Stanford GSB MBA Admissions Interviews

Stanford GSB’s is the hardest MBA admission interview invitation to get on the planet.  If you have been invited, your chance of admission just went from about 6.5% (depends on the year) to 50%.   The odds are much better, now you must close the deal.  While a poor interview is unlikely to result in admission,  the admissions process at Stanford is holistic and a great interview is no absolute guarantee of success.
You can find results and/or testimonials from my clients admitted to to the Stanford Classes of 2016 (2 in Round 1), 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010 here.  My full Stanford results prior to the Class of 2014 can be found here. My clients admitted to Stanford GSB have come from China, India, Latin America, Japan, South Korea, and the United States and have had extremely diverse professional and educational backgrounds. The advice I provide below is based on that experience.

Stanford GSB MBA admission  interviews, while so hard to get, are not necessarily hard interviews because (1) most of the questions are relatively predictable,  (2) the overall style of the interview is typically conversational,  and (3) time constraints are either minimal or non-existent.  This is interview about fit as typically determined by an alumni “gatekeeper.” Interviews with admissions or other Stanford staff do happen as well, but this is relatively rare.  Chances are good that this gatekeeper might be in your industry or in some manner have a complementary background for assessing you.  For example, if you might be perceived as lacking a particularly important attribute (professional experience in the field related to your goals or English skills for example), don’t surprised if the alumni is someone who is in a good position to judge this. While I imagine in some places with few alumni, a high level of complementary assessment (e.g., Mc Kinsey applicant interviewed by Boston Consulting Group alumnus) would be less likely, I can say that it is the rule rather the exception if you reside in a location with numerous Stanford alumni.

Interacting with the interviewer
You can typically expect a lively exchange and hopefully a good conversation. If your interview is scheduled for late on a workday or on a weekend or outside of the interviewer’s office, whatever you do, don’t make any plans for it to end on time as Stanford interviews are well known for going long.

Reported interview length for interviews is official 45 minutes, but can go on for longer than that. It usually consists of 30-40 minutes of questions from the alumni followed by 5-15 minutes of question to the alum, but often the interviews go longer, an hour or more is not uncommon. In my own experience with clients, I would say that if the interview goes for an hour or more, that is a good sign, but a 45 minute interview is not necessarily a bad sign. Interviews that last 75 minutes to 120 minutes are not uncommon.

Whoever you interview with, they are likely to be quite friendly and the style of the interview is conversational. Stanford alumni are provided with very clear guidelines for how to conduct interviews. The alumnus will be provided with a list of questions,  which they utilize.  The extent to which the alumnus does this appears to be highly variable. You may get more of an informal conversation with the occasional behavioral question or you might get something consists of many of the standard interview questions mentioned below.

Just because your interviewer is friendly, it does not mean that you are doing well. Don’t assume a friendly interviewer is not actually a super critical one. Alumni are the gatekeepers and Stanford can afford to reject anyone. Take nothing for granted.

Preparing for the interview
Given the mix of standard interview questions and behavioral  questions, I do suggest you prepare extensively for both kinds of questions.   For my  detailed suggestions on overall interview preparation, please see:
-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

• Tell me about your background/walk me through your resume.

• Tell me a bit about yourself

• What extracurricular activity are you most proud of?

• What did you take away from your undergraduate experience?

• What do you like to do outside of work?

• Tell about a time you streamlined operations/made things more efficient? What did you do?  How did you measure its success?

• What metrics did you use?

• Tell me about your international experience.

• What is your favorite place you've traveled?

• What is your company's strategy?  Is it succeeding?

• Tell me about a specific time when you realized you needed an MBA.

• Why a Stanford MBA?

• Why do you need an MBA?

• Why now?

• Why Stanford?

• How would you decide between schools if you got into multiple MBA programs?

• What will you bring that is unique to the program?

• How will you contribute to Stanford?

• What are your short-term goals? Long-term goals?

• Where else have you applied? How have those worked out?

• Explain how you are ready for academic rigor.

• Tell me about a time you faced an obstacle and what did you do about it?

• Tell me about a time you faced an ethical situation.

• Tell me about a time you had your beliefs challenged.

• Tell me about a time you had to stand your ground and how did you do it?

• Tell me about a time your values were challenged and you had to consult your moral compass?

• Tell me about someone difficult to work with that was in a position above you and what you learned from it.

• Tell me about a time when others have pointed out a weakness of yours.

• Tell me about the most valuable piece of feedback you’ve ever received. How did it change your relationship with that individual? Why was it important?

• What is a valuable piece of feedback you have received?

• Tell me about a time things didn't go according to plan and you failed? What did you learn from it?

• What did you learn from a failure?

• Tell me about an individual or group failure.

• Tell me about a time when you failed. What did you learn from that event and how have you implemented what you learned from that failure?

• How do you deal with failure?

• Name a book that you’ve read recently that was not for work. We then discussed that book.

• What is your favorite book that is not work related?

• What are your 3 favorite books?

• Tell me about what inspires you.

• Is there anything you've done merely out of passion?

• If money were not an issue, what cause would you pursue most vigorously?

• Tell me about a time you wanted to give up but found the motivation to keep going?

• What is your greatest accomplishment?

• Tell me about a time you had to make a trade-off between two equally attractive opportunities?

• Tell me about a time you worked with a difficult team member or manager.

