Don't believe the BS** that Business Schools are telling you.

Avoid these traps for admission

Author

Thomas Dussud
October 26, 2023

Read time: 1mn

Every year, business schools always tell you to apply as early as possible to increase your chances of getting into the program. That's nonsense.

The real truth is that they are competing with each other to secure the best talent before other schools do. If I have an interview at HEC, get accepted, and pay the deposit, why would I apply to ESSEC in the following round, right?

Actually, if you look at the statistics, the average GMAT score per applicant is the highest in round 1. This can be explained by several factors:

1) All the students who were rejected in the previous year will reapply with an additional internship on their CV, two more months of preparation for the GMAT, their files reorganized, and their personal statements rewritten.

2) All the students who cannot study in Europe without a scholarship need to apply as early as possible to have a better chance of securing one.

3) All the students who need to negotiate a visa to study in Europe require extra time to organize the logistics of studying in Europe. They tend to apply as early as possible, as some visa processes can take up to 2-3 months.

If we look at business schools with four application rounds, the best round to apply is actually the second round (e.g., LBS on December 14th, HEC and ESSEC on January 3rd, etc.)

  • Round 1 is the most competitive for the reasons quoted earlier.

  • In Round 2, there are as many spots as they need for qualified candidates who fit the school's requirements. If they like you and you meet the requirement of the interview they will create a spot for you in the program.

  • Round 3 may result in getting placed in the waiting list placement if you are borderline. They will compare you to Round 4 applicants, if they get better applicants you will be rejected if only they don’t then you will get accepted.

  • Round 4 is riskier, as its competitiveness and remaining spots depend on how many applicants they took during Rounds 1, 2, and 3.

So, long story short, R2 is the round to which you should apply if you want to maximize your chances. Based on the 100+ students we have placed, I would even say that applying with a 650 GMAT in R2 is better than applying with a 670-680 GMAT in round 3.

We currently have 26 students in our batch. We have 4 spots left for R2 applications for ambitious students who are serious about developing a competitive edge. Is that you?

Amat Victoria Curam,

Thomas

P.S. I will present some tips and tricks for mastering your application with some members of the team next Monday at 6:30 CET. If you want to join, just click on the link on Monday.