Met with the alum in a coffee shop. We conversed for about 1 hour. She spoke extremely fast and practically read the entire list of questions sent to her by Johnson.
- How did you select your current/previous job(s)?
- Why do you want an MBA?
- Why Cornell?
- What are your long-term and short-term goals?
- What other schools are you applying to?
- How would your co-workers describe you?
- What are three characteristics that make a great leader?
- What drives you? What makes you get up in the morning each day?
- Tell me a team situation where someone was hard to deal with.
- Tell me a team situation where you faced an obstacle.
- Tell me a time when you directly had a conflict with another team member.
- What will you add to Johnson?
- Name three characteristics that you will bring to your Cornell classmates.
- Tell me about a significant accomplishment and what impact you created.
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of your Johnson application?
- How do you approach a problem?
- What is an innovative solution you came up with for a problem you dealt with?
- Anything more about you that you want Johnson to know?
She challenged several of my answers and made me think harder for the less-than-obvious. Her blunt personality and straight-forward approach demonstrated her academic-driven nature. She was very supportive, however, offering me feedback, suggesting that I ask about scholarship opportunities, and replying to my ‘thank you’ e-mail with more course recommendations as a follow-up to our conversation
