I always had the intention of visiting MIT and speaking with the admissions officers from Columbia and NYU-Stern. Well, things changed!

Before leaving Australia, I researched the MBA Tour in Chicago (as it was the only one during the week while I was in the US). This was a forum where I could could meet the officers from all the different schools. The website advised that there would be an abudance of schools there and I could interact with them.

So original plan, was to head to Cambridge, visit MIT, then fly to Chicago to have meet-and-greets with the NYU and Columbia staff. Flying from Australia, means I need to book these in advance - to get good deals on flights and to use my time efficiently. This is the bane of all International applicants - how do you visit all the schools or at least make some sort of personal contact. The truth of the matter is, is that you need to make an impression on them, even before you submit your application! Well after arriving and registering at the MBA Tour, I discovered that the business schools that would be there were only a small selection and neither NYU, nor Columbia were in that small selection. The staff there didn't seem too interested that I had travelled across the world and the schools I wanted weren't there.
Did I learn anything anyway? Well, not really! They provided the generic points for "how to write a good application", which you could probably find in any good MBA book or some of the online forums. One good thing was that I had the opportunity to tour Chicago and loved it - what a great city!

Back in Cambridge, I visited MIT and met the admissions office staff there. I must say that they were extremely helpful. They also directed me to the Entrepreneurship Centre and the Media Lab as I had some quite specific questions about New Media and building on it during an MBA. The staff there were also quite helpful. Overall, the trip to MIT is highly recommended. If you plan to apply there, visit - it's worth it. It also highlighted how media fits in within Sloan. While there are no courses/electives within the programme on media (unlike Columbia or NYU), they did highlight to me that they encourage you to build your networks through the forums and also to innovate in any space you see fit. It's given me some great ideas for my essays and future study :)

With only a day to go, I decided to visited Harvard's Business School. It really is amazing how well funded HBS is - it's so clear just from looking at the buildings. Anyway, the information session really focused on the "Case Method" and showcased the video that's available from their website (http://www.hbs.edu/case/index.html) and then went on to answer questions. Although helpful, I still felt unimpressed after having visited MIT the day before. Nevertheless, one thing that they mentioned that was particularly pertinent to me, as an International applicant, was that once accepted, they will do as much as possible, including securing funding, to have you come and try and limit the amount of visits, due to the expense. That, to me, was quite sincere and showed an understanding of the constraints of international applicants.

Well, now I'm back in Australia and busy working on my essays - Only weeks to go before the first deadline arrives!