Preparing for New York University Stern MBA Admissions Interviews

In this post I discuss preparing for New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business MBA admissions interviews.


Before reading this post, I suggest reviewing some or all of the following previous posts:
-MBA Application Interview Strategy

-Interview Practice is ABOUT SPEAKING!

-Further Comments on MBA Admissions Interviews 
-General Characteristics of Admissions Officers, Students, and Alumni Interviewers
-Recovering from a bad answer during an MBA admissions interview
-10 Ways to Blow an MBA Admissions Interview
-and my more recent post, When to start MBA interview practice? How to prepare?
The above posts are my general remarks on MBA admissions interview strategy and apply here.


NYU Stern’s Isser Gallogy, Assistant Dean, MBA Admissions,   provides short audio advice on admissions interviews (What follows is mostly a transcription):
1. Interviews are by invitation only. About 20-25% of MBA applicants are invited to interview.
2. Nearly all interviews are conducted by Stern’s Admissions Committee. 
3. Stern admissions interviews are not blind.  Your interviewer will have read your application. 
4. The majority of interviews are held on-campus at Stern.
5. It will be a highly personal and individualized exchange and goes beyond what you presented in your application. 
6. Be ready to discuss your post-MBA career path and why Stern can help you achieve your goals. 
7. Come prepared with questions for the interviewer.
8. To prepare, re-read your application and consider what further insight you can provide since submitting your application. 
9. Take some time to practice interviewing.
10. Relax. About 70% of those interviewed are admitted.
Based on interview reports, unlike the interviews at HBS, which tend to involve lots of individualized questions for applicants, NYU interviewers (like those at LBS) will have read your application for sure, but their questions are likely to be very standard as you will see below. Even though the Stern interview might not be as hard as HBS, I would recommend using the active strategy and method I discuss in my HBS interview post. If you utilize this method of preparation you will be well prepared for handling NYU’s  interview. Stern interviewers are consistently described as friendly and the interview should last 30 minutes.


The Questions
Like he has done with many other schools, my colleague, Steve Green has compiled the following list of questions from from all the reports submitted to accepted.com   and clearadmit.com.  In addition to our client reports, we use lists of questions like these as part of our prep sessions with clients.

Background

• Detailed questions about personal / creative essay.
• Tell me about yourself.
• What do you feel is the weakest part of your resume?
• How did you end up in your current job?
•  How did (a previous role) help you in your current role?
• What frustrates you most at your current role?
• Why did you leave company X to join company Y?
• Why did you choose company Z after graduation?
• Why did you choose your undergrad school? What is your best memory of your time there?
• Tell me what you like to do in your free time?

Why MBA?  Why Stern?

• Why Stern?
• What one thing draws you to Stern?
• What other schools are you applying to?
• How did you first hear about Stern, and in what ways did you learn about it?
•  Is Stern your first choice? If admitted to other schools, what will be your criteria for choosing?
• Why do you think you are ready for an MBA at this point in your career?
• Why now?
• Why do you want to do your MBA in NYC?
• What do you like about New York? Which neighborhoods would you consider living in?
• What are specific Stern programs that will help you?
• Where do you want to do your summer internship? How will you market yourself to that firm? What is your backup plan if you do not get your first choice?
• Which clubs do you want to participate in?
• What do you bring to the Stern community?
• What are you hoping to learn from your future classmates?
• How will you distinguish yourself during the first few weeks at Stern?
• What are you looking forward to at Stern?
• What most surprises you about Stern?
• What would you like me to think when I introduce you at graduation?
• What job do you imagine yourself doing during your first summer break?
• What makes Stern's culture different from others?
• Which county would you choose for "Doing Business In"? Why?

Goals

• What is the main difference between your current position and your goals?
• How will your post-MBA role be different from your current role?
• What companies would you like to work for after graduation, and why?
•  What five companies do you want to work for after graduation?
•   How would you market yourself in your target industry?
• What is your Plan B if you do not get your dream job?
•  As a foreign national, how will you find a job outside your country?
•  If you were asked to speak at Stern 25 years from now, how would you want to be introduced?

Strengths and Weaknesses

• What would your supervisor say is one of your strengths? One of your weaknesses?
• What is the best constructive criticism your boss has ever given you?
•   How would your friends describe you?
• What could prevent you from achieving your short-term goals?
•  What has been your greatest achievement in your current job?
• What is something (work or non-work) that you are proud of?
•  Tell me about a challenging time or a time you failed. What did you learn?
•  Tell me about a conflict you faced and how your overcame it.

