After a year of disruption caused by coronavirus, many prospective students are asking whether now is the right time to apply for an MBA, how to choose between different business schools and what to do to maximise the chances of successful admission.

The pandemic has pushed most learning online and created uncertainties about economic growth and prospects in the job market, but done little to slow down demand for the prestigious degree. Many people have decided to remain in education — or return to it — in order to improve their skills and chances of future success.

Yet high tuition fees, the opportunity costs and earning losses of giving up work now, as well as the intensity of study, are discouraging some potential students from applying now. “It’s the $1m question from candidates: is this the right time?” said Eddie Asbie, interim executive director of admissions and financial aid at SC Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, one of half a dozen experts the FT assembled to answer readers’ questions on MBA applications.