Sunday, August 20, 2006

My upcoming visit to Tuck and Darden

Yes, I am going to vist some schools this year, based on advice and recommendation from many last year applications who I am happy to say, are students now. As of now I have Tuck and darden on my List and though I am not sure if I would be able to fit in more, this is a good start. I was initally concerned that I did not have my equal favorite (with Tuck) Harvard on the list. Work pressure and time constraint only allowed me these two. In my opinion visit and interview on campus are much more important for Tuck and Darden than HBS. To my knowledge HBS does not even interview prior to application submission like other schools do.

After compiling my school list for this year I did notice commonalities across schools. To me that was a good indication that I had done my research and that the list is better than the one I came up with last year. A good example are the 3 schools mentioned above; all offer Genenral Management courses and are big on the case method.

Though i have started drafting my HBS essays, I still feel that I am behind the curve as I have not really understood what Tuck or Darden are all about in great detail. I need to get moving on all other fronts escpecially for Tuck and Darden to be ready for the interview.

On my inital work I find myself really struggling with the question
"What can you contribute to the school" All I can come with are very generic answers like my opinion, inputs, knowledge coming from a different background, international exposure and work ex. etc. pretty much the same stuff I wrote about last year and If don't buy it, I dont think adcom will. What are they looking for here?

Other things on my mind are
>How do I make my visit to the schools worthwhile
>How can I create an impression outside the scope of the interview and showcase who I really am wothout making a fool of myself
>What are the questions I should be asking, Preceisely what Information should I seek outside the generic ones I have on the school and the program

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5 Comments:

Juggler said...

Talk to as many students as possible. I believe it's the best way to figure out if u will spend a happy 2 yrs in the school. Fitting into the school's culture is very important for the networking aspect of the MBA. After all you are gonna spend $140K, might as well have a ball during the 2 years...

-tvu said...

Agreed! It's not just you fitting the B-school. It's also them fitting your criteria.

Ro said...

hi,

is reapplying easier than the first time, or do you get more nervous? i think a whole lot of people reapply and am wondering whether first timers have less of a chance than people better prepared and more familiar with the process.

Anonymous said...

try to widen your choice of schools. Go for a couple of safe bets as well.Since you are reapplying , i feel you can do a great job of managing to put in ur apps by round 1.

Linda Abraham said...

This article may help you prepare for your visits: http://blog.accepted.com/acceptedcom_blog/2005/9/23/visiting-schools-myths-and-realities.html .

If you take some nice pictures during your visits, please submit them to the Beautiful B-School Photo Contest at http://www.accepted.com/zones/photos.aspx . Both these schools are gorgeous.

If interviews are a part of these visits, check out the MBA Interview Feedback Database at http://www.accepted.com/mba/InterviewFeedback.aspx .

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