We are very proud to announce that ManhattanGMAT’s New York office will host an Admissions Panel next week consisting of Admissions officers from 3 of the world’s top business schools. Ainsley Parker, Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Wharton, Yhana Chavis, Assistant Director of Admissions at Kellogg, and Heather Daly, Senior Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Stern will be participating. Our very own Chris Ryan will be the moderator.

This event is free on Thursday night, November 6th at 7 p.m. – click here for more info or to sign up. Space is limited, so first-come-first-edified!

After months of work, the 3rd Edition Strategy Guides have landed! The new guides include 200+ new pages of material spread over 8 books. We’re always trying to offer the most sophisticated and thorough preparation materials around, and these books reflect hundreds of hours of development work by some of our best Instructors.

If you want an inside look, go to the MGMAT Store and click on the individual books to look at .pdfs of the first chapter of each book. There’s a lot of new advanced content (not in the .pdfs so much, but in the books themselves!).

There’s no rest for us though, as we’re hard at work on a GMAT math refresher (working title “Foundations of GMAT Math”) as well as something for the really hardcore math types.  There’s also a rumor that the 12th Edition of the Official Guide for GMAT Review comes in March, so it could be that Strategy Guides 3.1/4.0 will be on the way early next year.

As this year is something of an unusual year, many applicants might think that the current uptick in applications has upset the customary dynamic that the 2nd round is just as good as the 1st.

To address this concern, Jeremy Shinewald, founder of MBA Mission, did a little bit of one-on-one with the horses’ mouths themselves, Admissions Officers from some of the top Bschools. The takeaway – no need to panic if you’re pulling your application together right now (though you should try not to miss the 2nd round deadline).

Kudos to Jeremy for using the term “nerve-wracking” correctly!

Jeremy’s account begins below:

The main admissions story thus far this year has clearly been the expected surge in applications due to the faltering economy. However, because much of the recent Wall Street carnage occurred so close to many schools’ first-round deadlines, those caught by surprise had little time to take the GMAT and submit first-round applications. As a result, numerous candidates are now concerned that they will be applying too late this year because they perceive that many places will already be given away in the first round ”anxieties previously reserved not for second-round, but for third-round applicants. Well, mbaMission connected with Admissions Officers at several leading business schools and can confirm for our clients that there is plenty of scope left for submitting winning MBA applications.

For instance, we connected with Rose Martinelli, Associate Dean, Student Recruitment & Admissions, at the Chicago Graduate School of Business, who stated, I would like to temper all this incredible pressure on applicants. What is most important is to apply well. She then added, Between Rounds 1 and 2 there is very little difference (in terms of selectivity)  I can assure you that schools will not take 100% of their class from the first round. We look for the best applicants throughout the entire year, even in Round 3.

This sentiment was echoed by Peter Johnson, Director of Admissions at UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, who told mbaMission, I think candidate anxiety may be out of proportion with the actual situation. In the past, chances of admission to the Berkeley MBA Program in Round 2 have been almost identical to those in Round 1. Johnson noted that in Haas’s final round, its fourth, chances will be slight and encouraged candidates to submit applications by the third round.

Similarly, Beth Flye, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Kellogg, urged calm and patience: First, it is most important that candidates apply when they are ready to submit their applications, as the overall process involves a lot of time, including much thought and reflection Candidates interested in Kellogg should not operate on the assumption that they have missed the boat if they do not apply for the first application round. Ms. Flye added, Selectivity tends to be about the same for both the first and second rounds.

Meanwhile, Yale’s Director of Admissions, Bruce DelMonico, regards the first two application rounds as functionally equivalent in terms of both selectivity and scholarship availability. He too emphasized that the final round can be more challenging, but urged candidates to be thoughtful and submit their strongest application. He added, They shouldn’t rush to apply (with weaker applications) sooner.”

Clearly, there are no new rules for MBA applicants this year. While it can be nerve-wracking to apply in a competitive year, if you want to pursue an MBA next year, you should rest assured that you can still submit a competitive application this year. Resist the temptation to focus on the competition and instead focus on creating the most impressive and interesting application you can in order to standout from the crowd, capture the imaginations of admissions committees and take that next, exciting step in advancing your career.

ManhattanGMAT is proud to welcome Katie Malachuk, of Stacy Blackman Consulting , on Thursday night, October 16th, at 6:30 p.m. here at our New York Center!

Some of the topics to be presented include:

– What the top schools are looking for

– Answers to practical questions such as who to ask to write your recommendations, which schools to apply to and whether to plan a school visit

– Common application mistakes to avoid

– Dispelling business school application myths

– Real life applicant case studies

– Practical advice to help you get started

The speaker, Katie Malachuk, has a BA in Women’s Studies from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Prior to attending business school, Katie was the Director of Admissions for Teach For America where she created the selection model and oversaw the admissions decisions for over 4,000 applicants annually.

Space is limited, so sign up now!