Leadership and Teamwork

• What is your leadership style?
• Tell me about a time you led a team through a difficult situation?
•  What is your role on a team?

Conclusion

• Is there anything else you'd like me to know?
• Any questions for me?

Best of luck with your NYU Stern MBA interview!

-Adam Markus

I am a graduate admissions consultant who works with clients worldwide. If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. Please note that initial consultations are not offered when I have reached full capacity or when I determine that I am not a good fit with an applicant.

Duke Fuqua MBA Admissions Interviews for the Class of 2016

In my experience, Duke interviews are all about fit. Frankly, I would not characterize the interviews for Team Fuqua as hard when compared to those of other top schools.  As you will see from the questions, below, Fuqua interview questions are very typical MBA interview questions. If you are preparing for interviews for other schools, you will surely see overlap here.

In addition to my experience,  My colleague, Steve Green,  and I  have reviewed reports of Duke University ‘s Fuqua School of Business interviews found at accepted.com and clearadmit.com.

You need to know your resume completely as you will likely be asked about content in it. Review it carefully and consider what your interviewer might ask you to explain more thoroughly. If it is on your resume, it is fair game. That said, don’t be surprised if the interviewer is using a standardized list of questions. I think it is worth remembering the kind of roles a resume is likely to play in your interview:

A First Impression:   Make sure your resume is really designed for ease of use by the interviewer.  One of my objectives when helping a client with a resume is always to focus on how effective the resume is for this purpose.

Agenda Setting Device: To a greater or lesser extent, a resume has an agenda setting function in many interviews.

Bobby Trap:  The resume can blow-up in your face if you are not careful.  Failure to review your own resume closely prior to interviewing can put you in an awkward position if you are not fully prepared to discuss everything on it.

Your Main Depository of Past Experience Answers: Since you have presumably highlighted many of the key things you would actually want to discuss on your resume, it is in essence, a primary source for your answers to past experience questions. Especially when I working with a client with limited English ability, I will tell them to practice explaining "Who What Why How When" questions related to their resume.

In addition, since you might get asked to "Tell me something about yourself that is not covered on your resume," you can use the resume to figure out what that would be.

You need to be prepared to answer routine MBA questions. Most reported interviews simply consist of them. Please refer to my prior overall MBA admissions strategy interview posts (here, here, here, and here) for general advice on prepare for the Fuqua interview.

Like he has done with many other schools, my colleague, Steve Green has compiled the following list of questions from from all the reports submitted to accepted.com and  clearadmit.com.  In addition to our client reports, we use lists of questions like these as part of our prep sessions with clients.

Resume

Tell me your story. / Walk me through your resume, please.
Tell me about your company. (+Follow-up questions.)
Tell me about your job. (+Follow-up questions.)
Tell me two things you like and dislike about your job.
Explain your job to me as if I were an 8 year old child

Goals/Why Duke?
What do you want to do and why do you need an MBA to do it?
Why do you want an MBA from Fuqua?
Who have you talked to from Fuqua?
Why do you think you understand the Fuqua culture?
Why not other schools?
Why now?
How will you contribute to Fuqua?
What teams will you contribute to?
How are you unique? Why should Fuqua accept you?
How will you network at Duke?

Leadership & Teamwork
Tell me how you work on a team.
Tell me about a time when you were in a group setting and you had a difficult team member and how you handled the situation.
If you were to build a team what would be important for you?
Tell me about a time when you were in a group setting and you gave an idea that was successful
What’s your leadership style / experience?
Tell me about your favorite boss. Why did you like him/her?
Please tell me about a time you went above and beyond.
Please tell me about your leadership experience outside work.
Tell me about a leadership experience where you failed

Strengths and Weaknesses
Please tell me about your greatest success.
Please tell me about your greatest failure.
Tell me about a time you overcame a challenging situation.
In what areas do you think you need to improve?
What do you do when you face a setback?
Tell me about a regret you have and the lesson you learned from it.
What motivates you?
Please tell me about a time that you failed.
How would your friends describe you?
What are three words your colleagues would use to describe you?
What accomplishment are you most proud of?

Conclusion
Any questions for me?

