When applying to an MBA program, you will likely have a range of programs you are considering. Similar to when you applied to college, you will most likely have your target, or “dream” programs you have set your eye on. But what happens if you aren’t admitted to your first choice school, or any that you have applied to? What do you do in this situation? It’s important to have a backup plan, so you are prepared in the event this happens.
Apply to more schools
If you applied to business school early, you may still have time to meet the Round 3 cutoff for additional programs.
Expand your list of target schools
If you have not been admitted to any of your target schools, but still want to follow through on your timeline for an MBA, you will need to expand the list of schools you consider. Do not be afraid to look for alternate programs or schools that fall outside of your initial list. It is important to do additional research to find programs or schools that may serve your needs when you think about why you were pursuing an MBA to begin with.
List A: Your Tier 1 schools within Top 20 ranking such as Harvard, U Chicago (Booth), U Penn (Wharton), Northwestern (Kellogg)
List B: Your next tier of schools within the Top 50 ranking such as USC (Marshall), UCLA (Anderson), Michigan (Ross), NYU (Stern)
Wait another year
If you have flexibility in your career timeline, you may want to consider waiting another year to attend business school. This will give you more time to improve your application - whether it is improving your GMAT score, gaining additional professional experience, or spending more time researching programs and working on your application, the extra time can make you a much stronger candidate in the eyes of admissions officers. Here at College Launch, we work with our clients 1:1 to identify areas of improvement in their application and come up with an actionable plan to maximize your application for success.
If you are looking for support navigating MBA admissions, or looking to create a backup plan for your admissions timeline, consider signing up for a free consultation today.