YaleInterview

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Below are interview reports from those who have interviewed with Yale.

Further insight and strategic advice on the interview process at Yale School of Management can be found in the Clear Admit Interview Guide.More detailed information on the academic resources, student culture, and social and professional opportunities at the Yale School of Management can be found in the Clear Admit School Guide.

Please add your interview report directly above all other reports. Please also include the date you are publishing your report; the type of interview (adcom / alumni / student) and the admissions round for which you interviewed (R1 / R2 / R3).

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28. Round 2 / Second-year Student / On-campus (Published April 1, 2010)

My interview was with a second-year student and we finished within the allotted 30 minutes. She took extensive notes and didn’t really ask follow-up questions. The questions she asked were:

  • Talk me through your resume (particularly interested in how I selected my college, course of study and majors).
  • How did I pick my first job and subsequent roles?
  • Why an MBA and why Yale?
  • What do I intend to do following Yale and during the MBA?
  • Any questions?

I would strongly recommend prospective applicants to schedule the interview for the afternoon if he/she hasn’t visited campus before. The admissions office can organize a class visit, campus tour and lunch with current students in the morning before the interview. I found this to be incredibly useful in getting more information and use as an ice-breaker in the interview.

27. Round 2 / Second year student / On-campus (Published March 8th, 2010)

I scheduled my interview for the late morning and took the train from NYC. The staff in the admissions office were warm and welcoming. The interview itself was held in a small conference room upstairs from the admissions office - my interviewer was a second year student, dressed casually and very low-key in temperament. As I recall, the questions were:

What did you do for fun in college? Why did you pick that college and why that major?

Your work history is pretty broad - walk me through the major experiences you've had since college. (We then drilled into a couple items to get at the impact my actions had in specific projects and how difficult it was to get certain things done).

Why MBA? Why Yale? I discussed the fit of the curriculum with my experience and general outlook, and specific examples of classes, clubs, and professors I was interested in.

I was asked about my hobbies and what I'm currently reading, and then I asked him several questions building off the "why Yale" themes I had discussed.

The interview style was fairly conversational - not many discrete questions, as you can see, and the interviewer was happy to interject with his own experiences where they were relevant and share details on classes and professors he had enjoyed. He referred to my resume and wrote notes in the margins as well as on his own paper, which I noticed he had divided into a four-part plot, presumably for different types of information or perspective. He cut off a couple answers to focus in on something I had mentioned, but in a very straightforward way, to get information rather than signal that I was rambling.

All told the conversation lasted 45 minutes and then he walked me back down to the main office.

26. Round 2 / On-campus (Published March 5th, 2011)

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 the majority of time discussing my resume. I started off describing my background and lead into talking about my internships. Along the way I was asked why I chose my undergraduate school, why I chose my internships, and why I chose my first job. Next, he asked about other parts of my resume ("talk about extracurricular X"). I spent a good amount of time detailing what kind of things each of my activities were and how much time I spent on them and how those activities have lead to things I do post-college. After this, I was asked to talk about my "best" team leadership experience.

Then, I was asked why I'm doing an MBA and why I want to attend Yale and where I see myself 5 and 20 years down the line. Lastly, I was asked what questions I have (I ended up asking about job prospects, how the economy has effected programs at SOM, and more information about my interviewers background since we had a similar profile).

Overall Vibe: I think the interview went well. For about the first 3/4 I felt he was trying to be intimidating, but I think we connected towards the end when we started talking about startup ideas (both of us were very interested in entrepreneurship).

