12-Month MBA Admission Plan

MBA Admissions is a 12-Month process when you consider school selection, GMAT/GRE prep, Essay Writing & Editing, Coordinating Recommendation Letters, Interview Prep, finding funding options if you are self-funded, and finally accepting an offer that aligns with your post-MBA goal.

We have developed the 12-month plan based on the assumption that top MBA programs have Round 1 Deadlines in September. So let us evaluate the plan by each month.

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November
• December

In January – Create the Top 10 List

Although serious MBA research starts in March, starting early has its advantages. The research process will be more comprehensive, and you will get the chance to reconsider several schools based on the interaction with current students, MBA Alumni, and school representatives. You can apply to any number of schools, but to fulfill the essay and recommendation letter requirements, consider 5-7 schools. When you start the research in January, create a top 10 list without worrying too much about your chances.

In February – Pick 10 Schools based on feasibility

In January, you had created a top 10 list without thinking too much about specialization. Keep that list. But then, understand the strengths of each school. For instance, some schools are known for placements in Investment banking. For them, accepting Engineers or non-profit candidates or Marketers doesn’t make any sense. It would be much easier for them to accept candidates from accounting or Corporate Finance roles as switching to adjacent functions is an easier goal even with an MBA than helping newbies, into say, Investment Banking. So when you see rankings and an increase in post-MBA salary, you should pay attention to the class profile, the pre-MBA industry/function, and the pre-MBA education background of the class.  

This analysis is tricky and requires experience. I recommend that you approach multiple consultants, sign up for their service and get a consensus on the feasibility of your career plan. We have a career planning service that offers insights into the probability of getting into a top MBA program. We also develop a 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, 1-year, and even a 3-year plan depending on where you are in terms of achieving your career goals.

Ideally, create a top 10 list with 3 Ambitious Target Schools that are schools where the competition is higher, and the entry criteria are stringent, 4 Feasible Schools where competition is medium, and 3 Backup Schools only in case you feel that this is the year when you must make a move. This is especially true for someone who has maxed out the career growth in their industry. I have seen this with the Oil & Gas industry or any traditional industry or organizational hierarchy where it takes 7-10 years to reach a designation that you could reach with an MBA in just 3-4 years.

In March – Find the Intersection

In January, you had created the top 10 MBA program list, and in February, you had to revise the top 10 list based on feasibility.

During March, you must rank the programs.

This is your chance to evaluate the program based on several factors:  Recruiter reputation, Employment Trends, Career Service team, Economic Growth of the host economy, Post MBA Increase in Salary, Learning Environment, Teaching Methodology, Networking opportunities, and competence of Professors. After considering all these factors, use some of the methodologies that we use in our career planning service to pick MBA programs that would help you reach your post-MBA goals.

Create the top 5 MBA program list after evaluating risks and the program’s ability to fulfill your post-MBA goals. Pay close attention to the basic academic entry criteria: GMAT, GPA & Work Experience.

If you are below the median by 20-30 points (GMAT), and by 3 to 4 decimal points (GPA), and by 2-3 years (Experience), eliminate the MBA program from your top 5 list.

In April – Focus on the GMAT Fundamentals

This is the month where you collect at least three sources for GMAT preparation: Official GMAT Sources (the Official Guide to the GMAT Review + Question Bank + Video and GMAT Prep Software available freely at mba.com), Commercial Sources, GMAT Study Guides from our store (Essential GMAT Reading Comprehension Guide and Mastering GMAT Critical Reasoning), and attempt questions from popular forums (like the GMAT Club).

Do keep in mind that official GMAT guides should be given priority, followed by commercial sources. Use our RC and CR Guides to master the fundamentals.

Start with the diagnostic test in GMAT Test Prep software to get a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses.

Make a list of them, focus on the weaknesses while maintaining the strengths.

Don’t worry too much about speed.

Make sure that you are in the 650-700 score range or 75% accuracy rate.

