Sam Kang:                               Recruiting and admissions and applying to a certain school doesn’t start with the application. It starts way before researching the school.

Sherry Wallace:                      We know that it’s not possible for everyone to visit campus or to visit campus in the window of time of when applications are due. So we try to bring campus to you as much as we can.

Robert Welch:                         A lot of the information can be found online. But what an event like this gives you is the ability to learn things that you didn’t know, you didn’t know.

Sherry Wallace:                      Being able to kind of have a give and take conversation in real-time is very special. And we think it helps you as a candidate differentiate a little bit on the emotional side of one school versus the other.

Lee Milligan:                           Certainly meeting the alumni is a great opportunity to him or about reality. I can give so much, the website can give so much but the alumni can really give a real perspective on life in the program but also life outside the program.

Sam Kang:                               Through the website you can get any information that you cannot really do in interactive sessions. So, coming to these fairs are utterly important to meet in person, the admissions officers.

Sherry Wallace:                      At a school presentation — and we usually don’t have a lot of time to tell you everything about the school, so it makes us focus on some of the things that we believe really are differentiators.

Casey Rillahan:                       Things like typical career paths of graduates, teaching styles of faculty, extracurricular activities and clubs on campus.

Rick Doyle:                              You get some general information about the school but it’s a good one-on-one opportunity to have your questions answered and find out also that you’re not particularly alone in the process. A lot of other people have the same questions.

Marie-Laurence Lemaire:      Just the way the presenter will present the school, the wording that will be used will tell a lot about the content of the program and the philosophy behind the program.

Sherry Wallace:                      Many times someone who is not familiar with our campus or with even the State of North Carolina, they often times don’t really know what to expect and what it is like. And so sometimes I think just talking about the environment, explaining what a college town is like, explaining that there’s probably not cows. It’s sometimes just focusing on little things like that.

Kim Janulewicz:                       A lot of people that I’ve spoken with today tell me, “I had never heard of your school today until I came here.” And others came to the presentation said, “I didn’t know that you had focused on entrepreneurship. I’m really glad that I came so that I could learn more about that.”

Sam Kang:                               I think one of the most important things about panels is that you get to hear different perspectives from admissions officers from different schools.

Sherry Wallace:                      What maybe a truth for this particular school or this situation might be exact opposite when you apply to another school. So the panels have a really good way of showing them that sometimes it is absolute at this school and two other schools have very different takes on it.

Marie-Laurence Lemaire:      Giving tips on how tour ideas are, on maybe answering questions about, “Oh, I’ve got low GMATs would that jeopardize the chance of me getting into a school that I really want?”

Laurie Shunney McCloskey:    I think the real benefit there is you’re hearing the information directly from the people who review applications. I know there are blogs and other information out there, and I know there are rumors but you’re hearing information directly from the source.

Dena Snyder:                           I think it can always be helpful for our students to kind of do some research prior to the fair about the schools they’re interested in, so that when they attend the fair they’re able to ask really inform questions, or maybe if there’s something they read on the website that they want to know more about, we’re able to address that question and make sure that we make the most of their time.

Rick Doyle:                              Most of the people who are here are admissions directors. And many of them are in the decision making process for a school. So when it comes time to look through the applications, they’ll come back to you and say, “We met you in a particular city and I do remember speaking to you.”

Paul North:                              The ones that don’t do a good job typically come up to us and then give us their profile in terms of the GMAT score or the GPA or the work experience, and then ask us very bluntly what are the chances of getting into our program.

Robyn Winstanley:                  It’s always useful to start by sharing your name and sharing what you currently do, where are you currently employed. And also, what are you thinking about doing in the future.

Sherry Wallace:                      You can definitely make a memorable impression by being polite and being respectful and being sincere.

Laura Soerensson:                   A great question would be about internship opportunities, study abroad options that we have. Even fun questions like how students relax.

Robert Welch:                         Often students overlook the importance of the Career Management Center at a school. And so whenever I talk to students I often bring that up, “Have you thought about that next step afterwards and how the school is going to prepare you for that?”

Laurie Shunney McCloskey:    Come with an energy and passion for the school. Hopefully, you know a little bit about Johnson when you arrive at the table. You’re not asking about our GMAT scores but you’re asking about a specific aspect of the curriculum. So if you say, “I’m really passionate about marketing and your emersion. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?” It’s really good to have a lead-in so that we can focus on something specific about the school.

Sherry Wallace:                      Don’t waste your time asking questions that you could go online and find in a minute. I mean that didn’t help you. Ask the question that was inspired by something that you learned online. And then that way, you are certainly going to stand out as someone who was more thoughtful.

Stacy Owen:                            If you want to be memorable then give me your business card and say, “You know what, thanks for your time. You’ll be hearing from me next week.” Follow up after the conversation.

Laurie Shunney McCloskey:    I also recommend following up by e-mail. We meet so many candidates at these events and sometimes I’ll meet someone and we have a great conversation and then if that person e-mails me a day or two afterward and says, “Hey, I met you at the fair. We talked about these few factors and I just wanted to say thank you for your time.” That’s another reminder to me that here she stood out and I might keep that e-mail for future reference.