If you are thinking of Round 3, take a look at the following list of do’s and don’ts. It just may help you decide whether to go through the process one more time. At the bottom of this post you’ll also find an unscientific list of schools that may be worth reviewing for third round. This does not mean that it’s a cakewalk, just that they may have more flexibility than, say, Harvard or Wharton.

You should apply third round if:

• You ran out of time second round and had some other target schools that interested you (and you fell within the profile of the class of 2013)
• You improved your GMAT score by enough to put you within the target school’s range
• You overlooked a school and, after taking a closer look, you think you might be a good fit
• After going through the whole application process, you really realize you are less hung up on a top 5 name.
• You are considering part-time programs when you only applied to full-time programs

You should NOT apply third round if:

• You only want to go to a top 5 school and you didn’t get into the top 4
• You are outside of the school’s 2013 class profile
• You aren’t sure what you want to do
• The thought of filling out another application gives you a rash
• You hate your job and it just occurred to you to apply to business school last week

If your scores/grades are lower than average/mean/standard distribution for your target school, take the time to retake your tests, or take a few courses in finance/accounting/business statistics and ace them.  If your work experience isn’t strong enough, take on more projects or a team leadership role.

The final round is not the death round; I know some very successful third-round admits at schools as competitive as Stanford.

As a bonus, I’m reposting excerpts from Harvard Business School admissions director Dee Leopold’s 2011 blog post about Round 3:

Round Three – Should You or Shouldn’t You?
…You may be asking yourself whether it’s worth your time and money to submit an application. Is it too much of a long shot?

…we always conclude that we like Round 3 enough to keep it as an option. Although we have admitted about 90% of the class by this time, we always – ALWAYS – see enough interesting Round 3 applicants to want to do it again. I know you wish I could define “interesting” with pinpoint accuracy but I can’t. Sometimes it’s work experience, sometimes it’s an undergraduate school we wish we had more students from, sometimes it’s a compelling recommendation …

So if you are interested in trying for HBS in Round 3, make sure you get your application in by April 10, 2012.

An Unscientific List of Third-Round Deadlines that Might Be Useful, (in date order)

Indiana Kelley 3/1

Carnegie Mellon Tepper 3/5

Duke Fuqua 3/8

Cornell Johnson 3/14  (R4)

USC Marshall 3/15

UNC Kenan-Flagler 3/16 (R4)

Texas McCombs 3/26 (R4)

UCLA Anderson 4/18

By Betsy Massar, Havard Business School graduate and founder of Master Admissions. Master Admissions acts as a campaign manager and champion, setting you up for success in applying to your top-choice business schools. Visit masteradmissions.com for a free consultation with Betsy Massar.

The follow 5 tips will help you increase the competitiveness of your application and boost your chances of acceptance:

1.     Prove how you will excel in the Western business world.

Include all experiences you’ve had working overseas or in multicultural business environments. Show that you understand the differences between Eastern and Western business practices and values, and that you have the skills and the cultural sensitivity to juggle both, or depending on your situation, completely shift from one to the other. For example, if you once led negotiations between Chinese and American businesspeople, you might want to note the cultural differences between the two parties, the ways in which you handled these differences, and what you learned from the different ways the two parties communicated and shared their ideas with each other.

If you haven’t had an international business experience, then you will want to highlight your extensive language skills and your overall knowledge of multinational business. And your cultural knowledge doesn’t need to come from the work place – you may have acquired your cultural understanding from volunteering with an international non-profit organization, or from studying abroad during your junior year of college.

2.     Highlight your community activities.

American students are known for the time they put into extracurricular volunteer activities. Show the adcoms that you too have carved out time to help your community on top of your school and work obligations or devote yourself to a non-academic interest like sports or music. Share volunteer stories and, when possible, connect your experiences with skills you’d like the adcom to know about. For example, not only did you get involved in teaching at-risk teens how to read English, but you also led a group of these teenagers in a series of workshops that taught them how to teach others how to read. Remember, impact is demonstrated through numbers – talk about how many teens you led, how many hours you spent, and the details of your results to prove the breadth and depth of your activism.

