Stanford GSB Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alumnus / Off-campus

My Stanford GSB interview was blind with an alumnus off-campus. The interview had my resume, which I sent before the interview. It was at the office of the alumnus and lasted for 1.5 hour. The interviewer was very nice, but the interview itself was a bit stressful as I had to remember even small details when describing various situations when answering the questions.

After a brief introduction, the interviewer asked the following questions (not necessarily in this order):

• My biggest accomplishment.
• Time when I managed a team that was not performing well.
• Time when I stepped out of my formal role, and took initiative.
• Time when I saw an opportunity no-one did and acted on it.

All questions were followed by a lot of in-depth questions asking for more details, like: what did I do or say at a specific moment, how did I started the conversation, step-by-step description of how I acted, etc. And after answering each question, I was asked to talk about the outcomes of my actions/decisions and if I could quantify them.

After the interview I had an opportunity to ask several questions (lasted 10-15 minutes). While answering them, the interviewer asked why I wanted to attend Stanford, and we also talked briefly about my career aspirations.

Clear Admit Resources
Preparing for your Stanford MBA admissions interview?  Check out Clear Admit’s other resources:

• Clear Admit Stanford GSB Interview Guide: Strategic tips for approaching Stanford’s interview questions, and more.
• Interview Archive: More firsthand accounts from Stanford MBA applicants themselves
• Understanding the MBA Admissions Interview: Blind vs. Non-blind Interviews
• Podcast Episode 23: 5 Most Common MBA Interview Questions You Need to Ace

Posted in: Interview Questions & Reports

Schools: Stanford GSB