2019-20 MBA Application Deadlines

By Julia Gilmore Updated Oct 01, 2020

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Introduction
What round should I apply in?

Discover the top MBA programs in the world in our 2019 rankings here

Many MBA application deadlines for 2019-20 have been released, with most of the top schools sticking to the three-round format.

Harvard Business School caused a stir last year when they removed their third and final admissions round, but the system seems to have worked keeping the two rounds this year. They initially removed the third round as around 95 percent of its MBA candidates applied in the first or second rounds.

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business has the earliest ‘Early Action’ round of top US schools listed below, with students able to submit applications as soon as September 3, 2019.

When looking at the table below, it’s also important to check the individual admissions pages of the schools themselves, as deadlines can be subject to change and might vary according to your own personal circumstances.

What round should I apply in?

If you can, try and apply in the first round of applications, as no seats will have been filled in the class yet, and therefore there is slightly less competition. The second round typically receives the largest volume of applications, and the third round is often the most competitive as most of the class seats are already filled. International applicants are encouraged to apply in earlier rounds to allow enough time to secure a student visa and sort out any admin associated with moving to a new country.

However, you should only apply when you’re certain that your application is as good as it can possibly be. There’s no point in rushing it just to make an earlier round’s deadline – make sure you are happy with every element before sending it off.

Our table below details the application deadlines for the full-time MBA programs at some of the world’s best business schools:

Business School	Application Round	Application Deadlines	Decisions
AGSM @ UNSW [for Jan. 2020 intake]	Round 4	August 1, 2019	August 30, 2019
	Round 5	September 1, 2019	September 30, 2019
	Round 6	October 1, 2019	October 30, 2019
	Round 7 (domestic only)	October 30, 2019	November 15, 2019
Cambridge (Judge)	Round 1	September 9, 2019	Rolling admissions
	Round 2	October 28, 2019	Rolling admissions
	Round 3	January 13, 2020	Rolling admissions
	Round 4	March 9, 2020	Rolling admissions
	Round 5	May 4, 2020	Rolling admissions
Chicago (Booth)	Round 1	September 26, 2019	December 5, 2019
	Round 2	January 7, 2020	March 19, 2020
	Round 3	April 2, 2020	May 21, 2020
Columbia (CBS)	Early decision & January term	October 4, 2019	Rolling admissions
	Merit fellowship deadline	January 3, 2020	Rolling admissions
	Final decision	April 10, 2020	Rolling admissions
Dartmouth (Tuck)	Round 1	October 7, 2019	December 12, 2019
	Round 2	January 6, 2020	March 12, 2020
	Round 3	March 30, 2020	May 7, 2020
Duke (Fuqua)	Early action	September 19, 2019	October 28, 2019
	Round 1	October 14, 2019	December 18, 2019
	Round 2	January 6, 2020	March 19, 2020
	Round 3	March 11, 2020	April 20, 2020
Georgetown (McDonough)	Round 1	September 30, 2019	December 13, 2019
	Round 2	January 6, 2020	March 19, 2020
	Round 3	March 24, 2020	May 1, 2020
	Round 4	April 27, 2020	May 27, 2020
Harvard (HBS)	Round 1	September 4, 2019	December 10, 2019
	Round 2	January 6, 2020	March 31, 2020
HEC Paris [for Jan. 2020 intake]	Round 4	August 16, 2019	September 20, 2019
	Round 5	September 16, 2019	October 18, 2019
	Round 6	October 15, 2019	November 14, 2019
	Round 7	November 15, 2019	December 13, 2019
IESE	Early decision round	September 3, 2019	October 18, 2019
	Round 1	October 10, 2019	December 5, 2019
	Round 2	January 8, 2020	March 3, 2020
	Round 3	March 3, 2020	May 8, 2020
	Round 4	May 5, 2020	June 12, 2020
Indiana (Kelley)	Early	October 15, 2019	December 20, 2019
	Priority	January 5, 2020	March 15, 2020
	Third	March 1, 2020	April 30, 2020
	Final	April 15, 2020	May 31, 2020
INSEAD	Round 1	September 18, 2019	November 22, 2019
	Round 2	November 6, 2019	January 24, 2019
	Round 3	January 15, 2020	March 20, 2020
	Round 4	February 26, 2020	April 30, 2020
London Business School [for Jan. 2020 intake]	Round 1	September 17, 2019	Rolling admissions
	Round 2	October 8, 2019	Rolling admissions
	Round 3	November 19, 2019	Rolling admissions
Michigan (Ross)	Round 1	September 30, 2019	December 18, 2019
	Round 2	January 6, 2020	March 18, 2020
	Round 3	March 30, 2020	May 8, 2020
MIT (Sloan)	Round 1	October 1, 2019	December 18, 2019
	Round 2	January 21, 2020	March 18, 2020
	Round 3	April 9, 2020	May 7, 2020
Northwestern (Kellogg)	Round 1	September 18, 2019	December 11, 2019
	Round 2	January 8, 2020	March 25, 2020
	Round 3	April 8, 2020	May 13, 2020
NYU (Stern)	1^st Deadline	October 15, 2019	January 1, 2020
	2^nd Deadline	November 15, 2019	February 1, 2020
	3^rd Deadline	January 15, 2020	April 1, 2020
	4^th Deadline	March 15, 2020	June 1, 2020
Oxford (Said)	Stage 1	September 6, 2019	October 18, 2019
	Stage 2	November 1, 2019	December 13, 2019
	Stage 3	January 10, 2020	March 20, 2020
	Stage 4	April 3, 2020	May 29, 2020
Stanford (GSB)	Round 1	September 12, 2019	December 12, 2019
	Round 2	January 9, 2020	April 2, 2020
	Round 3	April 8, 2019	May 21, 2020
Texas (McCombs)	Round 1	October 8, 2019	December 17, 2019
	Round 2	January 7, 2020	March 26, 2020
	Round 3	March 31, 2020	May 7, 2020
UC Berkeley (Haas)	Round 1	September 26, 2019	December 12, 2019
	Round 2	January 9, 2020	March 26, 2020
	Round 3	April 2, 2020	May 7, 2020
UCLA (Anderson)	Round 1	October 2, 2019	December 18, 2019
	Round 2	January 8, 2020	March 26, 2020
	Round 3	April 16, 2020	May 21, 2020
Virginia (Darden)	Early action	September 3, 2019	October 9, 2019
	Round 1	October 4, 2019	December 11, 2019
	Round 2	January 6, 2020	March 18, 2020
	Round 3	April 6, 2020	May 6, 2020
Wharton	Round 1	September 17, 2019	December 18, 2019
	Round 2	January 7, 2020	March 26, 2020
	Round 3	April 1, 2020	May 8, 2020
Yale (SOM)	Round 1	September 10, 2019	December 4, 2019
	Round 2	January 7, 2020	March 24, 2020
	Round 3	April 14, 2020	May 19, 2020

Written by

Julia G

Julia is a writer for TopMBA.com, publishing articles for business students and graduates across the world. A native Londoner, she holds an MSc in Marketing Strategy & Innovation from Cass Business School and a BA in Classical Studies & English from Newcastle University.