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

Duke Fuqua MBA Admissions Interviews

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.

In addition to my experience, 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. Typical Duke questions include:

-Walk me through your resume.

-Why MBA?

-Why Duke?

-How will contribute to Fuqua?

-What are your short term and long term goals?

-Tell me about a time when you received a negative feedback and you did not agree with it?

-Tell me about a time when one of your team members did not participate well?What did you do?

-Discuss your strengths and weaknesses

- Tell me about a situation where you worked with a team and there was a difference in opinion and how you helped reconcile the situation to come to a solution.

-Do you have any questions for me?

While there are occasional unexpected hypothetical and/or critical thinking questions, especially from alum and adcom, this seems to be 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.

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.

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.

General Characteristics of Admissions Officers, Students, and Alumni Interviewers

Clients frequently ask me, if they are given choice, about whether to choose an interview with an alumni, a student, and/or admissions officer.  While my answer to such questions might be very school specific, at times I think it is really just a question of my client's preference.  Still, for most applicants, I would suggest choosing an admissions officer if you can. Otherwise,  between campus (unknown student interviewer/admissions officer) and alumni, it is less clear.  Therefore, I think it is useful to consider the general characteristics of the three different types of interviewers.  This is just my perspective based on helping clients prepare for MBA interviewers since 2001.  Keep in mind that what follows is neither school or individual specific, but really just general characteristics, which may or may not apply to the specific school you interview with or your particular interviewer.  

Explanation of the above table

Maturity & professionalism

One of the best reasons I can think of for choosing to interview or hoping to interview with an admissions officer is that you can assume the person you deal with will be a mature professional.  Based both on what clients have told me and by reading a large number of interview reports, I know that student interviewers are not always reliable in this respect.  Consider that at least some student interviewers are doing this work because it gives them interviewer experience.  

With alumni, I wish I could say the situation was totally positive, but actually the worst interviews I have heard about were with highly unprofessional alumni, hence my "variable" for a category that is, generally speaking, professional and mature.  Most alumni interviewers are mature and professional, but a few are really bad eggs.

Among top US MBA programs, the school with the most alumni interview horror stories is most certainly Columbia Business School.  Given their very open process where candidates choose from many possible alumni, there appears to be very little direct oversight over the interviewer selection process. It is no wonder that CBS admissions seems to frequently conduct short follow-up telephone interviews with applicants.  

For 2012 admission, Wharton eliminated alumni interviewers completely and I think this was good thing for applicants overall, though it was not well implemented in R1 (not enough interview spaces in overseas locations and lack of initial clarity about telephone/skype interview options), but they now seem to have their act together.  Anyone familiar with the Wharton interview process (Especially before Fall 2011) could see that the quality of the interviews being conducted was simply highly variable.  By using only admissions officers and well trained students, Wharton is not only giving applicants a more fair interview experience, but likely getting better interview reports.

WHAT DO IF YOU FEEL THAT A STUDENT OR ALUMNI INTERVIEWER DID NOT TREAT YOU IN A PROFESSIONAL MANNER AND YOU EXPECT A NEGATIVE EVALUATION:  Document what you experienced in as much detail as possible.  Was the interview expressing some sort of inherent bias against you?  Was the interview using rude language?  Was the interviewer unreasonably aggressive?  Was the interviewer asking you for some sensitive information or a business related connection? Next, discuss what you experienced with a trusted adviser (admissions consultant, mentor) who you can expect honest feedback from.  If after that discussion, you feel that you really were not treated appropriately, contact admissions and provide them with the full details.  Admissions Directors are aware that problems arise and assuming your case is valid, you will likely be offered a new interviewer. At minimum, you will be helping to prevent some asshole from wrecking other applicants' chances.