While there are occasional unexpected hypothetical and/or critical thinking questions, especially from alum and adcom, this is very rare.

Interviewers (students, adcom, or alum) are friendly, passionate about Duke, and consistently try to create a very relaxed interview atmosphere. This is an interview about fit (just like Duke’s essays), so make sure you can explain in depth why you want to become a part of Team Fuqua and how you will contribute to it. Previous contact with alum, visits to campus, and/or intensive school research are all great ways to prepare.

Reported interview length could be from 30 to 60 minutes, with most reported interviews taking 45 minutes.

Best of luck with your admission the Fuqua Class of 2016!

-Adam Markus

I am a graduate admissions consultant who works with clients worldwide. If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. Please note that initial consultations are not offered when I have reached full capacity or when I determine that I am not a good fit with an applicant.

Kellogg MBA Admissions Interviews for the Class of 2016

This post has been updated for admission to the Kellogg MBA Class of 2016.

Just as with essays, interviews for the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management MBA applicant interviews are all about fit. I could not really tell you how many Kellogg mock sessions I have conducted since 2001, when I started working as an admissions consultant, because the number is simply too huge. Given the fact that Kellogg has an open interview policy, more applicants will interview there in any year that anywhere else.  Reported interview length could be from 30 to 60 minutes, with most reported interviews taking 30-45 minutes.  As I work with clients from all over the world, I have discovered that Kellogg interviews are pretty consistent worldwide, both for the good and bad.

Know your Resume!
You need to know your resume completely as you will most likely be asked about content in it. Review it carefully and consider what your interviewer might ask you to explain more thoroughly. If it is on your resume, it is fair game. Kellogg interviews are conducted blind, so your interview will not have read your application. The only thing they will have is your resume. Most interview reports indicate extensive questions about the contents of the resume. As such it serves four main functions:

1.  First Impression: Most interviewers will have your resume even before they meet you. For resume-only interviews, it really is their first impression of you.  Make sure your resume is really designed for ease of use by the interviewer.  One of my objectives when helping a client with a resume is always to focus on how effective the resume is for this purpose. 

2. Agenda Setting Device: To a greater or lesser extent, a resume has an agenda setting function in many interviews.  While schools will provide interviewers with varying levels of guidance about what questions to ask, the resume may very well form the basis for some of the questions that you receive. In the case of Kellogg, it is almost always the case that the resume plays a role in the questions that you will be asked.

3. Booby Trap:  The resume can blow-up in your face if you are not careful.  Failure to review your own resume closely prior to interviewing can put you in an awkward position if you are not fully prepared to discuss everything on it. Make sure you know your numbers and dates. Make sure you can discuss anything on your resume.

4. Past Experience Answers: Since you have presumably highlighted many of the key things you would actually want to discuss on your resume, it is in essence, a primary source for your answers to past experience questions. Especially when I working with a client with limited English ability, I will tell them to practice explaining "Who What Why How When" questions related to their resume.

In addition, since you might get asked to "Tell me something about yourself that is not covered on your resume," you can use the resume to figure out what that would be.


You need to be prepared to answer routine MBA interview questions
Most reported Kellogg interviews simply consist of them. See my previous post on MBA Application Interview Strategy as well the list of questions below. You should expect to have to answer questions regarding teamwork (Examples where you demonstrated it, how you handled problems on teams, and how you would handle a low-performing team member in group work at Kellogg are common examples).  Be absolutely comfortable explaining core questions regarding fit (Why Kellogg? Why the Kellogg community is right for you?  Contributions?) as these always come up.   Be ready to ask questions and obviously make those questions fit to the person you are talking (admissions officer, student, or alumni). My colleague, Steve Green, has collected the following common questions:

RESUME: Career

• Tell me about yourself. / Walk me through your resume. PROBE ANSWERS
• Tell me about [particular accomplishment]
• Tell me about [particular promotion or change]
• What is missing from your resume that you'd like to tell me about?
• What led you to your first job?
• What made you change careers? (+ Follow-up)
• Why did you decide to switch into the field that you chose?
• How have you grown over the years?
• Tell me about what’s challenging in your current role. (+ Follow-up)
• Why did you choose ________________ for your career?
• What are your current responsibilities?
• What do you clients say about you?
• What do you outside of work?

