Visiting a business school campus sounds like a smart idea for MBA applicants. But it comes as a bit of a surprise that many aren’t doing it. An estimated one in five of MBA aspirants visit business schools prior to submitting their applications.
In part, this must be due to the cost involved. It is also a time-consuming effort, requiring time off your current job and having implications on your family obligations.
Still, if you are able to strike a balance between your current responsibilities and educational aspirations, we argue that a campus visit to the business school under consideration can have credible and far-reaching benefits.
Let’s unpack the purpose, benefits, and planning arrangements that can help you get the best bang for the buck.
Why MBA campus visits are important
An MBA degree is your gateway to a new world of career advancement and professional growth opportunities. To maximize them, you need to pick the right business school at the right time.
Thus, a campus visit to the school under your scrutiny can become a pivotal step in decision-making. It should provide crucial insights into the kind of academic and cultural environment you are looking for.
While you assess the impression the business school makes on you, you can make every effort to make a positive impression of yourself on the school community. The visit can be a good way to get your foot in the door when it comes to the actual application process.
The visit is a statement of your serious intent, and it can’t get any more serious than that providing the considerable amount of money and time involved.
Value of campus visit for MBA applications
You will appreciate the hands-on experience you get during your visit at the time of writing an application essay. Making connections between your goals and ways in which a business school can help achieve them is easier when you write from your firsthand experiences and perspectives.
It makes your essay more compelling, inspiring, and evidence based. By talking to current MBA students, you will be able to learn more about the school than through spending long hours perusing its website and promotional materials.
If there is anything the school does not want you to know about, there might be no better way to find out. Try to network as much as you possibly can. Invite people for coffee and initiate candid conversations about the syllabus and the overall learning environment.
Top Tips for MBA campus visits
1. When to visit business school campus
Surely, you don’t want to visit the school when everyone is on vacation. So, the first thing is to check the academic calendar to identify the best possible options to visit.
Michigan Ross recommends scheduling visits when classes are in session – September to November or January through February though visits can be scheduled at other times too.
This gives students the chance to attend classes in session.
In case you’re still trying to figure out the schools to apply to, try to visit early so that you have enough time for your application process. In case you have already made up your mind about the school, you have the option of coupling your visit with an admissions interview.
In fact, some applicants opt for two visits: a short one to get a general overview and a longer one combined with the admissions interview. If you can afford it, this may as well prove to be a better and more insightful strategy.
2. How to prepare for business school campus visit
A. Plan your schedule in advance
As noted, your first step is to identify the best time to visit. If there is more than one business school in a city or a region, it is all but judicious and cost-effective to plan visiting them on your trip.
Once you have picked your dates, you need to start your planning arrangements. Try to focus them on the special events occurring on campus for prospective applicants.
B. Research and be well-prepared
Make sure you’ve done your homework and checked the school website so that you avoid asking for information already available.
Create specific queries you need answers to. Use them to start your conversations and follow up with probing and clarifying questions. You can also ask questions related to a particular area of professional interest.
On your part, be prepared to answer questions about your own motivation and aspirations. It is likely that you will be talking to future tutors and admission officials evaluating your application.
3. Get to know the MBA community
Some schools give you a glimpse into the lives of their current students. These events include visits to classrooms, connecting with the admission committees and recruiting team, lunch with students and tour of the campus. Since these are formally organized events, you’ll get a chance to meet with students and tutors as well.
Getting to spend time on campus and a peek into the student life, community, academics and culture can give you valuable insights on what to expect and whether this school would be a good fit for your personality and meeting your career goals.
These events usually require registration, so make sure you don’t miss the related deadlines. In a similar vein, reach out to the people you want to meet with well in advance. All your interlocutors are super busy, so allow lots of time and options for them to choose from.
If you’re interested in a particular career area and would like to meet someone from that specialization or a particular professional club, plan that in advance.
4. Check out the surrounding town / city
Also, don’t forget to explore the town. It would be a good idea to visit the area where most of the students live. How far is it from the college? How do students commute?
Your MBA life would not be restricted to your campus, so venturing off-campus and getting a feel for the place becomes very important. You‘d be able to figure out how well the town / city suites you.
Some questions you might be interested in getting answers to.
- Are you comfortable in an urban or rural setting?
- How is the weather?
- What are the dining options on-campus as well as off-campus?
- What are the various opportunities around?
- Are there sports, outdoor events or cultural activities?
- Does it have good companies in the vicinity where you may find jobs or internships?
5. Dos and don’ts for MBA campus visits
Make sure you meet a representative of the admissions office. While you can skip some other meetings, treat this as an absolute must. Also, see if the school offers any financial aid to applicants.
Arrange a meeting in advance and try to clearly explain your motivation to consider the school.
Ask for permission and take notes during all your meetings. You will be left with loads of information to digest, and it’s impossible to remember everything by heart.
Don’t just pop into people’s offices to ask for a meeting. This is not very professional. Request meetings well in advance.
Avoid wearing casual clothes. It is always a good idea to dress professionally and in style.
Don’t plan your visits and meetings around the exam time. Both students and tutors will be too stressed out to give you quality time.
6. Follow-up after business school campus visit
As in any other business or education related matter, follow-up is of critical importance. As you return, go through your notes and glean the critical pieces of information that will inform your next steps. Have all your queries been answered? What are the gaps? What else should you do?
List all the people you met and send out thank you letters to all your interlocutors. This is not just about being polite and considerate. It is also a practical way of asking any additional or clarifying questions.
As you will be summing up the results of your visit, single out specific experiences, impressions, and examples you would want to reflect on in your application essay.
What if you can’t visit the campus?
A business school campus visit might not break the bank, but it can still be an expensive endeavor, especially for international students.
Visiting a business school is recommended if it’s practically possible but it may become difficult to accommodate for several applicants. MBA program officials do understand this.
So don’t despair if you can’t add campus visits to your already loaded MBA application itinerary. Remember our earlier statistic – you’ll be among the 4 (out of 5) applicants who aren’t lucky enough to get an immersive campus experience. So you’ll have to ensure that you communicate your desire to be part of the community through your essays.
Among the candidates who’ve worked with MBA Crystal Ball, very few are actually able to visit the campus. But in spite of that, they’re able to get into their target MBA programs by putting in a strong application. That’s where we can help.
If you need MBA application assistance, drop us a line: info(at)mbacrystalball(dot)com
Here are some tips to help you navigate the MBA admissions maze:
– How to select the right business schools for your MBA
– How to write powerful MBA essays that actually work
– How can you prepare for MBA interviews for free?
