It has been a crazy few weeks -- application deadlines for the most popular application date "Round 2" have come and gone with one significant exception: Harvard Business School.
Indeed, the flagship MBA program has offered potential candidates an extra two weeks beyond Stanford GSB, Wharton and Columbia. Kellogg's deadline is January 14, and NYU Stern, which used to be later in the month, moved its deadline up to January 15.
Dee Leopold, Harvard Business School's director of admissions, put a note up on the admissions blog about HBS's deadline. She offers some handy tips on essay word limits (don't go way over, but don't stress over a few extra words), recommender word limits (roughly one page of text, but HBS won't cut it off if it goes over), and she tells us that it doesn't matter whether you submit today or a few minutes before the deadline -- all applications are considered equally.
Note that this is not true for all schools -- Chicago comes to mind as an exception to this rule; Rose Martinelli has indicated that sending earlier in the round is helpful to her team. And then there are the schools like Columbia, which offer a rolling admissions schedule.
Having said all that, if your application was not ready by Round 2, it's not the end of the world. I know of a woman who applied to Stanford, and only Stanford in Round 3, and got in. And I can guarantee you that her resume did not read like a joint winner of the Nobel Peace and Physics prizes.
Here's the link to the HBS admissions FAQ.
Harvard Business School Director of Admissions Blog
Remember, proof, proof and reproof where you can. And once you hit send, make sure you go out and celebrate!
Best of luck to all of you. If you have any questions, feel free to email me. The more 85 Broads we get into business school, the better.