dmateer's b-school journey

Don Wrigley wrote:Thanks for the info, I feel better about scheduling my appointments (I planned on calling the admissions office and asking them if it's a good time to visit, but I'd imagine they can be biased one way or the other), I'm glad to know I'm not the only one thinking the way you are.

I have 3 days to take off work in March and drive down toward north carolina (plan on visiting UVA, Duke, UNC). The info in this thread is very good--keep it coming.

Let me know when you schedule your visits to Duke and UVA. I will be visiting both of those schools in either March or April.

dmateer25 wrote:

Don Wrigley wrote:Thanks for the info, I feel better about scheduling my appointments (I planned on calling the admissions office and asking them if it's a good time to visit, but I'd imagine they can be biased one way or the other), I'm glad to know I'm not the only one thinking the way you are.

I have 3 days to take off work in March and drive down toward north carolina (plan on visiting UVA, Duke, UNC). The info in this thread is very good--keep it coming.

Let me know when you schedule your visits to Duke and UVA. I will be visiting both of those schools in either March or April.

Good plan--at least this way we would both know there's at least 1 other person not interviewing having already handed in an application. I'll let you know.

Hi! good to see someone else who is getting an early start. I also graduated in 2008 and plan to enroll in Fall 2011. I took my GMAT yesterday (680) and am considering retaking it early next year (more than likely I will) but have already established a short list of schools. (Duke, Darden, NYU, McCombs and Ross) and will start my school visits next year as well. If you do plan visits to any schools we have in common, I would definitely be interested in joining in. Good job with the blog and the early start. I have had FT MBA seriously on my mind since June '09 and since I dont plan on starting till 2011, I have often felt like I was getting ahead of myself.

mbalady wrote:Hi! good to see someone else who is getting an early start. I also graduated in 2008 and plan to enroll in Fall 2011. I took my GMAT yesterday (680) and am considering retaking it early next year (more than likely I will) but have already established a short list of schools. (Duke, Darden, NYU, McCombs and Ross) and will start my school visits next year as well. If you do plan visits to any schools we have in common, I would definitely be interested in joining in. Good job with the blog and the early start. I have had FT MBA seriously on my mind since June '09 and since I dont plan on starting till 2011, I have often felt like I was getting ahead of myself.

Hey mbalady,

Congrats on the GMAT score. What was your Q and V breakdown?

It is good to see someone else that is starting very early! I do plan to visit both Duke and Darden so keep in touch and I will let you know when I schedule my visits.

Nice man! That's cool that you are getting started early.

After doing some interviews and class visits, including some on the same day I do have an opinion regarding wardrobe choice:

Class visit: Dress like a current student. Jeans and a polo may be just fine, depending on the school. I walked into Chicago Booth dressed like that and was much more comfortable than the people who chose suits. Students were asking those people if they had an interview scheduled for the same day. They felt kind of silly when they told them they did not and appeared inappropriately formal. But if suits are just how you like to dress, wear whatever you will be most comfortable in. For me, it's the jeans.

Interview: Suit!

Class Visit/Interview: Suit! Now when people see you and ask if you are interviewing today you can say "Hell yes, what can you tell me about Interviewer X?" I was hanging in the student lounge at Kellogg and had several students approach me just because of the suit and talked with me for awhile about their interviews and the school.

Good luck, amigo!

Whats with visiting the schools?? I am sorry, but each of you are spending one full year visiting a school and then applying for it after the visits??? Am I missing something??

In either case, why would you want to visit a school before applying for it???

dessy116 wrote:Whats with visiting the schools?? I am sorry, but each of you are spending one full year visiting a school and then applying for it after the visits??? Am I missing something??

In either case, why would you want to visit a school before applying for it???

Why would you apply to a school if you haven't visited it?

How do you know that you fit in well with the community, the students, the social life. I can go on, but in my opinion it is important to visit schools so know where you want to apply.

Hey dmateer,
How's it going. I agree it is imperative to visit schools especially before you spend your time money and other resources applying. I certainly would love to join in on some school visits and get a little network of 'class of 2013' folks going.

