Forte Foundation Forum - thoughts?

Question

Hi GmatClub,

Have any of you been to the Forte Forum? Did you think it was a good use of your time?

Thanks

hunterashmore · Answer

Follow up question: do I need to be female to attend one of the Forte MBA events?

eestineiu · Answer

Hunterashmore, I believe it's for women only.

Personally I didn't find it very helpful. There are a lot more useful events for women at least at my school. But if you want to get a flavor of what being an MBA and/or business woman is like as well as what type of careers MBAs pursue, it might be useful.

skm · Answer

I attended a Forte Foundation Forum last night in NYC. Here are a few thoughts and opinions:

PROS
 Focused on women  - This is fairly obvious. I think I saw about 3 male attendees, so men are not excluded from participating, but they were a very, very small minority. Women who feel more comfortable in a female-friendly environment would do well at these events, as well as to get information about what women with MBAs have done. Most of the admissions officers were also women. This is not to say that women should not aim to be comfortable in all types of settings, but in some cases women who may be tentative about applying for an MBA because women are in the minority would probably find it reassuring to see how many other women are interested in the degree and to get encouragement from admissions staff.

Meeting admissions officers  - This was a big plus for me - I was able to get information about schools that I have not been able to visit, particularly international schools, and speak with admissions staff face to face. People who prefer face-to-face interaction over emails may like this event.

Panels  - I didn't attend the alumni panel, but I did go to the admissions panel, and even though a lot of the information was common sense, I am happy to take any and all advice from admissions staff while working through the process. There was a Q&A section at the end which was helpful - other people often think of questions that I don't consider right away.

CONS
 Depth of interaction  - Since the admissions tables are all set up in one room the event has a fair-style feel to it. This is great because you can visit as many schools as you want, but because there are so many attendees and usually only one or two staff per table, even for the more popular schools, you are somewhat limited to basic questions and stuck in long lines (the Columbia line was HUGE). It was also somewhat unbalanced - there were a lot of people at very popular schools and almost no one at the other schools, although that is to be expected. Most of the attendees didn't talk to each other much, but I think might just be a northeast thing.

Great for research and introductions, but not necessarily in-depth information  - If you have never thought about an MBA, are interested in the process, and are still trying to figure out what you can do with an MBA, this is great for you! There is a lot of information about opportunities, individual schools, and pathways for graduates. If you have already taken the GMAT, researched schools, and have started to write the essays, and you know your career goals, you may not find it as useful. You especially may not find it useful if you spend a lot of time on the GMAT Club forums - I think a lot of the information can be gathered from other sources.

For me the high points were really being able to talk one-on-one with admissions officers, particularly from schools that I would have difficulty traveling to (LBS, INSEAD, IE, schools on the other side of the U.S.), and current students who joined the admissions officers and answered questions about their experiences. The admissions panel was helpful to the point that I want to hear as much advice from admissions staff as possible when applying. Individual attendees would have to make up their own mind about what value they could get from this forum and probably go in with a specific plan.

keikerz · Answer

skm,

Thank you for sharing this valuable information. I am planning on attending the forum in August in Atlanta, GA. I am mainly interested in talking to admission officers from Tuck, Stern, Fuqua, and Yale. And may be see what other schools have to offer.

Also, this will be a good opportunity to network with women who achieved what I am trying to achieve and see where their MBA took them in their career path.

I live in Charlotte, NC and I’ve never been to Atlanta. So I am going to mix business with pleasure and have a mini vacay from work to get to explore ATL and MBA programs.

silentsoul · Answer

Hello all,

I've had the chance to attend Forte's event in NYC this past September and I thought it was very helpful, to the extent that it convinced me to apply for Forte's MBA Launch program, which is a 10-month program that help women in their MBA application. I was delighted today to hear that I was chosen to be part of this program for year 2015. If you are interested in being part of a group that wants to increase the number of women in MBA, going to Forte's website would be a good start.

Forte Foundation Forum - thoughts?

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