It’s April, which means that the majority of leading programs will be hosting business school welcome weekends for those candidates that they have admitted during their first two admissions rounds. These “sell” weekends are very important for the schools as part of their push to encourage those that they have admitted to enroll. They know that many of their admitted students have options to go elsewhere, or are now considering the financial aspects of the program and concerned as to whether it is an economically viable option.
If you were fortunate enough to gain admissions to an elite MBA program, this post is for you. We explain the importance of attending welcome weekends and what you should want to learn.
Welcome Weekends Attendance Is Strongly Recommended – Even If You Have Already Committed
Attendance is important regardless of whether you have already selected the school in which you will enroll. For that group, the events provide an early networking opportunity with your future classmates; the importance of this cannot be over emphasized, whether it is to help find roommates, organize a summer trip before school, or to begin brainstorming ideas for a business startup. The events will also help answer some practical questions of attendance. For those admitted students who are still deciding where to attend, or to attend at all, then attendance should help add insight towards making this decision.
Show Up With Questions You’d Like Answered
Attend your welcome weekend event with a list of questions that you want answered. Now that you are admitted, you can ask the tougher questions and really ‘kick the tires.’ Questions might be targeted to career management, does the school bring the recruiters to campus that you are seeking, and do they hire candidates from your pre-MBA industry or geography? For the elective class that has really piqued your interest, how often is it offered, and is it easy to get a seat in the class? You should also balance the practical events, financial aid and housing for example, with the fun events.
Gauge Your Fit With Future Classmates
Throughout the weekend, assess your fit with the current students and your future classmates. Do you see yourself hanging out until 2 in the morning working on a finance project with these people, a project that needs to be presented at 9am? Can you see yourself taking a leadership role in an industry-related club that fits your career goals? Do the current students seem to be really engaged, is the culture collaborative, or is there a sense of competitiveness among the student body?
Have Fun – But Don’t Let the Festivities Overly Influence You
Remember this is a “sell” weekend; this is not representative of the day-to-day experience of the MBA program. It would be rare for an admitted student to attend a weekend and not leave more impressed with the school and its communities. It is important that you remain very objective in your decision making.
Double Booked? Go to the Admit Weekend for Your Top Choice
The reality is that because schools need to schedule these welcome weekends before their Round 2 deposit deadlines, but after releasing those Round 2 decisions, a few of the events will fall on the same weekends. For example The Kellogg School of Management and The Wharton School at UPenn both share the same weekend, and a number of cross admits, according to the Clear Admit MBA DecisionWire.
Some will plan to go to the school in which they are least familiar, or convinced about, to make sure that they have not missed anything. The risk of this is you get so enamored with the sell aspects of the weekend, that you lose focus. We would recommend you actually attend the event of the school you most prefer. The sell aspects of the event aside, you want to focus on the practical aspects of the weekend, as well as the important networking opportunities.
Good luck to those of you making these final decisions and attending these events. Enjoy the process, and once you have made your final decision, we hope that you will add it to aforementioned Clear Admit MBA DecisionWire.
This article has been edited and republished with permissions from Clear Admit.