Our archive of over 2,000 MBA admissions interview questions includes self-reported accounts from applicants. Please use the dropdown menu to view filter reports by school.
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Published: January 3, 2012
Cornell / Johnson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 Consortium / Ad Com / On Campus
No one has updated this since last year, so I might as well. I received an invite to interview at Cornell with very little notice. It felt it was particularly disorganized compared to the way some other schools had done it, but on the other hand, I sort of appreciate the non-spoon fed approach. Regardless, I figured out how to take a 6:30am bus to Ithaca from NYC (take the Cornell bus, its very nice and clean and has wi-fi that works), and arrived a few hours before my interview. Although it was not the most convenient thing for me
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Published: December 26, 2011
UVA / Darden MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Second-year Student and Adcom / On-Campus
I was invited to interview with Darden around November 20th. I was kind of shocked to get an invite because I thought they had all gone out. Nonetheless, I scheduled an interview for December 2nd. I arrived at the Darden Gatehouse about 20 minutes early to get a parking pass. It’s an easy task requiring little more than two minutes. I parked and walked to Admissions, arriving about 10 minutes early. I checked in and got a folder with some materials in it. For the most part it’s the advertising pitch, but some stuff was geared specifically toward me based
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Published: December 26, 2011
Georgetown / McDonough MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / On Campus / Admissions Committee Member
I was invited to interview for R1. I did not attend any classes or other sessions. I met with the Adcom woman for roughly 15 minutes. It was a blind interview (the interviewer had no previous knowledge of me or my application), and was very laid back. I was told it was “your interview”. The interview started with the typical “Share a little about yourself, your life story, how you ended up here”. This lasted 5 – 8 minutes. I didn’t want to bore the woman to death and it seemed natural to move through this quickly. Next were the
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Published: December 26, 2011
Harvard MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / Off-Campus Hub / Admitted
First note: I felt like I absolutely bombed my interview, so there is hope. The experience was very cordial and friendly, but the questions were rapid-fire, and there was little “flow” to the interview. I generally enjoy these types of situations and try to engage the interviewer in conversation as much as possible. However, I felt that this experience was somewhat surprising; questions bounced all over my application without any clear order or sequence (at least that I could see). In addition, I was surprised by the adcom’s focus on my first job, which I left some time ago. I
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Published: December 26, 2011
USC / Marshall MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / Off-Campus
(Nov 28) The Adcom had come down to my city for a tour. Kellee , my interviewer was very pleasant and really made me feel at ease. The questions were as follows Walk me through your resume Describe yourself in 3 words What would ideal job be if there are no restrictions on the money or anything else Biggest misconception about you An experience when you had to handle a difficult team mate Recent books I read Anything you want to ask the adcom This was a stress free , easy going conversational interview that lasted for about 30 min
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Published: December 26, 2011
Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Second-year Student / On-Campus
Just wanted to share the questions I was asked at my Wharton Interview a couple of weeks ago. The 2nd year student that interviewed me was very friendly and made me feel comfortable. She described the process and told me she would be taking notes, which she would submit to the AdCom. Her questions were: Name a time that you had to manage upward/someone above you. Describe a time you had to work with a team to accomplish something. Describe a time you convinced someone on your team of something. I then asked her about her experiences as a female
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Published: December 26, 2011
Chicago Booth MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Alum / Off-Campus
(Nov 19th) We met at a coffee shop . After exchanging pleasantries, he told me a little about himself and about the alum in the city . The questions were as follows Walk me through you professional career and give reasons for every change Pick out one experience from professional life that was a challenge What do you expect to gain out of MBA Why not the IIM’s? Do you want to add something Do you want to ask something This was a 30 min interview.