Knowledge of current program 

The issue comes up most frequently in the "any questions" section of the interview. While you should assume that an admissions officer knows their program well, even if they don't because they are new to the program, you should feel free to ask them questions about the particular parts of the program you are interested in.  For students, they will know about the current program, but as this would be limited to their experience,  don't be surprised if they can't comment on every course or club.  Just ask open-ended questions so that you don't put someone in the position of indicating repeatedly that they have not taken it or experienced it. Asking open-ended questions always applies to alumni as well, because depending on when they graduated, their knowledge of the current program is highly variable.  Asking a member of the Class of 2010 about courses she recommends makes sense, but asking that question to a member of the Class of 2000?  Just ask questions that you think your interviewer will have some reasonable basis for answering.

Arbitrary Questions

You've reviewed all of the interview reports on Clear Admit and Accepted and/or the question lists I have on my blog (At the moment consisting of CBS, Chicago Booth, Cornell, Haas, HBS, INSEAD, Kellogg, Michigan, MIT, Stanford, Tuck, and Wharton) or found such questions elsewhere, but how much can you depend on those being the types of questions you will be asked?   For admissions interviewers, you can likely assume they will stick to the script and are less likely to ask seemingly arbitrary questions, but such questions are still possible.  With students, they also tend to stick to the script, but it is a bit more variable. With alumni interviewers, this is more likely.  The best indicator of the likelihood that you will be asked unexpected, seemingly arbitrary questions is the extent to which they come up in actual interviews.

Experienced at Interviewing

With admissions officers, it is safe to assume that they will be experienced at interviewing unless they are newbies (It does happen).  With students, it is less likely they will be experienced and this is why there exist many interview reports that mention the relative inexperience/awkwardness of the interviewer. Alumni interviews are likely to be very experienced, but new graduates might not be.

Experienced the MBA program 

While some admissions officers will have attended the MBA program they work for, most have not and only some of them will have an MBA. Students will have obviously experienced the program, but as they are in the midst of it, they might not be as able to discuss it overall as an alumni interviewer who has experienced it completely. 

Realistic about the program

You can expect students and alumni to be realistic about the program and even though they are representing their school, you can expect them to tell what they like/liked and dislike/disliked about the program when you ask a question like "What do you like best/least about the program?"  With admissions, you would not necessarily ask them the sort question anyway.  Their real connection to the MBA program is highly variable and since half their job is to market the program as well as administer who enters the program, you can't expect total honesty. 

Sells the Program 

When it comes to actually selling their program,  I don't assume much difference between an MBA admissions officer and a car salesman except that the car salesman can give you a real test drive. Of course, in an MBA interview, only lower ranking programs need to do much sales.  I have never heard of an admissions officer at HBS selling their MBA because they don't need to.  The easier it is to get in, the more likely adcom will be doing the selling. With student interviewers, this is highly variable.  It is likely that an alumni interviewer will sell the benefits of the program, especially when they clearly like who they are interviewing.

Ability to ask more focused & personalized questions

Admissions interviewers are most likely to be able to really ask focused and personalized questions, whereas student interviewers being less experienced, probably are not.  Alumni interviewers are likely to do as well.  In general, more experienced interviewers know how to ask better questions that relate to the applicant.

Uses shared primary (not English) language with applicant    

It would be unlikely that an admissions officer or student interviewer would use any language other than English for an interview.  With alumni outside of the US and other native English speaking countries, this is quite variable.  I think one good reason for getting rid of alumni interviewers  is that using a language other than English for at least part of the interview happens too often regardless of the fact that admissions officers don't want it to happen at all (and make that clear in the directions they give alumni).  While it might seem it is to the advantage of the applicant, I have had a number of clients who felt that it is was not to their advantage to switch between languages and communication styles, to interview with an alumni who was not that comfortable speaking in English, and/or to not fully have the opportunity to highlight their high level English skills. This issue is particularly common in East Asia.  I have heard of this arising elsewhere, but not with as much apparent frequency. For international students with limited English ability, interacting with an alumni interviewer who shares your linguistic background is generally a better choice.

