Interviews
Published: October 24, 2023
MBA Admissions Interview Tip: How to Impress During a Video Interview
While many schools have reincorporated in-person interviews, video options are still prevalent as a format for MBA admissions interviews. Even though applicants and interviewers may not meet in the traditional in-person way, you’ll still want to do everything you can to make the best possible impression. Here are some important tips for approaching an admissions video interview for MBA programs. 1. Get Your Tech Right! You’re probably going to be a bit nervous as it is, so you certainly don’t want technological issues to distract or add stress. This means that you should test your internet connectivity well in advance
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Interview Report Round-Up: CBS, LBS and UNC Kenan-Flagler
Amid Round 2 interview season, we’re taking a closer look at some recent interview reports from current applicants to Columbia Business School, London Business School and UNC Kenan-Flagler as shared in our Interview Archive. Questions listed by a Round 2 applicant shed light on the focus of the CBS interview: Here, we get a look at a potential case topic during the London Business School interview: A candidate for UNC Kenan-Flagler provided the mix of questions from their interviewer:
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Published: February 23, 2023
Interview Report Round-Up: Georgia Tech Scheller, IESE, NYU Stern
We’re rounding up some of the latest interview reports and shining the spotlight on recent accounts from MBA applicants to Georgia Tech / Scheller, IESE and NYU Stern as shared in our Interview Archive. The first report comes from a Round 2 applicant to Georgia Tech / Scheller. Their virtual interview with a Career Center rep included the following questions: Another Round 2 applicant shared their interview with an IESE alum: Out of the NYU Stern applicant pool, a Round
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Published: February 16, 2023
Interview Report Round-Up: Berkeley Haas, CBS, and UVA Darden
In this week’s Interview Report Round-Up, we take a look at applicants’ reported interview questions and more with Berkeley Haas, Columbia Business School and UVA Darden as shared in our Interview Archive. Here is a peek at a “harder” Berkeley Haas interview from a Round 2 candidate: See the full report for other “surprises” during the interview. Meanwhile, a CBS applicant shared their interview experience with an alumnus: Then, an applicant to UVA Darden shared the storytelling nature of their admissions
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Published: February 9, 2023
Interview Report Round-Up: Duke Fuqua, Georgetown McDonough and INSEAD
As Round 2 interview season rolls on, we’re taking a peek at some new entries to the Clear Admit Interview Archive to help you prepare. This week, we take a look at applicants’ reported interview questions and more with Duke Fuqua, Georgetown McDonough and INSEAD. A veteran shared a glowing interview experience with a fellow vet out of Duke Fuqua: An applicant who has had several interviews thus far reported a conversational one for Georgetown McDonough: INSEAD conducts two alumni interviews with each
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Published: February 8, 2023
5 MBA Interview Questions You Need to Ace (And How to Do So)
Interviews, interviews, interviews…they are the post-essay hurdle to gaining admission. Instead of driving yourself crazy with worry, why not buckle down and perfect your answers to the questions you are most likely to be asked? To help you prepare, we’ve scoured our Interview Guides and Interview Archive to compile our very own list of 5 MBA interview questions you need to ace. These questions are among those that most often make their way into MBA admissions interviews at leading schools. While the questions listed here are most commonly asked as part of resume-based interviews, they
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Published: February 6, 2023
Resume- vs. Application-Based MBA Admissions Interviews
Some business schools believe strongly in the notion of résumé-based interviews, which means that your interviewer will know nothing about you in advance of the MBA admissions interview other than what appears on the résumé you give them. Schools that fall firmly into this camp include Yale School of Management (SOM), Columbia Business School and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. We should note that at UVA’s Darden School, the MBA admissions interview is truly context-free, meaning the interviewer will not have read or reviewed either your application or your résumé. “Your
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Published: February 2, 2023
Interview Report Round-Up: Berkeley Haas, LBS, NYU Stern
As we head into Round 2 interview season, we’re taking a look at some recent entries to the Clear Admit Interview Archive to help you prepare. This week, we take a look at applicants’ reported interview questions and more with Berkeley Haas, London Business School and NYU Stern. First up, an admitted candidate to Berkeley Haas shared the surprising aspects of their admissions interview: Next, an applicant who was admitted to LBS with a scholarship posted their interview experience with an alumna: Then,
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Published: January 30, 2023
Episode 274: Tips for the Wharton Team-Based Discussion (TBD)
In this special edition of the podcast, your hosts Alex Brown and Graham Richmond break down Wharton’s group interview – known as the Team Based Discussion (TBD) – and offer a wealth of tips and background to help applicants ace it. Alex and Graham, who both formerly worked in admissions at Wharton, set out to tell you everything you need to know to be successful in your Wharton TBD. They’ll discuss: The history of the TBD Why Wharton uses it How to prepare for it How to perform in it What this year’s TBD prompt is and how to
