6 Ways to Stay Proactive While You Wait for Your Round 1 Results

The prior few months have been stressful, to say the least. But now that you’ve submitted your application materials and completed your interviews, there is nothing to do besides waiting for that much desired “You have been accepted” to your dream business school or schools.

However, do you find yourself constantly thinking that the decision might be ‘Rejected’ or ‘Waitlisted’? Is your head swirling with thoughts that maybe you could have written an essay differently? Or maybe your supervisor could have written a stronger letter of recommendation? Do you wonder whether you should have taken the GMAT again and gotten a higher score?

Here is our advice for what you should do to ease these questions:

1) Stay positive and focused:

It’s hard to contain these thoughts because they seem totally logical and rational. But you need to find a way to stay positive and have faith in yourself that you’ve done your best.

2) Revisit your business school list:

Is your business school list too aspirational? What other business schools could you have added to this list? By analysing your business school list, you may have a clearer idea of which business school to apply to in Round 2, should you choose to cover all your bases.

3) Repurpose materials:

If you do choose to apply to more business schools, make sure you check out application requirements and deadlines and strategically repurpose your application materials.

4) Changes since Round 1:

Have you worked on an interesting project since you applied in Round 1? Did you recently get promoted or did you and your team work on a critical project? If your business school allows you to send further updates to your application, make sure you send this information in a concise update letter.

5) Extracurricular interests:

Did you travel to a destination that changed your outlook on life or challenged your beliefs in a significant way? These experiences are also something that you can mention in your update letter as well.

6) Introspect:

Have your goals undergone a change? Are you still determined to pursue the MBA programme? If this answer is yes, you can focus your energies to strategise for your Round 2 applications. It is an opportune time to think about the decisions you want to make.

Remember, getting admitted to an MBA programme is after all a numbers game. If you have applied to the top business schools, be aware that these schools get thousands of applications and there are only a limited number of seats available.

Business schools are looking for diversity in their classrooms, across ethnic groups, educational backgrounds and industry experience. Brace yourself to the fact that if you do not make it in Round 1, you still have the opportunity to find the ‘right programme’ for you in Round 2. The other possibility is that you might end up on the waitlist. If this does happen, there are a few strategies you can employ to get off the waitlist. To know more about what you can do after you submit your application, get in touch with us.