RESUME: Education

• Why did you choose your undergraduate school?
• Why did you choose your major?
• Tell me something about your undergraduate experience?
• What was your legacy at your undergrad school?
• Why did you choose ________________ for your career?
• What are your current responsibilities?
• What do you clients say about you?
• What do you outside of work?

TEAMWORK

• Tell me about your teamwork experience.
• Describe a difficult team situation you have had to deal with in the past?
• Tell me about another teamwork experience.
• What would you do when a team member wasn't pulling his own weight?
• What would your teammates say about you?
• Discuss a team failure you were part of.

LEADERSHIP

• Who do you admire as a leader?
• Have you held leadership positions at work?
• Tell me something about your leadership experience?
• Have you faced any challenges as a leader? How did you deal with them?
• How has your leadership style evolved since college?
• What kind of leader are you?

WHY MBA / WHY KELLOGG

• Why do you want an MBA?
• Why now?
• Why Kellogg?
• Are you good with numbers?
• What are your goals?
• How will Kellogg help you achieve those goals?
• How do you envision yourself being involved in the Kellogg community?
• What clubs will you participate in?
• How will you enhance the diversity of the Kellogg class?
• What unique contribution do you bring to Kellogg?
• What other schools did you apply to?
• If you got into all of them, which would you attend?

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES

• If you could hit the reset button, what would you do differently?
• Anything that may be considered a weakness in your application you would like to explain or expand on?
• How have you grown over the years?
• What are your two main strengths?
• What are your two main weaknesses?
• If time and money were not an issue, what would you do?
• What three words would you use to describe yourself?
• Who is a good negotiator?
• Have you ever been in a negotiation where it wasn’t win – win, rather, win-lose or lose-lose.
• What do people misperceive about you in first meeting?
• If I asked your colleagues about you, what would they say? What feedback have you used to do better?

CONCLUSION

• What questions do you have for me? / Do you have any questions for me?

In MBA Application Interview Strategy I discuss some specific ways to prepare for many of the types of questions discussed above. Additionally, since some Kellogg interviews involve behavioral interview questions, I would suggest reviewing my post,  MIT Sloan MBA Interviews.  MIT Sloan MBA Interviews will also introduce you to the STAR method for telling stories, so if you need help in telling stories (especially ones about teamwork and leadershIp), I recommend reviewing that post.


Reread your essays!
Given that your Kellogg essays should contain key content to answer many of the above interview questions and because no interviewer will have read your file, feel free to make complete use of your essays for your interview. Unlike in interviews where the interviewer has read you file, for Kellogg feel free to draw upon on your essays and not even just your essays for Kellogg. For example, if you have written effective contribution content for Wharton Essay 2 or London Business School Essays 2 or 3, you might find it very useful when answering a question about how you would contribute at Kellogg.   It surprises sometimes when I am doing mock interviews with a client and they have not reviewed their own essays very much. This a core repository of content. It will need to be altered for purposes of the interview, but you should use it!

Lack of Consistency in Kellogg interviews

As you should know Kellogg’s new motto is THINK BRAVELY, but as far as  interviews go, I would say their motto must be INTERVIEW INCONSISTENTLY. While most Kellogg interviews are moderately difficult in terms of the kind of questions that are asked and the attitude of most interviewers (admissions officers, alumni, and students) is professional and friendly, other types of interviews are possible and not uncommon.   Given the huge number of alumni interviewers involved in this process, this is especially a problem with alumni interviews whether held on a Kellogg Interview Day (many applicants and interviewers all meeting at the same place for one-to-one interviews) or just through an arranged one-to-one off-campus interview. Even on-campus interviews with students lack some consistency as I will discuss below.  Only interviews with admissions officers fit into some predictable norm of moderately difficult and professional.  Some types of dysfunctional Kellogg interviews:

The Cake Walk: The lovely expression “as easy as cake” can be applied to some international interviews that I have heard about. This can be nice for the applicant, of course, but surely is unfair for other applicants. A cake walk interview consists of some of the standard Kellogg interview questions, but everything is very surface level and most of the interview is just nice conversation. The interviewer then prepares a sterling evaluation of the applicant even in terms of areas that were not necessarily addressed in the interview because the men involved (not always, but typically from what I can see this involves men and is just another form of immediate locker room type bonding). If you find you are having an apparently very easy interview, just make sure you work as many key points about yourself into the conversation while maintaining a positive and friendly feeling about the whole thing.

