Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Strategy

In this post, I have decided to simply comment on the mostly helpful advice that Wharton provides in Tips on the Wharton MBA Admissions Interview. In addition to my own knowledge of Wharton MBA interviews, I am drawing on the reports found at accepted.com and clearadmit.com.

For those who might be interviewing with J.J. Cutler, the new Director of MBA Admissions & Financial Aid, you should read my earlier post on him as you get can learn about his background, though I can't say that it will provide you with much insight on how he conducts interviews.

I have quoted that entire Wharton Tips text and inserted comments. Wharton's original text is in bold.

Tips on the Wharton MBA Admissions Interview

Invited to an interview? Here are some tips directly from the Admissions Committee to to help prepare you…

PURPOSE

Interviews provide additional information about your candidacy that is included in the final reviews of your application. As such interviews, are not the decisive factor in your admissions decision. In most cases, interviews are fairly consistent with the application.

ADAM: At Wharton, interviews are just one factor that goes into the determination to admit, waitlist, or reject. That said, don't take this interview lightly because I think is fair to say that those who don't do a superior interview are unlikely to be admitted or at least waitlisted.

STRUCTURE

Interviews are blind, which reduces bias as your interviewer will have no preconceived ideas of your ability or personality based on your written application.

ADAM: While it is true that all interviews are blind in the sense that interviewers will not have read your application, if you interview with an admissions officer or alumni you have had previous contact with, the interviewer may very well have preconceived ideas of your ability based on that contact.

Interviews may include behavioral questions. Questions may center on specific examples or detailed descriptions of events, projects or experience that demonstrate how situations you’ve faced in the past have been handled and what you learned from them. Behavioral interviewing assumes that past performance predicts future behavior.

ADAM: Sure, this is possible, but a review of Wharton's interview reports indicates that the behavioral interview method is generally not used at all or used extensively. However, the fact that they have a statement like this means that you should be prepared to answer behavioral questions. See my post on MIT interviews for more about that.

No advance preparation is required. Questions are straightforward and cover topics such as why you seek an MBA, why you feel you are a good fit for Wharton (vice versa), what your career goals are, how you spend your spare time, what you value, about what you are passionate, etc. You will not be asked analyze a case study or demonstrate your mastery of particular subjects.

ADAM: A review of Wharton's interview reports indicates that the questions are almost always straightforward. You should certainly prepare for this interview by becoming comfortable answering the full range of such general MBA questions as well as being able to discuss everything on your resume. See here for more information about how to prepare for such questions. It is particularly important that you be able to express why Wharton is your first choice.

All interviews carry equal weight. There is no advantage to interviewing on-campus or with an admissions staff member. Arrange the type of interview that is most convenient for you.

ADAM: Based on my experience with clients, I can say that I have not ever noticed any real distinction in terms of outcome (admit, ding, waitlist) that was traceable to who the interviewer was. If you do an alumni interview, you will might have a choice of alumni to select from. The one advantage of this is that you can find out about the alums ahead of time. If you have an off-campus option of meeting with an admissions officer, you will be able to learn about him or her as well. Campus interviews are with students or admissions officers, but you will probably not have any information about your interviewer ahead of time. Each option has its inherent advantages and disadvantages. Alums and admissions officers are likely to be more experienced at interviewing, whereas students are more likely to be your peers. My suggestion is to select whoever you will feel the most comfortable with.

GENERAL TIPS

Interviews are dialogues or exchange between two people. Steer away from pre-rehearsed speech and over reliance on your résumé. We are interested in getting to know you as an individual, so follow the cues of the interviewer.

ADAM: This is really sound advice regarding the structure of the exchange. Successful Wharton interviews often become conversations rather than simply a question and answer session. Their advice "to follow the cues of the interviewer" is really applicable to any interview, so listen to each question and don't simply blurt out the first thing that comes to your mind. Also try to gauge how long your answers should be based on the conversational style of the interviewer. Instead of making speeches, make certain that you are engaged in a dialogue. One thing to practice is giving short, but very direct initial answers to questions.

The exact length of the interview does not indicate how well the interview went. While we schedule 30 minute interviews, they may vary a bit. Deviations from the schedule are random and unrelated to the candidate.

ADAM: Reported length is typically 30-45 minutes.

Do not expect the interviewer to give you feedback – literally or figuratively. Be careful to avoid any interpretation of verbal or non-verbal communication, as both may mislead you.

ADAM: I think asking for feedback is a particularly odd thing to do because it puts the interviewer in a difficult position. The advice to avoid interpretation of verbal or non-verbal communication is nonsensical and/or simply badly stated. As a human being we cannot avoid such interpretations. More specifically, Wharton has previously suggested following the cues of the interviewer, which is a form of interpretation of both verbal and non-verbal communication. What they probably meant to say was that one should not necessarily assume the absence or presence of positive verbal and/or non-verbal feedback from the interviewer indicates how well your interview is going. This might be true or it might not. It is certainly is the case that whatever way your interviewer acts, you need to stay positive and focused and not over-analyze the interviewer's reactions.

