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COVID-19 R3 MBA Admissions - Updates (April 2020)

To help MBA applicants navigate an uncertain Round 3 admissions round resulting from COVID-19/coronavirus, we have created a live update page, highlighting top school’s responses.

Harvard

Visa Suspension and Increase in Waitlist: Since the US government suspended all visa processing services for international citizens, Harvard has shared that they would increase the number of the waitlist for R2 candidates to attract the “talented leaders from around the world” and contribute towards the overall class experience and bring a difference in the world.  

Deferred Admission: In the worst case that visa is not processed within the R3 timeline, the admission team has assured that the applicants will be offered a deferred admission, joining with the next year’s class.

Stanford

Round 3 Deadlines: Round 3 has not been postponed. It will remain as 8th April 2020 (2:00 PM Pacific Time). However, the admission team has offered flexibility in submitting test scores (GMAT, GRE) until 1st August 2020, but you will remain on the waitlist. The school has recommended that the scores be submitted by 21st May 2020. For those who are taking the GMAT exam later, the admission team has recommended that you enter 0 (zero) for the mandatory test score field and for GRE the same for all required percentile fields and 130 for the required score fields.


Note that even if you are called for an interview without a GMAT/GRE score, for acceptance, the score is mandatory.

Recommendation Letter: The school has not offered any extension to submit the recommendation letter. But if you can’t gather the letters before the deadline, they are open to accepting extensions provided the recommenders directly contact the admissions office. For such cases, you can submit the application without a recommendation letter.

Visa Delay and Deferred Admissions: For admitted international students, if the circumstances prevent them from receiving a visa on time, Stanford will defer the admission by 1 year.

Wharton

Round 3 Deadlines: 1st April to 15th April 2020


Wharton has postponed its Round 3 deadline from 1st April to 15th April 2020, giving a big relief to the hundreds of round 3 applicants targeting the penultimate round. Among the few top schools that listened to the challenging circumstances, the Wharton admissions team has also postponed the deadlines for the advance access program to May 27th,2020.

Chicago Booth

Round 3 Deadlines: 2nd April 2020 (No Change)

Chicago Booth Scholars Deferred MBA Program (New Deadline): 1st June 2020

Chicago Booth has not changed the deadline for traditional full-time MBA applicants. However, for the Scholars Deferred MBA program, the new deadline is 1st June 2020. In addition to the deadline, the applicants have a leeway of 1 month to submit the test scores. The interviews will start from May and continue throughout June until the decision is released by July 13th, 2020.

Columbia

Final Deadlines (Aug 2020 Entry): 10th April 2020 to June 1st, 2020

Columbia Business School that has a rolling admission process, has extended its final deadline to June 1st, 2020. Following the cue of other top schools, the admission team has offered a one-month extension to submit the test scores. (July 1st, 2020)

MIT

Round 3 Deadline:  9th April 2020 (No Change)

MBA Early Admissions (New Deadline): 2nd June 2020


MIT has also not changed the Round 3 deadline but moved the Early admissions to 2nd June 2020.

Kellogg

Round 3 Deadline: 8th April 2020 (No Change)

Kellogg Future Leaders: 2nd April 2020 (No Change)


The deadlines for both the Round 3 and Kellogg Future leader’s programs have remained unchanged. However, those who could not take the GMAT test could now apply without the test score can take the test and submit by May 1st. By June, you must take the test. In case you cannot, despite an admit, the admission team could defer the admission by 1 year.

Yale

Round 3 Deadline: 14th April 2020 and May 27th, 2020 (Extended)

The Yale MBA Admissions team has offered two Round 3 deadlines – the standard 14th April 2020 and the extended May 27th, 2020 deadline for those who have been affected by the Coronavirus. For test scores, the admission team is offering an additional 10 days to submit the GMAT/GRE scores.

London Business School

Round 3 Deadline: 22nd April 2020 (No Change)

The admission team has maintained the Round 3 deadlines with the provision to consider your candidacy without GMAT/GRE score if the test centers remain closed. You would be invited to offer a written statement and offer perspective about your quantitative scores in other arenas – work, undergraduate degree, and extracurricular.

Haas

Round 3 Deadline: 2nd April 2020 and May 4th, 2020 (Extended)

Haas has also opted for an extended deadline on May 4th, 2020, in addition to the standard 2nd April 2020 deadline. This decision is to accommodate the closure of testing centers. Both ETS and GMAC has announced an online version of their tests (GMAT by mid-April) and TOEFL/GRE (already available for US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Colombia, Hong Kong, and Macau)

Ross

Round 3 Priority Deadline: March 30th, 2020 and May 29th, 2020 (Extended Rolling admissions)

Ross has maintained that the priority deadline for International applicants would remain as of March 30th, 2020. However, for those who couldn’t take the GMAT/GRE or TOEFL tests, the deadline would extend to May 29th, 2020. The applications after the March 30th deadline would be considered on a rolling basis. This means that if the application pool is strong, the later applicants will only be considered if they stand out, and the review would be on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Duke Fuqua

Since Duke Fuqua’s Round 3 deadline was March 11th, 2020, before COVID forced schools to close down, there are no extended deadlines. However, the school accepts applications even after the deadline on a rolling basis with the promise that you will be invited for an interview within 3-4 weeks.

Darden

Round 3 Deadline: 6th April 2020 and 15th July 2020 (Extended Rolling admissions)

Darden has not changed the Round 3 deadlines. However, to accommodate the disruption in GMAT/GRE testing, pursuing recommendation letters, and the overall schedule, the admissions team, has announced an extended rolling admission that would last till 15th July 2020. Darden expects the applicants to submit the essays by the original deadline and extend the submission of other elements of the application by 15th July 2020.

Atul Jose F1GMAT's FounderAbout the Author 

I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.

For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.

 

My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.

 

I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.

 

The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.

 

Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.