“You really don’t fit because I don’t like you”: The worst reports I have heard about have involved Kellogg alumni interviewers who expressed their dislike for the applicant. The interviewer uses highly judgmental language that often barely hides bias. This bias might be gender-based, class-based, or industry-function based. We are not talking here about merely an agressive interviewer, but rather an interviewer who actively looks down on the applicant.  Frankly I have never read or been about such an interview being conducted in the US, but I do know about such unpleasant interviews conducted through Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The only thing I can suggest during such an interview is that you hold your own, don’t cave against bully you are dealing with, but respond aggressively in defending yourself and why you belong at Kellogg. The abuse of power is an ugly thing. If you feel you have been treated particularly badl y, you should consider reporting the details of this to Kellogg admissions.

English not spoken: One of the best reasons to eliminate alumni interviews completely especially when an admissions office is because alumni interviewers don’t always conduct some or even most of the interview in English. I have client reports of this from around the world. This can be to the advantage or disadvantage of the applicant.  If an applicant is trying to really highlight their English communication ability, having an interview that is not conducted in English might not be particularly helpful. In addition, speaking in another language is often a gateway to the two previous types dysfunctional interviews I mentioned above.  I have no specific suggestions for what you can do when an interview is not conducted in English if you think the interview is going well. If you think the interview is not going well, you can consider this grounds for informing Kellogg admissions. Since Kellogg admissions waives some interviews and subsequently conducts telephone interviews, I would not be surprised if your interview was initially waived. Most applicants will not want to complain about an interviewer, but if you feel you were treated badly, it is worth considering. Advice for international applicants who really want to highlight their English communication skills: Go interview on-campus because campus interviews will be conducted in English. 

Bored, hungover, busy, and/or tired: Most reported student interviews are not like like this, but it is no surprise that some of these interviews involve student interviewers who wish they were some where else doing something else (studying, sleeping, recruiting activities, etc.).  Not fun if you have traveled to Evanston and find your interviewer is just not that engaged in the process. If your interviewer seems less than engaged, just make the possible case for yourself and don’t let their indifference get to you. The worst thing you can do is react to someone else’s lack of energy.  You must maintain your enthusiasm even in the fact of complete indifference. Just imagine you are talking to a mirror and ignore the interviewer’s lack of engagement. I don’t think you can really complain to admissions about this issue. Just be aware that might happen.

While I think it is nice that Kellogg basically interviews all applicants (some applicants are waived initially from interviewing but ultimately do a telephone interview if Kellogg is actually interested in admitting them), it does come at the cost of consistency.  I do think that putting all applicants on level playing field means giving them an interview that is conducted with a fairly high degree of consistency.  Of course, the moment alumni are involved at any school, consistency tends to get lost unless the school really works hard to maintain standards and weed out bad interviewers.  I know many alumni do a great job and should be praised for their involvement with the process, but unfortunately this is not always the case.   I have pointed these issues out so you are prepared for the worst case scenarios. Hopefully you will not experience them.

Best of luck with admission to Kellogg’s Class of 2016!

-Adam Markus

I am a graduate admissions consultant who works with clients worldwide. If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. Please note that initial consultations are not offered when I have reached full capacity or when I determine that I am not a good fit with an applicant.

The Darden MBA Admissions Interview

Steve Green has taken on the unique challenge of providing advice for Darden's "one question" interview. Darden has been doing it this way for years.  Steve's graduate work in political science was conducted at the University of Virginia, so he is someone particularly familiar with the culture of Mr. Jefferson's University. (If you don't know what I am talking about, you should!) Information about Steve's interview counseling services can be found here. Steve and I have been working together since 2001. Many of my clients do interview preparation with him for Darden and all other top MBA programs. A full-time professor, Steve exclusively focuses on MBA interview preparation. 

Remember that UVA takes its honor code seriously, so this is not an interview to practice truth stretching, but one to engage deeply in truth telling. As in any interview, it is all in the way you interprete yourself. 
-Adam

The Darden MBA Admissions Interview

Have you ever felt constrained by the standard Q&A format of an MBA interview? Have you ever wished you could be given the time to tell an interviewer your life story?  If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, then the Darden admissions interview may be for you.

According to publicly available reports, Darden bundles a half-dozen interview questions into one covering statement that directs interviewees to tell their story.