Interviews are not a popularity contest. The interviewer is assessing your fit for the Wharton MBA program, not whether or not the two of you would make good or best friends.The key is to relax, be genuine, and enjoy the opportunity for us to get to know one another.

ADAM: While these interviews may not be popularity contests, your objective is make sure that the interviewer understands why should be a part of the Wharton community. As these interviewers are gatekeepers, convincing them that you belong at Wharton requires that you be well prepared as well as relaxed and genuine. Being both well prepared and genuine requires real practice, so don't focus on one at the cost of the other.

-Adam Markus
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If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant."


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UC Berkeley Haas MBA Interviews

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

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

You also need to be prepared to answer routine MBA questions. Most reported interviews simply consist of them. See my previous post on basic interview strategy.

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

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

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

If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant."
-Adam Markus
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Wharton's Director of MBA Admissions & Financial Aid, J.J. Cutler

In January, Wharton announced they had had a new Director of MBA Admissions & Financial Aid, J.J. Cutler. This is what Wharton says about him:

J.J. Cutler is the new Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid. Since 2007, J.J. has been President of Lindi Skin, a start-up offering skin care products specifically designed for people with cancer. In this role, he developed a strategic vision and successfully positioned the Lindi Skin brand, securing national media coverage and expanding the community of healthcare professionals sensitive to the skincare needs of cancer patients. He has served as Senior Vice President of Marketing for ARAMARK Healthcare's North American group and spent seven years in a variety of roles at Johnson & Johnson. Among other responsibilities, he managed over-the-counter brands; oversaw new market development for a variety of chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases; and helped create Canyon Seven, a wellness business developed in partnership with Canyon Ranch Health Resorts. While at Johnson & Johnson, he won the prestigious "Standards of Leadership" award for his work in building an MBA recruiting strategy for Wharton.

J.J. has deep roots in the Penn community. He earned his B.A. in Communications from the College (School of Arts and Sciences) and his MBA in Operations Management and Strategic Management. While at Wharton, he served as a student advisor to the Academic Affairs office and a teaching assistant for the undergraduate Marketing 101 course.

The first "J." stands for Jonathan, by the way. As he entered PENN undergrad in 1989, he is approximately age 38. As you can tell from the above, he has no adcom experience, but is clearly an involved Wharton alum. I think it is very interesting that the Wharton approach was to hire someone without prior admissions experience. It is also interesting that they did not promote someone internally. While I will not predict a shake up in their admissions processes for Fall 2010 yet, I would not be surprised to see one coming. In his (JC) interview with Clear Admit (CA), I found the only interesting part to be the following:

CA: How might the admissions process at Wharton change under your tenure? Do you have any plans to do things differently than your predecessor?

JC: Yes. In the short term we are right in the middle of round two, so nothing is going to change today. And I am just a few weeks into the job, so I think it’s premature to make changes right away.

Longer term, I do think that innovation is a hallmark of Wharton’s curriculum and a hallmark of the way in which we view all of our processes, including admissions and financial aid. Going forward, we will be looking for innovative ways to attract the right candidates, as well as to be innovative in terms of the transparency of our process.

We want to continue to arm prospective applicants with the tools they need to provide us with the best applications they can. To that end, we will continue to providing opportunities for students to come tour our campus, to sit in on classes. And we’ll look for innovative ways to expand on these offerings. And we will also be going out and doing global presentations about Wharton so that applicants around the globe know what we have to offer.

So I do think that there are lots of ways we will continue to be innovative. But in the short term, for rounds two and three of this year, we will continue with the process as it currently exists.

The new director appears to be a manager presently engaged in the process of learning about his organization before taking actions to alter it. Clearly, the time to alter it would be approximately after Round Three results are announced. The rest of the interview, which is worth reading, is basically useful for showing the extent to which J.J. Cutler is just reciting the basics regarding Wharton's processes.

Some more information about his experience can be found in the job announcement for his previous position:

Prior to Lindi Skin, Cutler held the position of Senior Vice President of Marketing for ARAMARK Healthcare. In this role, he led the marketing team, driving its leadership position across the enterprise and innovatively communicating that position to the marketplace.

He earlier worked with Johnson & Johnson in roles with increasing responsibility for several divisions, including: Leading OTC brands at McNeil Consumer Healthcare, including Tylenol([R]) PM, Motrin([R]) IB and Pepcid([R]) AC; and Biologic products at Centocor, including the company's leading product, Remicade, where he led new market development for a variety of chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.

