Avoid Rubber Stamp Campus Visits
I started writing a blog about how to make the most of campus visits. For most schools, late spring and summer are the worst times for MBA applicants to visit campus – the semester is complete, students aren’t on campus and admissions officers are slowly recovering from the long admission season. In fact, many schools suspend their campus visit programs until the fall. So if you didn’t know, now you know – if you can be flexible with your travel, avoid campus visits in the summer.
I include five of my top tips on campus visits below, but let’s be honest tips and tricks don’t get to the core of effectively navigating this or many other areas of the MBA application process. I’m a fan of shortcuts just like anyone else, but at times the purpose and value of certain steps get lost. For many MBA candidates, this is the case with campus visits. While actual campus visits vary by school, they general go something like this:
Candidate is interested in MBA program. Candidate visits website of MBA program and follows instructions to register for campus tour and class visit. Candidate travels to local school area and stays at local hotel (unless he has a friend in the area). Candidate attends 45-minute campus tour led by enthusiastic MBA student, possibly has lunch with another equally enthusiastic MBA student and attends a first year MBA class. Candidate meets two fellow MBA applicants, 5.6 students, one professor, one admissions officer and one school receptionist. Excited by the environment (because everyone is so enthusiastic!) with his questions answered, candidate is satisfied and ready to submit his application.
This light perusal of the campus has become the common “rubber stamp” – an endorsement without careful analysis. But getting an MBA is one of the largest personal investments you will make in your career and it can serve as a tremendous career bridge from your pre-MBA work to your post-MBA profession. Investing in an MBA education is like joining a start-up company as one of the initial investors. You have to quit your current job to work on the start-up for two years. You have to contribute $120,000 of investment capital and since you probably won’t have the money you will borrow it for a pretty low interest rate with a 20-year term. As you consider whether to work for the start-up and which one to join, you won’t, or at least you shouldn’t, just take someone else’s word for it that the business is sound and has significant opportunity for you. Instead, you talk to everyone you possibly can, including the people that work there now, the people who used to work there, the investors, and the customers. You vet the start-up from all angles.
So as you consider getting your MBA, conduct due diligence at a level that matches the incredible investment that you will be required to make. Don’t just visit campus to “see if you like it”, ask questions and probe (nicely) to determine what’s great about the business school and also what challenges students face. Don’t just find out what opportunities are available to students, but gauge which ones you will actually be able to access and take advantage of when you are a student.
Top Tips on Campus Visits:
(1) Visit on a typical class day when first year and second year students are on campus.
You want the see what “normal” looks like. If second years are taking exams and only first years are in class, that’s not the norm so if you can, avoid that. You want to see the place is action.
(2) Talk to lots of people – different people.
This is the most important point, but I put it second because if the students aren’t there (point 1), you can’t actually talk to them. Don’t wait for them to introduce themselves to you; instead initiate the conversation by asking them about their experience at the school, why they choose to attend and what their plans are. Be assertive. Introduce yourself to people that you wouldn’t normally gravitate toward so you can get varied perspectives.
(3) Capture your ideas and thoughts throughout the visit.
Notes your impressions, who you spoke with, what words you would use to describe the people, culture and experience. An effective campus visit is part of your due diligence to help you (a) determine the business schools you will apply to, (b) submit the strongest application, (c) select the best fit for you. These decisions and activities will occur over several months so make sure you have notes that you can reference when needed. I know you are younger than me, but you still forget stuff too!
(4) Bring your ‘A’.
You may meet an admissions officer who will have a hand in considering your MBA application when you submit it so you want to present yourself well. But beyond that, you will be in a professional setting in which you can strengthen your brand and network or you can diminish it. Clearly, you want to strengthen it so use every opportunity – from your attire, your elevator pitch, your prepared questions and conversation. Leave nothing on the table.
(5) Prepare, prepare, prepare.
What do you want to know? What do you need to know? I would imagine many of your questions will be focused around career support (business school should accelerate your professional path), the learning environment and relationship building experience. Be ready to excel by preparing yourself – conduct thorough research and prepare your questions.