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Published: January 26, 2023
Interview Report Round-Up: Emory Goizueta, UVA Darden, Vanderbilt Owen
In another Interview Report Roundup, we take a closer looks at MBA admissions interview reports that Emory Goizueta, UVA Darden and Vanderbilt Owen applicants have recently shared to the Clear Admit Interview Archive. A Round 2 applicant to Goizueta had a pleasant interview experience: An MBA hopeful for UVA Darden spoke with a second-year student for about an hour for their interview: Meanwhile, over at Vanderbilt Owen, a Round 2 applicant faced the following questions: We’d love to hear how your
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Published: January 25, 2023
HBS Announces Timing of Interview Invitations for Round 2
If you applied to Harvard Business School in Round 2, get ready for some big application news from the school on Wednesday, February 1st at noon ET. In a post to the Direct from the Director’s blog, the school shared the following details: “Next week, on Wednesday, February 1 at 12:00 noon Eastern Time, everyone who applied in Round 2—or received a “Further Consideration” decision in Round 1—will receive an update via the Application Status page. “There are two possibilities: “Invite to Interview – you’ll receive additional information
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Published: January 19, 2023
Interview Report Round-Up: CMU Tepper, Texas McCombs, UCLA Anderson, Yale SOM
In this week’s Interview Report Roundup, we’re highlighting MBA admissions interview reports that CMU Tepper, Texas McCombs, UCLA Anderson and Yale SOM applicants have recently shared to the Clear Admit Interview Archive. A couple of Yale MBA applicants shared their on-campus interviews: Meanwhile, an MBA hopeful who completed the Texas McCombs video assessment offered some useful insights: A candidate for Carnegie Mellon Tepper posted the following questions from an adcom member: Finally, a UCLA Anderson applicant reported
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Published: November 7, 2022
Wharton’s Team-Based Discussion Prompt 2022-2023
The prompt for the Wharton School’s Team-Based Discussion (TBD) for the 2022-2023 MBA admissions season is below. The exercise focuses on the Global Immersion Program: “Wharton’s commitment to global engagement prepares MBA students for any challenge in the international business environment. As of the 2022 school year, all global travel at Wharton is back to normal operations. Wharton MBAs will once again have the opportunity to participate in a Global Immersion Program (GIP), a credit-bearing elective course, which is designed to provide a high-level survey of the economic, cultural, and geo-political drivers behind regions
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Published: October 4, 2022
5 MBA Interview Questions You Need to Ace (And How to Do So)
Interviews, interviews, interviews…they are the post-essay hurdle to gaining admission. Instead of driving yourself crazy with worry, why not buckle down and perfect your answers to the questions you are most likely to be asked? To help you prepare, we’ve scoured our Interview Guides and Interview Archive to compile our very own list of 5 MBA interview questions you need to ace. These questions are among those that most often make their way into MBA admissions interviews at leading schools. While the questions listed here are most commonly asked as part of resume-based interviews, they
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Published: September 8, 2022
MBA Admissions Interviews 2022-2023: On-Campus, Off-Campus or Virtual?
Due to Covid-19, business schools conducted MBA admissions interviews virtually the past few seasons. Now, some business schools are opening back up to welcome MBA applicants to campus for visits and interviews. See if your target programs offer the options of on-campus, off-campus, and/or virtual interviews for the 2022-2023 admissions season in the chart below. School On-Campus Off-Campus Virtual Columbia Business School ✔ ✔ Cornell University SC Johnson Graduate School of Management ✔ Limited ✔ Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business ✔ Duke University Fuqua School of Business ✔ ✔ ✔ Harvard Business School
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Published: January 26, 2022
HBS Announces Timing of Interview Invitations for Round 2 & More for Waitlisted Round 1 Applicants
If you applied to Harvard Business School in Round 2, get ready for some big application news from the school on Wednesday, February 2nd at noon EST. Applicants from Round 1 who have been awaiting news on their admissions status should also tune in. In a post to the Direct from the Director’s blog, Managing Director of HBS admissions Chad Losee shared the following details: “Next week, on Wednesday, February 2 at 12:00 noon eastern, everyone who applied in Round 2—or received a “Further Consideration” decision in Round 1—will receive
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Published: November 1, 2021
Episode 196—Wharton Team-Based Discussion (TBD) Tips
In this special edition of the podcast, your hosts Alex Brown and Graham Richmond break down Wharton’s group interview – known as the Team Based Discussion (TBD) – and offer a wealth of tips and background to help applicants ace it. Alex and Graham, who both formerly worked in admissions at Wharton, set out to tell you everything you need to know to be successful in your Wharton TBD. They’ll discuss: The history of the TBD Why Wharton uses it How to prepare for it How to perform in it What this year’s
