University of Chicago Booth MBA Admissions Interviews

In this post I discuss MBA admissions interviews for the University Chicago Booth. Beyond my 25 comprehensive service clients admitted to Booth since Fall 2008 entry (I began my own consulting service in September 2007), I have worked with additional clients only on interviews. and more still from 2001-2007 when I was working for a test prep company’s admissions consulting service.  The advice below is thus based on working with clients on Booth interviews for almost fourteen years.

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
-When to start MBA interview practice? How to prepare?

The above posts are my general perspective on MBA admissions interview strategy and apply to Booth.

 Booth interviews are conducted blind, so your interview will not have read your application and Interviews are conducted by admissions staff, students, or alumni. They are held on campus or in a location convenient for the prospective student. All interviews, regardless of who conducts them, receive equal weight in the evaluation process. The only thing they will have is your resume.

Most recent Booth interview reports I have seen (both public reports and from my clients),  portray the interviewer as friendly.  This is not typically a stress interview.  Booth typically is using younger alumni for interviews, which is a good idea because they are much closer to the current culture of the school, which changed  significantly in the last ten years. Almost all interviews involve student interviewers on campus or alumni off-campus.

Most interview reports indicate extensive questions about the contents of the resume.  You need to know your resume completely as you will most likely be asked about content in it. Review it carefully and consider what your interviewer might ask you to explain more thoroughly. If it is on your resume, it is fair game. As such the resume serves four main functions:

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

Agenda Setting Device: To a greater or lesser extent, a resume has an agenda setting function in many interviews.  While schools will provide interviewers with varying levels of guidance about what questions to ask, the resume may very well form the basis for some of the questions that you receive.

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

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.

Prepare to answer routine MBA questions. Most reported interviews simply consist of them. Have a few questions ready to ask your interviewer about the things that are most important to you and your MBA experience. Getting answers to your questions is an equally important part of any B-school interview.”
Like he has done with many other schools, my colleague, Steve Green has compiled the following list of questions from from all the reports submitted to accepted.com   and clearadmit.com.  In addition to our client reports, we use lists of questions like these as part of our prep sessions with clients.

RESUME

• Walk me through your resume, but make sure you highlight just a couple of key achievements.
• Tell me about yourself.
• Why did you pick your major? Why did you earn a Master's degree?
• What are you hobbies / other interests and why?

GOALS & BOOTH

• What are your short-term goals?
• Why are you pursuing an MBA?
• What do you expect from your MBA in the long term?
• Why now?
• Why Booth?
• What other schools have you applied to?
• How do you compare them to Booth?
• How would you decide between two schools?
• Why would you choose Booth over those?
• What will you contribute to Booth?
• What do plan to do outside the classroom at Booth?
• What is your Plan B if you don't get accepted to any b-schools?
• You will not meet most of you classmates after the two years at school. How will you make sure you learn the most from this distinguished set of people? How will YOU make sure they learn from you?
• Clarifying questions about Booth's program.
• What professional groups will you join?
• Which social groups will you join?
• Booth has classes that present different settings: group-based, individual, project-based. Which ones do you have a preference for? Why?
• What will you contribute to Booth, or what will you bring to the Booth community?
• What if you hate your internship – what is Plan B
• Place yourself 30 years in the future… what would you define then as having been successful?

LEADERSHIP

• What is your leadership style, and how do you function when you are not a leader in a team?
• Tell me about your leadership style?
• What is one area of weakness you would like to work on regarding your leadership style why earning an MBA?
• Discuss a time when you had to manage a difficult team or teammate, and how did handle that experience?
• Tell me about one occasion in which you displayed leadership.
• Tell me a solution you have recently proposed to your employer (asked for an example in my last setting)
• Can you tell me about a time when you made an unpopular decision
• What is your most defining leadership experience
• Describe your leadership style with an example
• Tell me about your leadership experience. What/who has influenced your leadership style?
• Please give me an example of a leadership-based conflict you experienced.
• Tell me about a leadership failure you experienced. How will it help you at Booth?