Cutler is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a Senior Scholar of the Department of Health Policy at Jefferson Medical College. He earned his bachelor's degree in Communication from the University of Pennsylvania and his Master of Business Administration in Strategic Management and Operations from The Wharton School. Cutler serves on the Board of Directors for the Independence Visitors Center Corporation in Philadelphia.

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Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

-Adam Markus
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MIT Sloan MBA Interviews

Before reading the rest of this post, I strongly suggest downloading a copy of MIT's excellent guide to behavioral interviews, The MIT Sloan Interview Guide, because reading it first will maximize the value of my comments below.

The behavioral interview method is not old:
“Bill Byham, CEO and founder of Development Dimensions International, originated the behavioral interviewing method in 1970.”

In fact, the STAR technique outlined in MIT’s guide was developed by Byham as THE WAY to answer behavioral questions:

Byham calls an example of past behavior a STAR, because a complete example consists of a situation or task, the specific action you took and the result of your action. The result you describe doesn't have to be positive; it could be that you learned a valuable lesson from doing something the wrong way.

In his book "Landing the Job You Want: How to Have the Best Job Interview of Your Life" (Three Rivers Press, 1997), Byham tells candidates how to identify the skills for a job; explore their own "behavioral dimensions" (the behaviors they use every day to get things done); and recognize and present a STAR with positive impact in an interview.

In addition to the MIT SLOAN Guide, I suggest also taking a look at the slightly different guide to the Star Technique that MIT Career Services provides.

The STAR technique is really the core method you need to use for answering behavioral questions in MIT essays. It is simply this (taken from the MIT Sloan Guide):

• Situation: define the situation or “set the stage.”
• Task: identify the task/project performed.
• Action: describe the action you took.
• Result: summarize the outcome

Just keep in mind that you need to be introspective as well, so in an interview say what you thought as well as what you did. Don’t just present “the facts” but actively interpret your actions. There is really nothing overly complicated about this as long as you understand that you need to tell a DETAILED story. Pure abstractions disconnected from a concrete set of action steps are highly likely to result in a weak answer. Similarly, grand actions not told in any depth are also likely to be weak. Identify specific actions that contributed to the result so as to establish a clear link between cause and effect.

As when answering any kind of question, another important consideration is to think very critically about what your story selection, understanding of the task, actions taken, and results say about you. Keep in mind that the whole point of asking behavioral questions is to determine how someone acts and thinks as a basis for selecting or rejecting that person. It is obviously critical to be aware of your own message. Specifically think of examples you can use to highlight your intelligence, creativity, leadership skills, interpersonal communication skills, and conflict resolution skills.

Since your interviewer will know your file well, you need to have alternative stories for answering behavioral questions. Unlike MIT's behavioral essays, you need not limit your answers to topics from the last three years. My suggestion is to have a mix of stories ready to deliver from different times in your life.

You can find behavioral questions in the interview reports found at accepted.com and clearadmit.com. In addition, the list of behavioral questions found at MIT Career Services site is actually quite good for preparing for answers to wide variety of questions.

Beyond answering, behavioral questions, you need to know your own application completely as you will likely be asked about content in it. Re-read your essays and consider what your interviewer might ask you to explain more thoroughly.

You need to be prepared to answer routine MBA questions as well. While the answers may be analyzed using behavioral analysis, don't be surprised if you get asked questions like "What do you want to after your MBA?" or "Why Sloan." See my previous post on basic MBA interview strategy.

The interviewers, all admissions staff, are generally reported to be friendly. They are the only ones who conduct interviews.

Based on reports, interview length could be from 30 to 60 minutes with 45 minutes to 60 minutes being most common.

For more insight into MIT, please see here.

If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant."
-Adam Markus
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Duke Fuqua MBA Interviews

In my experience, Duke interviews are all about fit. Frankly, I would not characterize them as hard when compared to those of other top schools. For some of my clients, I think the hardest part was that their interviews were conducted in a busy hotel lobby by a student interviewer. One would hope that Duke would have a budget to either have a room for this or at least take the interviewee to a hotel coffee shop. Other clients report better off-campus interviewing conditions.

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

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

2. You need to be prepared to answer routine MBA questions. Most reported interviews simply consist of them. See my previous post on interviewing. Typical Duke questions include:

-Walk me through your resume.

-Why MBA?

-Why Duke?

-How will contribute to Fuqua?

-What are your short term and long term goals?

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

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

-Discuss your strengths and weaknesses

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

-Do you have any questions for me?

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

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

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


If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant."
-Adam Markus
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McCombs MBA Interviews

My comments below are based on my experience and my review of McCombs School of Business in University of Texas at Austin MBA interview reports found at accepted.com.