In May – Accelerate your GMAT Preparation

After covering hundreds of questions, you will have a clear understanding of the question format and the framing involved. By April, you should know how to pick information from the question, convert them into statements, and apply them to various formulas. During May, the focus should be on improving accuracy from 75% to 90%. This is the tough part of GMAT preparation.

The weaknesses should be split up into specifics:

1) Lack of Knowledge on Concepts
2) Carelessness (noting down information or errors while applying in formulas) &
3) Lack of skills to convert problem statements to equations.

While attempting full-length GMAT tests, the focus should be on scoring in the 680-720 range.

In June – Master the GMAT

Once you have overcome fundamental weaknesses, the Mastery phase involves using all time-saving techniques to improve the speed of noting down facts & concepts, the process of elimination techniques for GMAT 750-800 level questions, and the art of refocusing on the next question after an exhaustive GMAT 750+ level question.

In July – Focus on three things - GMAT Test, Recommendation Letters & Essays

Try to schedule the GMAT exam in the first two weeks of July. This would ensure that you would have enough time for GMAT Retake, Essay Writing, and coordinating Recommendation Letters.

If your GMAT score is above or equal to the median score of your target school, then you have a competitive score, and you don’t have to worry about retaking the GMAT. Otherwise, take a 1-week break, and reschedule the test for August second week.

During the month of July, applicants should start selecting their potential recommenders. Eliminate recommenders who are not that eager about your career progression. End of the day, the intent and motivation of the recommenders will be reflected in the letters. It is far better to ask for recommendations from a project manager with whom you had worked closely than a CEO who had one or two interactions with you.

Offer clear guidelines on how to answer the recommendation letter.

For Essay writing, this month should be devoted to life audit. We have covered this process in Winning MBA Essay Guide. After a life audit, do thorough research on the school, its history, and values. A key aspect of essay writing involves matching your career aspirations with the school’s ability to achieve them. Without understanding the school, it would be difficult to align these two factors.

For those applicants who are planning to re-take the GMAT, the last week of July should be focused on introspection. This is for those who had prepared well but, due to various reasons, didn’t get a competitive score. The introspection process should be honest.

List 3-4 reasons for your poor performance. If it has to do with nerves, then you must approach the retake process differently. The preparation should be focused on full-length tests in a similar test-taking environment. Some applicants might excel in small tests with 10-20 questions but get exhausted when presented with 3–4-hour tests. For such applicants, instead of focusing on fundamentals, efforts should be made to improve stamina.

For those test-takers who had the misfortune to encounter 8-12 problems from topics that they hadn’t mastered, it is time to focus back on those fundamentals. You will be surprised to learn that even after a one-week break, 70-75% of all the concepts and techniques to solve them are still fresh in your mind. Just focus on 25% of the concepts. So instead of approaching the GMAT retake as preparation from scratch, look at it as mastering the concepts that you had missed last time around.

In August – GMAT Retake, Recommendation Letter Follow Up & Essays

By the 2nd week, retake the GMAT if your score falls below the median by 20 to 30 points.

Applicants should follow up with recommenders about the letters, convey a sense of urgency, and offer a tentative deadline for the first draft, preferably the second last week of August.

The Essay writing process should evolve from life audit and research to the actual writing process where the question at hand should be addressed first, incorporating storytelling that we have covered extensively in Winning MBA Essay Guide.

All related documents, including original transcripts, should be ready by the third week of August.

It is important to share the IMPACT table with the recommenders so that they don’t miss important achievements or project-related events in the letter.

We have demonstrated how to create an IMPACT table in Winning MBA Essay Guide.

If you share your essay with the recommenders, they might consciously or subconsciously pick the phrases that you have used. Ideally, don't share your essay with the recommender. Share the IMPACT table instead.

The recommender can either supplement the achievements or compliment them with other results that are relevant for MBA Admissions.

