My interviewer was a recent graduate. We met at a Starbucks near where she lives on a Friday afternoon. She told me from the outset that she thought the whole process would take about 45 minutes with 30 minutes of her asking me questions and 15 minutes for my questions to her (more time than I had planned questions for, so take note of that). The interview stuck to that schedule pretty much to the minute.
- Walk through resume
- Why business school
- Why Columbia
- Short term goal
- Long term goal
- Talk about a time you had difficulty working with a team member
- What club would you start at Columbia
- What would you do if you didn’t get the summer job you want
- What would you do if you didn’t get into business school
- Anything else I should know about you (phrased open-endedly – could talk about extracurriculars or things to be sure the adcom heard)
The two big questions I expected based on other reports but didn’t actually get:
1. Adversity – Though I suppose the difficult time with a team member question was just a narrowed version.
2. Ethical dilemma
The interview did not seem to be tailored toward ED at all. Showing that I had done my homework on Columbia was definitely important. I think they are looking to weed out casual applicants and really just want to hear that you are a serious person with a solid direction to your career.