Same nationality as applicant

Like it or not, most people find it easier to talk with someone who shares their cultural assumptions, so having the same nationality as your interviewer can be an advantage. For applicants located in the their home country and applying internationally, the best argument for selecting an alumni interviewer over a student or admissions officer is that it will likely be easier to communicate with someone who even if they don't share your nationality, at least understand your culture.  Alumni interviewers, whether resident foreigners or those who share your nationality will likely need significantly less explanation to understand you. For applicants interviewing in their home country with a student interviewer, be aware that your interviewer maybe an international student.  Bottom line: Especially if you don't know who your student or, in some more limited cases, alumni interviewer is ahead of time, don't make any assumptions about their background.

Greatest impact on admissions decisions

I don't care what admissions offices say about all interviews being the same.  While that is certainly theoretically true, I think it is safe to assume that interviews with admissions officers are more likely to have a greater impact on admissions decisions than those conducted by students or alumni. If an admission officer is truly impressed by a candidate, their ability to communicate that in their evaluation will simply carry greater weight.  To think otherwise is naive.  Call my cynical about this. I can take it.

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.

Recovering from a bad answer during an MBA admissions interview

In the midst of an MBA admissions interview, you think to yourself, "Did I just say that?"  Knowing you just made mistake, you ...

(A) ...become flustered and the interview just goes downhill.

(B) ...ignore your bad answer entirely and hope your interviewer does too.

(C)...just decide to directly ask the interviewer if you can expand on your prior answer...

(D)  The above all seem like bad options. There must be a better way.

The answer is (D).  (B) might be viable, but if you can mitigate a bad answer, that would be better than ignoring it completely.   (C) might be viable, but the chances of effectively executing vary too greatly.  (A) is obviously not the way to go.

In this post I wanted to present some ways to recovering from a bad answer during an MBA admissions interview. 

My prior overall MBA admissions strategy interview posts are  here, here, here, and here. My school specific interview posts (At the moment consisting of CBS, Chicago Booth, Cornell, Haas, HBS, INSEAD, Kellogg, Michigan, MIT, Stanford, Tuck, and Wharton) can be found in the "Key Posts" section in the left-hand column.

1. Don't breakdown.  The worst thing you can possibly do is become so obviously flustered by a poor answer that you undermine the OVERALL IMPRESSION you make.  An interview is about both specific answers and an overall impression. Not every answer has to be perfect to succeed in this process.  Some people become stuck when they encounter a question that they have not previously considered.  My suggestion is that it is better to give a bad answer with confidence than to give a bad answer without confidence.  Don't question yourself too much in the moment.  You can beat yourself up after the interview.

2. Don't lose confidence. Related to the previous comment, confidence is always a selling point. If you don't believe in what you are saying, no one else will. Even if what you are saying is highly flawed, if it is conveyed with confidence it can have a positive impact on the interviewer.  Sometimes really smart people are much worse at interviewing than others because of their tendency towards introspection.  While it is possible that you might encounter an interviewer who really wants to engage with you at a complex analytical level, based on most interview reports from most schools, this is not the case.  There are always exceptions, but in general assume an interview is not analytical debate, but a directed conversation with varying degrees of followup from your interviewer.

3. If possible mitigate.  If you know you gave a weak answer, try to mitigate the impact by addressing the issue in another context in the conversation. For example, if you gave an answer about a question related to teamwork where you did not actually emphasize your teamwork, try to make that point later in the conversation. Most interviews end with something like "Do you have anything you would like to tell me?" or "Do you have any questions?"  You can always use such opportunities to mention your skills at teamwork or a contribution you would like to make as a student based on your teamwork ability.  Mitigating works best for those who know their key selling points and stories very well, so that they can easily bring in something that they missed in the initial answer.

4. Go on the next question. Recovering immediately is about simply moving on and not becoming fixated on what happened in the past.  Treat each question as a new opportunity to convince your interviewer that you belong at their MBA program.

5. Smile, make eye contact, maintain positive body language. The natural inclination of many people, when giving a weak answer is often reflected in a changed facial expression, altered body language, and/or loss of eye contact.  At least this what I have noticed through over ten years of conducting face-to-face mock interviews with clients preparing for MBA interviews. Again, when it comes to making a positive overall impression, those who don't lose their confidence are at a real advantage. 

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.