Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 32 views

    Harvard Duke Fuqua Columbia: Round 1 vs. Round 2 vs. Round 3 - What Do These Mean?

    Uploaded by

    Indra Sar
    The document discusses the different application rounds for US business schools: Early Decision, Early Action, Round 1, Round 2, and Rounds 3+. It provides details on the deadlines, benefits, and drawbacks of each round. The key points are: Early Decision has the highest chance of admission but requires a commitment to attend if accepted; Early Action and Round 1 also increase chances but provide more flexibility; later rounds are more competitive with fewer seats and scholarship funds remaining. The recommendation is to apply to top choice schools in Early Action or Round 1 and have a Round 2 strategy based on Round 1 results.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Harvard Duke Fuqua Columbia: Round 1 vs. Round 2 vs. Round 3 - What Do These Mean?

    Uploaded by

    Indra Sar
    32 views3 pages
    The document discusses the different application rounds for US business schools: Early Decision, Early Action, Round 1, Round 2, and Rounds 3+. It provides details on the deadlines, benefits, and drawbacks of each round. The key points are: Early Decision has the highest chance of admission but requires a commitment to attend if accepted; Early Action and Round 1 also increase chances but provide more flexibility; later rounds are more competitive with fewer seats and scholarship funds remaining. The recommendation is to apply to top choice schools in Early Action or Round 1 and have a Round 2 strategy based on Round 1 results.

    Original Description:

    Tiops

    Original Title

    MLA 6

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The document discusses the different application rounds for US business schools: Early Decision, Early Action, Round 1, Round 2, and Rounds 3+. It provides details on the deadlines, benefits, and drawbacks of each round. The key points are: Early Decision has the highest chance of admission but requires a commitment to attend if accepted; Early Action and Round 1 also increase chances but provide more flexibility; later rounds are more competitive with fewer seats and scholarship funds remaining. The recommendation is to apply to top choice schools in Early Action or Round 1 and have a Round 2 strategy based on Round 1 results.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    32 views3 pages

    Harvard Duke Fuqua Columbia: Round 1 vs. Round 2 vs. Round 3 - What Do These Mean?

    Uploaded by

    Indra Sar
    The document discusses the different application rounds for US business schools: Early Decision, Early Action, Round 1, Round 2, and Rounds 3+. It provides details on the deadlines, benefits, and drawbacks of each round. The key points are: Early Decision has the highest chance of admission but requires a commitment to attend if accepted; Early Action and Round 1 also increase chances but provide more flexibility; later rounds are more competitive with fewer seats and scholarship funds remaining. The recommendation is to apply to top choice schools in Early Action or Round 1 and have a Round 2 strategy based on Round 1 results.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    MLA 6:

    Round 1 vs. Round 2 vs. Round 3 - what do these mean?

    If you take a look at the application deadline of a typical US business school, like ​Harvard​,
    Duke Fuqua​, or ​Columbia​, you will inevitably come across the concept of “Rounds”. You will
    see terms like “Round 1”, “Round 2”, “Early Decision Round”, “Early Action Round”, etc.

    So, what do these mean?

    US business schools process applications in batches, and each of these batches is called a
    Round. If you are an applicant, you have to pick one round (and only one round) to apply in.
    In this article, you will find information about these rounds to help you decide which round
    you want to apply in. Remember that, realistically, you can only apply to 3-5 schools in each
    Round, because each application takes a lot of time and effort.

    The following rounds are arranged in chronological order, i.e., from the earliest deadline to
    the last deadline. In each paragraph you will see the main benefit and main disadvantage of
    applying in that round, along with an overall note/suggestion.

    Early Decision Round:​

    Very few business schools have an Early Decision Round, and ​Columbia​ is one of them.
    Applying in Early Decision means that you are committing to join that business school if you
    get in. In fact, ​Columbia​ asks you to sign the following statement in your application - ​“​I am
    committed to attending Columbia Business School and will withdraw all applications and
    decline all offers from other schools upon admission to Columbia Business School”​.

    Advantage​:​ Your chances of admission are significantly higher in this round. Business
    school admissions is like a competition among business schools for good candidates, so a
    good candidate who promises to join your school will not be declined easily.

    Disadvantage​:​ You may later regret that you could have joined an even better business
    school, or that you could have joined another college which may have given you a
    scholarship.

    Overall comment:​ Go for this only if you are sure you can be happy with this admission and
    will be OK with any future regrets that you could have done better.

