The following Yale SOM interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 2 applicant. Good luck to them!
Extremely well-organized/planned full day event on a “super interview day” with ~60 interviewees. Everyone (both Yale people and applicants) was super nice, intelligent, interesting, ambitious and for the most part approachable (definitely few suave MBA types as well but mostly down to earth and approachable). The collaborative atmosphere definitely stands out.
I have a non-traditional background, and perhaps that’s why I was interviewed by none other than the director of admissions herself. Most people are interviewed by 2nd year students. It was a half-blind interview; she only read my résumé. She had a couple pages of questions written out with blank space to take notes. Super nice and approachable, and bearing in mind that I’m a non-traditional candidate:
1. Interesting background; how/why did you end up where you are now?
2. (After learning that I have to work on several projects simultaneously) how do you manage several projects?
3. (after learning my short-term career goals) Assume I’m the interviewer for your dream job; What are your selling points?
4. A time of difficulties working with others?
5. Why MBA now? Why Yale?
6. Yale SOM expects students to be leaders; how will you contribute here? (this threw me off a little bit)
7. (after my answer to #6) Explain this XYZ issue you mentioned; what answers did you find to this issue through the experience you mentioned?
8. What do you want us to know about you?
Then it was time for me to ask her questions (I asked 4-5 questions). Actually now that I look back, I don’t know how we managed to pack in so much in our 30 minute interview. The interviewer was definitely warm and open but not overly so. I definitely did not bomb it, but I don’t think I quite aced it either; I’m happy regardless because I was myself and I was able to deliver myself truthfully and almost comprehensively. Others reported having both stiff and approachable interviewers.
I really loved Yale SOM when I visited last fall, and I love it even more after today.