• Tell me about an individual or group failure.

• Tell me about a team experience.

• Have you ever led a team?

• Tell me about a time when you had to lead a team of individuals. What did you learn about yourself? What did you learn about leadership?

• Tell me about a leadership experience.

• Tell me about a time you knew you were an effective leader and how did you know?

• What is your leadership style? Give me an example of how you’ve led that way.

• When have you led peers and how?

• Tell me about a time when a leader fell short and you had to step up and lead.

• Tell me about a time when you’ve been challenged as a leader and what you learned from it.

-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.  For  answering behavioral questions, please see MIT Sloan MBA Interviews, which will teach you how to be a STAR (if you don’t know what I am talking about, read the post for sure).


Typical Questions
My colleague, H. Steven Green, has put the following together by reviewing interview reports of Stanford University GSB interviews found at accepted.com and clearadmit.com.
RESUME
GOALS, REASONS FOR MBA, REASONS FOR STANFORD
CHARACTER & CHALLENGES TO YOUR BELIEFS AND VALUES
DIFFICULT WORK RELATIONSHIPS
CRITICISM AND FEEDBACK FROM OTHERS
FAILURE
BOOKS YOU'VE READ
INSPIRATION, PASSION
TEAMWORK
LEADERSHIP


Demonstrate Fit
You need to be able to explain in-depth why you should be admitted to Stanford, what you can contribute, and what you want to learn. Be willing to openly discuss what soft and hard skills you need to improve/acquire. Show yourself to be open, dynamic, change oriented, and a highly motivated person because the alum will be.

Prepare good questions
Since there is supposed to be time for you to ask questions to the alum, you need to give some significant thought to formulating those. Consider what year the alum graduated and any other background information if you can determine that through Linkedin or other sources of information. Develop four or more questions to ask.

For more about my interview services, please see here.

-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.

HBS Admissions Interviews for the MBA Class of 2016

In this post I provide advice for HBS Admissions Interviews for the MBA Class of 2016.


HBS ADCOM HQ
I did not revise my HBS interview post  for Round 1 applicants, but that did not stop six of my clients from being admitted to HBS in R1 for the Class of 2016. You can find their results as well as some testimonials here.

In my experience, applicants who succeed at HBS MBA interviews go to their interview with a sense of confidence based on having done careful preparation. My clients who have failed the interview stage have often done so because of related reasons: lack of confidence and/or preparation.  Of course, there are times when the post-interview reason for getting dinged is never clear. The reality of having too many well qualified applicants means that many who would certainly make the post-interview cut don’t, simply due to lack of available seats. While these issues could be the same for any interview, the reality is that HBS admissions interviews are simply more thorough than that of most other schools. Failure to take this interview sufficiently seriously is a recipe for disaster.

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.

TAKE PREPARATION FOR HBS VERY SERIOUSLY! Any experienced admissions consultant will tell you that the HBS interview is one that really does require preparation even for those who previously aced alumni interviews.  My colleagues and I have often become depressed about cases where we had great applicants who did not take the HBS really seriously.  By the same token, our clients who really prep for this really do have a much higher rate of admission.  I have had clients who might do 5-20 hours of self-preparation for every hour of time spent with a consultant.  One of my clients admitted to HBS did 2 hours of prep with myself and another counselor and an additional 100 hours on his own. He already had been admitted to Kellogg and Booth, but knew HBS would be different.

I believe in the value of active interview preparation. That is to say, instead of focusing only what questions you might get asked, focus on what you want to say about yourself. A basic any school approach to this would be to connect key words and stories that you hope to use. Given that you can’t know exactly what you will be asked, you can at least have prepared for discussing key things that you want to get across to the interviewer.  The following is an “any school” chart (For better versions of these charts, see http://www.adammarkus.com/hbs-admissions-interviews-for-the-mba-class-of-2016/):

Active Interview Preparation Chart

Keyword: A selling point or even a weakness	Stories	Questions It Might Answer
Example: Analytical	Development of 6-sigma strategic framework for XXX, inc. Discovery of accounting errors during first year of work. Senior thesis on the S&L Crisis	Name three words that describe you (This would be one) What are your strengths?  Why? (This would be one.) How do you solve complex problems? How could you contribute to your classmates? What skill are you most proud of?

(You can cut and paste this into MS Word or Google docs)
In addition to outlining key words and stories as discuss in my general post on interview strategy, you actually more directly connect this to the specific four criteria (See my essay analysis post) that HBS values in order to see how well you are covering each of the criteria in your interview preparation. The chart below will help you map out your own HBS interview strategy.

HBS Active Interview Preparation Chart

Keywords: A selling point or even a weakness	Stories	Diversity	A Habit of Leadership	Analytical Aptitude and Appetite	Engaged Community Citizenship	Questions It Might Answer
Example: Analytical	Development of 6-sigma strategic framework for XXX, inc.			Analytical		-Name three words that describe you (This would be one) -What are your strengths?  Why? (This would be one.) -How do you solve complex problems? -How could you contribute to your classmates? -What skill are you most proud of?
Cooperative	Overcame team conflict when developing 6-sigma strategic framework for XXX, inc.		-Demonstrates consensus based leadership -Can lead others			–Name three words that describe you (This would be one) -Tell me about a project that you've worked recently where you exhibited leadership. -What kind of leader are you?