I think that there are five key things to consider when preparing for McCombs interviews:

1. A recent report indicated that interviewers had a two page list of questions. In addition to common questions, there were a few interesting questions reported, See especially the 11.15.2007 report. Also make sure to take a look at the 7.7.2007 report as this shows that some interviewers use behavioral questions. For more about behavioral questions, see here.

Also see my previous post on strategic interviewing for more about how to handle many of these questions.

2. The interviewer will only have access to your resume, so know the contents well, but unlike with some other interviews, assume the agenda for your interview will be set by the list of questions that interviewer has and not your resume.

3. I see no reports of any trick questions really, but you must be prepared to address weakness, failure, and what you want to learn at McCombs. Be prepared to ask questions about the program. If you have an alum interview, be prepared to have a number of questions.

4. Interviewers (students, adcom, or alum) are friendly and try to create a friendly interview atmosphere. This is an interview about fit and your own potential, so make sure you can explain in depth why you want to attend McCombs, how you will contribute to it, and what you intend to do afterwords. You may want to look at an interview I conducted with a former client who was a McCombs Adcom member. Previous contact with alum, visits to campus, and/or intensive school research are all great ways to prepare.

5. Must interviews last about 45 minutes with some going for an hour and a few lasting only 30 minutes.

If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click 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?

Now that the 1st round results in all their joy, pain, and annoyance have more or less emerged, some people will find themselves in that netherworld known as waitlist. For some, the wait will actually end once 2nd round results are released, but for others, the wait might very well continue, well, for months and months.

Given the large number of applicants for Fall 2009, waitlisting is not likely to become less common. 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 have too many qualified applicants for too few slots, but want to reserve the possibility of eventually letting someone in. 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....

1. 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.

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

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. GMAT & TOEFL: If you can take it again, do it, if your score goes up report it. Higher scores always help.

6. Additional recommendation: If they 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 for any areas of professional 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 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.

7. 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) If you did not sufficiently discuss your leadership or teamwork abilities, you should most certainly do so.
(b) Write about contributions you can make to the school based on your experience, background, personality, and network.
(c) If your academic potential was not obvious, you should try to demonstrate that.
(d) If you have SUBSTANTIAL personal or professional accomplishments that you did not discuss, you should do so.
(e) If you did not focus very much on non-professional content in your application, focus on it here.

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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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 Fall 2009, reapply for 2010, or give up. Whatever the case, you need a Plan B in place. If you are thinking about applying to more schools for Fall 2009 or just reconsidering school selection in general, please see here.

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

If you are interested in my waitlist counseling or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant."
-Adam Markus
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Dartmouth Tuck MBA Interviews

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth interview is about fit, so make sure you can explain in great depth why you want to become a part of Tuck's small intensive community in Hanover. If you interview on-campus expect to be asked about how you liked it. If you have never been to Hanover, contact with alum and intensive school research are all great ways to prepare. Keep in mind that the objective of this research is to determine what you really like about the school, about how Tuck is right for you, and how you imagine yourself contributing to it. Try to focus on what you need from the school, not merely stating obvious information about it.

Demonstrated enthusiasm to attend Tuck is very helpful. Based on my experience, that enthusiasm in combination with the ability to provide solid answers to routine MBA questions. Most reported interviews found at accepted.com and clearadmit.com simply consist of standard questions. See my previous post on interviewing. Expect questions about teams, friendship, and extracurricular activities.

You need to know your resume completely as you will likely be asked about content in it. Review it carefully and consider what your interviewer might ask you to explain more thoroughly. If it is on your resume, it is fair game. Even an admissions officer interviewer will only have your resume, but you should assume they will know the contents of it fairly well. As Clear Admit states, "Tuck employs a ‘blind’ interview process, using only the resume as a basis for the interview.

Interviewers, according to the Tuck FAQ:
Interviews on campus are scheduled primarily with admissions associates (second-year students) and occasionally with members of the admissions committee. Off-campus interviews with an alumni interviewer, admissions committee member, or admissions associate are scheduled by invitation only.


Reported interview length: 30 to 45 minutes.

If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant."
-Adam Markus
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USC Marshall MBA Interviews

University of Southern California Marshall School of Business interviews are by invitation only. You'll find that it may vary whether interviews are blind or not. The best advice is to be prepared and consistent about your story.

Interviews are conducted by admissions on-campus, by telephone, and at selected locations worldwide. USC interviews last 30-45 minutes.

Based on the reports found at accepted.com, I have noticed a recent trend towards asking hypothetical questions. Recent examples include:

-If you could do anything and time and money wasn't an issue what would you choose to do?

-Person you'd like to have dinner with, dead or alive?

-If you were to travel across the country and had to take two people with you (not family or friends), who would they be and why?

What is interesting about all three questions is that other schools ask or have asked them as essay topics. When encountering this sort of question, take a moment and think about it.

