It would be great if you can go and visit the campus. But if a candidate is not able to do so, one should try to learn as much as possible about the b school through off campus visits or friends, alumni etc. I attended an Off Campus event conducted by Duke Fuqua in August. In addition to learning a lot of things about applying, what the college is expecting from a candidate, speaking to an alumni, I also got my application fee to be waived. One of the most important thing that I had learned when mingling with an alumni was that it is not easy to change your career path once you have been in it for sometime. Harsha an alumni of 2005 batch had also suggested to read a few books like 'Marketing yourselves in business Schools' - By Carpentor and to go through the business week guide to the top business schools. The session that I had attended was for Duke MBA- Daytime and they focussed on how the business school helped us to become a "leader of consequence". They also gave us an estimate of the cost, the program overview, the life in NC (North Carolina) and the entrepreneurship culture that prevails there (North Carolina Triangle). I was however disappointed in learning that there is no deferred program offered by the Duke as of now. Other reasons why attending the information session will prove to be helpful is that, the college officials, alumni get a first hand experience of who you are, what you want to do and so forth. So it is important for the persons to connect to the right sort of individuals in the admission event, ask "intelligent & meaningful" questions. Sometimes, the person who comes to give a talk may be from the admission team and if you are able to portray yourself as a deserving candidate you will have more of a chance to get selected. Take the information session seriously as you are being monitored and judged constantly and this could be one of the things that could change you from being rejected to being called for an interview / getting selected.
