Goizueta’s Welcome Weekend great first start to MBA experience
Prospective students mingled on the lawn with current students during this year’s Welcome Weekend.
April is an exciting month here at GBS because we get to welcome our incoming students to campus for the first time during our annual Welcome Weekend! This year, we invited the one-year class of 2019 and the two-year class of 2020 to join us for a weekend of learning about life at Emory. I can’t believe it’s been two years since my own Welcome Weekend, but watching our new students experience Goizueta for the first time was a great reminder of what an amazing experience it was for me.
Throughout my business school application process, the personal interactions I had with students, staff and faculty at Goizueta were really pivotal in helping me decide that this was the right place for me. I began by speaking to current students over the phone to learn more about their experiences here. I also flew down to campus from New York for my interview so that I would be able to see the school in person. It was well worth the trip; not only was it the most easygoing, conversational interview I’ve ever had, I also got to meet current students and witness them interacting with each other on campus. It was my first time seeing the close-knit Goizueta community in person, and I instantly felt that it was something I wanted to be part of.
After having such a good first visit to campus, I couldn’t wait to come back to Atlanta for Welcome Weekend in 2016. It turned out to be one of the best weekends of my life — I got to meet my classmates for the first time and learn about what life would be like at Emory (and enjoy the warm Atlanta weather, of course). From running a 5K together (the annual Welcome Weekend “Dooley Dash”) to experiencing our first KEGS on the lawn, my class had an incredible time during our first weekend on campus.
A Waffle House food truck awaits runners at the end of the Dooley Dash 5K course.
When I speak to people who are applying to MBA programs now, I always tell them to visit all the schools they’re considering in person if possible. It was the personal interactions I had at the schools to which I applied that gave me clarity about which school was right for me. At Goizueta, it was obvious to me when I visited that the students, staff and faculty all embodied the school’s core values in their everyday actions. Since those core values aligned with my own personal principles, I knew Goizueta would be a good place for me.
I hope the incoming students who attended Welcome Weekend this year had as great of an experience as I had two years ago. GBS is excited to welcome them back to campus for onboarding soon!