GIFT QUESTIONS: All three of these questions have something in common. They are magic wishes and can be thought of as gifts. Gift questions are always about making best use of the resource that is being given. Best use should directly connect to your most basic motivations and core values as expressed in your application and your answers to other interview questions.

-If you could do anything and time and money wasn't an issue what would you choose to do?
If the question, like this one, involves an alternative future for yourself, pick a future that has some connection to your values and/or motivations for pursuing an MBA and/or your goals. Think of it as an alternative way of expressing your motivations.


-Person you'd like to have dinner with, dead or alive?
-If you were to travel across the country and had to take two people with you (not family or friends), who would they be and why?
Both of these questions are essentially the same in one major respect because they involve you having the opportunity to learn from someone else. In the second question, you have to also consider group dynamics because you would be driving across country with two people for an extended period of time. Your dinner companion or fellow travelers would be people you want to learn from or otherwise benefit from. Select your dinner guest or driving companions on the basis of their potential positive impact on you.

The other questions that USC asks are rather typical. To prepare for them, see my general post on interview strategy.


If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant."
-Adam Markus
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Report on the hottest MBA networking event in Tokyo

On Saturday the 31st of January, my colleague Vince Ricci (center) held a "fireside chat," which was by far the best gathering of MBA applicants and alums that I (right) have ever attended. In addition to 30 MBA applicants, 19 alums (HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg, Chicago, Tuck, Berkeley, Duke, UCLA, Michigan, Cornell, Darden, INSEAD, LBS, IESE, and IE), Vince, Steve (my guest blogger), and I attended. As I have mentioned previously, Vince, Steve, and I have an interview referral program for our clients, so this was a good chance for our clients to do some networking, not only with alums, but with each other. It was also really great to see former clients who were kind enough to attend.

I asked Vince to tell my blog readers a little about this event as well as explain why he organized it. Below are his comments:

I started these "fireside chats" because I heard from many of my clients that they preferred smaller more intimate gatherings. There is no shortage of information on MBA programs. Thanks to frequent adcom visits, alumni panels, and great blogs (like this one!), applicants can now access school-specific data and insights easier than ever. Still, I felt that there was a lack of "quality face time." I attended larger MBA events for years and sometimes felt that it was hard to connect or have meaningful conversations while worrying that others are still waiting in line to ask their questions.

We had our first event in August 2008. About 20 people came to a nice little spot in Shimbashi, including 3 of my former clients representing HBS, Stanford, and UCLA.

I spent the next five months building momentum for a slightly larger event. (I expected 35-40 people, but more than 50 came!) This time, I wanted to maximize alumni participation. On 1/31, we enjoyed a nearly 3:2 applicant to alumni ratio, better than any other MBA networking event in Tokyo, perhaps in the world.

Because I believe in the power of human-to-human communication, I want to maintain our small size and customized approach. I am already scouting new locations for our next "fireside chat."

ADAM:
I am looking forward to Vince's next event. As he keeps these things small, they are basically open to our current and former clients, with others joining on a case-by-case basis.

For more details about utilizing our services, please contact:
Vince Ricci (http://vinceprep.com/)
H. Steven Green (http://hstevengreen.com/home.html)
Adam Markus (http://adammarkus.com/)

-Adam Markus
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HBS 2nd Round Invites are coming on 2/9

HBS second round invites will be coming on 2/9:
On February 9 we will send out invitations to interview. The invitation will come in an email from HBS MBA Admissions and will contain detailed instuctions about how to sign up for interviews both on campus and in hub cities. Please be assured that if we see you haven't signed up for an intervew by the end of the week, we will contact you by phone...thus there's no reason to be anxious about lost emails, etc.

Some will smile, some will cry. In any case, if you applied for round 2, just keep interview prepping. The HBS interview is not a thing to be taken lightly. See here for how to prep this one.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

-Adam Markus
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Stanford GSB MBA Interviews

Stanford interviews, while so hard to get, are not necessarily that hard in any obvious way. This is interview about fit as determined by an alumni "gatekeeper." Chances are good that this gatekeeper might be in your industry or in some manner have a complementary background for assessing you. While I imagine in some places with few alumni, a high level of complementary assessment (e.g., McKinsey applicant interviewed by Boston Consulting Group alum) would be less likely, I can say that it is the rule rather the exception in Japan. Expect a lively exchange and whatever you do, don't make any plans for it to end on time as Stanford interviews are well known for going long. Based on my experience, I can say that every client who had a long interview got in. This might be coincidence, but I doubt it.

My analysis of Stanford is based on my own personal knowledge as well as reviewing the reports of Stanford University GSB interviews found at accepted.com and clearadmit.com.