    Early Action​:

    Very few business schools have Early Action, and ​Duke Fuqua​ is one of them. Unlike Early
    Decision, Early Action does not involve a promise that you will join. However, Early Action is
    designed in such a way that only more interested candidates will apply - if selected, you will
    have to pay a higher than normal deposit, you will have lesser time to pay the deposit, or
    something along those lines. Typically the deadline dates are in September or early October.
    Advantage​:​ Your chances of admission are still higher than they would be in a Round 1 or 2,
    while removing the hard constraint placed on you by Early Decision.

    Disadvantage​:​ Higher initial deposit (which will be adjusted against tuition fees later) and
    lesser time to pay the deposit.

    Overall comment:​ ​ If any of your top choice business schools offer Early Action, go for it. It is
    usually a favorable trade off, and just in case you get into an even better school later, you
    will have the option to sacrifice your deposit and go there.

    Round 1:​

    For most schools, like ​Harvard​, Round 1 is when they get the first batch of applications. This
    is typically THE round to apply in - applying early signals to business schools that you are
    very interested in them (and they take this seriously), and business schools at this time will
    also be more lenient towards a borderline case candidate by offering a waitlist spot more
    generously. Remember, most business schools need to ensure that they fill all the seats that
    they have. If they are too strict and reject too many people in the initial round, they may run a
    risk of not being able to fill the class with good enough candidates. Hence, they are a little
    less strict in Round 1 when they still haven’t seen how strong the applicant pool for the year
    is. Also, ALL the scholarship funding is unclaimed in Round 1, and being a Round 1
    applicant means that you can compete for scholarships while all the scholarship money is
    unclaimed. Typically the deadline dates are in September or early October.

    Advantage​:​ Better odds of being waitlisted or even admitted if you are a borderline case for
    the school.

    Disadvantage​:​ No major disadvantage. The only (small) disadvantage is that you may get
    better at essay writing later and regret that you could have written a better essay had you
    applied in Round 2. However, slight improvements in your essay are easily offset by the
    better odds of admission in Round 1.

    Overall comment:​ ​ For all the schools you are seriously targeting, apply by Round 1. This is
    especially true for Male-Indian-Engineers for whom the competition is extremely high. If you
    are still not convinced, perhaps ​this video​ from an admissions consultant in the US can
    convince you (scroll to minute 16:08 for the advice on Round 1). Seriously,
    Male-Indian-Engineers are highly over represented in these applications, so you if are in this
    category, do your best to put in a good application in Round 1.

    Round 2:​

    For many schools, Round 2 is when they ensure that close to 100% seats are filled.
    Competition is higher than Round 1, and there are fewer seats to give out than in Round 1.
    Typically the deadline dates are in January.
    Advantage​:​ Typically, you will get better at writing application essays with practice, so your
    Round 2 essays will be better than your Round 1 essays.

    Disadvantage​:​ Round 2 is generally more competitive, and everyone will get better at writing
    essays by Round 2, so the benefit of waiting till Round 2 may not be as high as you think.

    Overall comment:​ If you didn’t get any admits in Round 1, then Round 2 is a good time to
    apply to your second choice schools. If you did get admits in Round 1, then Round 2 is a
    good time to apply for those dream schools which you initially thought were out of reach. If
    you didn’t apply to any school in Round 1, then it’s harder to suggest an ideal Round 2
    strategy - it depends on your aspirations, risk appetite, willingness to wait another year if you
    don’t get admits, etc.

    Round 3 (and later)​:

    For most US schools, only a tiny fraction of their seats are unfilled by the time Rounds 3+
    happen. So, these late rounds tend to be extremely competitive. Chances of scholarship are
    also close to zero by this point as most of the scholarship funding has been awarded to
    Round 1 and Round 2 admits. Typically the deadline dates are in March.

    Advantage​:​ Not much. Theoretically, there is the advantage that you could apply even if you
    decide to apply late.

    Disadvantage​:​ Chances of getting in are very low. If admitted, you will need to move fast on
    paperwork like loan application and visa application.

    Overall comment:​ ​ As far as possible, apply in Round 2 or earlier, because your chances are
    lower in Round 3. But, if due to some reason you decide to apply late and are OK with a
    somewhat suboptimal outcome in terms of which school you go to, you can still apply for
    somewhat safe schools and get in in these late Rounds. Every year, some people do get
    admits in Round 3, but they are really good applicants relative to their schools typical
    applicant.

    Overall recommendation:

    Plan well and start early - usually this pays off. Apply to schools you are really serious about
    in Early Action (if there is one) or Round 1. Based on how things are going in Round 1 (e.g.,
    based on whether you are getting interviews, how well you think the interviews went, etc.)
    start planning for Round 2 - you can be more ambitious in Round 2 if Round 1 is going well,
    else you may need to target safer schools (if you want to ensure an admit).

    You might also like