My recommendations:

  1. If you are arriving on campus/in New Haven the day of the interview, schedule it later in the day so you get a chance to go to class, take a campus tour, and talk to students before the interview. (Though this probably isn't a good idea if you are the nervous type)
  2. Be ready to drill into details on the "Why Yale"
  3. Don't BS. The person you are talking to is a student who came from a similar position as you did. I had quit my job (for good reasons) and was almost afraid to say it because I didn't want to show immaturity, but the interviewer was very understanding of my line of reasoning for quitting.
  4. Be ready to answer "Why or How" to everything you say (especially the more general things like "I think I am very good at X" or "I think X situation shows that I'm good at Y"

25. Round 2 / Second Year Student / On-Campus (Published February 11th, 2010)

My interview was with a second-year student in a small conference room near the admissions office. I asked to move up my interview time because of some rescheduling I needed to do, and the admissions staff was very helpful in facilitating that. I didn't look at a clock, but I'd say the interview lasted from 30 to 40 minutes.

My interviewer started off by describing a little bit about himself. After that he looked over my resume and we talked through some f my various positions. He noted a couple of bullet points and asked me to explain them more in-depth. After that he covered the basic "why MBA", "why now", "why Yale" questions, followed by a discussion of my career goals and plans immediately following graduation. After that he answered a few of my questions, and later, via email, he put me in touch with some other students interested in the same things I am. He was friendly and professional, and the whole experience was more like a conversation than an interview. All the other interviewees I talked to said their interview went well too, so a positive feeling seems to be the norm.

My advice: be able to expound on your resume, know how you can tie some of the bullet points into the classic interview stories you should have at hand, and work on your transitions. Even if a question doesn't directly address something you want to say, you can sometimes reasonably transition to something you do want to talk about. Lastly, I'd recommend scheduling your interview for 2:30 pm or later so you have the opportunity to sit in on two classes during the day. That way you'll have more to talk about during the chit-chat moments before and after the interview.

Good luck!

24. Round 1 / Adcom / On-campus (Published January 4th, 2010)

The visit was well organized and the atmosphere was welcoming. The woman who greeted all of the prospective students was helpful and warm. I was able to attend two classes. The Director of Admissions took time to speak to the group in an informal, open setting.

Apparently all of the interviews that day were supposed to be conducted by second years but were conducted by adcom instead as the second years had the flu.

The first question was "What did you do for fun in high school?" It would have taken me quite off-guard if some fellow interviewees had not told me before I went in that they were asked this question. From there, we walked through my school/career path, and I spoke about why I made the choices I made. Specifically, she asked about my majors, my extracurriculars, what I considered my greatest achievement at work, and what projects I was currently working on for my company. I had time abroad in my interviewers home country, so she asked more personal questions about that. We spent a good portion of time talking about my future career plans, be prepared to be very specific and have a logical path to speak about. At the end, I asked several questions about the school and her background. The interview lasted exactly 30 minutes.

I was surprised at how difficult it was to make the interview into a conversation. My interviewer was very clipped and hard to read. She asked a few follow up questions but not as many as I expected (i.e. make sure you answer each question in full - you might not have a chance to clarify if you do not). I did not have a great feeling after the interview, but in the end I suppose it went well - I was accepted!

23. Round 1 / Adcom / On-campus (Published February 10th, 2009)

I had a positive experience interviewing with a member of the Yale admissions committee. With my previous experiences (an interview at another school and a mock interview with a Yale student), I felt relatively prepared, and I think it helped me loosen up for my session. Though most of the reports I’ve read mentioned that 2nd year students held the interviews, I was scheduled during break time and mentally prepared for a member of the admissions committee. This turned out to be a good choice, as I did get an adcom member for my interview. The others waiting at my time slot had a student for their interview.

My interviewer was very relaxed and easygoing throughout, and that made me feel comfortable. I tried my best to do the same, smile, and not appear too uptight. That said, I did realize it was still a formal interview, and made sure to include as many key points as possible.

Questions given:

  • Small talk – where the interviewer was from, where I was from
  • What did you do in high school?
  • Why did you pick your college?
  • Tell me about your major and why you picked it.
  • What did you do after college?
  • So what are your goals?
  • Why an MBA?
  • Why a Yale MBA?
  • What will you do with your company while at Yale?
  • Any questions for me?