TEAMWORK

• What role do you take on in a team? How have you handled a team-based conflict?
• Can you tell me about a time that you led your team / convinced your team to do something
• Can you tell me about a time that you led a team over a period of time
• Can you tell me about a time that you resolved conflict within your team
• Can you tell me about a time when you disagreed with someone at your level

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES

• Tell me about a time you encountered a challenge?
• Tell me about a decision you made that you later regretted.
• You have had a lot of success in the past. How do you handle failure?
• Tell me something you feel passionate about.
• What do you think is a weakness that people can have inside or outside of work
• Tell me something about you that I could not know from reading your resume
• What are 3 things your friends would describe about you?

OTHER

• What are the differences you’ve found between different nationalities while working in a multinational?
• How is a regular day in your line of work?

CONCLUSION

• Is there anything that we have not covered that would like to point out, on or off your resume?
• Do you have any questions for me?

Reported interview length is typically about 45-50 minutes.  Both shorter, 30 minutes, and longer, 60 minutes, interviews are possible.

Best of luck with admission to Booth for Fall 2016!

-Adam Markus

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

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, 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
-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

• 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?

GOALS, REASONS FOR MBA, REASONS FOR STANFORD

• 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.

CHARACTER & CHALLENGES TO YOUR BELIEFS AND VALUES

• 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?

DIFFICULT WORK RELATIONSHIPS

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

CRITICISM AND FEEDBACK FROM OTHERS

• 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?

FAILURE

• 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?

BOOKS YOU'VE READ

• 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?

INSPIRATION, PASSION

• 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?

TEAMWORK

• 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?

LEADERSHIP

• 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.

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 2018

In this post I provide advice for HBS Admissions Interviews for the MBA Class of 2018.

HBS ADCOM HQ

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 more intensive than that of most other schools. Failure to take this interview sufficiently seriously is a recipe for disaster.

My interview-only and comprehensive service clients have been admitted to the regular HBS for the Classes of 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2005. My clients’ results and testimonials can be found here. In addition to providing comprehensive application consulting on HBS, I regularly help some candidates with HBS interview preparation only. I have worked with a large number of applicants from Canada, Europe, India, Japan, other parts of Asia, and the United States on HBS application. I think that this range of experience has helped me understand the many possible ways of making an effective application to HBS.

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
-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:

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.

Kellogg MBA Admissions Interviews for the Class of 2018

This post has been updated for admission to the Kellogg MBA Class of 2018.

 

In addition to this post and my school specific posts found on  Interview Analysis section of Key Posts page of my blog, please also see:

-MBA APPLICATION INTERVIEW STRATEGY (Start with this one even before reading the rest of the Kellogg post)

-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

-When to start MBA interview practice? How to prepare?

 

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

 

Know your Resume!

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

You need to be prepared to answer routine MBA interview questions

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

 

RESUME: Career

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

 

RESUME: Education

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

 

TEAMWORK

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

 

LEADERSHIP

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

 

WHY MBA / WHY KELLOGG

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

 

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES

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

 

CONCLUSION

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

 

 

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

 

 

Reread your essays!

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

 

 

Lack of Consistency in Kellogg interviews

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

Some types of dysfunctional Kellogg interviews:

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Best of luck with admission to Kellogg’s Class of 2018!

-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.

MBA APPLICATION INTERVIEW STRATEGY

I have written a number of posts about MBA application interview strategy, but I would consider this one, which I have not revised for a few years until now, to be the most important.  While this post is specifically focused on MBA interview strategy, it would apply to interview preparation for other types of graduate programs.

In addition to this post and my school specific posts found on  Interview Analysis section of Key Posts page of my blog, please also see:
-Interview Practice is ABOUT SPEAKING!-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-Further Comments on MBA Admissions Interviews -When to start MBA interview practice? How to prepare?

A REACTIVE VS PROACTIVE APPROACH TO INTERVIEW PREPARATION
First, I think it useful to contrast two different of ways of preparing interviews. As I will argue, a proactive approach to interviews is a more effective way to prepare for an MBA interview.