Some key things to consider when preparing for Stanford GSB interviews:

1. My colleague, H. Steven Green, has put the following together by reviewing interview reports (I have reviewed Steve's list which he prepared in March 2008, but the questions for Fall 2009 1st Round interviews have not changed):
-Why do you need an MBA?
-What are your career goals?
-When did you realize that you wanted to go to business school, and why?
-Why do you need an MBA now?
-Why Stanford?
-What has been your most important accomplishment?
-Please tell me about a time when you received criticism? How did you respond to it? Did your relationship change with the person who made it ?
-What do you do outside of work?
-Who is your role model?
-What book are you reading currently that is not related to your profession? ADAM'S NOTE: THIS QUESTION IS VERY COMMON!
-Describe a time when you had to choose between two good options.
-Describe a failure. -Please tell me about a time when you let down your team.
-Tell me about a time when you let your team down as a leader?
-Why do you think you are successful?
-Tell me about a time when you had to interact with people in a difficult situation.
-Tell me about a time when you had a bad leader.
-Tell me about a time when you led people?
-What was your favorite class in college?
-Describe a tough manager.
-Describe an easy manager.
-What would you get involved with at Stanford?
-Describe a bad leader.
-How do your prioritize?
As you can see, the questions are pretty standard. Expect some behavioral style questions and prepare accordingly.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Whoever you interview with, they are likely to be quite friendly and the style of the interview is conversational. Stanford alums are provided with very clear guidelines for how to conduct interviews. 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. Alums are the gatekeepers and Stanford can afford to reject anyone. Take nothing for granted. Also keep in mind that the admissions process at Stanford is holistic and a great interview is no absolute guarantee of success.

5. 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 alum 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.

If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant."
-Adam Markus
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Good Loan News from Fuqua

This bit of good news just arrived in my Inbox:

"Greetings from The Fuqua School of Business!

I wanted to take a moment to share an update on our efforts to secure an improved loan program for international students. Fuqua's leadership team has been working on a number of fronts to address the issue of loans for our international students, and I'm pleased to report positive results.

First, let there be no uncertainty: Our international students will be able to secure loans for their studies at Fuqua. We have a solution in hand that will meet students' needs. At the same time, we are part of a consortium of top business schools that is exploring other lender options to ensure international students are getting the best possible loan terms.

In addition, we have been actively engaged in discussions with banks in regions around the world - including China and India - to identify further appropriate loan programs. These conversations have been fruitful, and negotiations are ongoing.

Further meetings are taking place with regional banks that have not previously provided international loans, but have expressed interest in our loan proposals and in establishing a relationship with Fuqua.

Though we have already identified a loan program that will suit the needs of our international students, we continue to consider this range of possible selections in order to be certain our students are able to secure the most favorable loan terms available. In the coming weeks, I will update you with more complete details on the international loan program when all options have been fully examined.

Fuqua's global strategy and the strong international contacts that have resulted from that strategy allow us to examine a number of loan programs. In the current economic environment, we're well positioned to ensure the most favorable loan terms to enable students from around the world to pursue MBA studies at Duke.

Please contact the admissions office if you have additional questions.

Best regards, Liz Riley Hargrove Associate Dean for Admission www.fuqua.duke.edu "

I am glad to know that Team Fuqua will be able to offer international students the necessary loans to study there.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.
-Adam Markus
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Columbia Business School Alumni Interviews

You can find my analysis of Columbia's essays for Fall 2009 here.

Columbia Business School offers only one flavor of admissions interview: "Columbia Business School Ambassador" alumni invitation-only interviews. You will get to select from multiple interviewers, so try to figure out who they are first before contacting them. I suggest using Google searches, LinkedIn, and perhaps your own network to do so. Select someone who you think you will be compatible with.

While this interview is certainly important, it is not unheard of for Linda Meehan to admit someone the alumni did not recommend or ding someone the interviewer did recommend. She and her team have ultimate discretion over this issue and clearly see the interview as only one factor for determining the ultimate result. That said, the interview is certainly quite important. In my experience, clients who report not having a great Columbia rarely are admitted, so you as an applicant should assume that like with any interview, it is very important to do well.

Columbia alum seem to be particularly effective gatekeepers for the program. They are well known for relentlessly determining whether Columbia really is the applicant's first choice. They are clearly told to do this as it is a consistent feature of interview reports. Not only should you be able to explain why Columbia is your first choice, but you had better explain why HBS, Stanford, and/or Wharton is not. Less then clear answers to the why is CBS your first choice question can prove fatal. Beyond that, I think alum are really looking to make sure that you possess sufficient mental strength, personal drive (aggression), and career focus to become a part of their "club."

Some of the most common question topics you would encounter in a Columbia interview (Based on my own information and a review of reports at at accepted.com and clearadmit.com):

-Why MBA? Why now?

-What are you goals? Why do you need an MBA for them?

-Leadership related questions focused directly on your experience or perhaps stated more generally.