Though we were overtime by a few minutes, I was still allowed to ask a couple of questions.

I had a good feeling after this interview. Fortunately, it seems the admissions committee might have felt the same, and later I was thrilled to receive an acceptance from them.

My thoughts:

  1. Yale specific – Based on my interview and what I’ve read of others, there’s a lot of focus on the “why” and choices made at every major point. I believe the purpose isn’t to see if you were a super star from the beginning of time, but rather to get an in-depth picture of what makes you tick. In my case, I hadn’t really done anything or found my way until the end of college. I let the interviewer know that, but I also tied it in with the progression of my story.
  2. Yale specific – Sometimes, the questions “what would you do on campus/how would you contribute/how did you show leadership” don’t get asked, so be prepared your most important points from these questions into other answers. Most likely, they would fit under the “tell me about your career” and “why Yale” questions.
  3. General - Keep it like a conversation. Yes, I read this one a million times, but until I had both interviews, I didn’t know how to distinguish the two. In my first interview, I had prepared so much that my answers were like water bursting through a dam – a bit overwhelming and definitely going one way. At my Yale interview, I made sure to take some pauses, occasionally confirm a question from the interviewer, ask my questions based on what the interviewed talked about, and in general, tried to engage the interviewer as a person instead of as an audience.
  4. General – I had 30 minutes in my mind, but I had no idea how short it really is until it was over. Considering the standard question and answer period is 3-5 minutes, it can even be shorter. I shortened the answers to my major questions to about 2-3 minutes, and my other answers to about a minute.

22. Round 1 / Second Year Student / On-Campus (Published February 6th, 2009)

I applied to R1 and I visited the school for the interview. My interview was taken by second year student. He had not seen my application. The interview was very much informal and I felt that the school had already made up its mind about the decision

  • Why undergraduate major
  • Why first job
  • Short term goals
  • Why Yale
  • Example where I have worked with people with different style
  • Any one from Yale I have talked to.
  • Any questions from me.

21. Round 1 / On-campus / Second Year Student (Published January 16th, 2009)

I interviewed on Dec. 18th, the last day of exams so there were no classes to visit. Many of the candidates I met were from diverse backgrounds (a reporter, someone who had worked in public school management, alternate energy, etc.) which adds to Yale's appeal if you aren't looking to be in a traditional MBA environment.

My interviewer was a second year student who had reviewed my resume quite extensively before I entered. We had some interests in common and we discussed them extensively. Key questions are below.

What I was asked

  1. Why did you pick your university and later why your major?
  2. Walk me through your resume
  3. Why MBA?
  4. Why Yale?
  5. What extracurriculars at Yale are you interested in? Who have you spoken to?
  6. Give me an example of time when you led a group through a difficult period. How did you motivate the team?
  7. Discuss one of your extra

What I asked

  1. Tell me about how you got to Yale?
  2. What do you think of the change in leadership? (SOM had a new dean as of Fall 2008)
  3. I asked her opinion about changes to the leadership in the Program on Social Enterprise
  4. What do you like about New Haven?

Overall it was a stimulating and challenging interview. One twist was that she asked me about other clubs on campus beyond the ones I initially mentioned (question 5). I discussed one that I was interested but which I hadn't thoroughly researched. She was surprised that I hadn't researched the club and proceeded to mention two people I should get in touch with. I made a mental note to contact these individuals later and mention them to the interviewer in my follow thank you email.

My advice: Come prepared but be relaxed. The interviewers are smart and have personality so just be confident and be yourself.

20. Round 1 / On-campus / Second Year Student Admitted!! (Published December 16th, 2008)

I received an invitation for an interview about one week before Thanksgiving and went for my interview just before the Holiday.

Pros- The students and staff were extremely friendly and welcoming. The tour guides were enthusiastic, and in a genuine way. The staff was very professional and accomodating-- when I walked in the room they stood, shook my hand, and introduced me to everyone in the room. I can say that has never happened at any other school.