REACTIVE INTERVIEW PREPARATION
Just as the name implies, reactive interview preparation is based on reacting to actions taken by others. It has the following characteristics:


A. Timing: Reactive interview preparation does not begin until all other parts of the application process are completed and in the worst case not until the applicant is actually invited. Interviews are not approached as inherent part of the application process, but something that occurs independently from the rest of the process. For example, the applicant does not think about their resume as an agenda setting device (see below) for an interview, but simply as part of the application. Reactive interview preparation is invariably a scramble for time and often comes too late to have sufficient impact on improving the applicant’s performance (An interview is a performance).


B. Approach to answering questions: Reactive interview preparation is always based on reacting to the questions. At its core, reactive interview preparation is based on responding to specific answers to set questions. As result, even those who use this method extensively have to prepare many answers to many questions because that is the only way they can be prepared. The problem, of course, is that when encountering a new question (If you put in charge of the world economy right now, what you do?) in an actual interview, the interviewee is often at a loss about how to answer.


C. Reactive interviewing is strategically flawed:  Since you don’t know what you will be asked, you set yourself up for failure if you plan a strategy only based on the questions you think you will be asked.  It is a poor excuse to say “I was not prepared for that question” because you actually cannot know exactly what you will be asked.   After all, interviewer often tailor questions specifically to you and in the process of doing that, they are likely to ask something you are not prepared for. Even for schools where interviews are likely to draw on a fairly narrow set of questions, their specific wording of the question can through off someone who prepares too narrowly.



PROACTIVE INTERVIEW PREPARATION
Just as the name implies, active interview preparation is based on taking a proactive approach to interview preparation. It has the following characteristics:


Timing: Proactive interview preparation begins with making a resume. Consider that for all US MBA program alumni interviews (Some alumni interviews for schools outside of the US involve parts if not the whole application), all US MBA program student interviews, and many US program admissions interviews, the only thing from your application that your interviewer will have is your resume. Hence, it is important that your resume contain only information you are comfortable discussing in an interview. It is, to some extent, an agenda setting document. Hence, you should view interview preparation to begin with the composition of your resume. Proactive interview preparation also involves begin interview preparation sufficiently early to have impact. For some applicants with weak English and/or interview skills, such preparation may require a month or more to have real effect. For some applicants, it might just require a day or two of highly conc entrated preparation.  Much will depend on your skills as well who is interviewing and from what school.


B. Approach to answering questions: Proactive interview preparation is always based on knowing what you want to say about yourself before you interview.At its core, proactive interview preparation is based on thinking about your message. You must also be aware of potential questions, but the focus should be on knowing what you want to say about yourself, no matter what the question. You should have keywords and stories that can be used to answer a variety of questions.


C. Proactive interviewing offers a comprehensive strategy: Proactive interview preparation is based on the idea that you don’t know what you will be asked, but you do know your message. Being ready for the unexpected is thus incorporated into the very method itself. It is absolutely critical that you have an overall strategy for determining what you want to say about yourself. Just as with your essays, you need to formulate your self-marketing strategy for your interviews. Obviously what you put in your application should be consistent with and supported by your interview. However writing essays and talking for 30 minutes or more are simply not the same.


Don’t worry about the questions, worry about your message!
While you should use the Accepted and Clear Admit sites to learn about the questions, an overemphasis on simply preparing answers to the questions that other applicants were asked is not the main thing you should be doing. Instead, decide what you want to say about yourself.


One way of being proactive is prepare a chart like the following  JPEG images of a two page document):








This table, which is available here via Googledocs,  can be used for doing an inventory of your keywords and stories that you will use for interviews.

