Each week, we add to “Mission Admission,” our series of Admissions Tips. Last week, we suggested that students keep an eye out for opportunities to visit campuses and to interview, recognizing that, in absolute terms, more candidates will want to visit, but that the number of available time slots will remain the same as in past years. Well, today, Dee Leopold, Director of Admissions at HBS, posted the following on her blog:
“Judging from the volume of phone calls and email we are getting, many prospective applicants are eager to visit campus before the October 15 Round One deadline. This is great and we hope that our online scheduler gives candidates flexibility in planning a class visit. We begin to send visitors to class during the week of October 6 — thus we anticipate that we will not be able to honor all requests to see a class before the round 1 deadline. Although we think it’s wonderful to be able to see the case method in action, please be reassured that if this isn’t possible, you are in no way disadvantaged in the application process. The Admissions Board does not keep track of who has or has not seen a class.”
Although it is nice to know that HBS won’t be tracking who has or has not been to class, we still recommend that candidates take advantage of the opportunity to visit. In most cases, candidates will benefit intangibly from a visit. Thereafter, candidates will be able to personalize their essays and will also be able to determine whether or not they want to apply, an aspect of the visit that is often taken for granted.