Cons- For those of us hoping to enter Fall '09 we will miss out on the new construction that is underway. There is no on campus housing, but it seems the students all choose to live very close to campus so there is a strong sense of community. Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, the campus and classes we visited were sparsely populated.

Nonetheless, it was a great visit--- any question about the rankings (per other posts I've seen on here) probably has to do with the fact that the program is on the smaller and newer side and that the student body is largely non-traditional. It's a very unique program.The Financial Times puts it in the top 10-15. As for the interview, I don't know if this was standard or not, but because I have a non-traditional background we spent almost all of the time discussing my resume and each professional/life transition. I worked in a lot of stories and details which then prompted other discussion before returning to the next item on the resume. The questions were like 'what do you think of this topic (related to your industry)'. I don't think the question was meant to throw me off or test me, but a different way to understand my point of view (and, of course, to see if I am informed). Because I added in stories on my own, I think that precluded the interviewer of asking me 'tell me about a leadership experiece etc...'

Then, Why MBA/Why Yale/Post-MBA goals. Because Yale is a lot about fit, I think the Why Yale question needs to be sincere and when you ask questions at the end they should be thoughtful. You don't want them to think this is another stop on your interview tour. Plus, they get that you are applying to other schools, they just don't want a lot of disappointed Harvard or Wharton candidates reluctantly taking up spots in their very small class. In the waiting room, I spoke with the other candidates and we all had very different and diverse backgrounds. It was not a room strictly of I-bankers and consultants.

Because the interview was with a second year student, I found it to be more of a conversation and less of a grilling, but don't get me wrong, it was serious. The interview was actually 45 minutes because at the 30 minute mark the interviewer wanted to make sure that I had enough time to ask him questions. He took notes the entire time, paid attention to my answers, and was really engaged.

No word yet about my status... good luck to everyone.

19. Round 1 / On-campus / Second Year Student (Published December 16th, 2008)

I interviewed for Yale's fulltime MBA program in rd1 right before thanksgiving.

Yale's campus looks impressive from the outside (a compound of ancient mansions and buildings that make you feel like you're in Rome). SOM's facilities were less than impressive on the inside. This will hopefully improve once their new facilities are constructed, but for someone entering in fall 09, it was a turnoff.

My interview was with a second year student and lasted 30 minutes. I wonder if this is a strategy for their interviews, or if this guy just had a bad day, but my interviewer was very cold. I doubt if he smiled even once during our conversation, which is very inconsistent with the other interviews and conversations I had with other schools an other Yalies. The two guys who led my campus tour were very warm and outgoing.

My interview was semi-blind (he had resume, but not essays), and he asked me a lot of details about my resume and why I made job and city changes, etc. He also asked behavioral / situational questions (i.e. tell me about a time when...) in addition to the why mba / why yale / why now.

18. Round 2 / Hub / Adcom (Published April 9th, 2008)

I was a R2 applicant who went for an Asian hub interview

The interview was held in a local hotel with an admissions director. She was quite nice and approachable, asking a lot of questions on my background and career development to understand how I got to where I am currently. The usual questions such as Why MBA, Why Yale, How you can contribute to the community etc were made.

After about 25 minutes, she whipped out a printed sheet with my name and application ID pre-printed on it. There were three questions - I was taken by surprise as I didn't know there was a written test involved. It was not mentioned in the invitation to interview as well. One of the questions floored me because it was a very financial question and I have no background in finance. After the written portion, we wrapped up the interview and said our goodbyes.

17. Round 2 / On-campus / Second-year Student (Published April 9th, 2008)

We went through my resume in chronological order, starting with my decision to attend school and the majors I chose in college.

There was more focus on my current role.

They also asked about a leadership example and a time I had to work through inter personal conflict.