KEYWORDS AND STORIES
Here are some specific types of keywords and stories you need to develop:


Strengths/Contributions/Future Potential/Personality
1. One of my key strengths is X. A story that demonstrates this strength is… Another story that does is… This strength will be a contribution at your school because… This strength will contribute to my future goals because…
2. Another of my key strengths is Y. A story that demonstrates this strength is… Another story that does is… This strength will be a contribution at your school because… This strength will contribute to my future goals because…
3. Another of my key strengths is Z. A story that demonstrates this strength is… Another story that does is.. This strength will be a contribution at your school because… This strength will contribute to my future goals because…
For each X, Y, Z insert a keyword describing your strength. Connect keywords to specific stories. If possible, find more than one story that demonstrates the keyword. Next think how this strength could be a contribution when you are student. Next think how this strength will contribute to your goals. By using this method, you will have prepared answers to such common questions as “What are your strengths” and “How will you contribute to our school.” Additionally you will be ready to show how your past experience will help you achieve your goals. Additionally when asked questions which are less direct about your strengths, you will already have keywords and stories ready for those questions you can’t predict. Keep in mind that your strengths might include particular skills as well as personality characteristics. You should think about strengths in the widest sense. Try to develop about 6-12(or more) keywords and 12-20 (or more) stories that rel ate to your strengths, contributions, personality, and future potential.


Weaknesses/Failures
1. One of my weaknesses is X. A story that demonstrates this is… Another story that does is… I want to overcome this weakness by… This weakness resulted in failure when…
2. Another of my weaknesses is Y. A story that demonstrates this is… Another story that does is… I want to overcome this weakness by… This weakness resulted in failure when…
3. Another of my weaknesses is Z. A story that demonstrates this is… Another story that does is… I want to overcome this weakness by… This weakness resulted in failure when…
HAVE AS MANY WEAKNESSES AS POSSIBLE, NOT JUST ONE OR TWO. TRY FOR THREE TO FIVE. Here you be preparing answers to the very common questions that are asked about weakness, but in addition you will need to think about how the MBA program and/or some other aspect of yourself will make it possible for you to overcome this weakness. Weaknesses should be real and not abstract. You should have clear stories that demonstrate your weaknesses, something many applicants initially have a problem with. Additionally knowing how a program will help you overcome your weakness will explain why you want to attend that school. Finally, SOME, BUT NOT All weaknesses make for great failure stories, another very common topic for interviews.


Leadership and Teamwork Skills/Potential
All applicants should have keywords and supporting stories describing their leadership and teamwork skills and potential. Given the very common nature of questions related to both leadership and teamwork, you should also be prepared for the following:
1. My definition of leadership/teamwork is… because… I demonstrated this kind of leadership by…
2. One leader I really admire is… because… I am similar/want to be like this person because…
3. I think I am a good team member because…

Tell stories that show the range of your experience
Keep in mind that you should use stories from different parts of your life. Don’t overemphasize one specific situation. Instead tell stories that showcase the range of your experience. To do so effectively, means preparing a sufficient amount of keywords and stories ahead of time.

Have enough keywords and stories! If you have enough keyword and stories you will have a solid basis for answering the great range of questions that you are likely to be asked about yourself. Don’t develop more than you can master, but don’t skimp either.


Questions you should be ready to answer
In addition to having keywords and stories, there are certain questions that you should be ready to answer because they are commonly asked in interviews.
Goals/Why MBA?/ Why this school?
You should have outlined answers to the following:
1. I want an MBA now because…
2. I want an MBA from your school because…
3. Your school is my first choice because…
4. After my MBA, I will…
5. My goals are…
6. If I was not able to attend an MBA program next year, I would…


Ethical Dilemma Questions
Once very common in the 2000s, ethical dilemma questions seem to have become less frequent but due come up now and again. Be ready. Have a story or two ready. If you are having a difficulty formulating ethical dilemma questions, please take a look at the Institute for Global Ethics. Also see Business Ethics Research – Knowledge@Wharton.


