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If you’ve attended an MBA event with Cornell University’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, you know you know how valuable it can be. You probably walked away far better informed about the school, it’s culture, the admissions process, and more. You may have even gotten a lot of your questions answered by the admissions team. That’s all great, but if you want the best experience possible, make sure you take it one step further with a follow-up plan.
Judi Byers, the Executive Director of Admissions & Financial Aid, feels that there are many things you can do post-event attendance to improve your application, build relationship equity, and gain more insight. She recommends that you continue in your discussion with the school and the admissions team to ensure that you give yourself the best chance for success possible.
1. Should they write thank you notes to any school reps or alums they engage with? Why or why not?
If you look at every interaction as an opportunity to build (or lose) equity, think about how you might use a written thank you note to further build your equity. While the simple expression of appreciation is appropriate, a thoughtful note indicating how an exchange/conversation/meeting furthered your understanding or shifted your perspective, conveys sincere appreciation and interest in a highly memorable way.
2. Should they follow up on any advice given by the admissions reps or alums about things to research, and then let those individuals know that they did so? Why or why not?
The choice is always yours, though if someone from our community is taking the time to provide you with advice or feedback, you should at least consider following up on whether the advice might be applicable and helpful to you. Also, if a member of the admissions team lets you know that taking an action will strengthen your candidacy, it’s in your best interest to follow through or seek the clarification you need to be clear about your next steps.
3. Should they follow up an info session or fair with a visit to the school itself to meet once again with the rep(s) they encountered? Why or why not?
A campus visit is a great way to deepen your understanding of an MBA program and its student community. Cornell offers a variety of experiences—on-campus information sessions, class visits, and other options—to connect with students, faculty, and staff. A core benefit to the campus visit experience is not only the opportunity to connect further with the Cornell admissions team, but to develop a sense of the program’s culture and whether you can picture yourself being part of our MBA community.
Cornell Johnson wasn’t the only school to answer these questions. If you’d like to see what the admissions teams at Berkeley Haas, Duke Fuqua, Michigan Ross, NYU Stern, UVA Darden, and Yale SOM had to say, head here.