• In a nutshell, Darden’s single question is “Tell me about yourself.”

In at least one case, this extended version of the same question was asked:  

“I am here for you to tell me your story. Just tell me about yourself. In the process you can cover college, anything before college if relevant, your resume, why MBA and why Darden.”

According to the public reports you should expect:

• to be given 20-30 minutes for your story (though the whole interview itself may last longer should you talk for a long time and follow up questions are saved until the end of your monologue.)
• to be interrupted sometimes with follow-up questions.
• to be interviewed by a current student, possibly with an adcom member present (unless, of course, you have arranged on an off-campus interview with an alumnus.)
• the interview to be blind (i.e. the interviewer will not have seen your resume.)
• a relaxed atmosphere:  Darden interviewers seem genuinely interested in hearing applicants’ personal histories, from what I’ve seen in reports.
• to be given the chance to ask questions about Darden to the interviewer.

Based on what the reports say, Darden really seems to want to get to know the person “behind” the application- the person who wrote the application essays and earned the test scores that inspired Darden to extend an interview invitation.  

Considering that most interviewers are students, and the fact that they are allowing interviewees the freedom to talk so much about their lives, suggests they consider this the best way to select for people who would be the most interesting future classmates.  

You don’t need to have a unique, “made for Hollywood” life story.  

You do need to be able to talk about your life in the most interesting way possible, with special attention, of course, to what has led you to want an MBA from Darden.  Obviously, this interview format places a premium on excellent communication skills. Also, given the role of the honor code at UVA, if your story comes across as too good to be true, you will be in trouble.

How should you prepare for the Darden interview?  

The good news is you already have prepared for it!  Through the writing of many MBA admissions essays (presumably you have applied to more schools than just Darden) you have already told a lot of your life story, albeit in a piecemeal manner.  By now, it is highly likely that you have written about: both personal and professional accomplishments; your strengths and weaknesses; setbacks, and what you learned from them; why you want an MBA and what are your career goals.  If you have already had an admissions interview, then you may have taken someone through your resume, as well.

To tell your story you should…

Cover all these topics but ground them in the personal experiences that shaped your values and created the strengths that have led to your success.  

Advice for how to structure your story:

The guidelines below assume a chronological answer to the Darden question.  At least one successful report describes just such an answer that began in the interviewee’s childhood.  The public reports suggest Darden wants people to discuss their whole lives, and the most logical, though not the only, way is chronologically.  The advantage of this format is it allows you to show your development over time, with the story culminating in why you want a Darden MBA.  However, you do not necessarily need to follow a strict chronology.  If you want to bring a lot of attention to your career goals, for example, and believe they define who you are now more than anything else, you could begin with them.  Even in that case, though, you’ll need to take the listener “back in time” a bit to show how you came to reach these goals.

1. Begin your monologue by saying clearly who you are.  State up to 3 key points about yourself, including your guiding value(s) and core strengths. These strengths should not be limited to one field, e.g. finance, but the skill that allows you to succeed in particular fields, e.g. analytical thinking.  
2. Explain the experiences that forged these values and strengths.  Darden allows you to describe events in your childhood and/or teenage years, as these are the periods in our lives when many of our core values, and even, in some instances, the foundations for our core strengths, are formed.  However, don’t devote more time than necessary to talking about your pre-college years.
3. Develop your story arc with these core values and strengths. Illustrate how they were enhanced and even challenged by experiences in college and how, as an adult, you have applied them in your professional and personal life.   
4. Illustrate your story arc with accomplishments that are on your resume. Emphasize turning points and setbacks, from which you learned something important that defines who you are now.
5. Describe the experience(s) that gave form to your career goals and convinced you needed an MBA. This experience, by definition, would be a turning point in your life.  Discuss what about it made you realize you cannot achieve your career goal with out an MBA.
6. Explain how you discovered that the Darden MBA is the best choice for you.

Remember:  

• Your audience wants to know whether or not you would make an interesting classmate.  Avoid jargon, and do not sound boastful or give the impression you have never made mistakes.
• Your interviewer may interrupt your story with follow-up questions about particular points in it.  Do not be unnerved if this happens.  Take it as a positive sign of interest in your story.  After all, it is only natural to want more details about someone’s experiences.  According to reports it is common, and, frankly, it probably makes the session more interesting for everyone involved.   