I was asked "Why an MBA?" I asked him if he meant "Why an MBA, or why a Yale MBA?" and his answer was, "First tell me why an MBA, then we'll get to why Yale"

The interview lasted 40 minutes, and it went by very fast. My only advice is to be cognizant of the time especially if one's resume is lengthy. Spending too much time on the early stages of your career severely curtails your ability to go into more detail on your more recent & relevant experience.

It is not easy to go over your resume, interweave your strengths & accomplishments, as well as impress upon your interviewer your passion and knowledge of SOM within 30 minutes. Practice timing!

The attitude of the interviewer was quite relaxed & friendly. He did not ever push back or grill me, but I am sure he was assessing the quality of my answers the entire time.

16. Round 2 Interview with adcom, on Campus in New Haven (Published Feb, 2008)

Overall my experience was very consistent with other posters. The school has a small, intimate feel to it and the admissions folks are very welcoming.

I interviewed with a person on the adcom, who was very friendly and conversational. The interview is all about getting to know you. We spent most of the time speaking about my professional experience and reasoms for various career decisions I have made, as well as "Why MBA?" / "Why yale"?

Only one complaint, the 30 min time limit is too short. We ended up rushing through the last questions because we ran out of time.

The campus is very nice, I definitely recommend visiting the school and sitting in on a class to get a feel for the culture.

15. Round 1, Second Year Student, On-campus interview (Published January 9th, 2008)

My interview took place on campus on 12/12/07. I interviewed with a 2nd year student. The tone of the conversation was friendly/casual though obviously substantive. The feel of the interview was very much "let's get to know each other better" and not at all a hard-core grilling.

The questions I was asked were very similar to what other people have reported here:

  1. Walk me through your resume
  2. Why MBA?
  3. Why Yale?
  4. Tell me about [a certain extracurricular activity on my resume]
  5. How would you contribute to Yale?
  6. Any questions?

The interview lasted around 30 minutes. Here's my advice for prepping for the interview:

  • Make sure you can go through each item on your resume and clearly explain what you did, why you decided to take that particular job, and what you got out of it. In the "walk me through your resume" part of the interview, the interviewer started by asking why I took the particular job that I took coming out of college, and then we went through in depth each job I've had in my six years of work experience.
  • Provide compelling reasons for why you want to get an MBA, what you want to do with it, and why Yale--since you've already thought this through for your application essays, coming up with the content here should be pretty straightforward.
  • Make sure you have questions to ask of the interviewer. Given that I was meeting with a current student, I asked her how she chose Yale, what her academic experience has been like, what her experience has been like with extracurriculars, etc.

Good luck to everybody!

14. Round 1, Alumni interview. (Published December 30, 2007)

I received an invite to my Yale SOM interview about four weeks after applying for R1. I asked for an alumni interview as i am based in Europe and one was arranged on my behalf by the admissions team.

The interview was very straight forward and the interviewer was extremely friendly. We started off by going through my resume and then i was asked standard questions which i have listed below.

  1. Why an MBA?
  2. Why now?
  3. Why Yale SOM?
  4. Have you visited the school?

There were other questions on leadership and teamwork examples but since the interviewer has not seen your application and the interview is limited to 30 minutes there is only so much that can be covered. There were no tricks (at least not that i saw!).

13. November 2007 Round 1 On-campus admissions officer interview. (Published December 3, 2007)

My interview was with an admissions officer and a student observer. The interview lasted 45 minutes. The interviewer really drilled down into almost every aspect of my resume including individual line items on my resume. It was not very conversational at all, more of an interrogation than an interview. I personally found it to be somewhat uncomfortable to be interviewing with the adcom while the student just sat there taking notes. Very formal compared to other interviews I've done.

The standard questions: Walk me through resume? Why MBA? Why Yale? Why now? She drilled into my resume including individual lines. I'm an entrepreneur. She asked me how many clients I had, she asked me about a line on my resume where I mentioned optimizing my organizational structure, she asked what the business would do while I was gone.

Only time student was involved was at the end of the interview when the adcom asked if I had any questions.

I came away disappointed that the adcom never took the time to chit-chat and make it a more comfortable, conversational interview.

