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: March 13, 2011
Harvard MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / On-Campus
Started off with small talk: When did you arrive? What have you done since? etc She explained that she had read my entire file and that the interview process would not allow for any questions afterwards. What is something outside of the curriculum that you really enjoyed at [COLLEGE]? Why did you decide on [FIRST JOB]? How did you secure [FIRST JOB]? [Numerous job specific follow-ups] What do you think has made you so successful? What is the work environment in your current job like? What are your specific responsibilities? When did you decide to get an MBA? Why do
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Published: March 10, 2011
UT Austin / McCombs MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / On-Campus / Second-year Student
Interviewer was vaguely familiar with my resume but didn’t seem to have read my essays or application. Tell me about yourself (I included experience, post-mba goals, and a little of “why McCombs” here, so she didn’t ask about them later specifically) Difficulties working with a team Leadership experience Classes you’re interested in taking? Clubs you want to be involved with? What weaknesses are in your application? Questions for me? Overall interview was very friendly and relaxed, in a very plain room with nothing on the walls at all. Lasted 45 minutes, and went fast.
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Published: March 10, 2011
USC / Marshall MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / On-Campus / Second-year Student
Interviewer was vaguely familiar with my resume but didn’t seem to have read my essays or application. Tell me about yourself (I included experience and post-mba goals here, so she didn’t ask about them later specifically) Difficulties working with a team Leadership experience Tell me about a weakness (I gave an honest answer here, which she really liked. Don’t say “Oh I work too hard!”) Specific questions about my role at my company What aspects of Marshall will you contribute to? Questions for me? Overall interview was very friendly and relaxed. There were no unexpected questions. Lasted about 45 minutes,
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Georgetown / McDonough MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Adcom / Off-Campus
Description: Off-campus interview with an Admissions officer in New York City. We met in the (loud, dimly lit) lobby area of the W Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The tone of the actual interview was very laidback, with successive questions building on my own responses. Type of interview: Admissions officer. Blind (and I’m pretty sure she had not reviewed my resume beforehand). List of interview questions: Walk me through how you went from your undergraduate major to your current profession. What are your career goals? [After a “big picture” response:] How specifically would you achieve that? Why Georgetown? Have you visited?
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Harvard MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Adcom / Off-Campus
I interviewed at Harvard’s research center in Menlo Park, CA. At the start of the interview, the Adcom gave her typical speech: she would take exactly 30 minutes and the focus of the interview would be about her getting to know me (no questions at the end). How did you find the application process? Did any part of it surprise you? How is X consulting firm different from Y consulting firm? (based on my resume) Why do you feel an MBA is necessary for what you want to do? What do you feel you need to improve at most at
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Harvard MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Adcom / On Campus
I interviewed with an AdCom member late in the afternoon–I was the last interview slot for the day so I thought she might be a little lenient with the 30 minute rule, but she stuck right to it. Things went by pretty quickly. Here’s what I remember her asking me about (in no particular order): How was your trip? Did you have time for a tour or class visit? What did you think? How did you know you wanted to be a Marine? What about your experiences made you want to get out of the Marine Corps? When did you
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Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Adcom / On-Campus
I just interviewed with an Adcom member for round 2 on Monday the 7th. The interview started by reviewing my resume, explaining my trajectory and why I would choose to leave my current position for an MBA. Questions were exactly as noted in other instances: Explain a situation when you felt strongly about an idea and had to convince others who at first objected Explain a situation when you had to consider the feelings of another person on a team while accomplishing a project Explain a situation in which you had to accomplish a project with no specified leader We
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Ross MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Off-Campus / Alum
I interviewed with a Ross alumni at the corporate headquarters where he worked in a nearby city. The interview was about 45 minutes long, with his questions occupying the first 35 minutes and the last 10 minutes spent on my questions about Ross and my interviewer’s experience there. Overall, the interview was more formal than some other ones than I’ve had but was fairly conversational. I list the questions (in chronological order as I remember it) below. Tell me about your college experience – how did you choose your majors, describe your extracurricular experiences, etc. Tell me about how you
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Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Alum / Off-Campus
The interview took place at a coffee shop near the alumni office. The interviewing tone was casual. The interviewer took a lot of note (4 pages long note) from each question he asked. After some introduction, he asked me the following question; Walk me through your resume. (He had a lot of following question about my work.) Why do you need MBA? Why Wharton? Then, he told me that he will ask some structure questions and read the question from a piece of paper. He mentioned that there are several questions but he will only pick some which seem appropriate.
