The following Harvard MBA Admissions Interview summary was provided by a former applicant who was admitted to Harvard in Round One.
I applied in round 1 and interviewed in November. I happy to report I was accepted in December! The interview process at HBS is extremely well organized. There are activities all day with various candidates interviewing at different times. I made my trip two days and would recommend others do the same. I had not formally toured the campus before being invited to interview, so I did a two day visit to get a better feeling for the school. I signed up for all of the activities on the first day and had my interview the second day in the morning. This provided me with many potential anecdotes that were fresh in my mind about the program that could be discussed in the interview.
As for the interview, it was with one adcom member and another observer who did not speak. The interviewer was very nice and friendly and the environment was not meant to be tense (of course I was naturally a little nervous). Most of my questions were focused on the industry I work in, however there were a few pointed questions about things I did not expect (know every point on your resume!). Here are the questions I was asked:
1. Tell me more about X senior design project I worked on in college (5 years ago)
2. Why did you decide to go to college at X
3. How did you get your first job at X company
4. Why did you transition from job 1 to job 2 (both were investment banks)
5. Why did you decide to transition into current company and why did you choose this industry (now in acorporate role)
6. Tell me more about what you do in your current role
7. What do you think got you promoted so quickly (I answered this as a what are your strengths question)
8. What are some challenges your industry faces
9. How is your company tackling these challenges
10. What do you make of X new competitors in your industry (interviewer was knowledgeable of the industry)
11. What makes X person at your company such a good leader
12. What could this person do better
Overall, the entire experience was very pleasant. The key is to stay calm and think clearly. The interview process really made a great impression on me and made me want to get in even more!