My breakdown was 44q and 40v which is why I wanna retake it cos I can do much better in quant. Def stay in touch as well ...the next 12 or so months may be challenging at times and support is very essential in my opinion. Thanks!

mbalady wrote:Hey dmateer,
How's it going. I agree it is imperative to visit schools especially before you spend your time money and other resources applying. I certainly would love to join in on some school visits and get a little network of 'class of 2013' folks going.

My breakdown was 44q and 40v which is why I wanna retake it cos I can do much better in quant. Def stay in touch as well ...the next 12 or so months may be challenging at times and support is very essential in my opinion. Thanks!

Things are going well, but haven't had a lot of time for MBA research lately. I do plan to visit CMU sometime in January. I will let you know how that visit goes. Getting a network of "class of 2013" would be great!

If you think you can do better on the Quant then I think you should take it again. Your score is very similar to what mine was on the first attempt (Q44 V41 690). I knew I could do better than a 44 in Q so I decided to take it again. I think I was just nervous with the Q section. Perhaps you had the same issue. Let me know how it goes if you take it again and good luck!

This is an AWESOME thread dmateer, especially for us international students who dont always have the luxury of visiting the b schools before applying, but your first hand debriefs give us an excellent idea of whats going on each school. I cant wait for your update on Tepper, as it is one of my target schools, well first off I have my GMAT scheduled in Jan! so keep up the good work, whilst I start prep for the G-Day!

Thanks again!

It's been awhile since I posted anything, so I will just give a brief update. Now that classes are starting again for b-schools, I can start planning some more campus visits. I know the first day to visit Tepper is January 25th. I plan to schedule my visit that week. I just need to make the call to admissions office to get it set up. I'm thinking after that I will take a road trip to visit Darden and Duke.

Good to hear that! I have spent the last few weeks trying to map out my school visits myself. Pls update with your plans especially for Darden and Fuqua.

Hello All in this thread,

This one definitely caught my attention because I'm in the same boat as you guys. I will be applying Fall 2010, and have already set up some time to get up and visit the schools.

- I'll be heading up to New Haven on presidents day. I'm located in NYC so New Haven is only an hour and a half train ride from here... so I'll be back for Happy Hour
- I've been to Stern a couple times for various events already since it's a 10 minute subway ride.
- Columbia is finally back in session, so I have to take a look at their visitation schedules.
- Sometime in the middle of March I want to get up to Dartmouth

But I definitely, 100%, unequivocally agree with dmateer's response to the "Why would you visit if you haven't applied yet..." Me personally... I don't have $1400 to spend on 7 applications, to only end up going to a school where I don't fit (send me a PM if you'd like to know more).

More importantly.... I think our question to others, wondering why we would look at schools before applying, would be [How can you write your essays about why X school, if you haven't been?]

I look forward to going through this process with you guys! Cheers

money9111 wrote:Hello All in this thread,

This one definitely caught my attention because I'm in the same boat as you guys. I will be applying Fall 2010, and have already set up some time to get up and visit the schools.

- I'll be heading up to New Haven on presidents day. I'm located in NYC so New Haven is only an hour and a half train ride from here... so I'll be back for Happy Hour
- I've been to Stern a couple times for various events already since it's a 10 minute subway ride.
- Columbia is finally back in session, so I have to take a look at their visitation schedules.
- Sometime in the middle of March I want to get up to Dartmouth

But I definitely, 100%, unequivocally agree with dmateer's response to the "Why would you visit if you haven't applied yet..." Me personally... I don't have $1400 to spend on 7 applications, to only end up going to a school where I don't fit (send me a PM if you'd like to know more).

More importantly.... I think our question to others, wondering why we would look at schools before applying, would be [How can you write your essays about why X school, if you haven't been?]

I look forward to going through this process with you guys! Cheers

Hey money9111,

Perfectly said! I am not going to spend 150-250k only to find out I don't like the school!

I am going to Argentina for a week in the beginning of February, so I will be delaying my CMU visit until the end of Feb. I am looking forward to the warm weather and getting out of Pittsburgh for a few days!