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Ross MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / On Campus / Second year student
I attended a ‘super saturday’ in early February that was geared towards female second round applicants. I was matched with a second year student who had reviewed my resume but nothing else. Most questions were standard: tell me about your background why MBA why Ross what have you done to explore your career interests example of teamwork experience when a team didn’t work and how you dealt with it tell me about the most difficult/critical feedback you’ve ever gotten tell me something about you that is not on your resume time for questions finally, a last chance for me to
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Kellogg MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / AdCom / Telephonic
International applicant (in remote area) 1/20 – Interview waiver 2/1 – Interview invite 2/5 – Interview Scheduling: I called Admissions to schedule a phone interview. They verified my contact details. Duration: Interviewer clearly said that the duration will be 30 minutes (int) + 10-15 mins (questions). She stuck to it. Introduction. Walk me through your resume Explain your job role. Who you manage. Who you report to. Short-term / long-term goals. What is your most significant accomplishment? What do you bring to the team that helps it/ hampers it? (Stumped!) How has your leadership approach evolved? Biggest strength /
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Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2
Length: 1 hour Type: Alumni Place: coffee shop on Friday evening! Questions (in chronological order) I am not quoting the questions as frankly I can remember them word by word. Walk me through your resume (with some specific detailed follow-up questions throughout the discussion) Why MBA? Why Wharton? Tell me about the time when you are working towards goal with conflict among team members Tell me about the time when others in your team is less focused than you to complete the task Tell me about the time when you have to convince/persuade others The interviewer was very friendly and
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Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / On-Campus
Interview Date: 3/3/2011 Location: Admissions Office Interviewer introduced herself briefly and then asked me to tell her about myself (while she reviewed my resume). Why do you want an MBA? [took light notes during this] Tell me about a time when you had to consider the opinions and feelings of others when completing an important task or project. [she took a lot of notes and then asked the follow-up: “what was the outcome?”] Tell me about a time when you had to complete an important task when others on your team were less focused than you on completing it. [lots
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Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Alum / Off-Campus
My 30 minute interview was at Starbucks with an alumnus. The first 5 minutes were spent on intros after which I was asked 3 questions that took 5 minutes each : Given an example of a time when you were in a team with no appointed leader Given an example of a time when you were in a team and had to resolve a conflict Given an example of a time when others disagreed with you The last 10 minutes were spent on me asking the alumnus questions.
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Berkeley / Haas MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Alum / Off-Campus Intl
Interview scheduling: I am based in the Middle East. Surprisingly, there was a Haas alumna in my country. However, both of us had very busy schedules for Feb. I ended up scheduling it on the last day for all interviews (which was 5 days away from R2 deadline). Interestingly, the interviewer was traveling from her city to the city where I am based for a business meeting. Location was a café in a hotel. I wore a business suit without a necktie. Questions: Small chit-chat about the interviewer’s business trip. Handed in an updated copy of my resume. Tell me
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Yale SOM MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / On-campus
To begin with, let me just say that I highly recommend checking the daily schedule of events that SOM plans for interview invitees before you schedule your interview (I unfortunately scheduled my interview in such a way that I missed two events I wanted to go to). The interview itself was very similar to what’s mentioned earlier. I met my interviewer downstairs in the admissions lobby and he took me to a small interview room where we sat across from each other with no table between us. He then proceeded to tell me about his background. After that, we spent
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Tepper MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Telephonic Interview / Adcom
Round 2 Interview – I was interviewed by a member of the admissions committee. It was a telephonic interview, as i am based out of India. The interviewer had not reviewed my file before. It was one of the most friendliest and nicest interviews i had ever given. Within the first 2 minutes, i was made to feel completely at ease. I was asked the normal questions like: Why Tepper? Why MBA now? Short term and long term goals? What did i best like about Tepper? Examples of something i had done as a leader and as a team player.