(You can cut and paste this into Google Docs or Microsoft Word and alter it to include more rows.)
To use the above chart: Try to develop 10 or so keywords and stories that relate to HBS’s four criteria for admission. Don’t forget to include weaknesses when you do so.  Your objective is be ready to tell your best stories as effectively as possible. Use the above chart to help determine which key words and stories will convey the most about you.  Remember that you want to use stories that are different from the ones you used in your essays. You might be asked about something in your application, which you should be prepared to discuss, but also assume you will need to provide new stories as well.
You need to know your application very completely as you will be asked by adcom about its content.
Review your entire application (not just resume and essays, but everything including the transcript) very carefully and consider what your interviewer might ask you to explain more thoroughly. Remember: Anything is fair game. Assume that the weakest parts of your application will be topics in the interview. Assume the worst-case scenario and be very prepared to address their concerns. Given the annual failure rate at HBS, if you have any academic weaknesses (low GPA, a relatively weak TOEFL, insufficient proof of a quantitative background), be ready to address those issues. Be prepared to tell new stories and alternative versions of the stories you told in your essays.
If you think that either your English ability and/or interview skills are somewhat weak, be prepared to do extensive practice both with other people and alone. The self-study component can be particularly effective if you are trying to cover a huge range of questions and also master telling your best stories.
A point I continually make to own clients who have been invited for the HBS interview is that proper preparation for this interview really requires that you look for all the weak points in your application: Rip yourself apart in order to try and determine what you need to be especially ready to address. Getting a fresh perspective by reviewing your own application is certainly helpful. In addition, you should consider having one or more other people who can help you prepare for this and who will review your entire file. If you use any paid services, make sure that the mock interviewer (admissions consultant, admissions counselor, interview coach) will be reading your application first and developing a list of questions based on that review and with an understanding of what HBS asks, otherwise they are not really helping you prepare for an HBS interview. When I do mock interviews for interview-only clients, I always ask to read their applic ations if they are not doing a blind interview. For schools like HBS and MIT, which are never blind, reading the whole application (especially the essays) is critical for simulating the real thing.
The questions you get will be specific to you.
Most questions will not be odd, but they may be unexpected. On the other hand, the reports that I get from my clients and a number of  public reports indicate that the majority of questions are actually common ones.  Be able to articulate clearly what you want to learn at HBS and what you can contribute. While it is important to be able to discuss leadership, don’t assume the interview will be entirely focused on it. The interviewer will come in knowing what they want to ask you.
In addition to my own knowledge, I have reviewed reports of Harvard Business School interviews found at accepted.com and clearadmit.com.  My colleague, Steve Green, has collected and organized some of the commonly asked questions from those sites.
His general conclusions about HBS interviews:

• Expect to be asked for more details about most every topic discussed
• Expect topics to change as the interviewer will pursue detailed answers to topics that interest him/her
• Expect questions to feed off your responses rather than to be scripted
• Don't be surprised if the interviewer does not allow you to ask questions: they treat this interview as a chance to learn as much about you as possible in a limited time
• Bottom line: Harvard interviews are quite rigorous compared to other MBA admissions interviews

Here are the questions Steve has collected and organized.

RESUME, CURRENT POSITION

• Explain your career path. / Take me through your resume.
• Describe your career progression, and talk about the most important things you learned about yourself along the way.
• Why did you choose to join this company?
• How did you pick your current job?
• What are the best and worst things about your current job?
• How did you end up at your company?
• What do you think about their training program?
• What’s the company’s position compared to its competitors?
• What was different about your previous job compared to this one?
• What was the most surprising aspect about this company when you first joined?
• What worries you about the company?
• Explain your career path.
• Why did you want to work in _____________?
• How has your leadership evolved with your promotion(s)?
• Who do you admire in your current industry?
• Where is the industry heading?
• Who do you admire in your post-MBA industry?
• Where is the industry heading?
• Tell me about your typical day?
• How do you find the time to do all you do?
• What's most important to you outside of work?
• Why did you choose to major in X at your undergrad university?
• Why did you enjoy (SOMETHING FROM UNDERGRAD)?

REASONS FOR MBA, HBS

• What is your career vision?
• What are the steps you plan on taking to get there?
• What are the challenges you will face?
• How will an HBS MBA help you?
• Why do you want an MBA?
• When did you decide to get an MBA?
• Why HBS?
• In class, what type of profiles are you looking to meet? From who would you like to learn something?
• What can you contribute to HBS case method discussion?
• What experience outside the classroom are you looking for at HBS?
• What will you do if you don’t get into business school?
• If
  we called you and said there is only 1 seat left in the class and 10
  candidates remaining, what would you say differentiates you from them?
• How do you want to impact HBS?

LEADERSHIP & TEAMWORK

• Tell me about a project that you've worked recently where you exhibited leadership.
• What kind of leader are you?
• Who is a leader that you admire and why?
• Name a business leader you admire (non-government).
• Tell me about a time you had to work with someone you did not get along with.
• Give me an example of a project you've had a difficult time with.
• Tell me about a time when you raised an unpopular idea?

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES

• What do you feel you need to improve most at your current job?
• What would your supervisor say is a weakness?
• How would your colleagues describe you?
• Your recommender mentioned that you excellent at what you do: Why do you think that is?
• Give me an example of a project you've had a difficult time with.

