Poets&Quants | Advice Column: What Business School Reapplicants Need to Know

Hello P&Q readers, and welcome to my advice column! My name is Karen Marks, and I am the Founder and President of North Star Admissions Consulting. I have been helping people get into their dream schools since 2012, and prior to that, I was the Associate Director of Admissions at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Today, my goal is to give applicants the accurate, insider information that they need in order to succeed and make good decisions. Want your question answered in a future column? Ask away, no topic is off limits!

In 2024, I wrote about how to decide whether to accept an MBA offer, or to try again the following year. Today, I want to share insight from the first of two clients who decided to reapply this cycle – with amazing results. (I met both after they had gone through one application cycle without my support, and then we worked together on their reapplications.)

You were admitted to business school when you applied the first time, what made you decide to turn down that offer and reapply?

I applied during the round 3 application window to four programs. While my GRE score and resume was strong, my essays were weak, largely because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with an MBA. I ended up only receiving one interview offer and admittance at a top-40 program.

As a career pivoter, I wanted to increase my chances of landing a high-paying post-MBA position at a company I felt excited by. For me, that meant going to a top-15 program (even if I received a lower scholarship amount), rather than a lower-ranked school. Higher-ranked programs tend to offer stronger alumni networks, more on-campus recruiting opportunities, larger career coaching staff, and more experiential learning opportunities.

I met with North Star out of curiosity, which was instrumental in my decision to re-apply. Karen reviewed my application and provided several areas of improvement that she felt would increase my chances of acceptance to stronger programs the following year. I was already considering re-applying, and Karen provided the gut-check I needed to take the leap!

How did your strategy change as a reapplicant, in the following areas:

School List
Post-Graduate GoalsEssays
Timeline
Interview Prep

The first time I applied, I spent a lot of time researching top programs and cared largely about acceptance into high-ranking programs. My post-graduate goals, cultural fit, and scholarship opportunities were secondary considerations. I visited two programs in person, interacted with admissions staff, and set up networking calls with current students and alumni to learn about their experiences, which helped me craft my essays. Several friends reviewed my essays, and I researched and practiced interview questions prior to my interview. While it felt at the time that I had set myself up for admittance to top programs, in hindsight I see that my essays had significant room for improvement. Also, I believe that applying during the round 3 cycle hindered my chances of acceptance.

Karen’s Note: The rankings do not tell you everything you need to know about ROI or school fit!

Prior to re-applying, I did the introspection work to settle on 1 or 2 post-graduate career goals, which allowed me to significantly strengthen my essays and narrow my list of programs (which were different schools than I had applied to the previous year). I also budgeted time and money to visit schools for their diversity weekends throughout the fall, which I believe was helpful in my eventual acceptances, and importantly was a huge help in my understanding of program fit. I applied during round 1, rather than round 3. By the time the interview offers came, I was well-prepared to answer the “Why MBA” and “Why your program” questions because of all the work I had put into school visits, conversations, and career research!

In addition, what else did you do differently?

Many programs have optional essays for questions like family background, academic records, and even activity ‘description of participation’ or ‘employment gap’ responses that should be treated as an essay. I had formerly ruled these essays out as “fluff” and not put much care into them, but they are very important to your application! You are a multi-faceted individual with unique life experiences, and the admissions community wants to hear who you are from every angle, even if you may think it seems boring.

Karen’s Note: In my opinion, the applicant’s willingness to get more personal in their essays and interview responses was the key to their success.

What do you feel made the biggest difference?

Of all the improvements to my application I mentioned, I had a strong MBA coach (Karen) pushing me to make those changes. I began working with North Star in May, so that by September, I had a short-list of programs I planned to apply to, had improved my resume and ‘secondary’ essays, and had scheduled upcoming visits to several programs. My MBA coach enabled me to bring my best self to my application process and feel confident in the schools that I selected.

What advice do you have for future reapplicants?

School visits and conversations with students and alumni are meant for you! Be intentional about networking with students and alumni who have similar backgrounds and/or post-MBA goals to you. Those conversations are for you, so don’t try to be impressive, but instead try to learn something about yourself in the process.
Don’t get caught up in going to an M7 program. Instead, focus on the industry and location you’re interested in working in after your MBA, and narrow down to a list of schools that fit those goals. You want to go somewhere for two years where you’re excited to get involved. After all, a big part of the MBA is about building lifelong connections.

Are you comfortable sharing where you got in?

Ross –Accepted with 15% scholarship.

UVA – Accepted (from waitlist) with 50% scholarship.

Karen’s Note: Congratulations again! I’m so thrilled that you are headed to such a great fit school, and I can’t wait to hear all about it.

Deciding to reapply to business school can feel like a big risk, especially if you already have a full tuition scholarship, as this applicant did. However, the rewards can be enormous. Thank you for taking that chance, and for letting me play a part in your story!

Karen has more than 15 years of experience evaluating candidates for admission to Dartmouth College and to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Since founding North Star Admissions Consulting in 2012, she has helped applicants gain admission to the nation’s top schools, including Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Wharton, MIT, Tuck, Columbia, Kellogg, Booth, Haas, Duke, Johnson, Ross, NYU, UNC, UCLA, Georgetown and more. Clients have been awarded more than $70 million dollars in scholarships, and more than 98% have gotten into one of their top choice schools.

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