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aspirando
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mba class visit attire 13 Sep 2008, 13:06
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I'm sitting in on a class this coming Monday at a program to which I plan to apply for an MBA.

What should I wear? I feel like a suit might be too formal, but I'm not sure if biz casual is too informal. Anyone have some advice on this? Thanks
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bherronp
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mba class visit attire 13 Sep 2008, 13:31
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Don't wear a suit. I visited HBS, Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan and Chicago. The most I wore was business casual. The people in suits kind of stuck out.
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mba class visit attire 13 Sep 2008, 14:01
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When I visited Tuck last April, all the guys interviewing wore suits and all the guys visiting went business casual (i.e. a suit minus the jacket and tie).

RF
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mba class visit attire 13 Sep 2008, 14:30
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I think an important question is, if the school states "interviews and visits are business casual", do you still wear a suit to the interview?

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solaris1
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mba class visit attire 13 Sep 2008, 16:53
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I'm going with a jacket and dress pants for the class visit. Going by the fact half the students at an earlier class visit were in hoodies and shorts, a suit sounds far too much.

I'll wear a suit only to the interview. And I'll let the interviewers know I'll be going "business" and whether that would be inappropriate.
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mba class visit attire 13 Sep 2008, 17:56
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solaris1
I'm going with a jacket and dress pants for the class visit. Going by the fact half the students at an earlier class visit were in hoodies and shorts, a suit sounds far too much.
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What school was this?

RF
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mba class visit attire 13 Sep 2008, 18:09
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Columbia in the summer. And by students I meant actual, current students. Not prospies such as myself.

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solaris1
I'm going with a jacket and dress pants for the class visit. Going by the fact half the students at an earlier class visit were in hoodies and shorts, a suit sounds far too much.

What school was this?

RF
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mba class visit attire 13 Sep 2008, 18:26
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solaris1
Columbia in the summer. And by students I meant actual, current students. Not prospies such as myself.
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Oh OK! Now I got you! Yeah, the students themselves tend to be really casual. I thought you were saying that students who were visiting were wearing hoodies and shorts.

Now that would be funny!

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mba class visit attire 13 Sep 2008, 20:24
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solaris1
Columbia in the summer. And by students I meant actual, current students. Not prospies such as myself.

Oh OK! Now I got you! Yeah, the students themselves tend to be really casual. I thought you were saying that students who were visiting were wearing hoodies and shorts.

Now that would be funny!

RF
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Did campus visits (no classes) to Kellogg and Chicago in July; most were in biz casual. A few guys were wearing polo shirts + shorts, 2 of their wives were even wearing beach-y cover-up dresses - those folks stuck out but in a bad way :?
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mba class visit attire 14 Sep 2008, 07:24
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thanks. i posted the original question. i'm thinking biz casual but i'm probably going in a dress shirt and khakis. i think even suit pants and black shoes might look a bit stuffy and out of place.
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mba class visit attire 14 Sep 2008, 13:19
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aspirando
thanks. i posted the original question. i'm thinking biz casual but i'm probably going in a dress shirt and khakis. i think even suit pants and black shoes might look a bit stuffy and out of place.
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I think it probably depends on the school and the person. Going back to my Tuck example, most of the other people visiting were in finance, so they were all in slacks and dress shirts and black shoes. I, on the other hand traded the slacks for a pair of dark khakis and the black dress shoes for a pair of brown loafers.

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mba class visit attire 14 Sep 2008, 17:43
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At Kellogg I was told by adcom for class visits that khakis and a polo is very common and acceptable. Business professional (suit and tie) for the interview though.
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mba class visit attire 14 Sep 2008, 18:31
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cpgmba
At Kellogg I was told by adcom for class visits that khakis and a polo is very common and acceptable. Business professional (suit and tie) for the interview though.
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It seems to vary by school. The email I got confirming my Duke visit/interview stated that business casual is appropriate for both visits and interviews.

I think if you want to make sure, just send an email to the adcoms and ask.

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mba class visit attire 15 Sep 2008, 13:31
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I personally wouldn't give a crap as a current student on how you were dressed. Actually, I would: if you wore a suit and were not coming from work, I would giggle and joke about it :-D.

If I had to meet other prospects, I would probably dress as usual in this kind of weather: shorts, T-shirt or polo and slashes. Too hot for anything else. I wouldn't expect prospects to dress up differently. But maybe current students receive specific instructions to dress up properly - which is plain stupid in my eyes, but who cares about what I think anyway :)

For the interview though, anything less than a suit means that you're taking stupid and useless risks.
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mba class visit attire 15 Sep 2008, 13:59
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I've been to a couple school events and IMO it's sorta off putting when people try too hard. Even when you try to have a conversation with them they seem to always be in "impress" mode. Putting your best foot forward is one thing but do it while stilling being who YOU actually are.

I could see a top school hosting an event at a water park to give prospective students an opportunity to interact with current students in a social atmosphere and people would still show up wearing business suits.
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mba class visit attire 15 Sep 2008, 17:09
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At my Yale SOM visit today there were 2 (out of 12 of us) prospective students in jeans....one had a neon green polo untucked.....
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mba class visit attire 15 Sep 2008, 17:34
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raabenb
At my Yale SOM visit today there were 2 (out of 12 of us) prospective students in jeans....one had a neon green polo untucked.....
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I hate to be the style police but you shouldn't tuck a polo shirt in with jeans.
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mba class visit attire 15 Sep 2008, 17:38
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At MIT today it ranged from jeans and T-shirts to suits. Most of us were business casual...slacks and a button down shirt.


Oh, and any type of shirt tucked into jeans is horrible! Unless you're a 48 year old with 3 kids and a minivan! :lol: :(
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mba class visit attire 15 Sep 2008, 17:39
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raabenb
At my Yale SOM visit today there were 2 (out of 12 of us) prospective students in jeans....one had a neon green polo untucked.....
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How was everyone else dressed?

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mba class visit attire 15 Sep 2008, 17:44
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One thing I noticed is that the women were dressed much more formally than the men.
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