VALUES & PERSONALITY

• How did you find the application process? Did any of it surprise you?
• Is there something about you that has not been addressed in your application?
• What is a recent non-fiction book you've read? (FOLLOW UP)
• What is the most recent fiction book you've read?
• What do you think the author was trying to say about society?
• What is the most interesting article you've read lately?
• Did you agree with it?
• What is a common misperception people have about you?
• Can you tell me about a time when people's perceptions about you turned out to be wrong?
• What words would people use to describe you?
• What would your 5 closest friends say about you? Why?
• What would a peer that knows you well say you should keep doing, start doing, or stop doing?
• Is there anything that would surprise me?
• What do you do when you have a really bad day?
• What TV shows do you watch?
• What sources do you use for news?
• Given what you know now, if you could go back to university and pick your subjects, which ones would you?
• What motivates you to get out of bed every morning?
• What drives/motivates you?
• If you could have lunch with anyone in the world who would it be?
• Who would you want to sit next to in your first year at HBS?
• What would be your dream job?
• How would the people who know you best describe you?
• What are people surprised to learn about you?
• How do you fit with different cultures?

CONCLUSION

• What's a question that you thought I was going to ask you but didn't?
• Is there anything else that you haven’t mentioned in your application that you would like to share at this time?

Assume there will be at least one question for which you might not be ready for, but don’t panic. Take a deep breath. Answer the question and do not become flustered. Be ready to answer questions about a hypothetical case study, conflict with colleagues, and the latest book you read as these have all been reported frequently.  For example,  If you are asked what is your favorite flavor of ice cream is (I have had clients asked questions almost like this) and you hate ice cream say that.  If you like ice cream just briefly state why for whatever flavor you like and assume that the interviewer is just seeing how you react to a question you were not ready for.
Adcom interviewers are usually friendly, but to the point. They don’t do stress interviewing at HBS exactly, but they will question you intensely. They will be taking notes. Anything you say can be subject to inquiry, so speak concisely, answer questions precisely, and try to avoid voluntarily bringing up any topics that you really don’t want to talk about. Assume the you will be asking follow-up questions, expect to be able to analyze/explain in a great deal of depth. Your interviewer will know exactly what he/she wants to ask you because the purpose of the interview is (1) to see if you look as good in reality as you did in paper and (2) to address any concerns that they have about your suitability for HBS.
Don’t Psych yourself out! It is particularly important that you don’t worry too much about your perception of the interviewer’s attitude as this can be a particularly good way to become nervous.  I have had too many reports of clients doing this with HBS.  Your interviewer maybe less friendly or more friendly, maybe more aggressive or less agressive, but whatever their attitude focus on your answers.  Feel free to panic and cry after you have exited the interview, but avoid doing so during it.

Have Mock Interviews that reflect both the range of questions and various kinds of interviewers you might encounter.   If I do multiple mock sessions with the same client, I will use different interviewer personalities.  Here is how I helped a client who was admitted to HBS for the Class of 2016 (The client’s full testimonial can be found here):

“Adam digs deep into your application to understand your vulnerabilities and asks challenging questions to prepare you for the worst.  He also exposes you to a number of interviewing styles that you may encounter at HBS – from the amiable interviewer who lets you take the discussion in a direction of your choosing (which can be very dangerous), to the probing style that challenges your statements and changes directions on a dime.”

The friendly interviewer will let you hang yourself, the aggressive interviewer will challenge you, the indifferent interviewer will give you very little feedback so you have to take charge, and  the rude interviewer will interrupt you and appear condescending. At HBS,  you are not likely to encounter a rude interviewer (That type is most common amongst alumni interviewers), but friendly, aggressive, and indifferent are very common types.   Whether you are being made to feel good about the interview or not by the interviewer,  your  mission is still to convince this interviewer that you are right for their school.  While you may have some idea of the personality of your interviewer before you interview, chances are you will not. It is therefore particularly important to prepare for a variety of different types of interviewers.


Reported interview length for all interviews is 30 minutes.  HBS is totally consistent about this.  So part of effective preparation on your part, means really considering time management and not wasting time in the interview by providing answers that are too long.


For more about my interview services, see here.

See here for how to answer the HBS Post Interview Reflection.

-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.

Oxford MBA 2014/15 Class Application Essays

In this post, I an analyze the essay questions for the Oxford MBA at the Saïd Business School for the 2014/15 class.   I have already had one client admitted to the program for this class of 2014/2015.  See here for my client’s results for Oxford as well as other schools. Oxford has six application rounds, so while this post is late, I trust it will be helpful to those making application in March, April, and May 2014.

If you are considering applying to Oxford, I would strongly suggest you take advantage of their pre-application assessment, CV review as discussed on their webpage. This is a great service to applicants as it really help you know whether it is worth making an application to the program. It also is a great way of getting the attention of the admissions office. I do recommend that you submit a great CV though. I regularly help my own clients with CVs, but even if you don’t use an admission consultant, make sure you put time into making a great CV. Here is one CV template.

Below are the essay questions. Keep in mind that Oxford also asks substantial questions in the application form that are in essence essays.  You can find my analysis of those application questions after the reapplication essay analysis.

