Hi BB and All community,
I have a positive impression about this event. Imagine around 100 students gathering in a conference room and listening to mba directors of financial aid and admission talking about schools, applications process, Pre-Mba and Post Mba experience.
following the schedule:
MBA Event Schedule
5:00pm Registration Opens ..not much to say..got my badge and went to the conference room.
5:15pm-5:45pm GMAT Strategy Session: The Princeton Review
Interesting only if you are new to the gmat. If you are already studying and attended a gmat prep course (as i did), It might be not as useful. For the Gmat prep schools these mba fairs are used as a marketing tool to gather more customers.
5:55pm-6:40pm Panel: How Admissions Decisions Are Made:
4 speakers (usually directors of admissions and/or financial aid) talk about the application process and what they look in a candidate (years of experience, gmat, gpa ...). In this Mba fair, we had directors from Rice, Texas A&M, Cornell, IE.
Then Q&A session. Be free to ask questions to admission officers to gather more info for your application. IMO, it does not happen everyday to get close to admission officers. It is good to get contacts and start touching base. Pls keep always in mind they are there to promote their school.
6:45pm-7:20pm School Presentations: Cornell, U San Diego, U of Houston & IE.
I attended the Cornell presentation. The speaker was Ann W Richards Director of Financial Aid and Associate director of Admission. I really enjoyed listening to this presentation. It was about the two different programs Cornell has (accelerated mba and 2-year mba). If you are serious about applying why not attending. You get more info (outside of what you can get from their website). I am planning to visit Cornell campus in October or November (if anyone want to join me, msg here). I believe It is good to have a contact there. On the other hand, I miss the IE presentation (it was at the same time in a different room).
7:25pm-7:55pm School Presentations: SMU, Rice, Texas A&M, U Illinois & Michigan State
Not really interested in any of these schools, I attended the RICE presentation. It was interesting. One of the speaker was an alumni of last year Rice Mba. He gave a small talk about his job experience, mba experience and his actual job. Cool..
8:00pm-9:30pm MBA Fair
Easy to get info and brochures about the programs you are interested. You can have a small chat with the one of the recruiters. Funny to say, you see schools booths that are packed (those are usually top bschools) and booths they are totally desert..

get your info, take their business cards and get out.
8:00pm-8:30pm GMAT Strategy Session:
Manhattan GMATI did not have time to attend it. I do not think it was smart to have a presentation right when the fair opens. BTW i spoke with the guy from the
Mgmat and show the gmat club application (awesome app) on the ipad and the interactive books (OG companion and SC) I got from
Mgmat. He did not know. BB pls work on it..

. This app is one of the best tool I have for the last days of my prep. This app is very solid. Thanks again.
Hope this post helps
keep it up
FT