Plan, Plan, Plan

I have met people attending recent MBA events who are planning on apping for Fall of '10. Yes they are planning a two years in advance! That might be a weeee bit of overkill, but apping for the MBA really takes planning. Here’s what the schedule might look like:

Fall – start thinking about MBA, planning what you want to do wether you really want do a MBA. Just decide “I do” first and then forget about this question for a while.

December – Start studying for GMAT

Jan _ Book a date – nothing gets you as focused as actually booking a FINAL date and spending $250 in doing so! Have a somewhat vague list of schools ready to send your scores to. – save some money!

Feb/ March – Start taking mock tests. In case of Kaplan tests, if your verbal is low, add ~50 points to your total and take hope. Whatever scores you are getting on the mba.com tests however, are usually pretty accurate in the range of +- 20/

April/ may – Take the GMAT

June/ July – Retake if necessary

July/ August – research the schools, what you want to do, which specialization, generalization, which city etc. this is VERY important. Though most schools won’t emphasize this, brand name and ranking do matter, whether they will accept you is almost as big a decision as whether you want to go there and the “fit” works both ways.
Think a LOT during this time of what you want to do, why, and where you want to be. Look at previous applicants essays. Buy a couple of books or hire a consultant to get an idea of what the essays should sound like and which schools would fit you the best.

September – Start applying. Finalize schools, start writing essays. Visit a lot of fairs, these are generally useless but they get your name and if you are lucky your face familiar to the adcoms. Visit the schools – this might not be possible for everyone, but it is the surest way to express your deep interest in the schools. Ladies –you have an added advantage here –most schools offer comped Women’s Weekends/ tours etc and Forte forum and the consortium are very strong tools you have to leverage.

(These parts I am guessing at since I haven’t been though them myself yet. I will perhaps update this post again later)

October/ November – put those apps in, interview.. busy busy busy!!

December _ chew nails, wait for results

Jan – Yipeeeeeee!! (I hope!)