MSBA application experience (Part 1)

Applications are finally wrapped up, and I at last have time to properly document the whole process. It was pretty fun! At the end I'll also list everything I spent, as a reference for anyone interested in applying to grad school in the US

First, I'll split my application write-up into two parts:
1. Test prep, admission-chance analysis
2. Application documents, interviews
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Part 1:
🏀Test prep
If you want to go to grad school in the US, you basically have to take the TOEFL or IELTS to prove your English proficiency, and most schools also require the GRE or GMAT.

I took the GRE and the TOEFL
⭐️GRE: The GRE is made up of V (vocabulary & reading) + Q (math), 170 points each for a total of 340, plus AW (writing), which is scored separately. Most people treat 320 as the bar. Some people take classes at Mason to prepare for the GRE; if you want to save money, you can do what I did and shamelessly borrow all the books from someone who took classes.

The GRE was what I spent the longest on out of everything I prepared. Please don't copy my approach; I'm just sharing my experience. I got the books on 2021/1/24 and actually cleared the 320 bar on 2022/7/16, a full year and a half!

The biggest headache with the GRE is vocabulary. I'd never seen about 80% of the words in Mason's vocab book. Although I started fairly early, I wasn't facing deadline pressure yet, so I memorized at a pretty relaxed pace. It took me about half a year to get through the 2000 words in it, then I spent less than a month doing reading and fill-in-the-blank questions, did 10-something math questions, and went to take it for the first time! I figured the first attempt would just be for experience and didn't expect to pass right away, but I forgot my passport and couldn't take the test at all. I was stunned.

After being upset for a month, I started preparing for my second attempt, but I underestimated the math and, with almost no math prep, scored 312 (150+162). I was a bit discouraged afterward, because I felt stuck in an endless GRE vortex with no idea when I'd be done. Around then I started not wanting to take the GRE and wondered whether I should just go work first (really, I was avoiding the test), and then I took almost another six months off.

In the second semester of senior year, close to graduation, I was job hunting on 104 and felt like I had so little going for me; I didn't meet the requirements for a lot of jobs. Suddenly it hit me: damn! If I don't go to grad school I'm really screwed! That thought fired me up instantly. I spent 7 days re-memorizing all 2000 words and started doing practice questions. Two weeks before the test I tested positive for COVID. Apart from two miserable days, I stuck to a super regular schedule at home: up at 8 for vocab and reading, review, lunch, then math and writing in the afternoon! And that's how I passed with 321 (154+167), just scraping over the bar!

⭐️TOEFL: The TOEFL has listening, speaking, reading and writing, 30 points each for a total of 120, and most people treat 100 as the bar. Because I'd cleared the GRE on 7/16, my laziness kicked in again and I felt completely ahead of schedule. I'd planned to be done by the end of August, but I made zero progress in the meantime, didn't know where to start, and dragged it out until early September. When I saw 黃品岳 had also cleared the GRE and was about to register for the TOEFL, I realized I'd wasted the past month and went into crisis mode.

I've noticed that when I go into crisis mode, I start doing things on a schedule. First I registered for the 10/15 test, then started getting up at 8 every morning, buying a rice ball to eat at the school library and listening to English podcasts on my scooter ride there. Around 9:30 I'd start on past reading sections from 考滿分, review them, then do listening until lunch; after lunch I'd review listening, write essays and go home. Three weeks before the test I started practicing speaking and looked up speaking templates online, and that was another stretch of steady prep. The week before the test I was super anxious, because my listening kept hovering at 23-24, my reading around 25, and nobody was teaching me speaking; I just called 邱小霈 every night so she could listen to me talk to myself haha. I went into test day with all that nervousness, and to my surprise I miraculously passed on the first try with 102 (27+28+23+24)!

🏀Admission-chance analysis
Admission-chance analysis might be the part of applying where you most need a study-abroad agency, but! If you don't want to pay for an agency, you'll have to put in more time! Here's how I did it (it took me about 2 weeks overall)~

First I spent some time figuring out which schools offer the field I was applying to and roughly where they rank (with ChatGPT now this should be pretty quick!), then I started going to some agencies for free consultations. How much you can get out of them depends on how much homework you've done beforehand~

After this stage you'll already have a few schools on your list. I suggest keeping the range wide so it's easier to narrow down at the end. At this stage I had about 12 or 13.

Next, keep reading posts online. You can also post on Dcard's study-abroad board (some comments are pretty blunt! Dcard users told me I was overestimating myself, or flat out said which school wasn't worth considering), and you can ask friends or seniors who've graduated. I was lucky to have Weiting's agency, which spent an hour or two, and more time on and off after that, analyzing the schools on my list, and seniors studying in the US also gave me some advice!

Once you have these schools, start creating accounts on their application portals (I suggest making a new Gmail just for application emails). Creating an account doesn't mean you have to submit an application, and even clicking to apply to a program doesn't mean you really have to apply. So once I had my list, I created the school accounts first and adjusted a few schools along the way.

Finally, set up a cloud spreadsheet with each school's name, ranking, application deadlines (for every round), website (for easy access later) and application fee. Also make a sheet for each school listing all the documents it requires, and if there are essays with prompts and word limits, include those too.