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Berkeley / Haas MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Alum / On-Campus
I went to Super Saturday and was interviewed by a recent alumn. I liked how Haas paired me with someone who had a similar background and field of interest. This was probably both so we had something to talk about and so he could evaluate my experiences better. The interview lasted about 30 – 40 minutes. Questions: Walk me through your resume. Asked some specific questions about my experiences around energy efficient housing, and seemed to be testing my technical and market knowledge a bit. Why MBA What are my short and long term goals Then he asked me more
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Ross MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Off-Campus / Alum
Off-campus on a weekend day relatively late in the interview cycle (February 19). It was held at a local coffee shop and took about 45 minutes. The interviewer was alum who had been out of school for about 6-7 years and had already conducted numerous interviews. She had a copy of my resume, but no other submitted materials. List of interview questions: Tell me about time you’ve had to work in a team. How do you handle situations in which there is disagreement? Tell me about an example. What are your short and long term career goals? Biggest accomplishment. Why
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Ross MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / On-Campus / Second-year Student
I attended a class visit and tour, which I found helpful for the interview on-campus. Round 2 Interview in Mid-February On-campus in an empty Admissions committee member office Interviewed by a 2nd year student, blind interview Received standard interview questions, and few were surprising and behavioral based: Walk me through resume Why MBA Why Ross How can I contribute both in and out of the classroom What is leadership What magazine cover would you want to be on and why? Q&A Session The interview was for 30 minutes and was very conversational. I thought I did well and handled the
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Georgetown / McDonough MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Adcom / Off-Campus
Round 2 Interview in Mid-February Off-campus in a Chicago hotel AdCom blind interview Received standard interview questions: Why MBA? I talked about my career path and my LT/ST goals. Why Georgetown? I referenced a McDonough friend, campus visit, its holistic education, global brand, Global Residency, and career placements. What’s your leadership style? I defined my style and talked about a work project. What do you do outside of work? I talked about my extracurriculars. Tell me about a failure. I talked about tough project where I stumbled. How would you market yourself for your desired internship? I talked about my
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Berkeley / Haas MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Student / On-Campus
Had a 1 hour interview, with current student on campus. Questions covered – Resume walk through with emphasis on undergrad, what I learned abroad Trajectory at firm since I’ve been promoted a couple times Career goals Why MBA / why Cal Leadership experience Challenging team experience, probed on difficult relationship Conflict with teammate experience Then a bit of a conversation / discussion about his experiences, etc. Result – admitted, round 2.
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UCLA / Anderson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Second-year Student / On-Campus
It was a very relaxed environment, and all the standard questions were asked (format was very much conversational, not just shooting off questions): Why Anderson? Why MBA?..they did not ask why now, but that’s because I answered it organically via another question One specific question came (since my focus will be entrepreneurial) that I did not prepare for: can you tell me how you plan to start your business? They knew I was going to biz school for that reason, but they just wanted to make sure I’ve thought out what I want to do. I had a few minutes
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Published: February 28, 2011
UT Austin / McCombs MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Off-Campus / Alum
Last 45 minutes. He had another interview following mine and we had to stick to the timeline. He said that he would have a week after our interview to fill out an online evaluation form. What made you minor in such a unique language? (really the only question related directly to my resume, I wasn’t asked to walk through it) Why a MBA? Why Texas? How would you leave an impact on the school? What has been your favorite or best team experience? Tell me about a bad team experience What is your favorite part about Austin Have you ever
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