Before you move on to read this entry, I have to give my standard caveat that I’ve never worked for an admissions office before, so my response below is based on my own research, conversations with MBA alums and admissions people, and my own read on the situation. In other words, I responded with a perspective of what I’d be thinking about if I were in his shoes trying to prepare for an MBA admissions interview. Some people may disagree with what I’ve presented below and, if you are one of them, please feel free to leave a comment below. I always invite people to share their perspectives on the questions that I receive.
After I finished typing my email response, I looked back and saw that I’d been much more detailed than I had expected when I started it. I guess my fingers took over once I got going. I hope some of you find my tips below to be helpful.
By the way, this is my 600th post on this blog. I can’t believe that I’ve been at this for over 7 years. Whew, I wonder if I’ll keep it going long enough to get to 1000 
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DP wrote:
Hi Marquis,
Kindly take your own time to reply. No hurry. The slots of [the school] are going to open only on Nov 1st.
I would appreciate if you could find some time to answer some interview related queries:
1. How descriptive one should go while answering questions?
2. Is it good to leave scope for prompting questions?
3. How to demonstrate passionate of joining a particular school? Courses names, professors, etc are relevant here?
4. What questions an applicant should ask back towards the end of the interview?
5. Any particular aspect that you would like to highlight that I should keep in mind?
Thanks a lot for your time and help, Marquis.
As of now, only [the school] has given an interview call. Rest all are under review process. I hope I do get some more calls [though].
DP
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My response:
DP,
I’m currently traveling, so I don’t have time to give super detailed responses for your questions. That said, I can give you some high-level responses that I think can be helpful as you prepare for your interview.
Let’s break down your questions one-by-one:
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1. How descriptive one should go while answering questions?
Great question and it’s one that takes a lot of consideration. I’ve heard stories about people being so detailed with their responses that they dominate the allotted time and never get to bring out the most important points.
As you’re prepping for the interview, I would recommend determining 4-5 stories that you would like to lean on to answer a range of questions during the discussion and practice coming up with an “elevator pitch” on each of them that lasts no more than a couple of minutes. This way, you will have to force yourself to tell these stories without including details that likely aren’t necessary to answering the question and can be filled in if the interviewer asks you follow-up questions.
For questions that you haven’t prepared a story for, you should keep on thinking in terms of the “elevator pitch” and don’t give answers that are longer than a couple of minutes. No one wants to hear an MBA applicant drone on and on, so be mindful of getting the most important points out early and answering the question before you lose your intended audience (i.e., the interviewer).
2. Is it good to leave scope for prompting questions?
I believe that it’s great to leave scope for prompting follow-up questions from the interviewer, but I should add the caveat that you answer each question completely just in case those follow-up questions don’t come. As mentioned above, you have to make sure that you’re balanced in fully answering the question and not over-answering it. The minute details that you leave out in your “elevator pitch” responses described in question #1 are the kind of things that you’d want to leave within the scope for prompting questions.
3. How to demonstrate passionate of joining a particular school? Courses names, professors, etc are relevant here?
- To demonstrate passion for joining a school, you have to KNOW the school inside and out. I’d recommend researching:
–> Specific courses that interest you and will help you build desired skills
–> Professors that you’d like to meet, learn from, and work with
–> Areas of academic strength for the program (i.e., Finance, Strategy, Marketing)
–> Specific qualities about the school culture and typical types of students who join the program
- Once you have strong knowledge of the school, you have to effectively link what the school has to offer to your career goals. In other words, you have to make the interviewer see that you’ve truly thought about why you want to attend the school and why it is a great fit for you.
4. What questions an applicant should ask back towards the end of the interview?
Good question! A few back-end questions that come to mind are:
- Is there anything else that I can tell you about myself?
- Where do you see the school moving toward in terms of academic programs, research centers, curriculum, etc.?
- What would you describe as the biggest differentiator of the school in your eyes?
- Has the culture of the school changed in the time that you’ve been associated with it? If so, how?
If the interviewer is an alumnus of the school, I would add the following:
- What made you choose to attend the school?
- How was your experience as a student? Were there any particular courses, professors, organizations, or other experiences that stick out in your mind?
- What was your career path prior to business school and what did you do after graduation?
- Have you had any experiences with the alumni community? If so, what are your thoughts?
5. Any particular aspect that you would like to highlight that I should keep in mind?
As you’re preparing for the interview, I would recommend that you keep the following in mind:
- Your MBA story –> What are your career goals and why do you NEED an MBA to reach those goals? How would you go about reaching those career goals without an MBA? Is that even possible?
- Why you are interested in the school? –> What about the school makes it a good fit for you? Academic areas of focus? Intended major? Planned coursework? School culture? Career aspirations and fit to the school?
- Why should the school be interested in you? –> What is unique about you? What will you bring to the school and your fellow classmates? Will you be a good ambassador for the school, both while you are a student and as an alum?
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The most important things for you to remember are to be as relaxed as possible during the interview, be completely honest with your answers, and BE YOURSELF. Don’t try to portray yourself as someone that you think the interviewer wants to see because it is likely that he/she will see right through. I’ve heard so many stories of people being disingenuous during the admissions interview and then being totally shocked when they get rejected. The last thing you want is to have put a ton of work into an application and paid your app fee, only to have it all fall apart because you weren’t being true to yourself in the interview.
Hope the tips and advice above are helpful to you.
Marquis