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Published: December 25, 2011
Kellogg MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Alum / Off-campus
I received the interview invitation roughly one week after the Part I application deadline. The alumni interviewer requested the interview be made at a coffee shop at his office. He seemed overall friendly and was not as fluent in English as native speakers. Here are the questions I was asked: Are you a round 1 or 2 applicant? (silly question) What is your MBA entering year? (erm…) Please walk me thru your resume. I noticed you got promoted within just a year of work, why do you think you were promote so quickly? Can you tell me the details of
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Published: December 25, 2011
Yale SOM MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / 2nd year student / Off-campus (Skype)
I was invited to interview one month before the decision deadline. My interviewer called me through skype. He seemed very casual and friendly, telling me that all he had seen was my resume. Here are the questions I was asked: Please tell me about your job. Please walk me through your resume. You mentioned that you were able to [one major achievement], could you please explain to me more about that? He asked me follow up questions regarding my resume and based on my previous answer. Why Yale? Why MBA? Since we got limited time left, I will leave time
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Published: December 25, 2011
Duke / Fuqua MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Early Action / On-campus / 2nd year student
I had visited the campus last year, so attending a class or taking a tour was not on my agenda. Moreover, my interview was scheduled on a Saturday, so no chance of attending a class. Overall, it was a nice experience but I felt that the interview perhaps could have gone more engaging. Walk me through the resume Why MBA Why Duke Why now Leadership experience outside work Leadership experience where I failed In a team, where one partner is quiet or unwilling to work, how will you motivate or work with him/her How will you contribute to duke How
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Published: December 19, 2011
UVA / Darden MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Admitted
I had similar experience to poster below me. Was told to tell my life story and begin with childhood. This is unusual, so recommend preparing some early childhood stories that relate to your broader vision for MBA etc. They want to know what you’ll do with MBA, and are interested in how this relates to globalization/global issues etc. 30 minutes to tell your story actually can go by quickly, so do try to plan a bit.
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Published: December 19, 2011
Harvard MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / On-Campus / Admitted
Similar to the previous post, I wanted to wait until my decision was official. But I received the fantastic news today, so I wanted to share some insight. I interviewed on campus and came a day early, which if you can, I recommend so you can get settled in and not feel the anxiety of traveling and interviewing on the same day. I visited a class, which I also recommend, as I definitely spoke about that experience in my interview. I was ready for any question related to my application, but to my surprise, most of my ?s were not directly
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Published: December 19, 2011
Harvard MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 /Adcom / Off-Campus Hub / Admitted
Received the good news yesterday and thought would share my experience. I interviewed in one of the international hub locations. Prior to the interview, I spent a great deal of time to sort out my thoughts for the seemingly infinite list of questions on this site. In the end, fortunately or unfortunately, I was asked none of the oddball questions I prepared for. Below are the the key themes we spoke about (each had several follow up questions, which really made it more of a conversation than interview) Tell me about your move to XYZ grad school Why did you
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Published: December 18, 2011
Harvard MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / On-Campus / Admitted
I saved this so I could at least give a definitive answer as to whether I got in or not. I was fortunate enough to be admitted today (ahh!!) and promised to update this. I interviewed back in mid-November, on-campus. I did a student lunch prior, which was pretty fun. My interview was definitely of the “stress-free” variety and I actually enjoyed talking to my interviewer; she was really sweet and pretty conversational, which I found interesting. I left wanting to grab coffee or dinner with her. The 30 minutes goes by really fast so just be aware. I didn’t
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Published: December 18, 2011
INSEAD MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Alum / Off-campus
First interview Who: management consultant, very relaxed, but formal. Duration: 1h 10min The interview went along in the form of a conversation. The interviewer had read my application before this discussion and came well prepared. He asked me about my experience (basically, I walked him through my professional background and also talked a little bit about university; for some of my experience I had to give a lot of details), why MBA now and particularly why INSEAD. Moreover, he asked me why do I think INSEAD should take me in (he was interested in what was not in my CV;
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Published: December 17, 2011
Stanford GSB MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Alum / Off-campus
I had my GSB interview on December 7. It lasted for one hour and a half. All the questions given to me were behavioral questions. I was frequently interrupted and challenged, and was encouraged to dig more and more into the underlying reasons for my actions. Due to this approach, I cannot remember the exact questions. It went like: I started with Question A; 30 seconds later, I was re-directed to Question B, because my interview made a query about the part I just stated. I do remember that no questions are atypical, and you can find them on this
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Published: December 13, 2011
Chicago Booth MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / 2nd year student / On-Campus
Hi all. Posting some time after my Round 1 on-campus interview, which really wasn’t so bad. The person who interviewed me was extremely friendly, and there were folks out in the admissions office waiting room who keep you calm by chatting with you. The questions (I might be forgetting a few, but these stand out): Walk me through your resume. Why do you want to go to business school?/What are your long-term goals? Why Booth? Talk about a time when you led a project that failed. How do you motivate people? How would you describe yourself in three words? What
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Published: December 4, 2011
UVA / Darden MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Second-year Student / On Campus
I had a 1st round interview on campus with a second-year student. It was a very pleasant experience. The interviewer gave a quick introduction of the interview format, explaining that she had not seen my resume or the rest of my application. She set up the interview with a single, long request that basically went as follows: I am here for you to tell me your story. Just tell me about yourself. In the process you can cover, college, anything before college if relevant, your resume, why MBA and why Darden. It was effectively a monologue from there. I paused
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Published: December 4, 2011
UVA / Darden MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 – Consortium / Ad Com / On campus / Admitted!
