As reports of Stanford GSB interview invitations continue on LiveWire, we’re taking the opportunity to round up useful advice from the Clear Admit Interview Guide, as passed on by interviewed candidates themselves.
Before we dig into the key takeaways from prior lucky invitees, here are a few basics about the structure of the interviews at Stanford. Most Stanford MBA interviews are conducted by trained GSB alumni, but the school says that an adcom member may also serve as an interviewer. In any case, Stanford interviews are “blind,” meaning that the interviewer will only have had access to the résumés of invited candidates, not their entire files.
Stanford admissions interviews are behavioral in nature, with the school seeking to understand applicants’ past actions and responses in certain situations. That being said, candidates should still be ready for the basic questions such as “why an MBA,” “why now,” “why Stanford,” etc., as some applicants have reported being asked about these topics.
Go With the Flow
As interviewers try to dig deeper for details, candidates can expect a particular style of interview:
“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.”
“The whole thing was comfortable and conversational, though not informal, and the format really doesn’t let you get away with general statements. After he asked questions, a few times I had to take 15-30 seconds to think quietly before I started to answer, which was totally fine. It was better to take the time than to start an answer that I wasn’t prepared to provide specifics for, because he would definitely ask for specifics.”
“He explained that he had a certain set of questions to ask me and he had to identify certain behaviors, so not to be surprised if he needs to interrupt me while speaking.”
“The interviewer ‘interrupted’ casually many times along the way to ask for details or follow-up questions.”
“He asked behavioural questions and wanted situations where I exhibited a given behaviour (i.e., tell me a time when you look on a leadership position). He then started to deep-dive on specific moments and the actions and decisions that I made. It was very specific and detailed to uncover my motivations and underlying values.”
“After each response, my interviewer continued to probe into how I felt and what I said and did. She went into much greater depth than my previous b-school interviewers had.”
Others offered insights into the content:
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