Re: Calling all Indiana Kelley Fall 2010 Applicants
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12 Jan 2010, 10:33
Good luck tcha! Not sure exactly what you're looking for in "protocol," you'll wanna' dress suit-and-tie, but uhh, I'll just go through my experience there.
My visit started with dinner at Nick's (a popular local spot) on Sunday night. Two first-year students paid for dinner and drinks with myself and another prospective. It was very casual, "this is all off the record," and we sort of shared our profiles, interests, etc. Some casual chat about sports and such, but mostly Q&A about Kelley and Bloomington. I had never been there before either. Very welcoming start to the visit, but what struck me the most were the recruiting opportunities these first-years had already seen (this was less than 3 months into their MBA).
On Monday I had a full day mapped out. It started with a campus tour by a second-year student. She was very enthusiastic about Kelley, literally seemed excited to show me around and take my questions. This was a common theme throughout my entire trip, I ran out of questions early but everyone I met prodded me for more. Great facilities, the Godfrey's a huge building entirely dedicated to the MBA program that's almost brand new and has lots of conveniences. Next I had an info session with second-years and members of the adcom staff...made me a bit nervous trying to make the right impression, but again, they were very welcoming. Then Kelley paid for lunch in a small cafeteria with current students. Finally, the interview with a second year student. My interviewer wasn't at all intimidating, went through the standard MBA questions (why now, why Kelley, walk me through your resume, yadayada) followed by more Q&A. On that note, I had to pretend I didn't already have all of my questions answered, haha. I didn't want to sound like I thought I knew everything about the program, but I had been asking questions for so long, my list was well past exhausted. But the interview felt very natural, walked out feeling confident. Finally, sat through a class. The professor seemed eager to meet me, many students sitting around me wanted to say hi and ask about my background, everyone at Kelley just went so far out of their way to get to know me and make me feel welcome (and as a prospective, for all they knew, I could've had a 500 GMAT and 2 years experience at 7-11). Class was very engaging, and I really saw the promoted diversity at work as students reflected on their unique experiences to address the topic at hand. That topic was a case on laminate countertops...it takes quite a professor/class to make that interesting, but sure enough, it was.
As for Bloomington itself, I really liked it. Beautiful (enormous!) campus, Big 10 sports would be fun, and like most college towns, there are always plenty of activities going on. That said, it is what it is...somewhat isolated (1 hour from Indianapolis, 4 from Chitown) and small (over 40,000 students, only 70,000 people in the whole town!). But the current students were very reassuring that Kelley's reputation kept the isolation from hampering career opportunities whatsoever.
Anyway, I'm really not trying to sell you on Kelley, but I found myself comparing my visit to another I had at a slightly higher ranked program and Kelley was just so much more impressive.