The third week in December is often the most productive week for most professionals. With a clear holiday break on the horizon, the hope that there is something to look forward becomes a strong motivating force. For MBA applicants targeting Round 2 deadlines, this period can be the most stressful time.
Case 1: December Last Week - GMAT Tests
We often keep the most important task for the last, and it is no different for MBA applicants. Those who are planning to take the GMAT during the last week of December, you have ruined your holidays, and more importantly - peace of mind, as GMAT test score is an important element in the MBA application process. Lot of school reselection and MBA application essay tweaking depends on the GMAT score.
Case 2: Recommendation Letter
This is the week to pester your recommender to get those recommendation letters. It would be extremely difficult to get in touch with recommenders once the Christmas week commences. Anticipate this problem, and try to convey the urgency. Most online MBA application systems allow recommenders to save the letter in draft before submitting. Make use of that function.
Case 3: Review Essays
Based on the GMAT score, essays are tweaked, academic, or professional experiences highlighted, and personal aspects that complement academic performance included. This week is the time to complete all your essays, and do a first round of review. The first iteration should be exclusively focused on spotting structural and grammatical errors.
Case 4: Supporting Documents
By now, all your transcripts and other supporting documents might be ready. If you have not yet received the original transcripts rush to the school, and get your copy. Most schools break for Christmas holidays, and this week should be focused on getting all the supporting documents ready. Also, make sure that academic officers or department heads, as required by the Business School, attest the documents.
About 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.