Is There a Right Time to Get Your MBA?

You need an MBA – everyone looking forward to a long and successful business career does. Though an MBA won’t automatically make you richer and more respected, it will qualify you for higher positions, increase your management knowledge and skill and boost your credentials, making you stand out during the job application process. Studies show that MBAs do offer significant financial rewards, and you are more likely to reach management positions sooner when you can list those three letters after your name.

However, though you might be ready to jump head-first into earning your MBA, you might want to wait and ask yourself: Is there a right time to get your MBA?

Yes, There Is a Right Time

Studies as well as MBA student experiences have determined that there is a more advantageous time to get an MBA. In fact, there are two different ways that you could be making serious timing mistakes in applying for your MBA.

First, you might be too young to get your MBA. Most MBA programs require applicants to have at least two years of real-world business experience, but applying as soon as you hit that minimum might not be ideal. For example, if your work experience didn’t give you much exposure to critical operations within a business, you might not contribute much to your MBA classrooms, making you a less-than-perfect candidate in the eyes of admissions counselors. Though you stand to gain the most from your MBA by seeking it early in your career, you might want to wait until you have three or four years of job history under your belt before you apply. If you fear being too invested in your career by then, remember you can always pursue an online MBA with no GMAT requirements to make the application process easier and the studies themselves more flexible.

Then again, you might also be too old to get your MBA. While full-time MBA programs can accept applicants with eight or more years of work experience, members of this category tend to benefit less from the credential. By this point in your career, you should have learned enough organically to reach a middle management position, at least. As a result, a typical MBA likely won’t do much for your career; instead, you should pursue an executive MBA or a similar specialized credential.

In addition to when in your career you apply, you should also be considering when during the year you send in your application. Applications for MBA programs come in rounds at different times of the year, and what round your application falls into can greatly impact whether or not you are accepted. Here’s what to know about each round:

Round One: Also called early admissions, this is best for applicants who have already done research on various schools, made their top picks and have their applications completed and ready to go. Usually, Round One ends sometime in September.

Round Two: This is when the vast majority of applications are submitted, which means you will have the greatest competition if you submit during Round Two. This round’s due dates tend to fall in early January.

Round Three: In the final round, the odds of acceptance are at their lowest because most schools have already filled their admissions requirements. Plus, scholarship money is usually allocated by now. Still, because this round doesn’t close until April, it is many students’ last chance to enroll in programs for the upcoming year.

As every good business leader is apt to know, you can reduce the risk of failure by knowing the odds. If you can delay your application until Round One or Two, you stand a better chance of finding a place at your top-choice schools.

But, You Should Still Apply Now

It is important not to dwell too intensely on the optimal times to pursue an MBA. The truth remains that an MBA will have a positive effect on your career, and the sooner you invest in your advanced business education, the sooner you will see encouraging results. Whether you are looking to reach higher levels of management or striving to reimagine yourself as an entrepreneur, an MBA will help, so you should start applying to the programs of your choice today.