1) What should Oxford expect from you? Maximum 500 words.*
Given that Essay 2 focuses on your goals and why you need an MBA, your focus here should be helping Oxford understand why they should admit you based on your background, values, and achievements.  I would recommend concentrating on 3-4 aspects of yourself that would best demonstrate your potential to contribute to and/or succeed at Oxford and subsequently.  I assume you will focus on how you will make positive impact at Oxford and subsequently.

Some Questions to get you brainstorming:

1. What do you want Oxford to know about you that would positively impact your chances for admission?

2. What major positive aspects of your life have not been effectively INTERPRETED to the admissions committee in other parts of the application?
3.  What could you discuss about yourself that you think would really help admissions understand you and want to admit you?

4.  Based on who you are, what will you contribute to your classmates and the wider Oxford community?

5. Is there anything in your background that be a positive indicator for what kind of alumnus  you  will be?

2) How do you hope to see your career developing over the next five years? How will the MBA and Oxford assist you in the development of these ambitions? Maximum 500 words.*
“How do you hope to see your career developing over the next five years?”
Oxford Essay 1 is a completely practical question. Oxford is looking for something grounded and specific: A FIVE YEAR PLAN. Note the ambiguity in the question itself, the plan maybe written from the perspective of the present or from the perspective of after one finishes the MBA. I advise clients to treat it as as post-MBA five year plan as I think that is implied by the presence of the third part of the question (“How will the MBA and Oxford assist you in the development of these ambitions?“), but I would not insist on that. I think most applicants should treat it as a post-MBA five year plan, but if you prefer integrating the MBA directly into the plan, that is fine.

WHAT IS A PLAN?
A plan is practical. It has details. It shows you have really thought about what you want to do. It shows you have done research about your intended future employers and/or future entrepreneurial venture. It shows you are realistic. That does not mean that it should be boring or lack ambition, but it does mean that it has to rise beyond a level of mere abstraction. Treat it as seriously as you would treat a memo to your boss on the future direction of your department, a proposal to a client on an expensive project, or a business plan. Make sure you show how an MBA and Oxford fits the plan. If you can’t establish a tight connection between your plan and Oxford, either apply somewhere else or change your plan. And remember as long as you can speak effectively about your plan in an interview, the second after you are admitted, you have no obligation to stick to that plan.

How will the MBA and Oxford assist you in the development of these ambitions?
In this part of the question you need to explain why you need an MBA from Said. To really answer this question you need to know about Oxford. Fullly investigate what the program offers and how it will best help you.  BIG HINT: Find one or more professors and/or research focus areas at Oxford that really meet your needs as well as discussing more general aspects of the MBA program.  Another Big Hint: Oxford means more than just Said, it means the entire university as well as your college experience.

If you are having difficulty explaining your plans or reasons for needing an MBA, please see my analysis of Stanford Essay 2.
3) Please chose and answer one of the two essays below:
Sport is pure competition. What does it teach us about companies, individuals, and markets? Maximum 500 words.
OR
The business of business is business. Is this true? Maximum 500 words.*

Oxford is a school for people who can think. Both of these topics require you to express an opinion. There is no right or wrong, merely answers that are well argued and interesting to read and ones that are less analytically coherent and dull. Your job is to show your thinking at your best. Neither of these questions necessarily requires to bring your own experience into the topic.  A client who was admitted to Oxford in R1 wrote on one of these topics without specific to his or her experience. Instead that person’s answer was analytically sharp and revealed a unique way of addressing the question. That said, if your own experience fits here, feel free to bring it in.

Unlike with most questions, I analyze, I am not going to provide a detailed analysis of what these questions mean, but rather pose some questions that apply to thinking about each of these questions. Hopefully these questions will get you brainstorming. 

Sport is pure competition. What does it teach us about companies, individuals, and markets? 
-What is meant by pure competition? Does such a thing exist?
-How do you account for cheating in sports?
-Do you accept or reject the very notion that something as objectively ruled-based as a sport can be applied to much more complex systems (companies, individuals, markets)?
-Do you believe in free markets?
-What is the relationship between competition in sports and competition between individuals in general?
- In what ways do companies compete with each other in ways that are similar and different from competition in sports?


The business of business is business. Is this true? 
-Do businesses have responsibilities beyond the conduct of their business?
-Do you believe in corporate social responsibility?
-Can one do business without consideration for the society one is operating in?
-Is business an end in itself or does relate to something else/something greater?

Finally, my advice is to think about both essay options and writing on the topic that interests you more.  The more that you can show your active engagement with the topic, the better.


4) What improvements have you made in your candidacy since you last applied to the Oxford MBA programme? (for re-applicants only)Maximum 250 words.
This is a very standard reapplication question.
An effective answer here will do the following:
1. Showcase what has changed since your last application that now makes you a better candidate.
2. Refine your goals. I think it is reasonable that they may have altered since your last application, but if the change is extreme, you had better explain why.
3. Make a better case for why Oxford  is right for you.
For more about reapplication, please see "A guide to my resources for reapplicants."


Application Questions
On the “You at Work” page of the application,  there is the following:
Please list your main responsibilities, your most significant challenge and your greatest achievement  (5000 Characters including spaces, which means about 1000-1250 words maximum for answering all three of these).
These are three separate topics. You should address each of these topics.  In addition, given that Oxford application includes no place for any sort of additional information or explanation of issues about your application (test scores, gaps in employment, etc.), I suggest including that information here rather than using up your essay word count for it. 

