If you’ve recently opened a calendar to plan the next few months only to realize that you can’t possibly fit in campus visits on top of a full-time job and essay writing, don’t worry!
It’s true that traveling to a school’s campus is the ideal way to learn about an MBA program, but visiting is often not a viable option for applicants who live far away or aren’t sure how interested they are in a given school. The good news is that business schools might very well come to you. Many b-schools are getting ready to hit the road and embark on worldwide tours to dispense information and recruit qualified applicants. Such events offer a great opportunity for interested students to meet with admissions staff (and sometimes with current students and/or alumni), learn about the program, and ask specific questions.
There are two types of events, broadly speaking, that schools typically participate in: events that a school hosts itself, and events that are part of an MBA tour, where many schools participate in a single event. School-hosted events provide a deep understanding of one school, while tour events are like career fairs, where you have the option of meeting briefly with representatives from many schools.
Whether you’re attending an information session or a tour event, make sure to bring a notepad and pen. Jot down any insights you learn, gather business cards, and follow up with the schools where you had a fruitful conversation.
Some of the top schools are already on the road, so we recommend looking into the travel schedules for programs of interest and planning accordingly.
Here are some of the top programs’ itineraries for the months ahead:
Babson / Olin:
http://www.babson.edu/admission/graduate/learn-more/Pages/admissions-events.aspx
Berkeley / Haas:
http://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/admissions/offcampus.html
Cambridge / Judge:
http://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/programmes/mba/meet-us/
U. Chicago Booth:
https://www.chicagobooth.edu/programs/full-time/admissions/events
Columbia:
http://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/programs/mba/admissions/events
Cornell / Johnson:
http://www.johnson.cornell.edu/Programs/Full-Time-MBA/Admissions/events
CMU / Tepper:
https://www.cmu.edu/tepper/programs/mba/admissions/attend-admissions-events/index.html
Dartmouth / Tuck:
http://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/admissions/events.html
Duke / Fuqua:
http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/events/
Emory / Goizueta:
http://goizueta.emory.edu/events/index.html
Georgetown / McDonough:
http://msb.georgetown.edu/programs/MBA/events/around-the-world
HEC Paris:
http://www.mba.hec.edu/Meet-Us
Harvard Business School:
http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/events.html
IESE:
https://mba.iese.edu/events/
Indiana / Kelley:
http://kelley.iu.edu/mba/admissions/meetus/index.cfm
Indian School of Business:
http://www.isb.edu/pgp/admissions/admission-events
INSEAD:
http://www.insead.edu/master-programmes/mba/events/full-list-events
London Business School:
https://www.london.edu/masters-degrees/mba/mba-information-events
Maryland / Smith:
https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/programs/full-time-mba/admissions/admissions-events/fairs-and-forums
Michigan / Ross:
https://michiganross.umich.edu/about/events/browse-all?&&program%5B6%5D=6&&audience=Students%20-%20Prospective&
MIT Sloan:
https://mitsloan.mit.edu/mba#admissions-events
Northwestern / Kellogg:
http://bit.ly/Zrg7b
Notre Dame / Mendoza:
https://mendoza.nd.edu/graduate-programs/two-year-mba/#events
NYU / Stern:
https://apply.stern.nyu.edu/portal/ft_events
Oxford / Saïd:
https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/events?f%5B0%5D=event_programmes_facet%3A596
SMU / Cox:
https://www.smu.edu/cox/Graduate-Admissions-Events
Stanford GSB:
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/programs/mba/admission/events
UCLA Anderson:
http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/x40997.xml
UNC Kenan Flagler:
https://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/programs/mba/full-time-mba/events/
UPenn / Wharton:
https://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/events/
USC Marshall:
http://www.marshall.usc.edu/news/events
UT Austin McCombs:
https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/MBA/Full-Time/Events/Tour-Events
UVA Darden:
https://www.darden.virginia.edu/mba/events
Vanderbilt / Owen:
https://business.vanderbilt.edu/calendar/
Yale SOM:
http://som.yale.edu/programs/mba/admissions/events
Keep in mind that these schedules are updated and amended throughout the fall. If you don’t see a local event on the horizon right now, it can be worth checking back in a few weeks.
