I arrived on campus a couple of hours before my interview to meet with a current student who I had met during my school visit. I would highly recommend going to the campus early. It helps you relax and the energy in the Atrium gears you up to do your best (All I was thinking was- I sooo want to come here next year!)
My interview was conducted by a member of the ad-com and the atmosphere was very friendly. She told me that she only had my resume and notes from the member who had reviewed my application. She told me that she took very few notes during the interview and not to get freaked out by that! Most of the questions were very direct and she was constantly looking at the clock in the room to make sure the interview didn’t go over 30-35 minutes. Some of the questions she asked me were-
1) Explain the various transitions in your work
2) Why an MBA right now and why Cornell? – I had thoroughly researched about Cornell and that helped a lot.
3) A question about my decision to shift to the US for work.
4) One time when I demonstrated leadership even though I was not formally in charge of a project.
5) What is your leadership style and how have you developed it over the years?
5) Can you describe a time when you leveraged a team conflict for your benefit?
This question amazed me a bit and I rephrased it to make sure that I had heard it right. She started laughing and told me that this question does bowl people over! I told her that I haven’t had such experience and just told her about a time when I convinced one team to support me on a project by citing an example of a much senior team, who though initially reluctant to help me earlier had agreed to support me now.
6) Any questions that you have for me – I asked her two questions and she gave me details of people I could contact for more details.
Overall the atmosphere was very casual and relaxed. All the people I have interacted with from Cornell are extremely friendly and helpful. Don’t hesitate to reach out to the students. They are helpful and one of the students even took my mock interview over Skype 2 days before the final interview! That helped me a lot.
I had a nice feeling after the interview. Learned of my acceptance via a phone call on December 10th, one day before the notification deadline.
Hope this helps- Good luck!