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Published: October 27, 2021
Wharton’s Team-Based Discussion Prompt 2021-2022
The prompt for the Wharton School’s Team-Based Discussion (TBD) for the 2021-2022 MBA admissions season is below. The exercise focuses on Wharton Interactive, a new initiative in online, game-based learning. The prompt is: “A few weeks ago Wharton announced the official launch of Wharton Interactive, a venture dedicated to transforming teaching through interactive games and simulations. Wharton Interactive has a unique team of interactive fiction writers, pedagogy experts, game designers, and programmers. This venture is the first major effort by any university to create a scalable and fully automated platform built on simulations, interactivity,
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Published: October 20, 2021
Ace Your MBA Interview: Clear Admit’s Interview Guides
The MBA interview—the nail-biting, stomach-churning, sleep-robbing component of the MBA application process that ties some applicants up in knots—is upon us. But there’s no reason to fret: not with Clear Admit’s in-depth Interview Guide Series as part of your arsenal. Providing expert advice and insider tips on what to expect and how to prepare, these guides are ready and waiting to help you conquer your jitters and ace your interview. The Clear Admit Interview Guides include first-hand interview accounts submitted by real applicants over the years through our Interview Archive. The Clear Admit team has
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Published: October 17, 2021
Spooky Admissions Mistakes: Nightmares for AdCom Members
Let’s pumpkin spice things up! As Halloween approaches, we wanted to take a look at some of the most chilling nightmares that adcom members can face when evaluating MBA applicants. So, what are the scariest mistakes an MBA applicant can make? Clear Admit co-founder Graham Richmond shares his insights below so you can avoid admissions missteps like the houses that hand out raisins for Halloween treats. 1. Don’t Wear an Icarus Costume One of the scariest things for an admissions office is to encounter an applicant with a
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Published: November 13, 2020
Wharton’s Team Based Discussion Interview Prompt 2020-2021
The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania is now interviewing applicants for the Class of 2023. As many of our readers know, Wharton’s interview process centers on a ‘team-based discussion’ (TBD), during which a small group of 5-6 prospective students are brought together to present their thoughts on an assignment they have been given prior to the interview. The team must work together to share ideas and form consensus around the best path forward. This year’s prompt for the Team Based Discussion is as follows: “Creating an engaged, supportive alumni network is crucial to an
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Published: September 30, 2020
HBS Announces Timing of Round 1 Interview Invitations and Early Release
Did you apply to Harvard Business School in Round 1? Get ready for some big application news from the school on Tuesday, October 6th at noon EST. In a post to the Direct from the Director’s blog, Managing Director of HBS admissions Chad Losee wrote that Round 1 applicants can expect the following: “In your application status page, you will hear one of three things: Invite to interview – this is good news! Further consideration – Also positive! This is a small group of strong applicants that we
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Published: January 15, 2020
HBS Announces Timing of Round 2 Interview Invitations
Harvard Business School’s managing director of MBA admissions and financial aid, Chad Losee, posted to the Direct from the Director blog to update Round 2 applicants about next steps—in particular interview invitations. He wrote, “On our end, we are a week into reading your applications and have been enjoying getting to know you better. Here are the next steps in the process, so you know when you’ll hear from us again: Tuesday, February 4, at 12 p.m. eastern time: all Round 2 applications will either be invited to interview
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Published: November 12, 2019
Top MIT Sloan MBA Interview Tips from Actual Interviewees
As Round 1 interview invitations roll out from MIT / Sloan, we gathered advice from actual interviewees to help the Class of 2022 hopefuls prepare. Over the years, hundreds of MBA applicants have shared their interview experiences. For today’s post, we’ve culled through this to pull out top tips from those who experienced MIT / Sloan’s Behavioral Event-based Interviews (BEI) first hand. For anyone unfamiliar with the BEI, it’s a style of interview that centers on a description of one or more specific situations or
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Published: November 11, 2019
Episode 64: Wharton Team-Based Discussion Tips 2019-2020
Are you getting ready for the Wharton Team-Based Discussion (TBD)? We’re excited to bring you a bonus podcast episode to review this year’s prompt and to help you excel in this step of the admissions process.
In this episode, Clear Admit’s co-founder, Graham Richmond, and resident admissions expert, Alex Brown, dive deeper into this year’s prompt (ICYMI, you must also listen to their overall key advice about the TBD here).
The exercise for the 2019-2020 admissions season focuses on Tangen Hall (pictured), Wharton’s first on-campus space dedicated to student entrepreneurship and innovation activities. The TBD prompt for 2019-2020 is:
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