Duke MBA Open Interview Month-- worth attending?

[adt29]

Hi there,

I received an email from Duke's Fuqua School of Business informing me about their "Open Interview" season from September 16th to October 16th. Anyone can register for an evaluative interview where a person from the admissions committee will meet with you for an hour on their campus. The rest of the day can be spent taking a tour of the university, attending an MBA class and having lunch with current students.

My question to this forum is-- how common is it for a top 10 school to offer such an evaluative interview and is it worth taking the trouble to go there? Has anyone been through this and does it help when you actually submit your application?

I am still in the process of studying for the GMAT and am definitely far from being prepared for an interview, but if this is a great opportunity I'm willing to shift focus to prep my resume and myself for this particular event. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[sv02]

Hey wish I had seen this earlier! I'm a FY at Fuqua and was a lounge host, tour guide, and classroom visit volunteer. During the open period, a ton of people did come, but since I'm not in admissions I'm not sure if it's "better" to have come early or not. Some even came and weren't applying this year! From what I know, some of my peers in my class did the open interviews, but I did R2 and only made the visit for my invitation-only interview, and I still made it =). To be honest, the admissions selection, even once we're in, is still a mystery (on SY's can conduct interviews anyway). If you're still going for Fuqua and have any questions about what it's like to be here, let me know.
--sv