As it turns out, once one studies like crazy and takes the GMAT, one needs a break from working all day and GMAT/MBA stuff all night.
Which is my lame excuse for the lack of posting since...well...March.
I promised to do a recap of my school visits - better late than never, I suppose. So, I took the GMAT in March, then left shortly after for a trip to the East Coast to visit three of my best girlfriends from high school AND get some school visits in.
I started in Charlottesville, VA, visiting a friend whose husband is in the MD/PhD program at UVA. Darden wasn't on my list of targeted schools, but since I had never visited schools with a mind toward MBA before and we had some free time, I thought I'd take a look around. I didn't schedule anything, but we went into the admissions office and were given a walking tour brochure which was helpful. It's a beautiful place and obviously a great school, but the visit did reinforce my notion that Darden isn't a fit for me.
Next stop was DC. I didn't see any schools there, but I visited a friend going to law school at GW, so I spent the weekend. I had a great time - it made me wish there were schools there to look at!
After that, I took a Chinatown bus (man, those are cheap and nice!) up to Philly to meet up with my parents and drive up to Boston. We got in around dinnertime, checked into a hotel in Boston, and had dinner at Maggiano's (fabulous Italian place). Then we went to bed, ready for a busy day of schools the next day.
We started at MIT. In Sloan's defense, the MBA portion of the campus was under construction and it was spring break while we were there. So it was difficult to visualize completely how it would feel sans scaffolding and heavy machinery, and there were no students to meet. However, I got a feel for Boston, where the school was located, and the general setup of the school. I did like it - I already knew I liked the program, and from a purely location perspective, I liked the setup. It's surrounded by the rest of MIT, the river, hustle and bustle...just what I like. If I get in and am seriously considering Sloan vs any other schools, I would visit again and get a better feel, but I think between what I did get and my research on the school, I'm good for the time being.
Next up was Harvard. They were also on spring break, but they were still having info sessions so I signed up for one. We attended and heard some basic info about the school, most of which I already knew (blame the obsessive MBA research). There were a couple of interesting tidbits that I hadn't heard. One was that sometimes, key individuals from the cases that the students are studying attend the lecture, either to participate in the discussion or speak afterwards about what really happened. Another one was that the students don't switch classrooms during the first year. They have assigned seats in a classroom - very nice one - and the different professors come to them.
I liked Harvard. A lot. To be honest, I was almost hoping I wouldn't so I could reject them and not give them the chance to reject me. However, I really liked the school, I like the learning style, and I think Boston would be an interesting place to live. The facilities were beautiful, and the case studies really sound like they would be interesting to learn through.
Last...most certainly not least...we drove back down to Philly. I had signed up beforehand for a visiting day, and we arrived just in time for "Lunch with Students." Two Wharton students arrived in the admissions office and took the 10 or so of us that were there to lunch. We went to a nearby street that was lined with those lunch wagons, and they had any type of food you could possibly want. At the advice of one of the students, I got falafel, which was fabulous.
We then all went into a classroom to talk since it was a bit drizzly outside. The students spoke briefly about their backgrounds and time at Wharton so far, then took questions. After that, we went to visit a class, although there was a typo on the form so unfortunately we ended up in a room with an undergrad class...and it would have been rude to up and leave partway through...but it's ok. Lastly, we went back to admissions for an info session with more students.
Again, this is a school that I have researched extensively so I wasn't flooded with new information. However, the thing that I consistently heard from the various students was how much they value their classmates as a central part of the MBA experience. Learning from each other, making those relationships, both professional and personal...that's what I kept hearing was their favorite part of Wharton. I also learned something about the various activities and clubs that are available, and how many of them involve community service and social responsibility, which is something that I am interested in.
To be perfectly candid, I loved it. I absolutely loved the location - it's right in the middle of the city, across the street from restaurants, shopping, the city in general. The buildings were beautiful, and the climate was great. It was helpful to drive up and down the East Coast like that in a short time so I could see how much it differs in weather from place to place. Philly tends to be a bit more temperate (considering). I like the teaching method - case and lecture, depending on what suits the material. I love the large class size - I went to a smaller school for undergrad, so I'd like to try something different.
Although we didn't see all of the schools on my 'short list', we saw quite a few; not a bad start.
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