The first topic, main responsibilities relates directly to current professional position and would simply be an extended version of what you have in your CV. I assume your CV emphasizes accomplishments, so here also mention your overall responsibilities as well as your accomplishments. 

For the next two topics, it is my understanding that you don’t have to focus on your most significant challenge and greatest achievement at your current position, but rather can discuss these topics more generally. You can, of course, discuss these topics in relationship to other jobs or even more generally.

Your most significant challenge
A challenge can certainly be a weakness, failure or setback, it is surely possible that a challenge could simply be a real test of your leadership and a great way to convey an accomplishment.
Structure
1. Clearly state what your challenge was.
2. Explain what actions you took. Think about what your actions reflect about your own skills and/or personality.
4. Explain what you learned and/or gained (a skill or a new opportunity, for example) from the experience.  It is critical that you learned or gained something, otherwise it will be difficult (probably impossible) to explain how this experience has helped you achieve success now and in the future.

Here are some types of challenges to get you brainstorming:
-Challenges that relate to lack of ability or skill. For instance having difficulty completing a task or being successful because of your limited capability.  Overcoming such a challenge involves a story about gaining or otherwise obtaining access to the necessary skill.
-Challenges that relate to relationships with other people or groups, such as conflicts within a team. Overcoming such challenges typically involves effective utilization of interpersonal skills.
-Challenges that relate to one's psychological condition, cultural understanding, or other deeper mental assumptions.  Overcoming such challenges typically involves a change in mindset.
-Challenges that relate to a really difficult task. It is possible that you write about a challenging situation which you use to highlight your abilities rather than a situation where you were initially deficient in some way.

Your greatest achievement
Please see my analysis of IMD’s Essay 1, What do you consider to be your single most important achievement and why? as that analysis fully applies here.

Best of luck with your Oxford application!

-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.

When to start MBA interview practice? How to prepare?

When is the time to start interview preparation? Ideally, at least a month before you are likely to be interviewed. If you apply to Columbia, that means starting pretty much soon after you press the submit button. If know you will be having an open interview for Duke, Kellogg or Tuck, it means start prepping for that a month before the deadline. If you have just applied for second round schools, it means, well, starting pretty much much now.

Of course, chances are good that you will ignore my advice and only have 1-2 weeks to prepare. In some cases, just a couple of days. One to two weeks can be enough time depending on your interviewee skills and how much time you have for preparation.  A couple of days, well it can be enough, depending on you and the school. 

How to prepare:

1. I have both general and school specific interview posts. My core posts on interviewing can be found in the INTERVIEW ANALYSIS section of http://www.adammarkus.com/key-posts/. I suggest starting with http://www.adammarkus.com/mba-application-interview-strategy-3/ and then reading http://www.adammarkus.com/interview-practice-is-about-speaking/ followed by http://www.adammarkus.com/10-ways-to-blow-an-mba-admissions-interview/.  You should then read any school specific posts that apply to you.

2.  Make schedule for yourself and begin self-preparation as discussed in the above posts.

3.  Determine who you will do interview preparation with.  Make the assumption that practicing with someone will be helpful. MBA alumni can be quite helpful. An admissions consultant who provides you with critical feedback and real coaching can also be quite helpful.

I think my interview preparation best practices are useful to consider whether you decide to use my services or not:
I believe in over preparation: I have a simple and effective method for interview preparation: Over-preparation. The best way to do well in any interview is be prepared for an interview that will be harder than the actual interview is likely to be.  Since 2001, I have been told that my practice interviews were harder than the real thing and as a result my clients said that they could confidently handle the real interview.

Have an interview strategy: I help my clients develop the talking points for their interviews so that they handle any question they are asked.  I believe in coming into an interview with a clear sense of what you want to communicate about yourself both in terms of key selling points and key stories that support those selling points.

Think about presentation:   Think not only about the content you want to present, but the way you will present it.  Practice your delivery of that content until you feel it is coming across well. If my clients need it, I can help them structure and even model answers.

Confront the questions you really don’t want to have to answer:  We all questions that we wish to avoid having to answer, but assume those are the very questions you need to prepare for the most for. I will help my clients brainstorm effective stories to answer questions that they are not yet comfortable with and/or help them enhance their existing stories.

School specific interview practice:  I don't believe in the value of mock interviews that are not school specific.  To whatever extent possible, I like to make the practices as realistic as possible. I try to provide a set of questions that represent a hard version (when applicable) of what an interviewer from the specific school you are applying to is likely to ask. If I do multiple mock sessions with a client, they will different sets of mock questions reflecting the range of questions used by a particular school.

Prepare for different types of interviewers: There are many kinds of MBA interviewers, even from the same school.  If I do multiple mock sessions with the same client, I will use different interviewer personalities.  Here is how I helped a client who was admitted to HBS for the Class of 2016 (The client’s full testimonial can be found here):

“Adam digs deep into your application to understand your vulnerabilities and asks challenging questions to prepare you for the worst.  He also exposes you to a number of interviewing styles that you may encounter at HBS – from the amiable interviewer who lets you take the discussion in a direction of your choosing (which can be very dangerous), to the probing style that challenges your statements and changes directions on a dime.”

