Visit or not

Question

Hello all,

I am based in Europe and plan to apply to US schools in next R1. I'm wondering whether visiting schools in the US would be positive for my applications: state the school visit in essay, name of the people/faculty I will have met, etc.. That sounds good commitment, but does it really improve chances of getting in?

I know it's always useful to get a good sense of the campus/students/faculty, but I could do that once accepted (if accepted of course).

Your views?

kryzak · Answer

hi lumone. This topic has been discussed before, but here is my short take on it:

Some schools value (almost require) visits for you to even have a chance of getting in, because they are often used as top candidates as a "safety" school. Therefore, for those schools, you'll need to visit and talk about it in detail in your essays or on the application. Schools off the top of my head like this are:

Haas, UCLA Anderson, NYU Stern, Cornell, Duke Fuqua, maybe Tuck and Ross. (I don't know about Darden and Yale)

Other schools value a visit, but people have gotten in without visiting at all. Going to visit will definitely help your case, but not visiting will NOT hurt.

Kellogg, Chicago, MIT, Columbia.

The Harvard, Stanford, and Whartons probably don't care if you visit or not. Some people have mentioned that Harvard didn't even have visiting programs set up for R1 applicants, but I could be easily wrong. Stanford has a visiting program, but I'm not sure they care at all if you visit, since their acceptance rate is so low, and they generally go for the "wow" type candidates. Wharton I'm not sure, so I won't say much about it.

Hope that helps!

Hope that helps!

terry12 · Answer

Agree with what Kryzak's written above, just wanted to expand on H and W.

HBS doesn't correlate visit info with your app at all. And yep, HBS didn't even start official visits until after the R1 deadline. Remember, this is the application that doesn't even ask, "Why MBA?" or "Why HBS?"

Wharton doesn't correlate the visit with the application either. Plenty of people get in without a visit. The visit might help you explain "Why Wharton" though.

togafoot · Answer

I would like to add that being International, you will get some leeway for not visiting. Some people just can't make the time or afford to fly to the USA to visit schools. In which case conacting students electronically or if you know any alumni is worth doing.

I didn't visit any of the schools i applied to (except Singapore, but that was after i applied). I don't think they will hold it against you unless the school is easy for you to get to, then you have no excuses for not visiting.

If you can't visit, the alternatives is to go to an MBA fair. Then you can talk with their 'marketing' people and some schools will also have recent alumni present for you to ask questions.

aaudetat · Answer

I think there are plenty of students who don't visit until the interview -- you didn't get to use the visit to enrich your essays, but you will get to see the school and get that "visited" check in your file, for those schools that do keep track.

skaballet · Answer

I would say that because you are international you can probably get away with not visiting much more than a domestic applicant. There are, however, certain schools such as Tuck that really place a huge emphasis on visiting because of their specific fit and the remote location (in Tuck's case). If you are applying to Tuck and can afford it I think visiting would be a huge plus. However, since you are international it is certainly not mandatory. I definately think you should visit the school you plan to attend before choosing which school to attend though. You are spending too much money to choose a school without even seeing the campus. You'd be surprised how much you can gain just from the vibe you get at a school.

lumone · Answer

Hello there,

Thank you guys for your answers.

The schools that I'm considering are from the M7 cluster. So what I understand from your answers is that I'll be okay with not visiting.

However, I am likely to follow aaudetat's advice: have on campus interviews.

riverripper · Answer

I think it varies by school and the distance you are from them. If you can afford it and are close enough then visiting is always a plus. Its not going to make or break a decision but it definitely makes it easier to get material for essays. If you live close by and dont visit then it definitely could be a negative.

kryzak · Answer

you are right lumone. Just schedule an on campus interview, contact students from the club websites and mention a couple things in your essays and you'll be fine!

lumone · Answer

The way I see it: I'm based in Europe. If vital for my applications, I would take a week off and visit schools that are in the same region (NY, Boston, Philadelphia for instance or SF/LA). But if it does not hurt not to go, I'd rather do something else with my vacation.

However, I have visited 2 schools that I'm interested in in Europe: HEC Paris and INSEAD.

Visit or not

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