Graduate school orientation
The orientation activity your cohort will still be talking about in year two.
Your incoming cohort doesn't know each other yet. Mystery Trip changes that — your city, one day, one experience they won't see coming. The connections made before the first class are often the ones that matter most.
Sample Itinerary
LET'S GET IT STARTED
The cohort boards the bus. Destination unknown. The energy builds the moment the doors close.
The only instruction: be open to everything.
STOP 1 — THE HUNT
A photographic scavenger hunt through one of the city's best neighborhoods.
Teams are randomly assigned — intentionally mixed. First impressions dissolve fast.
STOP 2 — LUNCH
A great meal at a local spot. Team Trivia runs through the whole thing.
It gets competitive. That's the point.
STOP 3 — THE WORKSHOP
A graffiti workshop. Everyone makes something together. Nobody sees it coming.
Turns out everyone has an artist in them.
STOP 4 — THE SEND-OFF
Ice cream at a local shop. The day lands softly.
By now, they're not strangers anymore.
Why it works for grad programs
Incoming students are not undergrads at orientation.
They've been through orientation before. They know what a forced icebreaker feels like — and they're already dreading it. Mystery Trip doesn't do any of that. It just puts them in motion together, in a city they're just starting to know.
No performance pressure
Everyone in the room is sizing each other up. Mystery Trip removes that dynamic — nobody knows what's coming next, so nobody can perform their way through it. The actual person shows up instead of the polished version.
The city becomes the curriculum
Your students chose this city. Mystery Trip makes it the first thing they experience together — not a campus tour, not a welcome reception, but the real thing. Streets, neighborhoods, local spots they'll remember.
Relationships that outlast the program
The cohort that navigates something unexpected together on day one bonds differently. Mystery Trip doesn't manufacture that — it just creates the conditions for it to happen.
Fully handled, end to end
Custom-built for your program, city, and cohort. Logistics, vendors, routing, timing — all managed by us. You focus on your students. We take care of everything else.
How it works
Built from scratch. Every time.
No two Mystery Trips are the same. Each experience is custom-designed for your specific program, cohort, city, and goals.
We learn your program
Cohort size, incoming student background, orientation schedule, and what success looks like for your department. Everything is built around your program, not a playbook.
We design the experience
Custom route, stops, grouping, timing, and pacing — all built around your city and your cohort. The best local spots, the right pace, the moments that land.
We run it
Day-of execution is fully handled. Guides, transportation, logistics, vendor coordination, contingencies — we've been doing this for 15 years. You watch your cohort become a cohort.
Common questions
Everything you need to know before you ask.
What makes Mystery Trip different from other graduate school orientation activities?
The plan is never revealed upfront. Each experience unfolds in real time, stop by stop, using the city itself as the setting. This removes the performance pressure of traditional icebreakers and creates genuine connection through shared discovery — not forced interaction. No two experiences are the same.
What size postgraduate cohorts does Mystery Trip work with?
We work with cohorts of varying sizes — from intimate seminar-style programs to large incoming classes. If you're unsure whether your group size works, reach out and we'll figure it out together.
What cities does Mystery Trip run postgraduate orientation experiences in?
We design and run experiences across the US and Canada. Each experience is built specifically for the city — we don't run the same route twice. If you don't see your city listed, get in touch — chances are we've worked there or can.
How far in advance should we book a Mystery Trip for orientation week?
Ideally 6–8 weeks for a fully custom build, though we've turned around shorter timelines. If fall orientation is on the horizon, now is a good time to connect.
Who manages the logistics for a Mystery Trip orientation experience?
We do — end to end. Guides, transportation, vendor relationships, timing, and contingencies are all handled by our team. You're not project-managing the day. You're experiencing it with your students.
What types of graduate and professional programs does Mystery Trip work with?
We work with MBA, law, medical, design, architecture, public policy, international affairs, EMBA programs, and more. The format adapts to the culture of the program — what works for an incoming JD cohort is different from what works for an MFA cohort, and we build accordingly.
What does a Mystery Trip postgraduate orientation experience look like?
Every experience is custom-made and created specifically for the cohort to ensure the experience reflects the culture and character of the program. The stops are revealed one at a time — nobody knows what's coming next until they're already there. That's the whole idea.
How does Mystery Trip handle groups that don't know each other at all?
That's exactly who it's designed for. The mystery format works precisely because nobody has context, history, or existing social dynamics to fall back on. Everyone is figuring it out together from the same starting point — which turns out to be the best possible condition for genuine connection.
Get started
Let's build something for your incoming class.
Tell us your program, your city, and your timeline. We'll come back with a concept built specifically for your cohort.