Advice Column: Working On A Last-Minute MBA Application? Read This First

It’s time to focus, people! There are approximately 6 weeks before round 2 MBA applications are due. There is still time to write and submit great business school applications, but not if you make these common errors.

• Failure To Plan Ahead

Especially if you’re crafting a last-minute MBA application, it’s important to start with the most time sensitive tasks. Open each application, set up your account, and look at the deadlines. Note what’s required in terms of supplemental material so that you can send official test scores and transcripts to schools that need them, and order unofficial transcripts for schools that allow you to upload. Next, enter your recommenders email addresses, so that they get the links they need. (Ask them first, if for some reason you haven’t already done so!)

After that, create a document with all of the essays that you will need to write for each school, so that you can identify overlapping prompts. If you choose your content wisely, you can tell the same core stories at multiple schools, which will cut down on your workload.

• Reinventing The Wheel

On a related note, it’s not “lazy” or “cheating” to repurpose your goal statement or your best illustration about investing in community. Your persona and goals should NOT shift from school to school, so don’t make your life harder by starting over at each program. The same goes for descriptions of your activities, work experience, resume, etc. If you are doing this correctly, that core material should be the same across programs. (Although the format and length will vary, so again – take a look at the format for each application, and plan ahead.)

• Second-Guessing Yourself

You know what takes forever and leads to weak applications? Too much self-doubt. MBA applications require self-awareness and authenticity. Think before you write. Tell them what you really want to do. Don’t try to game the system and come up with what you think (usually incorrectly) they want to hear. Once you have your narrative, don’t look back!

• Procrastinating/Panicking

Create a calendar, and stick to it. If you need to get professional help in order to move forward, reach out to a consultant. (Or to a friend who will keep you on task.) Last minute essays are often laden with typos, and very rarely represent your best work. 

You know what else rarely leads to your best work? Panic. Especially if you feel like you’re running out of time, planning out your work schedule will help.

Last-minute MBA applications can absolutely be successful, but they require discipline, organization, and the right strategy. You can totally do this!

Karen has more than 12 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 $85 million dollars in scholarships, and more than 98% have gotten into one of their top choice schools.

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