12. November 2007 Round 1 On-campus admissions officer interview. (Published November 9, 2007)

The interview lasted around 35 minutes; it was conducted on-campus with an admissions officer, and a second year student (who was training to interview applicants) sat in. It was pretty conversational and on the informal side, and while the interviewer came across as nice, she regularly cut off the conversation and changed the topic by asking a question from her list. The basic questions were:

  • Why did you choose your college?
  • Why did you choose your company?
  • What is your biggest challenge at work?
  • What do you enjoy most about your job?
  • What do you do in your free time?
  • Why Yale?

Some other topics were woven in through the conversation, but it appeared that those were the main questions she wanted answered.

11. February 2007 Round 2 On-campus student interview. (Published June 11, 2007)

2:15 PM Interview. Second year student picked me up on time and we walked to the interview room. After general introductions the interviewer talked briefly about the format of the interview, his background and career prior to Yale SOM.

Then I was asked the standard questions -

  1. Walk me through your resume
  2. Why MBA?
  3. Why Yale?
  4. Tell me about [a certain extracurricular activity on my resume]
  5. How would you contribute to Yale?
  6. Any questions?

I asked a question. After the interviewer's short response he looked at the clock, we had killed less than 15 minutes. The interviewer informed me that if I did not have any further questions we could conclude the interview. I asked another question. We were done in the next couple of minutes and walked back to the admissions office.

It was a very relaxed and friendly interview and although I felt that I had developed a good rapport with the interviewer, I came out of the interview frazzled because of the short duration.

Hindsight: I was told by another first year student that 15 minute interviews by students are not uncommon. Student interviews are viewed as an opportunity for second years to get recruiting/interviewing experience. Regardless be well prepared for the standard questions. Do your research on SOM. Talk to as many alums, admissions ambassadors and club leaders as possible. Show that you have done your research and that your are passionate about Yale.


10. November 2006 Round 1 On-campus student interview for Fall 2007 (Published January 2007)

The second year student who conducted my interview was very friendly and intelligent. The interview was relaxed and comfortable. The interviewer had a copy of my resume. Since his background was in the same industry, he was most interested in the transitions between companies I had worked for and the reasons underlying those decisions. The interview was brief and conversational, yet professional; it focused mostly on the basics with just a couple industry specific questions.

Interview Questions:

1. Walk me through your resume. 2. How do you see the future for your industry? 3. Why are you interested in Yale? 4. Q&A

The Yale interviewer asked me engaging questions specific to my field, but he did so in a casual and encouraging manner. He was very likable and, as compared with previous interviews, this interviewer was the best in terms of his ability to grasp “big-picture” concepts. Overall, this was a relaxed and professional interview that left me with a good impression of the school.

9. Round 1, Adcom, Interview for Fall 2007 Start (Published December 2006)

My interview was with an admissions officer in November 2006. She was incredibly nice. The atmosphere was relaxed. It completely threw me off. I went in expecting a hard grilling session and had studied tons of interview questions. That was a mistake. The interview started with a "walk me through your resume" question. Basically, I think I blew it because I was deconstructing other answers in my head and re-forming it as I talked. Not smart on my part because it came out jumbled, or at least I thought so. Time alloted was 30 minutes. We went to 45. Not sure if this is good or bad. She didn't write a lot of the time. Probably making mental notes. All in all, very pleasant. The interview style I'm told, is characteristic of the school. Very touchy feely, but not in a bad way. After walking her through my story, she didn't have many questions other than the usual suspects:

1. Why yale? 2. Why now? 3. What do you love about your current job? 4. How do you plan on being involved at Yale?

Too bad. I really liked the school but I think I came off like a fool. Good luck to everyone and remember, be prepared for a hard grilling session or a "soft" open session. Open sessions are tricky, especially if you talk yourself into a hole! As of early Dec 2006, still no word.