You can also reach out to me, Atul Jose for a Comprehensive Essay Review Service

In September – Finalize the Essays, Recommendation Letters & Documents

The final draft of your essay should be well thought out and reviewed extensively so that inconsistencies in voice, argument, and sentence structure are removed. It is important to get your essays reviewed by a consultant. I have seen schools suggesting using Family or Friends as an Essay Reviewer. The problem is that you have different personas – work and home. Since most of your narrative will be from work, your friends and family can miss a lot of unique traits that you are unlikely to show at home or in your social circle.

That is why we started our editing and review services. By the 1st of September, the recommendation letters should be ready. All the writing for the essays should also conclude by the same day.

Once you get the feeling that the essays cannot be improved further, end the review process and be ready to upload the essays online. Make sure that you upload at least 2-3 days before the deadline. The day of the deadline still invites a lot of traffic from last-minute applicants, even those who are serious about meeting the deadlines. This can potentially lead to server timeouts and other issues.

For applicants targeting top schools, expect 1st week of September as the Round 1 deadline.

In October – Prepare for Interviews

By the last week of September and the first two weeks of October, you will start getting Interview Invites. It is important that you prepare for the interview.

Ideally, script the answers to the commonly asked MBA Admission Interview Questions like Tell me About Yourself, your strengths, weakness, biggest achievements, failures, ethical dilemma, leadership experiences, and questions for the interviewer.

You can sign up for F1GMAT’s Mock Interview Service

In November – Develop a Waitlist Communication Strategy, School Selection & Plan for the Fund

Once you apply, the announcement of results takes place within one and half months, but you can develop a strategy for the waitlist communication, school selection for Round 2 if required, and fund arrangement.

If you are waitlisted, which you certainly would unless you are among the tiny tiny minority who gets acceptance from all top schools, you have to develop a strategy and a cover letter to address the perceived weakness.

Perceived because schools are unlikely to offer one on one feedback.

Unless your GMAT was below the median by 20 to 30 points or your GPA was below the median by 3 to 4 points, the reasons for the waitlist could be many. It could be from a less than great recommendation letter, or your goals might be too ambitious, or your background doesn’t give the confidence that you could achieve your post-MBA goals.

So it becomes extremely important that project milestones and your promotions are updated with the admissions team in the waitlist communication to demonstrate that your competence is being validated by a third party.

Don’t be defensive or over-communicate in a short duration. Thank the admissions team for the opportunity, and develop a strategy to maintain communication for the next 1-2 months. Some schools like Yale offer feedback, although in a very cryptic manner. But whatever feedback is available, use that to improve your profile.

If you feel that an MBA is essential and your profile can be improved, start working on them immediately – an extracurricular or involvement in volunteering activity would be useful.

If you have the option to improve scores in a few subjects, start preparing for that. If you have not retaken the GMAT, it is time to go for extensive preparation with the help of professionals. The scores are valid for 5-years. So make full use of it regardless of whether you would reapply or target round 2.

For MBA funding, if you are self-funded, this is a great time to evaluate your credit history and clean up any debts or unwanted expenses. The next couple of years requires a lot of financial planning. A reasonable interest rate on student loans is offered to those who have a good credit score.

If you would like to navigate the MBA journey with manageable debts, planning is extremely important.

In December – Decide whether you want to Reapply or Target Other Tops Schools

Once the results are announced for Round 1, you can develop a waitlist, re-application, or a round 2 strategy.

This should be based on the feasibility of improving your profile in the next year if you are reapplying or your unique personal circumstances that might force you to target Tier-2 schools so that you could get that push in your career immediately.

I hope you have a clear understanding of how to create a 12-month plan for an MBA Application.

You can always reach out to me Atul Jose or connect through LinkedIn or directly subscribe to F1GMAT’s Career Planning Service

If you want help only with Essays, Subscribe to F1GMAT’s Essay Review Service

If you want help with Mock Interviews, Subscribe to F1GMAT’s Mock Interview Service