chances in a given round won’t do anything except throw you off your game and that’s the last thing you need when making a run at the GSB. Anyways, good luck with your application, whenever you decide to apply. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. Take care.
-Marquis
