2024-2025 MBA Admissions Events By School

Here you are. Summer has arrived. If you’re applying to business school in round one, you have 100 days to pull your application together. No pressure there! If you’re starting the process, you’re wondering where to begin and what to ask. Do you stand pat and choose the path of least resistance – or take the leap of faith and shoulder the extra work?

For the latter, candidates start with reading and reflecting. They parse rankings and profiles, harp on reviews and employment reports, and mull over brands and locations. Chances are, they complete a few practice GMATs too. Eventually, they start reaching out. Current students will lay out where schools shine and where they fell short. Alumni will point them where to go and what they should be doing. In the end, there is one group who make the choice: the admissions team. Let’s be frank: they don’t have time to lose or energy to spare. That means finding the right venue to make the right impression.

RELATIONSHIPS MATTER

Your GMAT score will reflect your readiness for Microeconomics or Corporate Finance, A meaty personal story and weighty recommendation might take you to the next step. At its core, admissions is sales. Many times, decisions come down to relationships. People buy from those they like, identify with, and trust. Amid hundreds (even thousands) of applications, it is hard for an adcom to forget a smile, a laugh, or a shared experience – a connection that can only be made face-to-face and one-on-one.

That’s where school-sponsored events come into play. From MBA fairs to online Q&As, these events are the platform to make an impression and build a relationship. Here, you can show much you know by the points you make and how much you care by the questions you ask. If anything, an event presents a reason to send a follow up note to continue the dialogue.

Live, virtual, on-site or road shows – MBA candidates can choose almost any format to start the conversation and stand out from the crowd. There are information sessions, coffee chats, happy hours, meet ups, summer socials, virtual tours – you name it. That said, each school adds a unique spin to their outreach.

EACH SCHOOL IS DIFFERENT

Many schools are happy to come to where you are. Take Columbia Business School, which is hosting breakfasts in Milan and Lisbon and holding small group discussions in Chicago and New Orleans next month. At the same time, Columbia will be huddling with 10 admissions heads from elite MBA programs ranging from Stanford to MIT as part of Top MBAs events in London, Munich, and Atlanta. The Yale School of Management is running “Master Classes” with faculty members in Manilla and Kuala Lumpur. Let’s not forget the legendary MBA Tour sponsored from GMAC. From June through August, the MBA Tour is booked for 39 dates, hitting locations as different as Denver, Ho Chi Minh City, Lima, and Riyadh. Attended by dozens of schools, the MBA Tour features resume clinics, networking fairs, admissions panels, and small group meet ups.

Virtually, each school tends to play to their academic strengths. The University of Michigan’s Ross School, for example, will be publicizing its wide-ranging expertise and experiential learning prowess with sessions on its Sanger Leadership Center and Erb Institute focused on sustainability. Similarly, the University of Virginia’s Darden School is producing an “Ideas in Action” series to spotlight its faculty’s thought leadership. In contrast, several schools are emphasizing personal support. Notably, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School maintains regular virtual office hours, while UC-Berkeley’s Haas School has developed an Application Launch Series to expose candidates to the best practices in presenting themselves on applications.

Yearning for Yale or hankering for Haas? Wondering when your target schools will be in your area or available to talk? Click on the “Upcoming Events” links below to find the schedule of admissions events for prospective MBAs for the coming year.

U.S. MBA Programs: Admissions Events

International MBA Programs: Admissions Events

DON’T MISS: 2024-2025 MBA APPLICATION DEADLINES