I want to start off by discussing the importance of visiting schools.

A lot of prospective students skip this part because they think it isn't all that important. Who's going to know that they were even there? Well, this wrong kind of thinking can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection to a specific school.

For starters, you're going to get a lot more information about the school from visiting it personally than you're ever going to get out of a brochure. You might actually find, once you've visited the campus, that this particular school isn't as appealing as you thought, or conversely, much better then expected. Nothing beats actually physically checking out the school.

Another thing you can do when visiting a school is speak to the students who go there. How better to get an idea of how good the place is other than speaking to those who live and breathe it? Sure, you have to take everything you hear with a grain of salt. Those who like it will make it sound like Nirvana. Those who don't like it will make it sound like hell on earth. The key is putting everything into perspective and weighing all the comments collectively.

Also, you'll want to meet with some of the professors, especially the ones who are in the MBA program itself. This will do two things. First, it will give you a pretty good idea of what to expect from them. There is nothing worse than walking into a classroom cold. Second, it will show these professors that you have a genuine interest. As I said, not every prospective student takes the time to visit schools. This one activity will set you apart from all the rest.

Finally, and this is probably the most important reason of all, when you write your essay for admission as to why you want to go there, you can actually speak about the school with some feeling. You've been there. You can actually talk about what you liked while visiting.

If you want to really prepare yourself for your MBA Interview, check out this resource.

It will prepare you better than anything I know for that big step...getting into the school of your dreams.

To YOUR MBA Success,