While many schools embrace re-applicants, it is not a wise move simply to repeat the dream roster from the previous year’s target schools… hoping something will give. Pick a handful to be sure, but rethink your strategy and factor in a few other schools. There are ways to loosen the net. Could be adding a few safer schools (why not do this no matter what?). But it could also be relaxing your geographical preferences. Because now you’re up against an important question: I didn’t apply to “USC” or “UCLA” because I hate Southern California. Maybe so, but do you hate Southern California MORE than you hate not having an MBA? For some, the MBA outlay in years and finances is ONLY worth it under very specific conditions: “Harvard or bust.” Cool, but for the rest of you, an MBA will be more helpful than a lack of one.
So that’s really the question then, right? You have three MAJOR categories to deal with:
1. No MBA at all, ever.
2. An MBA from a school that ISN’T top 10, maybe not a household name internationally.
3. An ultra elite school that will turn heads at the mere mention of the name. We know what those are. Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, and a handful of others.
Let’s just agree that Option 3 is a great one, for just about anyone yes?
K, this blog is really intended for those debating whether or not to apply to any schools OTHER than Harvard, Stanford, Wharton (or other Top 10 badasses like Kellogg, MIT, etc.). We’ve heard allllll the arguments. Boiled down, it goes something like this: “An MBA from anywhere other than H/S/W won’t be worth anything in my industry.”
And that may very well be absolutely true and valid. But at least consider this. IF you were to apply to a “less competitive” school without the luster of a Harvard/Stanford/Wharton… say, Haas or Ross or Darden or Fuqua, etc etc… and you were to GET ACCEPTED, you can absolutely make the determination at that point in time that the name of School X just won’t be worth the cost in money and time. Fine, such is your right.
But, an undeniably WORSE predicament would be to get dinged from those ultra elites, and be left without a single option OTHER than falling back to whatever you were doing previously. A lot can change in your life between the time you decide to apply, through to the application, through to the acceptance or denial. And to screw yourself out of the OPTION of accepting an MBA invitation, to us, is just unwise. The outlay in cost is peanuts, and the value gained from increasing your chances in admission is well worth it.
Give yourself an option. You lose NOTHING. You can still say no when the time comes—but at least have the ability to make that determination and haven’t backed yourself into a corner.