-Team focused questions about leading a team, contributing to a team, and/or overcoming team conflict are all common.

-Why Columbia? Where else are you applying? What clubs or activities would you join at Columbia? What can you contribute to Columbia?

-Either walk me through your resume or questions that amount to the same thing are always asked. Expect to be asked one way or another about how you standout professionally. Be honest, but very direct and sell your experience emphasizing your ability to make an impact. A common question is "What improvements have made in the position hold at work?"

- Ethical dilemma questions, especially related to work experiences are common. So lets go over them briefly here. Ethical dilemma questions are all about decision making and learning:
1. Define the situation, such that it involves clearly identifiable options that are in conflict.
2. The options have to be real. They each have to have clear "goods" associated with them.
3. Justify the basis for the decision you made.
4. If your decision was right, focus on the result.
5. If your decision was wrong, focus on what you learned and hopefully applied to a more recent situation.

-Be ready to ask questions to the alum. Prepare them ahead of time. Assume that unless the alum is a very recent graduate, they should not be asked about recent developments on the campus. This is a good opportunity to ask them about their Columbia experience and about the alumni network.

-If there is anything you wanted to mention that was not covered in your application that you want to bring to the admission committee's attention, you will possibly have the opportunity to do so because interviewers frequently ask about this.

You probably will not be asked any weird hypothetical questions, but rather expect to cover some variation of the above questions in a great deal of depth.

Reported interview length is typically 60-75 minutes, but some interviews are shorter and some go for 90 minutes.

If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant."
-Adam Markus
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Back on Blog: Late round applications, HBS '75, and student loans

BACK ON BLOG
The last couple of months have been fun. I have had the chance to work with some really great clients in China, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Taiwan, the EU, and the US, but I have missed writing my blog. As of today, I am back on. The rest of January and February will be mostly about updating and adding new MBA interview posts, but here are some random things that I wanted to mention.

LATE ROUND APPLICATIONS
I am frequently asked about 3rd and 4th round applications, my general response is always this: If you want to go for Fall 2009 and the school is still taking applications, apply. Yes, the chances are not as good as applying in 1st or 2nd round, but it can't be helped. The reason schools have such late rounds is because they need them to fill their class. One can wait to apply for a later intake, but if you want to go earlier, with the exception of INSEAD, reapplication is viable at top programs, so the only thing you risk is rejection. Of course, if you don't apply, you will never know. Clearly, given the reduced odds, one would ideally want to apply to a safety school(s) and/or multiple programs.

By the way, when assessing what schools are really viable for late rounds, I think it is especially useful to look at their yield (percentage of accepted applicants who attend) because this really does indicate the relative likelihood that the school actually needs its later rounds to fill the class. Darden, for instance, had a 49% yield in 2008, which indicates to me that applying for the March 4th deadline is not insane. A. Compare that to HBS which has a yield of 91% and you can see why third round at HBS is significantly less likely than Darden. Still in 2008, one of my clients was accepted to HBS in the 3rd round.

Speaking of HBS, I am happy to celebrate the retirement of GEORGE BUSH, HBS '75. I should say from the outset that I don't necessarily think a school should be blamed for the actions of one student, but given the HBS mission to train leaders, I think it is fair enough to raise this issue. For an absolutely damning perspective on this, I strongly recommend “A Damage Assessment: The First MBA Presidency and the Business Academy.” Whether HBS bears any responsibility for George Bush, I can't help feeling that the systematic failures of not only his administration, but of major financial institutions, as well as regulators (SEC re Madoff), point to a coming crisis in business education. If Enron resulted in the introduction of ethics education into the business curriculum, what sort of changes are necessary in light of the fact that some of the primary employers of graduates from top MBA programs are now in a state of crisis? Expect to see big curriculum changes over the next couple of years.

Regarding the financial crisis, international applicants who intend to study in the US, should read Alison Damast's "Loan Crisis Hits the MBA World" in BusinessWeek. The end of CitiAssist loans is proving to be as big an issue that I imagined it would be when I initially blogged about it last October. Damast's article makes for sober reading:

Replacing the loan programs has not proved easy. In the last two months, business schools from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School to Cornell's Johnson School have been scrambling to find alternatives for students, most with limited success so far. Of the schools that used to have the CitiAssist loan program—including Harvard Business School, the Wharton School, University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, the Chicago Booth School of Business, Columbia Business School and other leading schools—only MIT's Sloan School of Management has announced a replacement lender. A number of schools said they are hoping to work out new programs by the spring, but did not disclose any further details. Most schools require students to put down a deposit by early April or May, leaving schools with just a few months to find a solution.

Hopefully actual solutions will be in place, but given the decrease in endowments, most schools are likely to be unable to bootstrap their own solutions for funding international students. The article mentions that in addition to MIT, Stanford GSB also has a loan solution in place for international students. If no solution to the loss of international student loan programs is found, I expect that it will be significantly easier to obtain admission for Fall 2010 for international applicants.

