Its one thing to read about the method of teaching employed by your target b-schools, and its another to see it enacted right before your eyes- the Harvard case method for instance. Watching the intimidating cold call in action, the level of participation from students, the quality of their discussion and the faculty’s engagement, is bound to give you an insider’s perspective on how the classes are run.

You could attain this experience right within your city because b-schools tour different countries as part of their outreach every year, and some of them also include a master class by an esteemed professor in their itineraries. However, the students of this class will be prospective students like yourself. To feel the energy of a real class room discussion, it’s a great idea to go visit the campus itself and sit in an actual class.

The cost of doing an MBA is spiraling upward every year, and so it’s perfectly logical that applicants make an informed decision about where they are spending their money as well as their time for two years. A visit to the campus is not required nor expected, but most b-schools open their campuses to eager b-school aspirants every year to give them a real touch and feel experience of their campus, academics and community.

Timing: US MBA programs run campus visits from September to April. During the summer months, the MBA classes don’t run as first year students are out of campus for internships, so you would not get the chance to participate in a class then. Therefore planning your trip for the fall or the spring term is the best time to visit. Classes are not held every day of the week, although the campus tour may still be allowed, so check the schedules published on each b-school website to know what you will get to attend on a particular day.

What to Expect: Typically, a campus visit is a half a day event with several activities built into it. Expect to meet current students, attend the morning or afternoon session of a class, have an info session with the admissions team and student ambassadors, and ofcourse, take a guided tour of the campus. Some programs go to great lengths to customize your campus visit experience.

For instance, Kellogg offers a “day in the life tour”, which helps aspirants gain an in-depth view of its student life. There is also a women specific program – The Women’s Business Association coffee chat, to discuss the women’s initiatives at Kellogg.

The Duke MBA offers annually held Diversity weekend, which allow applicants to experience Fuqua by spending time with diversity students. There is the LGBTQ Weekend, a Veterans Symposium, a Workshop for Minority applicants and the Weekend for Women. Similar diversity events are also held at Booth and UCLA.

MBA programs also encourage applicants to meet co-chairs of student groups- this is an excellent way to get specific insights on your career goals and the resources a b-school has to offer. Not just this, applicants can schedule visits with the admissions teams, the faculty, the research centres, and the financial aid office in order to understand every aspect of the b-school life.

Ross and MIT, for example, ask students to drop into the adcom’s office and interact with the committee members.  Berkeley Haas has drop-in advising sessions, where students can meet adcom and financial aid members, without prior appointments.

Of all the programs we researched for this article, we found Darden to be the most friendly in terms of the opportunities they extend to applicants to get to know them. They specify that if you have already applied in any of their rounds, then you should wait for an interview before scheduling the class visit, thus doing both things together. Darden also encourages you to visit the financial aid office, their faculty, their centres of excellence. That Darden has an extremely collaborative culture and values family-ties, is reflected from their desire to welcome your partner on campus during campus visits. They also welcomes applicants to their famed first coffee, a long standing tradition where the students and faculty gather everyday at 9.30 am for half an hour to meet over tea/coffee. It really can’t get more interactive and real than this for an applicant who gets access to the entire student community at one single place. Even if you don’t join Darden ultimately, this would still be an experience worth having.

Many b-schools combine the campus visit with the interview. At Tuck and Kellogg, you can self-initiate your interview on campus, without having to wait for an interview invitation.  Darden wants its domestic applicants to come interview on campus. At other programs where interviews are on invitation only, you could still opt for a campus interview. Even if you have applied already and can’t change your essays, you could still give a more informed interview.

What should one learn during campus visits?

A campus visit is the best way you can get to know a business school. However, you’ve got to be smart to get anything out of it. Research the programs you are visiting well in advance. Don’t read the generic information but probe deeper to understand how the programs fit your specific goals and interests. How do you do that? Here are some ways that we prescribe as part of your MBA research, whether you embark on a b-school visit or not:

• Explore the curriculum, program details, extra-curricular activities and employment reports- information available online
• Watch online videos, read student and admissions blogs
• Connect with student ambassadors before you reach campus.
• Use Linked in and program websites to build your network.

Research on faculty, should you wish to meet them

You will set the wrong impression if you ask silly, generic questions, and it would be a waste of everyone’s time to answer those. Everyone you meet on campus will form an impression about you, so give them reason to love you as a candidate. At the same time, you are visiting b-school to form an impression about it. SO observe everything minutely and ask questions.

So what are the right questions?  Our advice can be understood as generic, unless you really apply it to your situation. Most students join business school for career progression or for personal development. What are the program features that will help YOU build upon your specific needs in order to achieve those? Yeah, it sounds like the repetition of the “Why MBA from our business school” part of the career goals essay. Well, this is the most compelling question for you at this point in time, so probe into different program features to understand how YOU WILL BENEFIT FROM THEM. If you are an entrepreneur or a wannabe entrepreneur, you’d want to know how the b-school can help refine your business idea and give you the wherewithal to launch it successfully, maybe even find partners or mentors. You will know this by talking with students, faculty (if you can manage), student club and the entrepreneurship centre.

Well-conducted research will help you write a better goals essay, interview with better insights and ultimately select the b-school that is the right fit for you.

Next, you’d also want to experience your fit with the community. This would be based more on your observation and gut feel- are the people (staff and students included) friendly, are they exceedingly helpful, even going out of their way to help you? Are they open to listening to your views?  Observe student-faculty interaction during class visit; adcom’s willingness to interact with you; students’ interest in your profile and their helpfulness. Are students part of the campus visit process? Do they introduce you to other students who can help you further? Lastly, understand what their experiences were like – what have they liked/ disliked maximum about business school? What courses did they take and what tips can they share with you to make your MBA fruitful?

International applicants:

While making campus visits is nice, it may not always be possible, especially if you are an international applicant. Don’t fret about this too much. B-schools give applicants enough and more opportunities to learn about their programs. You can sign up for webinars and online events; you can also meet admissions teams when they travel to hold info sessions in your countries. Most of these start June onwards, so keep a look out for the exact dates.

We’ll highly recommend you don’t schedule your campus visit bang in the middle of your application deadlines. If you are an international applicant travelling abroad only for campus visits, chances are you will try to pack in as many b-schools in your short trip. This can mean travelling between cities at odd hours and visiting b-schools during their working hours. With this schedule, you will have absolutely no time to make major changes to your application last minute or write essays from scratch (in case you were thinking you’re a superhero).  We mention this because we have seen many applicants falling into this trap, and the result ofcourse is quite predictable. A better approach is to finish your applications off before you travel. If you still need to change a lot, submit in Round 2.

A few points to remember:

• Class visits do not happen every day of the week. If you wish to maximize your visit, check the schedule presented on the b-school websites.
• In all probability you would not be allowed to select the class that you attend.
• You have to register yourself in advance. Different b-schools have differing policies, so check the websites to stay on course.
• As only a limited number of class visits are allowed, schedule yours in advance.
• Know the rules before you sit in a class. If you are invited only as an observer, remain one. Wharton for instance encourages applicants to be a listener and observer. Also, you may not be allowed to enter late, or leave in-between an ongoing class.
• Lastly, remember you are a prospective student and you are being evaluated even during the campus visit. Don’t be unthoughtful/rude to anybody on campus, including the administrative staff, the professors or students. Any bad word put in for you can affect your chances.