Many of you had a huge feeling of relief after hitting the SUBMIT button on your Round 1 application. DEEP BREATH…….Finally, it’s DONE!
Then, literally within minutes, entered a feeling of anxiety. “I hit submit, NOW WHAT?!!”
The purpose of this blog post is to demystify the process for you so you can get that feeling of relief back. Also, it is to help those planning for Round 2 (January 5th deadline) feel more at ease before hitting submit.
What happens after hitting submit? Like most things these days, once you hit submit your application goes into a cloud (portal), which someone on the team will enter and download your application, videos, and other documents submitted. From there, applications are sorted by country of residence and arrive to the corresponding first reader. After the first reader provides feedback, it is sent automatically to the second reader. After their feedback is submitted, it is debated in an admissions committee where we decide if we want to move forward with your application. Most Round 1 applicants who submitted a complete application would have already been notified by now of their new status. If you have not heard from the team yet, please contact us on mbainfo@iese.edu.
When we contact you after hitting submit, we could express several next steps:
1. Personal interview. All interviews are conducted by Admissions. We conduct many interviews on our campuses (mostly in Barcelona, New York, and Sao Paolo). But as we travel a ton in this department, we might happen to be in your neighborhood and can conduct it locally. If you cannot make it to one of our campuses and we are not visiting your city, we will conduct the interview via a video platform called webex. No matter where your interview is conducted, remember the dress code is business formal.
Our interviews are really conversations to get to know the person behind the application and explore your fit with IESE. Make sure you come prepared with questions for us as it’s important that you find a mutual fit.
2. Assessment Day. Some of you will be invited to attend an Assessment Day (AD). AD is a type of group interview. We host ADs in Barcelona, New York, Sao Paolo and Singapore. Being invited to an AD is not a positive or negative sign. It just means we need more information about your candidacy. It could be perhaps you are stellar but we need to see you alongside others to make a scholarship decision. It could be that we have some doubts about your candidacy on paper or after an interview and would like to see you interact with others/in person. Finally, you might be invited to AD because we just feel like we need more information about you to take a decision. ADs are not mandatory. Thus, if you cannot make it, do not worry! It will not count against you. We will just a take decision on your candidacy with the information we have.
3. Incomplete application. You might be missing your official GMAT or GRE scores, transcripts, TOEFL, a letter of recommendation, etc. Don’t worry, we will not toss your application! We will let you know and give you a specific time frame to submit those materials. Please note your application will not be reviewed until it is complete.
4. Future Potential. Sometimes people apply to our MBA program with little work experience, but we can definitely see the potential in this person for the future. In this case, instead of being Rejected, we will classify you as Future Potential, which means we suggest you work another year (or two) and apply again.
5. Rejected. If you meet all of the requirements of the program and your application is still rejected, it is not necessarily a reflection on you. The competition is just super fierce! Unfortunately, we cannot give feedback on your application whether you move through the process or not.
Now that you have insight into the process, I hope you feel more at ease and are ready to face the rest of the application process not with anxiety but with excitement! Your entire life is about to change since you hit submit. Be open to the experience and the learnings you get along the way as you go through this discovery process. It is just the first of many life changing moments of the MBA experience.
I also conduct interviews and attend most of the ADs. So perhaps we will be meeting soon! I sure hope so!!
Good luck!
Itziar de Ros