I had an interview on campus with the assistant dean of admissions. She was incredibly friendly and made it a very relaxed conversation. She asked me to speak for the first 30 minutes about my story, staring with high school and taking her up to where I am now, why an MBA and why Darden specifically. The last 10-15 minutes were reserved for me to ask questions. I agree with the person below about preparing your entire story from start to finish. I practiced mine for a week and even recorded it in a webcam to get a sense of
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Published: December 4, 2011
Kellogg MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Ad Com / On Campus
When I showed up for my Kellogg interview (part time mba), I was asked to present my resume and fill out some paper work regarding my career goals, short and long, and my intended concentrations at Kellogg. Interviewer, though ad com, was very informal. Had a little chat about the lovely Chicago downtown, life in general! Then got down to brass tacks. The interview was pretty much spelling out the essays and ensuring I wasn’t making things up or got someone to write it for me! (B4 the interview, I did spend about an hour or so talking out loud
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Published: December 4, 2011
Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / 2nd Year Student / On-Campus
Interviewer jumped straight into behavioral questions without any background, resume or the three why questions. She used the remaining time for me to ask questions, which I used to piggy back on her responses to include my “whys.” Interview lasted about 35 minutes or so. The questions that I got were (paraphrasing): Tell me about a time you were managing a team and you perceived the outcome to be a failure. Tell me about a time you managed someone who was much more senior to you. (The answer I gave was an example that had gone smoothly, so she asked
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Published: December 4, 2011
Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / 2nd Year Student / On-Campus
The interviewer started by telling me a bit about himself and then asked about me. I was able to work in a little bit about “Why MBA” here, but the question was never explicitly asked. He then proceeded to ask me three questions out of a list of 5 (likely the same 5 that others posted below). He did ask a few follow-up questions during each question, but mainly just let me answer while he took notes. After the three questions, he stopped note taking and asked if I had any questions. This is where I included “Why Wharton” since
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Published: December 4, 2011
Chicago Booth MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Final year part time student / On-Campus
At Booth, it was a student in his final year of the part time program. This interview was more analytical in that each answer I gave seemed to lead into the next question. Walk me through the resume What is your leadership style? Anyone not performing to par in your team? How did you handle it – Had to go into detail here – since I was asked how I did some particular thing. Why MBA and why now – wanted to know more about my goals and how it was formed Why Booth and What will you contribute to
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Published: December 4, 2011
Stanford GSB MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Alum / Off-Campus
I had my Stanford interview this morning. It was exactly on time (45 minutes) and I was given 4 behavioural questions. Overall, it felt neutral although the interviewer did comment that my skill set was well aligned with my target career. Saw an opportunity others didn’t Faced a roadblock in completing a project Why MBA/Why Stanford Pursued an initiative beyond my job authority Was effective on a team when I wasn’t in charge At this point I guess I just have to wait and see what responses December brings.
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Published: December 1, 2011
Columbia MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Early Decision / Alum / Off-Campus
Interview was conducted at the end of October and I was admitted about 4 weeks later. I talked with the interviewer ahead of time and they told me that they would conduct the interview at their office and it would last about 1 hour and to be prepared to talk about the standard MBA questions. I was a bit nervous at first based on how high up this person was in their organization but it turned out it was very informal and basically a talk. The interviewer did not come into the room with a note pad which made me
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