Look at the Darden interview as an opportunity.  

Most of us love to talk about ourselves, if given the chance.  But, unless and until you become as famous as Bill Gates or J.K. Rowling, your detailed, personal story probably will never be the main interest of an audience of strangers.  So, Darden gives you a rare chance to show someone just how fascinating you are. Make the interviewer believe in you!

For questions regarding this post, please contact me at h.steven.green@gmail.com. To learn more about my MBA admissions interview counseling services, please click here.
- H. Steven ("Steve") Green

University of Michigan Ross MBA Admissions Interviews

Interviews for the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business are not particularly hard. Based on my experience as well as the reports found at accepted.com and clearadmit.com, I can say that they are generally seem to be friendly, focused on fit, and require the applicant to discuss the basics. Please refer to my prior overall MBA admissions strategy interview posts( here, here, here, and here) for general advice on prepare for the Ross interview.

Ross interviews are conducted blind, but since what you say in the interview will be checked against what you wrote, make certain that your oral and written presentations are consistent, especially in terms of your goals.

My colleagues Steve Green and Jessica King have compiled the following common Ross interview questions based on publicly available reports:

INTRODUCTION AND “BASICS” (GOALS, REASONS FOR MBA)

• Tell me about yourself.  Walk me through your resume. What should I know about you? *Probe resume: Cross-reference, push for details about why and how.
• Why did you choose your undergraduate school/major, current employer etc.
• Tell me about your current position and responsibilities.
• What do you do outside of work?
• What are your career goals?
• Why do you want an MBA?
• Why Ross?
• Why now?
• How will you be involved inside/outside of the classroom?
• What will your biggest contribution be?
• What will you do if not accepted to Ross?

TEAMS

• How would you deal with a teammate who doesn’t act like a team player?
• Tell me how you dealt with a team member who was under-performing.
• Tell me about your role on a team.
• Tell me about a time when your team faced a lot of obstacles? What did you learn?
• Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a disagreement on a team.
• What would you do in a team consisting of members with strong personalities?
• Tell me about a time when you worked effectively in a team. What do you think made the team so effective?

LEADERSHIP

• Tell me about a time you showed initiative.
• How do you manage conflict?
• Please give me 3 examples of your leadership experience?
• What does leadership mean to you?
• Tell me about a time you had to deal with a struggling team member.

OTHER BEHAVIORAL QUESTIONS

• Tell me about a time when you had a professional failure and what you learned from it.
• Tell me about a time when you received negative feedback from a supervisor and how did you respond.
• Tell me about a disappointment you’ve experienced.
• Tell me about a time you had to think outside the box.

SELF-AWARENESS/PERSONAL

• Key learnings from the last 4 years of your work experience.
• Most significant accomplishment.
• What is your definition of success?
• What was the most useful constructive criticism you’ve received?
• What 3 adjectives would your friends use to describe you and why?
• What makes you unique?
• What was a challenging experience in your life?
• What do you do for fun?
• Tell me about any volunteer/charity work you’ve done.
• What is the last book you read?
• What is something about you that isn’t on your resume?
• What question do you wish I would have asked?

Ross interviewers are admissions officers, students, and alumni and interviews can be in person or by telephone.  For a discussion of the characteristics of admissions officer interviewers, student interviewers, and alumni interviewers, see here. Reported length for interviews is usually 30 minutes with some going 45 minutes and few lasting an hour (these seem to be an exception). Campus interviews will most likely be 30 minutes. Given that this is a short interview, I think it is particularly important that you have a very clear idea about what you want to cover. The most frustrating thing about such an interview could easily be lack of time to cover your own perceived key points, so make sure that when you think about the likely questions above, you have fully considered how you will use your answers as a vehicle to help your interviewer understand why you should be offered a place at Michigan. For more about strategy, see here.

If you are interviewed by a student, take it seriously! Apparently a sufficient number of applicants were not in R1 for 2010 admission because Soojin Kwon Koh, the Director of Admissions, posted the following:

I wanted to pass on a bit of advice to Round 2 (and 3) applicants based on some experiences during Round 1. It seems that some applicants view interviews with an MBA2 who is part of the Admissions Student Committee as less "serious" than an interview with an alumnus or staff member. Some applicants were a bit unprofessional, shall we say, probably thinking that an MBA2 is on the level of a peer/buddy rather than a bona fide admissions interviewer. Don't let that be you. 

