Rose Martinelli, the director of admissions at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, in a recent blog post tackled some myths and shared some advice for prospective applicants considering the school’s upcoming third-round deadline.
“Somewhere along the line, R3 inherited the reputation of being somewhat irrelevant in the overall admissions cycle – a round where you made a last ditch effort to gain admission while perhaps believing that your chances for acceptance were very slim,” she wrote. Acknowledging that Round Three can be more competitive because the majority of acceptances go to applicants in the first and second rounds, she stressed that a good portion of the next Chicago Booth class will be admitted from R3. In fact, a good number will even be placed on the summer waitlist to help her team manage class size through the summer, she added.
She then rattled off a list of things applicants should consider when applying in R3. For starters, though Chicago Booth encourages international students to apply in earlier rounds to allow time for such a large transition, international candidates are nonetheless accepted during the third round. And because round-three decisions are released in mid-May, accepted international candidates still have plenty of time to process their visas before classes start in September.
Second, she encourages applicants to consider letting the application review team know why you’ve chosen to apply in R3 if it’s relevant. “It can ease the reader’s questions about your intentions,” she wrote. “Don’t be afraid to be honest – we’ve been in your shoes,” she added.
Finally, shake the “last ditch” mentality and make sure that your round-three application is as strong as it can possibly be, Martinelli advises. “We can tell if your application is rushed or if you’re just hedging your bets by throwing one more application together,” she wrote. Indeed, because there are fewer slots left by the time R3 rolls around, your application needs to be as strong and well thought through as you can make it.
Applicants considering a round-three run at Chicago Booth won’t want to miss the live chat Chicago Booth has scheduled for March 3rd. To learn how to join, click here.
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