Interview season for Round 2 candidates will soon be in full swing. Many leading MBA programs are beginning to role out their interview invites, while some programs allow all candidates to interview. In the following four part MBA interview series we take a deep dive into all the different types of interviews you may face at the top schools. We hope this series helps you prepare for your interviews. You should also access our comprehensive interview archive which has more than 1,900 reports to choose from.
Part 1: Open versus Selected
What you will learn from Part 1: We examine which schools offer open interviews, and which offer interviews by invitation. We examine why schools offer one or the other, while drawing from insights from adcoms from those schools.
Part 2: Blind versus Non-Blind, Behavioral versus Résumé-based Interviews
What you will learn from Part 2: We examine why some schools offer blind interviews, where at most, the interviewer has access to your résumé, and some schools offer non-blind interviews. We also explore the differences between résumé-based interviews and behavioral interview questions that seem to be becoming a larger component of the MBA interview.
Part 3: Team-Based Interviews and Exercises
What you will learn in Part 3: Wharton and Michigan Ross have adopted an entirely different approach with their team-based interviews and exercises. We examine what this means, and why the schools adapted their interview process in this way. We also explore the differences in the two school’s approaches. Note: For Round 2 only, Michigan / Ross will host some group exercises in international cities.
Part 4: The Anomalies
What you will learn in Part 4: There are some unusual twists to the interview process that some schools have adopted, including asking candidates to follow up after the interview, requiring an additional essay prior to the interview, requiring candidates in the interview to do a presentation on a topic that the interviewer selects, and interviewing candidates twice, with two alumni. We examine each of these evolving approaches.
