Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday.
For many candidates, Round 3 is a time to sit back, relax and wait for the MBA admissions committees to make their decisions. However, for others, this round is a time to be conservative and apply to a safety school. But what constitutes a safety school?
Although determining exactly what a safety school is can be difficult (given that many variables are involved and the definition can shift depending on each candidate), a good place to start is with scores. If a candidate’s GMAT score and GPA are significantly higher than the target school’s averages, then the school is—at first glance, at least—a “safe” choice. So, for example, if you have a 720 GMAT and a 3.8 GPA and you are applying to Emory’s Goizueta School, (average GMAT 676 and GPA 3.3), you are off to a promising start.
Next, you might consider your work experience relative to the target program. For example, many Goldman Sachs investment banking “alums” apply to and are admitted to the so-called M7 schools (Stanford, Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg, Chicago, Columbia and MIT). So if you happen to be such a candidate, choosing a school outside this tier would certainly make you more competitive (keeping in mind scores, community service and recommendations as well).
Finally, you might consider the general selectivity of the program. If you consider yourself a competitive candidate at Columbia Business School, which accepts 16% of applicants, applying to Texas, which accepts 34%, may be a safe option.
Before you start applying to any safety schools, however, you should ask yourself this relatively simple question: “Would I go if I got in?” Spending time applying to an MBA program that you would not be willing to attend is pointless. If you choose to apply to such a school (as some do), anyway, you will, rather ironically, have no “safety” net at all.