So I feel this is valuable to pass along...I assumed this would be common knowledge but this has happened more than once over the last few weeks. When you are a visitor in a class do not raise your hand to participate...even worse don't blurt out comments. I have been shocked recently at how many people seem to feel this is acceptable behavior. Why this is poor form for a visitor: 1) usually the comments are rather weak especially in higher level electives where without completing previous courses or attending classes all quarter its tough to make relevant comments. Instead of impressing it often makes the visitor look foolish. 2) you aren't paying an obscene amount of money to participate. 3) you aren't getting graded on participating. 4) current students find it obnoxious...when we audit classes we typically don’t participate due to reason #3, unless specifically asked to answer a question by the professor. 5) its not uncommon for students to talk to student adcoms or even admissions people about egregious instances. The ultimate example of this was a few days ago, we had 6 visitors in one of my classes. One visitor blurted out a comment and that opened the flood gates and more than half by the end of class had made comments or asked questions...not a single one of them were insightful and only one kid even bothered to raise his hand and the professor tried to ignore him but his hand just kept waving until the prof gave in. A student actually said something to a few visitors sitting near him about observing but not actively taking part...5 minutes later one of them just couldn’t help himself and made yet another comment. Unfortunately, the visitors did not know the student who hinted they should shut up is a student adcom and had a sit down meeting with the dean of admissions about the episode and the list of visitors for that class was reviewed. I did not notice this last year but I have seen this on numerous occasion where visitors raise hands but then have to be informed by the professor that he does not allow visitors to participate in his class or ignored by the professor.

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What not to do during a class visit...

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stopper5

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25 Feb 2010, 09:04

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Jivana

I look at this topic in the same one should behave when invited to someone's home. Unless the host offers you a drink or a meal you would not go through the fridge and start grabbing stuff.

LOL, great analogy!

burnttwinky

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25 Feb 2010, 09:21

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THanks for the great tips. I would actually like to attend Kellogg on an official visit. Does anyone know who I can contact at the university for information on this?

futurestrategist

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25 Feb 2010, 10:06

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I attended a Booth class called cases in financial management and it was a great experience. It was recommended to me by rhyme and other Booth folks so I checked it out. Even though I didn't have a corporate finance background, I was able to follow the material pretty easily and participate in the discussion by volunteering answers whenever the professor prompted us as a group. And whatever concepts that I didn't understand, I asked a nice lady who sat next to me. She went above and beyond and explained all of the concepts during intermission and afterwards via email. It was a great experience, but I do agree that participation is dependent on the professor and type of class.

milias

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25 Feb 2010, 12:51

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I am a little curious about something. In all the b-school classes I've sat in on, they have relied heavily on class notes. I don't think I've seen a single textbook in those classes. Do professors rely a lot less on textbooks in b-school than in other graduate programs? I guess it would make sense, because if it's mostly case studies and industry examples, then you don't really need textbooks. Is this what you all have observed, too?

rhyme

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25 Feb 2010, 14:54

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milias

Its a mix and depends largely on the class. Some classes are just cases and notes, others (e.g. corporate finance, accounting) require a book. A lot of classes have recommended (a.k.a. useless) reading as well.

MBAbot

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08 Jul 2015, 09:39

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Hello from the GMAT Club MBAbot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.

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