While international students will be able to get loans if they attend Stanford GSB, even this wealthy school is being impacted by the financial crisis. Stanford GSB has just announced that it is eliminating 49 jobs, 12% of its non-faculty workforce: Stanford University’s endowment fund, which includes $1 billion for the business school , may fall 20 to 30 percent for the current fiscal year, according to school officials. If Stanford is taking this kind of hit, expect a number of other schools to reduce their headcount as well. Personally, I would start with the finance faculty. Just kidding, well maybe not. Anyway, if there are less finance jobs, I guess you probably don't need as many finance professors. Of course, maybe some of these profs can start teaching risk management and compliance courses.

By the way, if you want to get really depressed, I suggest reading this.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.
-Adam Markus
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Chicago Booth Interviews

If you are preparing for a Chicago Booth interview, read this post after you read my general post on interview strategy. If you are looking for my analysis of Booth's essays, you can find it here.

I have reviewed reports of University of Chicago Booth interviews found at accepted.com and clearadmit.com. These reports reveal that there are five key things to consider when preparing for Chicago interviews:

1. You need to know your resume completely as you will likely be asked about content in it. Review it carefully and consider what your interviewer might ask you to explain more thoroughly. If it is on your resume, it is fair game.

2. Prepare to answer routine MBA questions. Most reported interviews simply consist of them. See my previous post on interviewing. Chicago's Full-Time MBA News stated the following:
"To prepare for your 45-minute interview, review your application thoroughly. Know how you will want to convey your story, your career plan and your unique goals. If your goals and motivations are clear, you can expect a lively conversation and lots of good questions by the interviewer. Ask yourself these important questions before your meeting:

Can I clearly articulate my career plan and future goals?

What do I really want from my MBA experience?
What is my motivation to obtain an MBA?
Why is [Booth] the right place for me?
Why am I right for [Booth]?
How do I plan to use my MBA in my career?

What can I bring to the [Booth] community?
Where do I see myself in 5, 10, 15 years?

You should also know what it is that you want to discover about the [Booth] during your meeting. 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." (Adam's note, "GSB" changed to [Booth]")

3. Be ready for unexpected hypothetical and/or critical thinking questions, especially from alum. With such questions, always take a second or two to think before diving in with an answer. That said, most interview reports don't include such questions. 

4. The quality of the interviews really varies. The reports on both sites are with students and alum. Some interviewers are reported to be great and some are not. I think it is important to keep in mind what Chicago says:
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.

While that is true, the reality is that if you can choose, take admissions staff. Students and alum can vary in quality and level of fairness, but on balance admissions officers are more likely to treat you fairly and will be professional. That said, if you think you may do better with alumni, act accordingly. From my perspective, some older Chicago alum tend to have an outdated view of the school and this can hurt some interviewees who do not intend to focus on finance.  I have noticed that here in Japan, the interviewers now tend to be more recent graduates.

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

If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant."
-Adam Markus
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HBS MBA Interviews

You can find my essay analysis for Fall 2009 Admission here.

HBS ADCOM HQ

In my experience, my clients who succeed at HBS 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 generally done so because of related reasons: lack of confidence and/or preparation. 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.

In addition to my own knowledge, I have reviewed reports of Harvard Business School interviews found at accepted.com and clearadmit.com. These reports reveal that there are five key things to consider when preparing for HBS interviews:

1. 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.

2. The questions you get will be specific to you. Most questions will not be odd, but they may be unexpected. On the other hand, a number of reports indicate that the majority of questions are actually common ones. See my previous post on interviewing. 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.

3. Assume there will be at least one question for which you might not be ready for. 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.

4. Adcom interviewers are friendly, but to the point. They don't do stress interviewing 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, so 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.

5. Reported interview length for interviews is 30 minutes.

For more about this interview, please see my more recent post on it.

If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant."
-Adam Markus
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UC Berkeley Haas Japan Trek 2009 Sponsor

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
明けましておめでとうございます。

I am happy to announce that I am an official sponsor of the University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business 2009 Japan Trek. This trip is a great way to help Haas MBA students from around the world learn about Japan. I know the Japanese students at Haas put significant work into this trip and I am glad that I can support their efforts.

この度、カリフォルニア大学バークレー校ハース・スクール・オブ・ビジネスの2009年度Japan Trek公式スポンサーとなりましたことをお知らせいたします。これは世界各地から来ているハース・ＭＢＡの学生にとって、日本を学ぶ絶好の機会です。また、ハースの日本学生たちが多大な労力を注いでいるこのツアーのサポートをできることを、とても喜ばしく思っております。

-Adam Markus
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Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.


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