3.     Show you have direction.

You are a passionate person with high hopes and dreams. Don’t be shy about conveying your excitement for your career and goals.

 4.     Explain why you need an American or international MBA.

The adcoms want to know a) why you are pursuing an MBA so far from home, and b) why you want an MBA from their institution in particular. How are your goals dependent on an international education? How will your target institution help you reach your post-MBA goals? How will interacting with international students add value to your experience?

5.     Improve your English.

Your application needs to be written in good English, and then later, when you interview, you’ll want to make sure you are completely understood – both in your annunciation and meaning. Proving that you have a command of the English language is key for acceptance into an English-speaking program. Some things you can do to improve your English include joining an English conversation group, reading English books/newspapers/websites, and making English-speaking friends. When it comes to your application, make sure you find a native English speaker to review your writing – you don’t have to sound like a native, but it still has to be clear and convey a good grasp of the language. For your MBA interview, prepare specific stories or talking points in advance so you don’t get tripped up in the language while thinking of examples on the fly.

For more advice on how to create an application that highlights your unique qualifications and stands out from the crowd, please see MBA Applications 101 now!

By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and author of MBA Admission for Smarties, the premier admissions consultancy and essay editing company that has helped applicants around the world gain admissions to over 450+ top schools since 1994. Visit Acccepted.com for all your MBA admissions consulting needs today!

Not sure if the fair is right for you? Here are the top four reasons you should attend.

1. Chat one-on-one with admissions officers, alumni and students.

Make important connections with the contacts you want to meet, and learn about the MBA experience from those who know first-hand.

2. Compare dozens of business schools side-by-side.

Browse virtual booths at your own pace, with instant access to key facts and requirements for each program.

3. Find out which schools are right for you.

Complete a short compatibility profile to view schools that best match your preferences, from location to class size.

4. Access free prizes and giveaways.

Visit five or more booths for a chance to win an iPad 2.  Plus, just show up for a chance to win a free e-book, and download free MBA guides at the Information Desk.

Signing up is free and easy, so what are you waiting for? Start the year by meeting the business school that could be right for you.

Register FREE at http://registermbafair.whichmba.com.

Whether it’s for work or for school, the goal of the interviewer is to figure out what kind of a person you are in the flesh. But there’s a question behind that question too—they want to know how you will fit in. It’s partly about being likeable, but most of all, it’s being able to contribute. Consider the following:

1. The interviewer wants to know how you will be as a learning team member

Are the other members of the team going to be excited because of your industry or academic perspective? Will you be able to add something from a global perspective? From a business success or failure? The interviewer is looking for someone who is going to pull her own weight and make the team stronger.

You’ve got 30 minutes to show your stuff. Your interviewer is channeling those three or four other study group members, those who have earned their way into a very competitive school, and want to know what you bring to the table.

2. Create a portrait through vignettes

You’ve got to tell stories. I like to think of these stories as vignettes – brief scenes, as in a movie. According to Wikipedia, a vignette is a “short impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or gives a trenchant impression about a character, an idea, or a setting.” You are telling stories that give a “flash” impression of you. Another definition of vignette is a portrait; you are filling out the portrait of yourself that you began with your essays.

What kind of stories are you going to tell? It’s ok to tell some of the same stories that were in your application. But tell them in a way as if you were talking to your three or four classmates. Tell them, with specific examples, why you will work smoothly together, how you will help them with their thinking about a problem, tell them how you will help them succeed.

3. Make it Stick

Stanford business school professor Chip Heath and his brother, Dan, a fellow at Duke’s Fuqua Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship, wrote a book called Made to Stick. This book, about how ideas gain traction, made it very clear that people have to “get” your message. And what’s the biggest recommendation? Tell stories. Tell stories that are concrete, with a real problem and a real solution. And who is the hero? You.