Questions for the interviewer
You should be ready to ask questions to your interviewer. What you ask should be governed by the following considerations:
1. Is the answer to the question obvious? If so, don’t ask the question. Instead ask a question related to something that is not obvious about the program.  For an admissions officer, the question might be something as simple as when admits are informed about financial aid.
2. Is the answer to the question really relevant to you? If not, don’t ask it. General questions that have no specific connection to you are probably not worth asking. Instead ask a question that relates to you. For example, if you are interested in entrepreneurship at the school, ask an admissions officer about recent successful entrepreneurs who attended the program and  ask student and alumni interviewers if they have taken any of the entrepreneurship courses or are/were involved in other  entrepreneurial activities at the school.
3. Will the interviewer be able to answer the question? In general avoid asking interviewers questions that they are not really able to answer. Asking an alum who graduated five years ago about what is new at the school would be one such bad question. Instead ask alumni more open-ended questions about their experience until you are able to better ask more narrow questions. It is fine to ask admissions officer logistical type questions, which they might not be able to answer immediately, but can answer eventually, but it would be odd to ask an admissions offer who was not an alumnus of the program about what taking a specific class  is like.
When formulating questions it is obviously important to consider who you will be interviewing with because what you ask an alum is not the same as what you ask an admissions officer or current student.


Behavioral Questions
My post on MIT is comprehensive as this has been their longstanding practice.  Please see here for that analysis. Many schools use behavioral questions, so I do recommend going over that post.


Keep it simple and don’t recite from memory
Regardless of how complex the topic might be, when you tell a story, keep it simple enough for your listener to follow. The human brain can only absorb a limited amount of information, so when you tell a story make sure that it is something that can be easily followed and delivered very briefly.
For that reason (and others), memorizing long stories and reciting them should be avoided because it will likely result in your interviewer being unable to absorb your story. If the story takes too long to recite, the may also become bored or annoyed. Additionally memorized answers from a non-native speaker of English are a sign that the interviewee’s English skills might be weak.
Don’t write a script, just a very brief outline
Unless your English speaking ability is very weak, I would strongly recommend that you don’t write scripts of your answers, instead prepare a very brief outline and practice telling the story. Tell your stories repeatedly so that you are comfortable doing so, but since you want to come across as polished, but natural, don’t memorize it.


How to Prepare? 
The best way to do well in any interview is be prepared for an interview that will be harder than the actual interview and to have prepared a much greater range of topics and questions than can be covered in a single interview. I write this based on my experience. Since 2001, I have been told by grateful clients that my practice interviews were harder though realistic versions of  the real thing and as a result they could confidently handle the real thing. I think any highly experienced graduate admissions consultant should be able to provide this kind of practice to their clients. If you don’t use an admissions consultant to help you prepare, find someone, a friend or mentor perhaps, who can help you. Whoever you seek advice from, getting actual critical feedback from person who understands the MBA admissions process is best.

Just as critical is your own preparation. The amount of practice (with someone else and alone) you require will really depend on  two or three variables:
1. Your comfort with interviews. Some people are just really good at interviewing and others are not.  If you know you have weaknesses in this area you will need to do significant amounts of self preparation and need to practice with others who can judge and help you enhance your performance.

2. The difficulty of the interview. Some schools simply have difficult interviews (HBS for example), while others do not (Duke for example), so take that into account. A great way to determine the difficulty of a particular school’s interviews is to read reports written by applicants (See the links above to the Accepted and Clear Admit interview reports).

3. English Ability. While not an issue  for native level English speakers, it does become a significant factor effecting preparation time for those who are not at least advanced level speakers.  To a certain extent, this is a function of comfort and confidence when speaking English, but increasingly becomes an issue for those who have less than advanced level English. It can also be an issue for those non-native speakers with heavy accents.
Use an audio and/or video recorder
For many people, except for watching yourself on video, nothing is worse than listening to your own voice. However as painful as it maybe, doing so will help you identify weakness in your answers and overall performance. Therefore record and analyze yourself.

Prepare intensively for any category of question that you are especially uncomfortable with.
Many applicants hate answering questions about weakness or failure. Other don’t like ethical dilemma. Whatever it is you don’t like, master it.

Practice for specific interviews
Finally, don’t just practice for any interview, practice for specific interviews. While you may initially need to think about overall strategy and need to prepare your stories, you should focus some of your practice on specific interviews. BOTTOM LINE: If you have mock interviews, make sure they are school specific because a very important aspect of the interview really is about you showing your connection and fit to the school. You can find my school specific posts for interviews in the Interview Analysis section of Key Posts. 

-Adam Markus

-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.