Summer campus visit.... worth it?

[niner4nine]

Hi all, I am trying to consider if a summer campus visit is a worthwhile endeavor.

I am American but live/work abroad (Singapore). I will be back in the US for 2 weeks this August. Living so far away, my time at home is precious, but I am also very serious about being admitted to a top-20 b-school for Fall 2012.

What are your opinions about summer campus visits (when class is not in session)? I want to show my initiative to my target schools, but this comes at a certain cost (plane tickets, rental cars, hotels, etc).

Would admissions look favorably on a summer visit, even if we can't meet students or observe a class? Or is would this be a waste of time/money? Thanks for your feedback!

[DanaJ]

Well, I voted no, but there's actually a really fine reasoning behind it.

Summer visits might not be very worthwhile since, as you yourself mention, you can't really meet students and attend classes. I for one took a walk in the Stanford campus last summer (early August) and while it's a great place to see, there isn't much going on. I presume you wouldn't go there just for the scenery, especially since it's so expensive. You want to make a really important investment of time and money! So I believe that unless you have a clear indication that you'll be able to meet/talk to someone in the admissions committee, I wouldn't necessarily go on that trip.

However, many say that a school visit is really important and I certainly see why. There are a bunch of articles in our database about school visits: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/category ... admissions

[niner4nine]

Thanks Dana for your helpful response. I have actually visited to all of the campuses as an undergrad. Observing actual MBA courses is what I would be missing.

All told, I think I will skip the campus visits during the summer. Most of my target schools have events either in Singapore or Hong Kong, and I assume actual admissions officers will be there to answer questions and see my face. Hopefully this will show enough initiative to help my cause

I will be missing the key component of sitting in on an actual class, but hopefully admissions will be be sympathetic in my case, given that I live halfway across the globe!

Thanks again

[DanaJ]

It definitely makes sense! Good luck!