The strategy applies to anyone who has worked with one employer and thinks that HSW schools are stretch schools for their over-represented profile.
This strategy is not for those who are only targeting HSW schools. That is Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton.
This strategy won't work for applicants who have worked with 2-3 employers.
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 applicants make is targeting Harvard and Stanford in a single round.
A 2:3 strategy allows you to spread out the application across 2 Rounds, with Harvard in Round 1 and Stanford in Round 2, or vice versa.
The reason is that Stanford has an open-ended values essay.
Harvard has curiosity & growth, and leadership essays.
Both require considerable writing and rewriting.
It is not the rewriting that is a challenge for most applicants.
When you start writing essays, there is a learning curve to figure out the themes of the essays, your writing style - expressive, abstract, or a mix of both.
It would be a wasted opportunity to target both your dream schools in Round 1 when you are just starting to learn the process of essay writing and testing a few themes.
2:3 Strategy
With the 2:3 Strategy, 2 stands for Harvard, Wharton, or Stanford in Round 1, or Harvard, Wharton, or Stanford in Round 2.
The three remaining schools could be any of the top schools from Booth, Columbia, Kellogg, NYU Stern, Yale, Tuck, Darden, INSEAD, LBS, or Haas.
MIT Sloan's cover letter format 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, including strengths, weaknesses, vulnerable moments, failure, success, commitment, inclusiveness, 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 are feedback on what themes or narratives worked.
There is a reason certain stories work.
They could be from the relevance of your goals to the year's changing job markets.
Burning Out Recommenders
Another reason we recommend a 2:3 strategy for MBA Applications is that most of you have one or two strong recommenders who are willing to invest 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 5 Schools - Round 1
But most importantly, if you are applying to 5 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 your dream MBA, you must sell the story of why you find the school as an essential next step for your future.
Don't blame the company.
Don't hint that the responsibilities the supervisor gave were uninspiring.
Don't complain about the uncertainty in the job market if your peers were laid off.
Bring anecdotes about your interests outside the current role as the initial motivation to pivot.
Share stories of your family or friend who could find a unique opportunity with an MBA from your dream school.
Once you have sold your motivation for an MBA, share the traits and values the school appreciates in a candidate.
Subscribe to F1GMAT’s recommendation letter editing service. We will streamline the process.
This strategy doesn’t apply if you are waiting for a promotion or have 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 to spread it out across Round 1 and Round 2.
But if you have been working with your employer for the past 3-5 years, the 2:3 or 3:2 Strategy is a great way to improve your chances of admission to the Harvard or Stanford MBA program.
I hope you found my advice helpful.
Start the conversation about applying to the Harvard or Stanford MBA program, or both.
