How important are school visits?

Question

I'm a teacher, so apart from scheduled school vacations, I have virtually no time off. That means that visiting schools for interviews is pretty much out of the question. Is this likely to hurt me in the application process? Apart from one of my schools (Cornell) I don't think I'll be able to make it to any of the others (Ross, Berkeley, UCLA) and will have to interview off-campus. To make matters worse, because I didn't know I'd be applying to these schools until December, I couldn't make it to any information sessions, and there are no future off-campus sessions scheduled, even on line sessions. Is this likely to hurt my chances of being admitted? What can I do to make sure schools know I'm really interested?

engineer1234 · Answer

One thing that could help is contacting students with similar interests (background, club you want to join, career you want to pursue, initiative you want to be a part of) so that if you get interviews you can be more specific about what draws you to the school and name drop to show your effort. "yeah i talked to so and so, the president of this club, and she got me really excited about their x initiative which I can bring my experience in y to."

Some schools have Saturday interviews (Kellogg did but didn't mention it unless you asked when scheduling) so make sure to ask. Best of luck!

dtse86 · Answer

You can see if they'll connect you with alumni or students in your area. Most schools have a system where prospective students can get connected to someone in your area. If not, reaching out to someone in admissions is ok as well. Many times they are extremely friendly and helpful especially when you explain that you'd like to connect with someone near you.

In my personal experience, both the admissions office and alumni were very responsive and easy to talk to. I also was able to talk to current students over the phone. Name-dropping those individuals in essays can help show that you've gone out of your way to actively reach out to members of their community and that you've clearly done your research. It's definitely not a requirement to do all of this, but it certainly helps address any concerns about your interest in the program. My stance is if your worried about showing the adcom your enthusiasm, you might as well take the extra effort to reach out to them.

They also do travelling info-sessions and mba tours, but those can be difficult to find or schedule in sometimes.

Hope that helps :-)

chewme85 · Answer

Not having attended any info session will not hurt your chance AT ALL. But I am 90% sure that on-campus interviews would really help you. I understand that you have no time off, but the admission offices can easily say that their most other applicants are committed to full-time jobs as well. I visited every school that I applied to with an exception of one. And talking to the admissions people and sharing your personal info, so that they might remember you later can only help, right? I mean I made a second visit to Kellogg after my interview, and two ppl whom I spoke to during my first visit remembered me!! I think you should at least try to have on-campus interviews for Ross. Since it's in Michigan, they care a lot if applicants show some level of commitment by visiting them in person. Hope this helps.

CriticalSquare · Answer

I definitely get the pickle you find yourself in but if you're serious about these programs, you should try everything you can to get out there and visit. It'll be a great way to tick multiple boxes. You interview on campus, you visit, you sit in on a class, you talk to students, etc. One stone, multiple birds. Interviewing off campus won't kill your chances and I'm sure the adcom will lend a sympathetic ear, but at the end of the day, if there's a teacher who did visit and did interview on campus, all else equal, they'll probably get that spot. So really try!

Bhavik

Bhavik

ARINGO · Answer

There are several advantages to a campus visit: It allows you to form an impression intimately and directly with the school and may assist you in reaching a decision about the suitability of the specific school to your personality and goals. It’s an excellent opportunity to form an impression of the character of the students and the atmosphere at the university, to learn more about the world of top MBA programs and future employment opportunities , and to ascertain whether you “connect” to the place and feel “at home”.
In addition, you get the chance make a stronger impression about your interest in the school – the visit itself indicates motivation and interest in the school, and the experiences you gain can be used later (in essays or interviews) to strengthen this impression.

If you intend to submit your application between August and January, it’s important that you visit the school beforehand in order to gather information and concentrate on preparing your application. Based on past experience, a visit to campus in the months closely preceding the submission of your application is likely to come at the expense of the quality of your application. In such case, the advantage of a campus visit is likely to be much smaller than the damage caused to your candidacy.

For more tips regarding MBA campus visit: https://www.aringo.com/Top_MBA_Campus_Visit.htm

How important are school visits?

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