This Strategy is not for those who are only targeting HSW schools. That is Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton. The Strategy applies to anyone who thinks that HSW schools are stretch schools and require considerable planning.
Let’s go back to the 2:3 or the 3:2 Strategy
2:3 or 3: 2 Strategy
Typically, applicants target 5 to 7 schools. Of the seven schools, 5 are schools in the top 10, with 2 or 3 from Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton. A big mistake that applicants make is to target Harvard and Stanford in one round itself.
A 2:3 strategy allows you to spread out the application to 2 Rounds, where Harvard will be in Round 1 and Stanford in Round 2 or vice versa. The reason is that both schools have opened-ended essays. And they require considerable writing and rewriting. You need to understand the theme of your profile, the examples that need to be included, and the overall Strategy of what works in MBA application essays.
2:3 Strategy
With the 2:3 Strategy, 2 stands for Harvard or Wharton or Stanford or Wharton in Round 1 or Harvard or Wharton or Stanford or Wharton in Round 2. The three remaining schools could be any top school from Booth, Columbia, Kellogg, NYU Stern, Yale, Tuck, Darden, INSEAD, LBS, or Haas. MIT Sloan has a cover letter format that doesn’t apply to this Strategy.
The 3 schools from your top 5 would be in the 5-15 rank where you are writing about a wide range of contexts from strengths, weaknesses, vulnerable moments, failure, success, commitment, DEI initiatives, courage, feeling alive, and your post-MBA goals.
When you write essays for 3 schools with diverse topics – a theme will emerge.
This theme could be reused for either Harvard or Stanford for Round 2. Also, the results of Round 1 will give you feedback on what themes or narratives worked. There is a reason certain stories work.
Burning Out Recommenders
Another reason why we recommend a 2:3 strategy for MBA Applications is that most of you would have one or two good recommenders who are willing to put in the time to write a persuasive recommendation letter. Like essays, you can’t force your recommender to write a cookie-cutter recommendation letter for all schools. Each school has a culture that should match your personality traits. We help you with that through our guideline document for supervisors.
Applying to 7 Schools - Round 1
But most importantly, if you are applying to 5-7 schools during Round 1 and ask your recommenders to work on all of them in a week or two, they will most likely burn out and find the process uninspiring.
Before you request the recommender to write for School A, you must sell the story of why you find A attractive for your future. Again we share the traits through our guideline document. Once you subscribe to F1GMAT’s recommendation letter editing service, the process will be streamlined.
Round 1 and Long List of Schools
Don’t burn out the recommender with a long list of schools in Round 1. You need your recommender throughout the MBA Admission process.
This Strategy doesn’t apply if you are waiting for a promotion or transitioned into the company only in the past 3-4 months. In such cases, it is better to take the band aid off in one go than spread out to Round 1 and Round 2. But if you have been working with your employer for the past 3-5 years, the 2:3 or the 3:2 Strategy is a great way to improve your admission chances to Harvard or Stanford MBA program.
I hope you got value from my advice. You can start the conversation about applying to Harvard or Stanford MBA program or Both.