The friendly interviewer will let you hang yourself, the aggressive interviewer will challenge you, the indifferent interviewer will give you very little feedback so you have to take charge, and  the rude interviewer will interrupt you and appear condescending.  Whether you are being made to feel good about the interview or not by the interviewer,  your  mission is still to convince this interviewer that you are right for their school.  While you may have some idea of the personality of your interviewer before you interview, chances are you will not. It is therefore particularly important to prepare for a variety of different types of interviewers.

For more about my interview services, see here.

-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.

Waitlisted? Now what?

This is an updated and expanded version of a previous post on what do if you are waitlisted at an MBA program.

As MBA results roll in with  all their joy, pain, and annoyance have more or less emerged, some people will find themselves  admitted, others outright rejected, and others in that netherworld known as waitlist. For some, the wait will actually end relatively quickly, but for others, the wait might very well continue, well, for months and months. For some, the waitlist will ultimately convert into a ding.

While I have no numbers yet, my expectation is that admissions acceptances to top programs like Booth, HBS,  MIT and Wharton will have become lower for fall 2014 entry (Class of 2016) because of  making the essay burden lower (HBS, MIT, Wharton), proactive use of waitlisting to decrease an acceptance rate that is too high given its ranking (Booth)  and increase yield (Booth and Wharton, Haas and others likely), and overall  market effects (If HBS and Wharton become harder to get into, given the large size of their classes, this impacts competition at other schools as well.). Schools waitlist because they actually are uncertain whether their estimated yield- the percentage of admitted applicants who accept an offer of admision, see here for more about it- will be sufficient to fill their class. They waitlist because they don’t want empty seats. They waitlist because they hav e too many qualified applicants for too few slots, but want to reserve the possibility of eventually letting someone in.  They don’t waitlist to make applicants feel better by giving some sort of second prize.  Schools don’t waitlist because their are sadistic fiends, but from a waitlisted applicant’s perspective, it might feel that way.

In the rest of this post, I will provide advice on what do if you are waitlisted by an MBA program.


IF YOU ARE WAITLISTED….

Don’t panic or become depressed. The reason you were waitlisted is because there were too many qualified applicants and adcom likes you, but they don’t know that they love you yet. Now is the time to think clearly and act effectively.

For those waitlisted in the first round, you should, of course, know that adcom likes you, but they really wanted to see the full pool of applicants, before making any decisions. You might be waiting for a quite a while longer, but be patient. Simultaneously, consider other options.

For those waitlisted in the second or third round, adcom also likes you, but they are not yet convinced that it would be right to give you a spot because there were simply too many qualified applicants. Your wait could go on for months. Consider other alternatives, but don’t give up because it is possible to get off the waitlist.

Be proactive, but not aggressively annoying, with admissions. Adcom will let you know what additional materials they will accept and you should most certainly provide them. That said, the worst thing you can do is send a continuous stream of correspondence or otherwise annoy the admissions office. If you turn yourself into an annoying freak, you can assume you will not get admitted.  
Also, keep in mind that some schools, simply do not accept any additional materials.  Wharton, for example, has the following policy:
“Candidates can expect to remain on the waitlist until the following round of decisions are released. There is no rank order to the waitlist. We are unable to offer feedback to candidates while they remain on the list. We are also unable to accept additional materials for inclusion in a waitlisted applicant’s file. This policy is designed to create an admissions process that is fair and equitable for all candidates.”
On their Admisssions Blog, Wharton reiterates this policy.  See here  for example.  If you are waitlisted at Wharton, the only thing to really do is just wait. Basically, they don’t recommendations, essays,  professional updates and it is even unclear whether they consider GMAT/GRE and TOEFL/IELTS increases. Still, I would submit test score increases to schools like Wharton that don’t take additional information.


Test scores: GMAT, GRE,  TOEFL and IELTS. If you can take it again, do it, if your score goes up report it. Higher scores are always helpful for any school that will take additional information.

If your GMAT or GRE is below the average for those admitted to the program, an improved test score is, many cases, the single best way to improve your chance of admission. On the other hand if your GMAT or GRE score is at or above the average, improved scores are likely to be of increasingly marginal utility.  That said, if you are from a demographic sub-group where scores are particularly high (Indian males who graduated from one of the IITs for example) then a really higher score could be of greater benefit.

For those required to prove their English ability through TOEFL, IELTS, or the other English exams that some schools will accept (but no one seems to take), an improved score here is always worth reporting. MBA programs want class diversity, but they also want those students who are most effective at communicating in English, so if you can show them better potential for that, do it!

Improving your MBA math skills:  If you have strong and objectively demonstrated quantitative skills based on your academic background, professional certifications (CPA, CFA), and/or GMAT or GRE scores, ignore this topic.
As you may have gathered from filling out applications, a number of schools specifically ask applicants to indicate their highest level of math taken or discuss their quantitative skills if not readily apparent.  If you are not strong in math or have no objective facts that demonstrate it (see examples in previous paragraph), that can really hurt especially at programs know for being quantitatively rigorous.   You can certainly take an online or evening course, but that can take quite a while to complete.  I highly recommend the online course,  MBA Math, because many top schools recommend it as preparation to their students.  It is a self-study program and you receive a certificate completion once you are finished with it, which can then be provided to a school you are waitlisted at.  (By the way, I have no connection at all to MBA Math, and this is in no way a compensated endorsement.)

