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MBA Admissions: Brownie Points for Visits? School visits. They are time-consulting and expensive. And they contribute to global warming.  Furthermore, Dee Leopold in The Director's Blog at HBS' web site makes clear that HBS does not weigh a visit as a factor in an admissions decision.  The Wharton adcom blog made a similar statement a few years ago.  Is personally visiting the campuses of your target schools a waste of time and effort? Absolutely not. I am not disputing Harvard's or Wharton's statements that they don't award brownie points for visiting. However,  whether or not  your target programs award brownie points, a visit does mean you will have a better chance of being admitted -- not because of imaginary points, but because you will be a better informed applicant. You will know more about the school and its culture. You will know more about why it appeals to you, why its style matches yours, and how it supports your goals. As Dee suggestions in her post, to profit the most from your trip, visit when class is in session. Then take a tour, meet with students, participate in the info session, and attend a class. In short, take advantage of whatever is offered. What if you simply can't visit your target schools?  If you live far away, don't worry about it. You still need to demonstrate a deep understanding of the school's culture and program, but the school won't hold your lack of visit against you. Even schools (e.g. Tuck and Darden ) that really value a visit as a sign of serious interest understand that international applicants can't necessarily come.  Other schools explicitly ask what you have done to learn about their program, for example Haas queries "What steps have you taken to learn about the Berkeley MBA program?" What steps should you take on the road to an MBA acceptance? Scour the schools' web sites. Attend the many receptions and events held by the schools. Participate in MBA Tour events. Talk to current students and/or recent alumni. Read current student blogs to get a feel for campus life. Here is a list of upcoming MBA Tour events in the US, but the Tour is international so check their website if you are outside the US. September 2 : Chicago September 4: Houston September 6: New York September 7: Washington, D.C. September 9: Atlanta September 11: Boston September 13: San Francisco September 14: Los Angeles Posted by Linda Abraham on Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:34:30 +0000 | Permalink | Post a comment

Finding the Right MBA Program for YOU A new client asked me to help him with his MBA application essays to Stanford, Carnegie-Mellon, and MIT Sloan. Although he has several years' work experience, including in the financial services industry, his GMAT scores (he took it three times) and lack of demonstrated leadership simply will not make him competitive for these schools. Like most of our clients, this gentleman is smart and ambitious. But like too many of our clients, he did not at first consider many other outstanding MBA programs where he has a far better chance of gaining acceptance. While Accepted.com editors have helped countless applicants gain acceptance to the most fabled names in the MBA pantheon (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, etc.) even with less than average stats, we encourage our clients to look for the programs that are the best match for them. This isn’t just about scores and grades – it’s about matching an applicant with a school’s personality, academic strengths and flexibility, career placement opportunities, and other factors.   For example, the client I'm talking about wanted strong a general management program with entrepreneurship, but until I mentioned them he hadn't considered Darden, Michigan, Duke, University of Texas, and University of North Carolina – each of them excellent general management programs. Additionally, he didn't want to move to a cold climate, making most of these schools well suited to his personal preferences as well. If an MBA is your goal, look beyond the "Hollywood" names and give careful consideration to the other top-25 schools that really might be a good fit for your strengths and career aspirations, and where you’ll have a better chance of getting in. Fortunately, it’s never been easier to do your homework. Here are a few of the many wonderful information tools to help you learn about various schools and what each one has to offer. Don't focus on a school's overall ranking as much as on its category ranking. Your dream school may be in the top 25 overall, but in the top 5 in entrepreneurship, so if entrepreneurship is your goal, that school is worth investigating. Look at where the graduating MBAs end up in the workplace. Are many of them flowing to the field of your choice? If your formal business educational background is skimpy, choose a school with a more structured core curriculum. Already a CPA? Look for a more flexible curriculum. Check out what student bloggers are saying about the schools and their programs at the Hella - MBA Student Blog site. This site will give you information that’s about as current as you can get for your target schools. Check the web sites of the MBA programs you are interested in to see if they have their own newspaper or blog. For a list of MBA program forums/blogs, go to this ever-growing resource page on Accepted.com (the MBA blogs are about halfway down the page). You are investing considerable time, effort, and money into your MBA education, so take the time to learn as much as you can about each school’s strengths,  curriculum, personality, environment, and even location. You may be surprised to discover there are more “dream schools” out there than you thought.  By Judy Gruen, who would be delighted to help you find and get accepted to your dream school. Posted by Judy Gruen on Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:53:25 +0000 | Permalink | Post a comment

Average 2007 GMAT: 688
Average 2007 Acceptance Rate: 29%
Average 2007 GPA: 3.3
Class Size: 318
2009 application deadlines: Oct. 28, 2008, Jan. 7, 2009, Mar. 4, 2009
University Of Virginia MBA Admissions

Darden MBA Application Tips

Date Rating Course 02/2008 5.00 Real-Estate 12/2007 4.00 General Management 02/2007 4.00 Finance 01/2007 3.71 General Management 12/2006 4.20 Marketing

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Date Title 1/7/2004 International MBA Admissions Chat 9/16/2003 Darden MBA Admissions Chat 11/18/2002 UVA Darden with Dawna Clarke 1/16/2002 Darden Chat