When's the best time to start preparing for Round 1 if the deadline is in September? I'm hearing different things, and I'm worried about starting too late. I'm about to take the GMAT later this month, and I hope that's enough time. What have you been hearing?

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I would say try to have the GMAT done by June. I was able to start my brainstorming in late-May and started my outlines of the basic essays like "Why MBA" in June. When the prompts came out in June / July, I was able to start writing the other essays - applied to 9 schools R1 (M7 + 2 T10) and got into all of them minus H/S

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MBA is dead. Save yourself.

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I skipped the tests because I was confident my overall app between work and my business.

That said -

Late spring/early summer: I started attending info sessions with schools and putting a face to my name (from the Admissions POV.) Started planning school visits for the fall. I live in NY, so had the opportunity to leverage Forte, GMAC events - free events where schools come and table. Great for FaceTime and really feeling out if the school makes sense.

Summer: Spent reflecting why I wanted to do my MBA + goals + anecdotes I wanted to write about. Also finalized my list of schools - 10

Early fall: When apps were out, mapped out all the deadlines and prompts. As I was writing out the essays, visited schools. Attended the final round virtual information sessions - if I had missed any initially. Updated my list to 7 schools.

September - November: Interviews.

October - December: Decisions.

I applied Round 1 for all 7 schools. Got into all 7 with large scholarships. Everything is possible - just plan ahead.

Good luck :)

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Studied june-july

Took the test in august

Sprinted the essays for sept deadline

Accepted at HBS/GSB

That said, completely depends on how confident you feel on tests (only gave myself time to take it once), and how much “free time you have to iterate essays.

This is to share a very crunched example, if you start earlier you’ll be even more prepared

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I do not recommend skipping the tests lol

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