4. Stay humble

Granted, you are telling stories about why you are great. (P.S. You are!) But don’t overdo it. You’ve done some great things, and you can add to the party, but your classmates will be turned off if you show up like you are too cool for school. UC Berkeley comes out and says that they their students possess confidence without attitude. I think they are onto something.

So tell them sticky stories (without being arrogant) about what you will bring to the classmates of this very competitive business school.

Piece of cake.

By Betsy Massar, Havard Business School graduate and founder of Master Admissions. Master Admissions acts as a campaign manager and champion, setting you up for success in applying to your top-choice business schools. Visit masteradmissions.com for a free consultation with Betsy Massar.

First off, chill out.  Luckily for business school applicants, formal education is pretty straightforward when compared to say: entertainment artistry. The goal posts are very clearly defined. You need great scores, a good transcript, an awesome personal statement, some outstanding recommendations, and a solid application. Relax, take a deep breath—and try not to drain yourself in the process of applying to business school, or you’ll risk losing some of your enthusiasm and shine!

If you simply study, review, and learn from any prior mistakes, you will achieve your goals of getting into business school. Thus, when you approach competitive schools, there’s no need for intimidation, or nervousness. Instead, there is a need for confidence. Confidence helps you propel your GMAT scores and other quantitative measures. But, confidence also helps you craft a winning brand and sell it to schools that will clamor for it.

Harvard Business School

Finding your brand. So, how do you confidently unleash your brand?

First, outline three characteristics or experiences that are unique only to you.

For example:

1. I grew up in a far away village.
2. I earned the only scholarship available to attend college in a capital city.
3. I paid my way through college by launching a smart business idea.

Next, sum up these unique traits in a slogan, so that you have a nifty reminder of your brand.

For example: “I’m a rags-to-riches scholar with an entrepreneurial edge.”

Selling your brand. Now, the best kept secret in the admissions field is that, many business school programs need you more than you need them—but you have to show them that. Make them want you as much as you want them. Research your prospective M.B.A. program and jot down specific ways in which your brand matches that program’s brand. (Is the program strong in social entrepreneurship, for example? Does it have an international emphasis? Is it the best in marketing?) Once you have an idea of the program’s brand, simply ensure that your brand is placed strategically and consistently throughout your essays—in a way that matches the program perfectly.

Now, we’ll discuss the following…

3. Blandness – Remember all those nights in undergrad when you had to read the most lifeless texts known to man, and you wondered why anyone would ever torture you so badly? Well, that’s exactly how admissions officers feel when they have to read bland, uninspiring personal statements that provide little to no insight about the applicant. Remember that these admissions teams must scour an enormous pile of applications for the finest students and, being human, may lose patience for particularly bland essays. Avoid prompting that aspect of the admissions experience. 

Instead, search your M.B.A. essay:

• Does your essay contain words that repeat several times?
• Does it contain ideas or experiences that just about anyone can have?
• Does it lack special traits that your target business school would clearly benefit from?
• Do you lack excitement after you’ve read your essay for the fifth time?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’ve possibly written a really underwhelming M.B.A. essay.

How to Fix – There’s no person on the planet that’s bland or boring, but if the story about that person is not carefully written, it’s easy for the person to appear that way. To fix “blandness” issues in an M.B.A. essay, just imagine that the essay is an honest, intimate conversation about your dreams.  

For example, if someone asked you how you “got into sales,” would you say:  

“I became attracted to sales because of the many benefits provided by my company”  

      OR, would you say: 

“At age 15, while my peers enjoyed hours of weekend sleep, my father would drive me to his deli every Saturday at 6 a.m. to help tend to his faithful customers”  

Which sentence would you more likely say? The latter sentence, right? Why? Because it begins a narrative about an applicant who is creatively expressing that: “sales” is practically in his or her blood. So, just remember: you don’t have to be melodramatic about your personal statement, but you do have to approach your essay answers with experiences that are unique, exciting and compelling to you. 

By Penn & Paper, the premier editing and admissions counseling service. MBA Podcaster listeners receive up to $100 off Penn & Paper MBA services (code: winning).