Tell an adcom that I've been accepted by another program?

[gadwin1929]

Hi all! Thanks to all the help I've received from this forum, I have now been accepted to an MBA program! However, the issue for me is this:

I applied to two different MBA programs. I have a primary choice and a secondary choice. Now, my secondary choice has sent me an acceptance letter so I am in if I choose them. As for my primary choice, I still have to do an interview with them.

My dilemma is this - during the interview with my primary choice, I can tell them that I have already been accepted by my secondary choice or I can keep it a secret. There are pros and cons with telling my primary choice I've already been accepted by another college:

Pro: By telling my primary choice I've been accepted by another college for their MBA program, it shows I am in high demand and that the other college determined I met their standards.

Con: The primary choice may determine that I have another option, and if my primary choice wants to fulfill their enrollment quota, I am a risk for declining an acceptance from my primary choice. I'm not sure how adcoms think, but when I work with recruiters, and I tell a recruiter that I may have a job offer incoming, the recruiter loses all interest suddently because they cannot put my resume forward to the client, knowing that I may decline an offer from their client.

I'm not sure how MBA adcoms think. If anybody has any suggestions on whether I should tell my primary choice during the interview that I have been accepted to another program, or perhaps not tell them and keep it a secret, that would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[mbamission]

Hello,

Congratulations on being accepted to an MBA program. It’s unlikely that you’ll be asked whether you have been admitted to another MBA program during an interview. You may be asked what other programs you’ve applied to and may even be asked whether the interviewing school is your first choice, which is seems to be. So I wouldn’t worry about the dilemma of whether you should keep your acceptance a secret. I don’t think it’ll be an issue.
In addition, I am not sure that your acceptance to another program will make your top choice school more likely to accept you. I think that admissions committees base their decisions on who to accept based on their own criteria and composition of the class. Good luck in your upcoming interview!

Sincerely,

Akiba Smith-Francis

MBA Mission
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[gadwin1929]

Hello,

In addition, I am not sure that your acceptance to another program will make your top choice school more likely to accept you.

Thanks. I've received similar feedback after asking around - it's unlikely that bringing up my acceptance by another program will help me and may in fact, hurt me. I will probably keep quiet about this. Thanks for your advice!