Defining School Fit, Culture, and Research

Hello SimbaJSK

It's great to start thinking early! It will definately help you plan your MBA better. My two cents on your questions

1.) How can I make the most out of my visits to schools other than exploring the campus and clubs, sitting in for classes, and talking with current students?

If you get the opportunity to sit for classes, talking to current students that is the best way to research. You could also attend the webinars and info-sessions they conduct.
You will get a different takeaway from each of these mediums.

2.) What should I be looking for or comparing with other schools during the visit?

I would suggest first put down your reasons for choosing a school. This could be class size, infrastructure, fees, internship opportunities, diversity factor or proximity to the companies you would like to work for. Once you have these you can have your own ranking based on your research.

3.) I have heard schools like Tuck and Haas require intensive networking and almost tunnel-visioned interest in the school and its culture. How can I best express my strong interest in a school such as those mentioned above?

When you are well researched it reflects on the way you connect the vision of the school into your essays in someway or even in the interview. Most schools have student ambassadors you could reach out to. You should network with them if possible meet them and understand their journey. However, your admit depends on multiple factors such as your profile, your clarity of goal and your GMAT score.

4.) What questions should I be asking alumni to understand the school culture, fit, and other important aspects of the school?

I think this could vary from person to person. You would want to understand your fitment to the program. You could ask about the clubs, communities. A diverse class has a lot to do with the culture of the school.

5.) How can schools tell you that you visited the school?

They trust you

6.) How can you (or should you) subtly show in the application that you have visited the school and express your interest in that way?

You would see questions in the essays which say - why do you think an MBA from "xyz school" can help you achieve your professional goals? You could talk about it here.

Hope this helps,
Shree

Hi Simba,

Its hard to explain what "fit" means. I think of it as intuitive. When you know a person/ place/ thing well enough, you intuitively know it fits. In the real world, that's not always possible though. Many applicants with several admits have a hard time deciding where to go. However, it's somewhat easier to figure this answer out when you know MBA programs at a personal level (through primary research). Therefore interactions with b-school students, alumni, admissions teams, faculty (if possible) are important. Your interactions will help you form opinions/ impressions about what you like/ dislike about a particular program, what you can hope to gain from it, and how can you best fit into the program. Does the student community/ b-school environment excite you to spend two years? Do you see yourself contributing to the student community?

Now, on what parameters can you determine this fit? It has to be your specific reasons for attending an MBA program- think along the Curriculum, the experiential learning opportunities, the clubs, career-related resources and do deeper research on these. For example, what kind of experiential learning opportunities does a b-school have? Is there a learning Lab that you are particularly interested in? How strong is the b-school's focus on entrepreneurship? Do they have a substantial focus on a specific industry that you wish to work in post MBA- what are the resources available? Do your target recruiters come to b-school/ is there an opportunity to meet them through career treks? Also, what values does a b-school stand by? (yeah, check out their mission/vision statement)

You will find answers to a lot of such questions on the website (student blogs are a great source of info as well). Once you are armed with basic knowledge, you can ask deeper questions during school visits. Hopefully, you can also set up meetings with students - say specific club leaders, students following career paths similar to your intended one. Prior research will help you figure out who to meet (in addition to the class visit schedule which is pre-decided by the schools), schedule appointments and thus make your campus visit more productive.

You would compare b-schools on the criteria that most matter to you. So in my opinion, creating a list of yor criteria is your starting point before any business school research. Know what your expectations are from your b-school experience, what matters most to you. Once you know your mind, you will know what to look for in b-schools.

At programs such as Tuck, Kellogg, Haas, Ross, Duke (and every other), being well informed about the MBA program is important as they take pride in having an intensely collaborative culture. The same research will help here. Be genuinely interested in getting to know these programs well, rather than doing it as a check-box exercise. That itself will help to show your interest.

Also, b-schools track that you visited/ attended city events, webinars etc.. Sometimes these also lead to fee waivers - so do ensure you are aware of these benefits.

Lastly, most programs continue asking for: 1. goals and why our school and/or 2. how will you contribute kind of essays. You can slay these essays by showing how well you understand the program through the research you have done. As essay consultants, we at MBA Decoder continuously read boring essays that produce generic answers on how a b-school will help applicants. In reality, this is an applicant's chance to really convince the adcom that they (applicants) are well informed about how a b-school will help them achieve their career aspirations and how they will contribute to the business school in return. Your self-awareness about yourself and understanding about how you "fit" the b-school environment can really make you stand out among the equals. One last point- the interview is another chance to indicate your campus visit/ other touch points/ interest in b-school.

Hope that helps.

I will block off some time on my calendar to do a blog post on this on Friday, but in a nutshell,

Fit means you *share and emulate common values* with the school. For Booth and MIT, this might be more oriented towards being an independent thinker whereas for Duke and Kellogg, effective teaming is the highest priority in an applicant. GSB wants people who are curious, willing to challenge their own assumptions, and coachable. HBS wants to see a habit of leadership as a golden thread in your life.

LOOK AT THEIR MISSION STATEMENT. This tells you a lot, really, in most cases, and who they want to reach. When Yale says they want to prepare leaders for business and society, this means they want people who are socially minded, they have data points that show altruism, civic mindedness.

Fit also relates to goals - they want to know there is a compelling value prop on both sides. They want you to be satisfied and spread the glorious word.

SimbaJSK