8. Round 1, Second Year Student (Published Fall 2006)

My interview was with a second year student. The conversation was fairly straight forward. No tough questions at all.

1. Go over your resume.

2. Before I finished with the first question, she asked me about why I needed to pursue an MBA, I also gave the answer of why now

3. Then the typical: Why Yale

All the above went in about fifteen minute (I felt, did not have time to watch time), then it was time for me to ask questions. I asked about the most enjoyable class, the school and outdoor activities, but seemed she was not active in the last.

The interview was weird as it was so short. When I came out of it it was less than thirty minutes and other interviewees had a similar experience because they all came out about the same time as I did. I checked for some afternoon interviewees and they all lasted less than thirty minutes.

I think I gave pretty good reasons for why Yale and I hope that will make me stand out.

I also had the tour of campus by two current students. I had a finance class which was boring because I lacked that background. Little student interactions and some questions asked by the professors simply hung in the air with nobody dared to answer. The prof had to pick people to answer them. Later I found out that that is probably true for all finance classes in all schools.

7. Round 2: On Campus Interview: Admitted (Published Spring 2006)

I was only asked four questions which were:

  1. Take me thru your resume explaining the reasons why you moved from one position to the next
  2. Why MBA
  3. Why Yale
  4. Tell me about a leadership experience

6. Adcom Interview, Off-Campus: Round 2 - Interviewed: March 20, 2006 (Published March 2006)

Interview was held with the adcom who was visiting the West Coast. Was in a hotel room and lasted about 45 minutes.

Interview began with questions about my educational background. I was somewhat surprised by the level of detail sought - the interviewer asked me about educational choices made beginning from high school. This was followed by a discussion of my career. Once again he got into a lot of specifics about things I'd done.

This was followed by the Why MBA in a kind of "what do you want to do next?" fashion. He then asked me about which other schools I'd applied to and if I'd been accepted at any of them. He asked me why Yale was "in the mix" among those schools.

I then had the opportunity to ask him a few questions about Yale and the SOM.

We ended with a long discussion about some recent developments at work, and my take on some of the strategic challenges facing my industry. Overall, it was a very pleasant, conversational interview.

5. Alumni Interview; Round 2 - Interviewed: February 6, 2006 (Published February 16, 2006)

Met with the Yale SOM alumni at a Starbucks in the bay area. We had a light chat for about 1/2 hour. After sitting down, she informed me that this was a casual interaction and Yale mainly wanted to know if I "interviewed well." (Think of all the interviews we'll be doing next year during recruitment!) Covered some points on my resume.

  • Why the MBA?
  • Seems you've traveled to country X for work. What was your role on the trip?
  • What other schools are you applying to?

My interviewer had a similar background, and we compared notes on many things.

  • Our jobs as engineers, and how we want to transition into a marketing roles.
  • Experiences in sorority life and tying this into life @ Yale SOM.
  • Both going to public schools for college and the difference between public and private schools.
  • What processes we'd like to see implemented into product marketing in our tech industry.
  • Comparing her experiences at my competitor company with mine.
  • Our relationships, what sacrifices/plans she made to follow her fiance to the bay area, and what plans my fiance-to-be and I have post-MBA.

She gave me tons of recruiting tips for the high-tech industry. "A lot of companies don't go out to New Haven, so you really have to do a lot of external work. You'll find yourself flying out to the west coast a lot."

She spoke about Yale's social life and all the activities she was involved in. She met her fiance (a grad student @ Yale not studying business) at an external event. :-) Also explained to me the "Ivy League Connection" among the 8 schools.

We ended on a good note. She was very supportive, telling me that no matter what school I get in she wanted me to keep in touch.

4. Round 1 Interview, On Campus, Second Year Student (Published January 2006)

I applied for Yale in the first round and received the invite early in December. There were bunch of available slots for on-campus interview in December/January/February, and I also had the alternative to email the Admission Office to schedule alumni interview.

