Questions regarding campus visits

Question

Hi everybody.
I'm planning on visiting some east coast universities, but I live at the west coast. I'd like to ask you on opinions about what is the best way to optimize my trip (i.e. get a minimum amount of vacation and manage to visit the maximum amount of universities).

From what I've read, I need at least 1 full day per university, so I cannot squeeze 2 universities in the same day. Also, I was planning on visiting the universities at the end of March - beginning of April. Is that a good period?

My list of universities is:
Wharton
MIT
Kellog
Chicago
Columbia
Michigan
NYU
Yale

From what I understand, I need at least 2 weeks of vacation. Would it be possible to visit Columbia, NYU and Yale within 3 days (since they are all in NY) and Kellog, Chicago, Michigan within 3 more? What is the preferred way to move to the other cities (e.g. New York, Boston, Chicago, etc)? What is the best sequence to visit all of them?

Are there any tips for campus visits or anything that I should pay attention to?

Finally, what is the suggested attire for campus visits?

terp26 · Answer

are you riverrippers child?

You can definitely do NYU/Columbia/Yale in 3 days. You can probably do it in 2 days if you do NYU/Columbia in the same day. But that's if you wanted to save some cash

Columbia to NYU is a $2 subway ride. You can take a train to New Haven.

Chicago and Kellogg are in the same city. Public transportation would work. Ann Arbor is probably a 3-4 hour bus ride from chicago so you can spend a night in ann arbor and bus back to chicago to fly out.

nink · Answer

I am wondering if this is Riverripper's clone myself...(imagining the day when riverriper and river will be in the chat room at the same time...)

You can do Yale-Columbia-NYU-Wharton in 3 days.

I would start with Yale and then take Metro North for 1.5 to 2 hr train ride to NYC. Hit NYU and Columbia on the same day. Drive or take amtrak (or even bus) to Philly for Wharton on the 3rd day.

Raabend · Answer

Its River Phoenix. He wants a posthumous MBA.

yellowjacket · Answer

Would it be possible to visit Columbia, NYU and Yale within 3 days (since they are all in NY) and Kellog, Chicago, Michigan within 3 more? What is the preferred way to move to the other cities (e.g. New York, Boston, Chicago, etc)? What is the best sequence to visit all of them?

You can definitely do both these options in 3 days. I would advise against fitting 2 visits in one day since most schools have detailed campus visit programs with lunch/class visits etc. and they would definitely clash. I would also add you can take a train to philly from NY and knock out NYU, Columbia, Yale and Wharton in 4 days.

For the NY schools, you can visit them in any order. For Yale, take the train from Grand Central to New Haven. For NYU and Columbia, you can get to them by subway. Also you can just take the train all the way to Wharton from Penn Station.

As far as Boston is concerned, you can either take a bus and save money, get there in 4 hours from NY or take a flight/Amtrak (more expensive). I would suggest taking the bus because its cheap and convenient and you have wifi all the way through.

For the Chicago schools, you could try flying into detroit, visiting Ross and then renting a car and dropping it off in chicago or vice-versa.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

isa · Answer

Campus attire: I noticed most guys on my visits wearing business casual (button down/slacks, maybe sweater).

Planning the trip: you might need to make two trips, one for the midwest schools, another for the east coast. 
- For the midwest schools, you can definitely squeeze in Booth/kellogg on the same day if all you're doing info sessions and tours. I don't think you'll be able to sit in on classes at both schools on the same day. If you'd like to do that, you'll most likely need an additional day in Chicago. You can use public transportation to get from Booth to Kellogg, it just takes a while. 
Like terp and others suggested, you can def get to Ann Arbor by bus or rent a car and drive from Chicago. You'll probably want to fly into Chicago and out of Detroit to save yourself the 5-6 drive back from Ross.
- for the east coast schools, you can do something like: NYU/Col on day 1 -> take bus/train/plane to Philly -> Wharton on day 2 -> bus/train/plane to Boston -> MIT on day 3 -> bus to New Haven -> Yale on day 4 -> bus/train back to NYC and either fly out day 4 evening or the next day.

Jerz · Answer

My $.02:

I would start with MIT on day 1, take the bus to New Haven and do Yale on Day 2, take the Metro-North to Grand Central (NYC) and do Columbia/NYU on Day 3, then take the train (NJ Transit/SEPTA is longer but cheaper) to Philly and do Wharton Day 4. Then fly to Chicago, do Chicago and Kellogg on days 5-6 (I'd encourage doing them on different days so you can visit classes), then rent a car and drive to Ann Arbor for Ross before flying home.

In terms of attire, when I visited Kellogg, Chicago and Duke I saw a mix of guys in khakis/trousers and jeans, but all were wearing sweaters or shirts with a collar. Of course the people interviewing the same day as their visit were wearing suits.

river · Answer

Haha, first of all, I am not a clone/child/look-alike of riverriper

I was thinking of Amazon river, when I chose my nick. I'd like to thank everybody for the replies. I think that since most universities are close on Friday, I'll follow your advise and go to MIT->Yale->NYU+Columbia(same day)->Wharton (4 days). Then I'll go to Chicago->Kellog->Michigan (1 day each -> 3 days total). I was also wondering about my timing. Is it best to visit the universities around the end of March or at the end of September? I was thinking that if I visit them in March, then that'll help me on the essays and on my final decision about where to apply, however I was wondering, if it's more valuable to visit them in September, when they'll be more likely to remember names, etc. What do you think?

wonderhaven · Answer

I did Chicago Booth + Kellogg in the same day - was hectic though!

but managed everything - info sessions at both places and class visits too..

Started the day early at Booth

Campus Visit Schedule:
8:15 am Morning Classes (Monday, Wednesday and Friday only)
10:30 am Information Session with Admissions Staff and Students
11:45 am Building Tour
12:30 pm Lunch with Students
1:15 pm Afternoon Classes ----  skipped this and left for Kellogg (the on-campus info session at Kellogg starts at 2 PM).

aaudetat · Answer

in some ways, i would say a march visit is better: you'll get to talk to SYs who are obviously pros and to FYs who really know what's going on. In Sept the FYs haven't done much of anything, so they're less helpful. And some schools start their visit programs in October - Duke does. Because Duke's visit program is so student-driven, we need to have time to recruit and train the ambassadors before we kick it off. I don't know about the visit calendars for the schools you mentioned.

the main downside to march is that the weather in the upper midwest and northeast can be dodgy! also, things may change from one year to another. Duke added the Leader of Consequence essay this year, and you wouldn't have heard about it in March of last year, but would have this past fall. Your essay fodder will also be less fresh - totally ok if you're talking about general things (the interesting curriculum at Yale) but less ok if you're talking about a new initiative.

I wouldn't worry a lot about having your name fresh. the schools, as far as I know, all keep detailed records about who comes when. the schools will see your interest.

cul3s · Answer

ouw.. schools do keep records of people visiting? that's good. 
So I guess visiting is extra important then huh?

I thought visiting is just for us to capture details,have an idea bout the 'fit',and somehow incorporate it in our essay. 
And the only way they know we visit is if we put it in our app.

Questions regarding campus visits

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards