Columbia MBA Admissions Interview Report: Round 2 / Alumnus / Off-campus

Published: February 22, 2015 by Clear Admit

We just received the following Columbia MBA admissions interview report from an applicant who just received an acceptance from Columbia. Congratulations!!

I told myself no matter what the outcome of my interview I would give back to this site because it helped SO MUCH in interview prep and making me feel prepared.

Spoiler Alert: I got in! So extra points because this site really did help 🙂

I applied 1/5/15, got an interview invitation 1/26/15, had my interview 2/4, interviewer submitted review 2/5, and got an acceptance call 2/17.

Overall, I agree with most of the posts in that you should prepare for a formal interview but expect it to be informal. I prepared for all of the questions listed on this site (which was easy because it’s literally just answering things about you that you probably had in your essays) and dressed/acted professionally (in a suit).

I also researched the alumnus who interviewed me like crazy (linkedin/facebook/google/etc.) and chose him because we are currently in similar industries but really had nothing else in common (which I think is a really good thing because I had a lot to teach him about myself & vice versa!)

My interview was at his place of work in one of their conference rooms (which was a little intimidating) but the actual interview was great! He told me that he wouldn’t be writing anything down (which at first made me nervous because everyone said they have to fill out a form at the end) and we had a 1 hour conversation where he did most of the talking (again made me nervous).

About 30 mins in he finally asked me 1 question “So what do you want to do at Columbia & after?” and based on all of the things he knew about me from the past 30 mins as well as the advice he already gave me on what to do once I get in, I could tell this was just an obligatory question. At the end he told me I was going to get a great review and that I should keep in touch.

I didn’t take this to heart because you never really know if people are trying to be nice but I will share one thing he told me: “If you got this far (the interview), I’m just checking you out to see if you’re as good as they think you are”…so if you’re reading this CONGRATS on getting an interview, be calm, prepare fully, but also be confident in yourself and that will really get you far!! THANKS to the others before me who posted their stories which helped me get to my dream! GOOD LUCK and hopefully I helped you all now too :)!!!