I scheduled an on–campus interview for early January. I came to the Admissions Office about 30 minutes before the interview (a small building). I parked the car in front of the building (there were enough unoccupied meters). It was a 2nd year student who interviewed me. The interviewer already had a copy of my resume, and we started walking it through.

Since I prepared quite some stuff regarding work experience, leadership, education, and extracurricular, it took almost 20 minutes. Then I was given opportunities to ask interviewer a few questions. Therefore in fact the only question I had was to “walk me through resume”. In the last 10 minutes, I was given tons of information about the interviewer’s own exciting experience at SOM, and I was highly impressed. I felt the interview went well and I am very positive about SOM.

3. Round 1 interview (Nov '05) with 2nd year student on campus (Published November 2005)

My interview lasted about 30 minutes. My interviewer was a very friendly 2nd year student who genuinely seemed to love her Yale experience. We began by going through my resume and I was asked to walk through my academic background and my work experience. She took notes on my actual resume and she asked me what I would bring to Yale. She also asked why I needed an MBA, and more specifically, why Yale. The last portion of the interview centered on extra-curricular activities and what clubs I'd be interested in joining if I were a student. Overall it was a straight forward interview and I got the impression that she was looking for information to help get you accepted versus trying to ask tough questions to filter you out.

2. Round 1 Interview with 2nd year student, New Haven (Published November 2005)

I arrived at the admissions office about 15 minutes prior to my scheduled interview time. The interviewer entered the office about 10 minutes early and we exchanged greetings before heading directly to the interview room. The interview lasted about 40 minutes.

Here is a brief outline of my interview with SOM

  • Tell me about your background.
  • Specific questions about my education and work experience. The interviewer asked me to tell him why I had made some of the decisions that I made during my education. I was also asked to explain why I decided to join various companies. I was asked to elaborate on some of my stated acheivements, what challenges they involved, how I overcame those challenges, etc.
  • Why do you need an MBA?

In the context of this question, the interviewer tried to make a case for my not needing an MBA such that it was necessary for me to provide convincing reasons for why I need one.

  • Why Yale SOM?

The interviewer was very concerned about my reasons for wanting to attend Yale and was looking for specific reasons. For example, after I mentioned that many of the courses appealed to me, he asked me to name a few of them.

The interviewer also asked if I had visited the campus to learn more about the school. He even explicitly commented during the interview that he wanted to know that I am very excited about attending Yale.

  • What do you do in your spare time?

By this time, the interview was winding down and the environment became a bit more casual. My answers to this question led to a brief chat about extracurricular actvities at Yale, which ones he most enjoys, etc.

  • Questions for the interviewer

Based on my experiences and what I have learned about Yale SOM through this process, I would say that it is extremely important to know Yale SOM inside and out. Make sure that you know exactly why you want to attend Yale and be able to provide specific details, including names of courses, professors, students with whom you spoke, research initiatives, etc. I'm sure that the Committee is looking for applicants who are only using Yale as their backup. Show your excitement about the school. Good luck.

1. Round 1 Interview with 2nd year student, on Campus in New Haven (Published November, 2005)

I was interviewed by a second-year student, and she was very polite and pleasant. We had a good talk, I think, and we hit 45 minutes before we really realized it. We shared a few laughs, and I think I got most of my points across. In the end, I think it went pretty well, but there were plenty of places for improvement, in hindsight -- but isn't that always the case?

A few things: the interviewer has seen ONLY your resume and not your entire application packet. She even told me this as we began the talk. Also, it was verified by a number of people there that admissions decisions are routinely released before the official January date. There's no guarantee that you'll be told early, but it does happen from time-to-time.

The questions were as expected, and none was a surprise: Why MBA? Why Yale? Why now? Why did you pick your undergrad school and your major? Tell me about your work experience. Do you do any community work? What are your hobbies/interests? (I actually forgot to mention one of my biggest passions in life, because I had forgotten it was in my application and not on my resume! So it goes...) Etc, etc.

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