Last edited on Wed Mar 19th, 2008 01:22 am by MaizeBlue

• What kind of information did you seek that you did not already have before applying? How did you get that information? Is there information that you couldn't get that you wish you had?
  
  
• How/why were some schools eliminated in favor of others? Did you end up in a "close call"? How was that decided?
  
  
• Are you happy with the choices you have? Do you wish you would have done something earlier to alter your set of choices?

• What kind of information did you seek that you did not already have before applying? How did you get that information? Is there information that you couldn't get that you wish you had?  The entire process is different from undergrad applications and quite different as well from law school applications (with which I have some familiarity). Applications are done in "rounds," with most applicants being admitted to the more desirable programs in rounds 1 and 2, but some in round 3.  I don't think my daughter fully understood how important it was to apply in round 1 if possible, and that round 3 was far less optimal a time to apply.  (For one thing, she still has a round 3 application pending, while she has only another 2 weeks to make a final decision on her round 1 acceptance).  This information was available, however, as I discovered by spending some time on discussion boards, such as the one by Business Week; but my daughter hadn't sought it out before developing her strategy for studying for and taking the GMAT and preparing applications.
  
  
• How/why were some schools eliminated in favor of others? Did you end up in a "close call"? How was that decided? As someone who is coming from a background with a BFA degree (industrial design) and an interest in not just product designs (as an industrial designer) but the product design process from the perspective of strategic decision-making by businesses concerning all aspects of a product cycle, she only sought to apply to programs that had a strong specialization in "sustainable enterprise" or a dual "green design" + MBA program.  The best of these programs, by reputation, are at UMich, Yale, Stanford, Duke, and Berkeley. (Cornell is also supposed to have a good dual program but it's not as highly ranked and it's too rural, from my daughter's perspective.) Those are the 5 she applied to, but these are differentially selective, and she also did not/was not ready to apply to all of them in Round 1 or even Round 2.  Because she got one very good acceptance, and it's in our home state (Michigan), she withdrew her application before a decision at Duke. If she had managed to make all applications in Round 1, the choice set might be different at this time, in particular she would likely have Duke to consider along with Michigan, and she might have Berkeley (application still under review--round 3!). She was waitlisted at Yale and dinged at Stanford. But she's quite happy with UMich and just did an accepted student weekend there, including finding an apartment.  Had she not been admitted to UMich, however, well she didn't have any true "safety" and would likely have continued working for another year and reapplied to one or more of these programs and added one or two of the more "socially conscious" business programs that might however have lacked a dual degree arrangement. (At UMich she will earn an MBA as well as an MS offered by the engineering school: http://www.erb.umich.edu/.)
  
  
• Are you happy with the choices you have? Do you wish you would have done something earlier to alter your set of choices?  See above notes about strategy of application rounds and lack of true "safety."  Given that she has come from a BFA program in which she had taken no science or math courses, she could have been at a disadvantage in the application process.  But earning a high GMAT test score, including high verbal and math scores, probably allayed concerns along that line (but MBA application success also depends heavily on work experience and essays). She's currently taking a calculus course at NYU and has signed up for a statistics course as well, so she'll be ready for the quant aspect of the business program when it begins this fall. But had she taken those courses earlier (say last year) it might have improved her chances at Stanford and Yale, though both have very low admission rates so were going to be tough in any case. She's very happy with the outcome, however, and is really looking forward to beginning her program in the Fall.
  

Last edited on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 12:30 pm by mackinaw

Last edited on Mon Apr 14th, 2008 06:48 pm by ellenrch