MLA 6:

Round 1 vs. Round 2 vs. Round 3 - what do these mean?

If you take a look at the application deadline of a typical US business school, like ​Harvard​,
Duke Fuqua​, or ​Columbia​, you will inevitably come across the concept of “Rounds”. You will
see terms like “Round 1”, “Round 2”, “Early Decision Round”, “Early Action Round”, etc.

So, what do these mean?

US business schools process applications in batches, and each of these batches is called a
Round. If you are an applicant, you have to pick one round (and only one round) to apply in.
In this article, you will find information about these rounds to help you decide which round
you want to apply in. Remember that, realistically, you can only apply to 3-5 schools in each
Round, because each application takes a lot of time and effort.

The following rounds are arranged in chronological order, i.e., from the earliest deadline to
the last deadline. In each paragraph you will see the main benefit and main disadvantage of
applying in that round, along with an overall note/suggestion.

Early Decision Round:​

Very few business schools have an Early Decision Round, and ​Columbia​ is one of them.
Applying in Early Decision means that you are committing to join that business school if you
get in. In fact, ​Columbia​ asks you to sign the following statement in your application - ​“​I am
committed to attending Columbia Business School and will withdraw all applications and
decline all offers from other schools upon admission to Columbia Business School”​.

Advantage​:​ Your chances of admission are significantly higher in this round. Business
school admissions is like a competition among business schools for good candidates, so a
good candidate who promises to join your school will not be declined easily.

Disadvantage​:​ You may later regret that you could have joined an even better business
school, or that you could have joined another college which may have given you a
scholarship.

Overall comment:​ Go for this only if you are sure you can be happy with this admission and
will be OK with any future regrets that you could have done better.

Early Action​:

Very few business schools have Early Action, and ​Duke Fuqua​ is one of them. Unlike Early
Decision, Early Action does not involve a promise that you will join. However, Early Action is
designed in such a way that only more interested candidates will apply - if selected, you will
have to pay a higher than normal deposit, you will have lesser time to pay the deposit, or
something along those lines. Typically the deadline dates are in September or early October.
Advantage​:​ Your chances of admission are still higher than they would be in a Round 1 or 2,
while removing the hard constraint placed on you by Early Decision.

Disadvantage​:​ Higher initial deposit (which will be adjusted against tuition fees later) and
lesser time to pay the deposit.

Overall comment:​ ​ If any of your top choice business schools offer Early Action, go for it. It is
usually a favorable trade off, and just in case you get into an even better school later, you
will have the option to sacrifice your deposit and go there.

Round 1:​

For most schools, like ​Harvard​, Round 1 is when they get the first batch of applications. This
is typically THE round to apply in - applying early signals to business schools that you are
very interested in them (and they take this seriously), and business schools at this time will
also be more lenient towards a borderline case candidate by offering a waitlist spot more
generously. Remember, most business schools need to ensure that they fill all the seats that
they have. If they are too strict and reject too many people in the initial round, they may run a
risk of not being able to fill the class with good enough candidates. Hence, they are a little
less strict in Round 1 when they still haven’t seen how strong the applicant pool for the year
is. Also, ALL the scholarship funding is unclaimed in Round 1, and being a Round 1
applicant means that you can compete for scholarships while all the scholarship money is
unclaimed. Typically the deadline dates are in September or early October.

Advantage​:​ Better odds of being waitlisted or even admitted if you are a borderline case for
the school.

Disadvantage​:​ No major disadvantage. The only (small) disadvantage is that you may get
better at essay writing later and regret that you could have written a better essay had you
applied in Round 2. However, slight improvements in your essay are easily offset by the
better odds of admission in Round 1.

Overall comment:​ ​ For all the schools you are seriously targeting, apply by Round 1. This is
especially true for Male-Indian-Engineers for whom the competition is extremely high. If you
are still not convinced, perhaps ​this video​ from an admissions consultant in the US can
convince you (scroll to minute 16:08 for the advice on Round 1). Seriously,
Male-Indian-Engineers are highly over represented in these applications, so you if are in this
category, do your best to put in a good application in Round 1.

Round 2:​

For many schools, Round 2 is when they ensure that close to 100% seats are filled.
Competition is higher than Round 1, and there are fewer seats to give out than in Round 1.
Typically the deadline dates are in January.
Advantage​:​ Typically, you will get better at writing application essays with practice, so your
Round 2 essays will be better than your Round 1 essays.

Disadvantage​:​ Round 2 is generally more competitive, and everyone will get better at writing
essays by Round 2, so the benefit of waiting till Round 2 may not be as high as you think.

Overall comment:​ If you didn’t get any admits in Round 1, then Round 2 is a good time to
apply to your second choice schools. If you did get admits in Round 1, then Round 2 is a
good time to apply for those dream schools which you initially thought were out of reach. If
you didn’t apply to any school in Round 1, then it’s harder to suggest an ideal Round 2
strategy - it depends on your aspirations, risk appetite, willingness to wait another year if you
don’t get admits, etc.

Round 3 (and later)​:

For most US schools, only a tiny fraction of their seats are unfilled by the time Rounds 3+
happen. So, these late rounds tend to be extremely competitive. Chances of scholarship are
also close to zero by this point as most of the scholarship funding has been awarded to
Round 1 and Round 2 admits. Typically the deadline dates are in March.

Advantage​:​ Not much. Theoretically, there is the advantage that you could apply even if you
decide to apply late.

Disadvantage​:​ Chances of getting in are very low. If admitted, you will need to move fast on
paperwork like loan application and visa application.

Overall comment:​ ​ As far as possible, apply in Round 2 or earlier, because your chances are
lower in Round 3. But, if due to some reason you decide to apply late and are OK with a
somewhat suboptimal outcome in terms of which school you go to, you can still apply for
somewhat safe schools and get in in these late Rounds. Every year, some people do get
admits in Round 3, but they are really good applicants relative to their schools typical
applicant.

Overall recommendation:

Plan well and start early - usually this pays off. Apply to schools you are really serious about
in Early Action (if there is one) or Round 1. Based on how things are going in Round 1 (e.g.,
based on whether you are getting interviews, how well you think the interviews went, etc.)
start planning for Round 2 - you can be more ambitious in Round 2 if Round 1 is going well,
else you may need to target safer schools (if you want to ensure an admit).