Welcome to F1GMAT’s #askAtulJose series. I am Atul Jose. Today’s question is a tough one that I face every year. It is one reason why we started the Career Planning service. The question goes:
Q) I am an international applicant who has been rejected from 2 M7 schools in Round 2, accepted with 50% tuition fee as a scholarship from a top 25 school. I am at the stage in my career where I would have to take the risk and choose a post-MBA location that matches the opportunities that I am pursuing. From the many top schools, I prefer US schools as the placement in Consulting and the opportunity to do an internship is consistent across all the top schools in the US.
Should I apply for Round 3 or wait it out for Round 1? I have a 750 GMAT score with 9+ years of experience in the auto manufacturing industry. From an engineer, I have transitioned to a Project Manager role, although my title still says Sr. Engineer. I would like to fully transition into general management or a consulting role with an MBA.
Atul Jose (MBA Admissions Consultant, F1GMAT): This is interesting. As I have shared before the question, each applicant has their unique challenges, aspirations, and post-MBA goals. Also, GMAT, GPA, the age of the applicant, the experience, and the growth in their career, along with the complementing extra-curricular experiences, will play into admissions.
Schools tend to look at those who have crossed 30+, which is the case with you, as outliers. Unless you had a start-up experience that didn’t work out or come from the govt. or the military or, in some cases, from the manufacturing sector with a research background (Master’s/PhD) that requires completing mandatory minimum years in a role or title, you have to take an extra effort in articulating the delay.
Let us start with the challenges of waiting it out for Round 1. Over 6+ years of experience will naturally bring the question – why you didn’t apply a year or two before, that is the typical age group when applicants target top schools.
If you had a promotion in the past 1-2 years, and the opportunity was outside the initial engineering domain and more into the business side of manufacturing, then the school will understand the delay in applying. But don’t assume that schools will read your career growth carefully as the title of Sr. Engineer and the responsibility of a project manager are not typically the same. You have to mention it strategically in your essays or the optional essay highlighting the reasons for the delay.
Now comes the Round 3 challenge for International applicants. Schools do encourage international applicants to complete their application by Round 2, but there are a few schools that have changed their tone towards international applicants in the past couple of years, especially with the introduction of an extended deadline during the Pandemic. So if you ask the admissions team, they would encourage applying as selectivity, and the total number of applicants are used in their promotions. The perceived selectivity does encourage strong candidates to target the program. From a strategic objective, schools do encourage applying even though the number of seats available is in the 10-15% range. I would not completely go by what the admissions or the marketing team say.
Having said that, another factor that should play into the decision to choose Round 3 would be your motivation. If you feel driven by the prospect of joining a top program by this year itself, then I would suggest targeting at least a couple of M7 schools in Round 3 and reapply for the rejected programs and other M7 schools for Round 1 if the results of Round 3 are not in your favor.
A very small percentage get admissions from multiple M7 schools. So just because you were rejected from 2 M7 schools, there is no particular trend here. I have often seen clients getting accepted into an M7 school despite a few rejections from peer schools. Don’t be discouraged. Split the R3 vs. R1 target schools and see how it goes.
The 50% scholarship is a temptation hard to overcome for someone who didn’t get a great result. But you really have to look into decisions about MBA as a life-defining one. Although no one wants to take on debt if you are not self-funded, the program that you have mentioned is a top 25 instead of an M7 program. And if you accept the offer, after a couple of years, in the back of your mind, you will always wonder whether you should have targeted other M7 schools in Round 3. Guilt/regret doesn’t go away on a whim. Unless you have a zen attitude towards life, I will encourage targeting all top schools where you have the potential to get accepted.
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