Treat whoever you interview with equal seriousness. 

Click here to find out about my interview preparation services.

-Adam Markus

I am a graduate admissions consultant who works with clients worldwide. If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. Please note that initial consultations are not offered when I have reached full capacity or when I determine that I am not a good fit with an applicant.

UC Berkeley Haas MBA Interviews

My post on Haas MBA admissions essays can be found here. 

Before reading this post on UC Berkeley Haas MBA's admissions interviews, I suggest reviewing the former Director of Admissions for the Full-time MBA Program's excellent Tips for Acing the Admissions Interview. I also suggest that you listen to the short podcast on interviewing found at http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/haas/podcast/audio/haas_mba_interview_tips1.mp3. The advice is very simple and clear and applicable to most schools. If you think you will get special insight about the Haas interviews from listening to this, you will likely be disappointed, but still it is worth a listen.  For my overall perspective on interview strategy, see here, here, and here, and here.

The interview reports found at clearadmit.com and accepted.com make it clear that you need to know your resume completely as you will be asked about content in it ("Walk me through your resume"). Review it carefully and consider what your interviewer might ask you to explain more thoroughly. If it is on your resume, it is fair game.

My colleagues Steve Green and Jessica King have compiled and organized the following list of common Haas MBA questions based on publicly available reports.

WHY MBA/HAAS

-Tell me about yourself / Take me through your resume (be prepared to explain why/how you changed jobs)

-Why an MBA?  

-Why part-time?

-Career goals?

-Why now?

-What will you contribute to Haas?

-Are there any clubs/activities that do not exist that you would like to start?

BEHAVIORAL QUESTIONS (For my advice on behavioral questions, see my post on MIT.)

Leadership

-A challenging leadership/teamwork experience.

-A time you led a group.

-A time when you were a humble leader.

Teamwork

-A time you failed/were on a team that failed.

-A time you displayed good teamwork.

-A time a team member was not pulling his/her own weight

Interpersonal skills

-A time when you met resistance/faced a conflict in a professional setting, either with a team or a person. How did you deal with it?

-A time you faced an interpersonal challenge.

-A time you received constructive feedback and how you responded.

Berkeley-esque questions

-A time you advocated for change/going in a different direction.

-A time you took a risk.

-A time you did something really innovative.

-A time you made an impact at the office.

-Something you wish you could have done differently.

GENERAL QUESTIONS

Professional

-How would you describe your management/leadership style?

-How do you define “leadership?” Give an example.

-How would your boss, co-workers, subordinates describe you? Friends? (give both strengths and weaknesses)

-3 strengths? 3 weaknesses?

Personal

-What book are you currently reading?

-Putting aside your professional life, tell me about your personal life and the activities that define you (he honed in on the "other interests" section of the resume right from the start)

-Tell me about your process for self-reflection. How do you define/measure success and then evaluate whether you've been successful in a particular situation?

-Tell me something about yourself that’s not on your resume.

-What do people like about you?

As you can see from the above, you need to be prepared to answer routine MBA questions, some of which might be asked in a behavioral style. It is important that you be prepared to show your fit to  Haas and be well prepared to answer the above Berkeley-esque questions. Remember BILD!

I see no reports and have not been told about any trick questions really. Be prepared to ask questions about the program. If you have an alum interview, be prepared to have a number of questions.

Interviewers (students, adcom, or alumni) are usually friendly and consistently try to create a very relaxed interview atmosphere. Most interviews are conducted with students on-campus or alumni off-campus. I did read some reports of relatively weak student interviewers, so don't be surprised if this should happen. Regardless of how your interviewer performs, just be relaxed and positive. This is an interview about fit and your own potential, so make sure you can explain in depth why you want to attend Haas, how you will contribute to it, and what you intend to do afterwords. Previous contact with alum, visits to campus, and/or intensive school research are all great ways to prepare.

Campus interviews are scheduled for 30 minutes and usually last 30-45 minutes. Alum interviews seems to last about 45 minutes to an hour.

Click here to find out about my interview preparation services.


-Adam Markus

I am a graduate admissions consultant who works with clients worldwide. If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. Please note that initial consultations are not offered when I have reached full capacity or when I determine that I am not a good fit with an applicant.