Additional recommendation: If the school will take one, provide it. It is fine to send more than one recommendation if the school allows it. Think very strategically about your selection(s). You don’t want a recommendation that will not add something substantially different from what your previous recommendations stated. Try to use a recommender (or recommenders) who will do one or more of the following:
(a) A recommender who will provide support  to help you overcome any areas of professional and/or academic weakness in your background.
(b) A recommender who will provide a perspective on different part of your background.
(c) A recommender who will provide support for earlier or more recent period of your life.
(d) If academic recommendations are acceptable and your GPA is not great, consider getting an academic recommendation if you can get a strong one.
(e) If your English ability is maybe the issue, consider getting a recommendation from someone who can speak positively about your English communication skills. This is especially important if your iBT TOEFL or IELTS score is not that high or if you think your interview was not so strong because of your speaking skills.

Additionally, many schools will also take informal recommendations from alums or current students, so if you can get one from someone who knows you, it can’t hurt.

WARNING:  Usually the worst recommendations to send are from high level VIPs you don’t know you well and/or who you have not engaged with in some sort of organized purposeful activity (work, volunteer, mentors, academic, etc.). Sometimes applicants know a senator or a CEO or a former prime minister or someone whose family is a major donor at a university (but not the applicant’s family)  and obtain a recommendation that it more like an abstract character reference or a collection of second-hand reported information. This is not a good thing to do and will not help you unless the recommender has real organizational influence at the school.  If they do have such influence, they probably don’t need to write a formal recommendation to have impact.


Waitlist essay. Write one!

The typical components:

-Additional reasons why you want to attend to show your real commitment and passion for the school. Think classes, school’s culture, or any other reason that would make the school ideal for you.

-Discussion of changes that have taken place in your professional career after your applied. If anything new and great has happened, you should most certainly write about it.
- New content that was not emphasized in your application.

Use some combination of the following possible topics:
(a) Changes since you applied. Any positive professional or personal changes should be communicated. For instance, success on a project,  passing a professional certification exam, a promotion,  election to the board of a non-profit organization, etc.
(b) If you did not sufficiently discuss your leadership or teamwork abilities, you should most certainly do so.
(c) Write about contributions you can make to the school based on your experience, background, personality, and network.
(d) If your academic potential was not obvious, you should try to demonstrate that.
(e) If you have SUBSTANTIAL personal or professional accomplishments that you did not discuss in your initial application, you should do so.
(f) If you did not focus very much on non-professional content in your application, focus on it here, at least to some extent.
(f) If you were waitlisted without an interview, remember to ask for the opportunity to interview.

If the length is not stated, I would try to keep it to between 500 and 1000 words. More is not inherently better, quality is, so don’t write about everything you can think of. This essay is quite important, so make sure that the content is at least as good as that of your original application.

If you have not visited the school and can visit the school, do so. Make a point of letting admissions know this, either in your waitlist essay or through contact with them.  VISITING (or even visiting again) CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

For schools where you can actually meet with admissions, making a personal appeal is worth the effort.  Showing your commitment to a school that is open to such an appeal can result in a positive outcome.  Note:  The personal appeal approach does not work at all schools.  It is especially does not work if admissions has told you that they cannot meet with you.  It also does not work if you are simply not good at selling yourself.  My clients who have succeeded at this, have, in general, been highly charismatic individuals.

Get a fresh perspective on your application by rereading it now. By doing so, you will probably have a good idea about what kind of recommendation to get and waitlist essay to write.  To that end, I suggest analyzing your waitlisted application as though you had dinged already:  In order to figure out what you might need to mitigate in your application, analyze it is as though you had been rejected.  I provide a comprehensive way to do that using resources on this blog.  This will also help you figure out what you need to differently with any subsequent applications that you make. 

If you had an interview, how did it go? While it might not be easy for you to fully remember or assess it, think critically about your interview experience.  If you have done well on other interviews, did this one go as well?  While it is obviously too late to do anything about any interview that was not ideal, thinking about your interview experience might very well help you figure out where the problem was and consider how to approach future interviews.  Unless you are certain that your interview went well, assume the interview was at least part if not the entire problem.  Schools seemingly place a different level of value on interviews.  At HBS and MIT, for example, interviews are conducted by admissions staff who have taken the time to review your application completely, so assume a waitlist there, at least partially reflects the fact that compared to other candidates you were good, but others received an overall higher evaluation.  For schools like Haas or Columbia, where interviews are conducted blind, assume the interview is just one factor.  For schools that put a huge emphasis and have intensive interviews, such as IMD,  HEC, and LBS, assume the interview was certainly the critical factor for why you are now waitlisted.

Consider seeking the advice of an admissions consultant. If you have already worked with one, you can go back to that person if you are otherwise pleased with their work. They know you and they could help you put something together that caught admissions’ eye. On the other hand, you might want to pay for a fresh perspective. I offer waitlist, reapplication, interview, and comprehensive consulting services.

Do you need a PLAN B? If you are waitlisted and/or dinged everywhere you applied, it is now time to start thinking about whether you are going to apply for more schools for 2013, reapply for 2014, or expand your career in some other way. Whatever the case, you need a Plan B in place. If you are thinking about applying to more schools for Fall 2013 or just reconsidering school selection in general, please see here.

Best of luck and may your wait be short and culminate in admission!

-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.